Is Dumaguete A Good Place To Retire, Or Has It Been Ruined By Foreigners?

Pea does a driving tour of Dumaguete City, her hometown, to investigate the common claim among her viewers that it's "overrun with foreigners." Wearing a Velma-from-Scooby-Doo wig disguise to avoid being recognized (she gets stopped by fans in the small city), she visits the boulevard, downtown, restaurants, malls, and expat hangouts on a weekday afternoon, counting foreigners along the way. She also questions why Forbes once ranked Dumaguete as one of the best retirement destinations in the world.

The disguise and why she wears it ​

• Pea shows up in a wig she calls her "Velma P" look (from Scooby-Doo)
• Explains it's not ego — Dumaguete is small and she gets recognized often; when people approach her she doesn't want to be rude, but today she's in a hurry to grab lunch and run errands
• She clearly hates wearing the wig and rips it off with visible relief at the end of the video, pulling out a bunch of hairpins

Her honest take on Dumaguete's appeal (or lack thereof) ​

• Forbes Magazine once featured Dumaguete as one of the best places to retire in the world (possibly ranked 7th)
• Pea is genuinely puzzled about why: "it's got the same sights, same traffic problems" as other Philippine cities she's visited
• Same chain businesses, same provinces — "in my opinion I don't really see why this is such a popular destination"
• Notable quirk: there are zero traffic lights in the entire city, and the traffic is chaotic — a two-lane road somehow becomes four lanes
• Asks viewers to tell her what she's missing

The Boulevard — the main foreigner hangout area ​

• Near the port going to Siquijor and Cebu; lined with big lush trees, restaurants, and bars
• Busy at nighttime but she's there mid-day, mid-week
• Has a Starbucks for your "morning Joe"
• Points out "Why Not" — an iconic bar/restaurant/disco well-known as a place foreigners meet women; apparently has good pizza; Pea's been there once or twice
• The famous "Dumaguete" signage is nearby
• Silliman University is visible from the boulevard, with notably old buildings
• After driving through the nightlife area in the middle of the day, she spots only a couple of foreigners — "it's not crawling with foreigners like it's an invasion"

Downtown tour and foreigner sightings ​

• Spots a white woman in downtown, which she notes is "actually a rare sight" — most foreigners she sees are men in mixed couples with Filipinas
• Sees a mixed couple coming out of McDonald's — confirms they have McDonald's and fast food
• Points out Lee Plaza / Lee Super Plaza — "kind of a mall but not really"
• Major complaint: severe lack of parking spaces; once had to park 10 minutes from a shopping center and take a tricycle back to her car with her bags; motorbikes are much easier
• Quezon Park (well-known local park where she does interviews and people do "tambay" / hang out)

Restaurants and businesses along the waterfront highway ​

• Bay Shores — fairly new building with coffee shops, Japanese food, and clinics
• Hayahay — Filipino food, seafood, pizzas, and cocktails
• New condominium development and business buildings going up (possibly call centers)
• Tiki Bar — a locals' spot
• Sudu Kiln Sizzle Sizzle Resto Bar — under construction
• A bar where she once interviewed foreigners — spots three of them having beer at 2 PM on a Monday
• Mexican food cafe, Shaka (Hawaiian food)
• The Henry — a hotel with restaurants, her favorite filming location; she's done about 80% of her panel interviews there (with Angel and other guests) because of the nice ambiance, seating, breeze, and camera aesthetics

Gyms and exercise ​

• Multi-Fit Gym — the one good gym she used to go to and still visits once or twice a week
• She's shifted more to home cardio and aerobics
• Warning: not all gyms in Dumaguete are air-conditioned, "so you're going to sweat your ass off"
• You can hike (Mount Talinis) or bike, but there are no bike lanes so it's chaotic and unsafe — "people still do that" though
• Notes Christmas decorations are still up in mid-January — "it's still Christmas in the Philippines"

Pedestrian and traffic safety ​

• Watches a woman cross the street without looking: "they don't usually look before they cross"
• Motorbike drivers are the same
• Her assessment of surviving: "I think you'll survive. Barely."

Western products and groceries ​

• BChris — a specialty store selling Western products: cheeses, steaks (Brazilian and American), wine, breakfast cereal, cold cuts, chocolates, nuts
• Pricey but understandably so due to import logistics and freight costs
• One thing she misses from the West: milk — she understands it's not viable to import
• She jokes she "guarantees there are a couple of foreigners shopping right now" inside BChris

Banking for foreigners ​

• Warns it's "quite tricky" to open a bank account as a foreigner
• Conflicting information depending on the day and the person you talk to
• Most banks require an ACR (Alien Certificate of Registration) card
• Some require a one-year visa validity, but the maximum extension is only 6 months — a Catch-22
• Tells a story about a US guy who was able to open an account smoothly because he got to know one of the bank managers — "I guess it depends on who you know"
• Her advice: if she were a foreigner, she'd leave assets in the West because your money is only insured up to $10,000 (about 500,000 pesos), which is not very secure
• Alternatives: ATMs (sometimes not working or out of cash), remittance services like Zoom that charge minimal fees compared to ATM withdrawal fees
• Bottom line: the Philippines is still a cash-based country — always carry a couple thousand pesos, especially in remote areas

Malls ​

• City Mall — one of three malls in Dumaguete, but Pea doesn't consider it a real mall; it's basically a big grocery store (Save More) with a cinema and pharmacy; she rarely goes to the cinema because "what Hollywood is putting out right now" doesn't interest her; takes a shot at the Little Mermaid remake and the upcoming Snow White remake — "they killed my Little Mermaid... it's not looking good"
• Robinson's Mall — the only "actual mall" in Dumaguete; run entirely by Robinson's (Robinson's Supermarket, Pharmacy, Handyman); has Jollibee, Mang Inasal, KFC; has a cinema; has a parking lot (unlike most places) but it still fills up
• Spots one foreigner leaving Robinson's empty-handed — jokes "out of stock, sorry sir"

Conclusion of the foreigner count ​

• After driving around the entire city, visiting the boulevard, downtown, restaurants, and the mall on a weekday, she found only a small handful of foreigners
• Her verdict: "Dumaguete City is not exactly overrun by foreigners — they only make up a small fraction of the population"
• For those who don't want to be surrounded by other expats: "don't go to places where they hang out — there are plenty of places where you'll be the only expat"

📺 Watch the full video on YouTube

🔔 Subscribe to The Filipina Pea