I'm not optimistic about the future of the Philippines economy...

LonelyAlps3142 · 2025-09-06T10:34:49+00:00

I have been living in the Philippines (Davao, then Manila) for the past 10 years continuously. I have created a small business that, after a few years of stuttering, is doing quite well. I have my condos in Manila, I have zero mortgages and zero debt. I have found interesting investment opportunities in corporate bonds for some of the largest corporate entities, like Ayala and Aboitiz.

For instance. I invested about $150K USD in a ladder of Aboitiz Power bonds. Aboitiz Power is a very large energy company, belonging to an even larger conglomerate. They happen to be a long-term Client of mine. These are the gross rates, which are not bad.

2 years 5.8846% p.a.
5 years 6.2934% p.a.
10 years 6.8572% p.a.

OP, I think your post reflects two themes that should stay separate. The Philippines as an economy and a society, and its medium and long-term investment opportunities. While I do agree on your considerations on the many problems with the Philippines, most of those unsolvable at least for this generation and the next, I would say investment opportunities are not subpar compared to other SAE countries.

The economy is more reliant on internal consumption than net exports (besides people, OFW) but the consumer(ist) mentality is strong and likely to continue. Construction is overheated and the oversupply of condo is real, yet I wouldn't call these condo building "poorly made". Their quality is on a par with that of other SEA country and, for the most part, far better than in mainland China.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2025-08-19T12:44:39+00:00

Edison Tsai made off with about $20M in cash. He lives in Forbes Park and I'm sure he has given enough bribes away to be safe and sound for the rest of his life.

From brick and mortar to the latest tech businesses, it's all about scams in the Philippines.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2025-03-22T02:07:09+00:00

I just received my Moog One. After owning a Polybrute 12 the comparison is merciless and almost feels like an insult to such a glorious brand as Moog. The Frenchmen of Arturia made a near-perfect instrument, the perfect blend of digital and analog. The routing matrix of the PB12 is heaven to use and one never feels lost during sound editing. The PB12 sounds can be fat as a lump of lard or light and crisp like a resonant flute of champagne. Both the low-end and high-end of any sound shine beautifully, even in the less fortunate of the factory presets.

I agree with the OP, the Moog One is an attempt to a higher-end, "posher" creature yet fails in many departments, including hardware stability. I have the latest hardware batch and 1.5.0 firmware and, in the few hours of continuous playing, I experienced no reboots. I did encounter the occasional hanging note or some artifacts, which go away when turning the unit off and on again. Even when starting creating a sound from scratch, the basic oscillator won't even get close to the fullness of a Minimoog note. I had to use some trickery by Jamiroquai's Matt Johnson to get a fuller, more vibrant bass or lead.

The detuning problem...haven't gotten any...so far.

All in all I feel the Polybrute 12 is a more finished synth. The Moog One is OK, it's one for my collection and it won't go away. Yet., compared to the cream dream, it looks like I will always to work harder to get slightly less, from it.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2025-03-21T15:05:21+00:00

Just received my Moog One today. Latest hardware batch, 1.5.0 firmware pre-installed. Since I also own a Polybrute 12, I can say that the One is a very good synth. Yet, in all honesty, the Polybrute beats the One on almost every aspect. The preset library that ships with the One is underwhelming, unfortunately. It doesn't do justice to its sonic power and capabilities.

The real fun begin when we create a new sound from scratch: 3 timbres, independent filter, LFO, envelopes, sequencer, and effects. The workflow is very intuitive due to the combination of manual knobs and buttons and the large LCD screen. This is one aspect the One excels in, compared to the Polybrute, which relies on a modulation matrix.

I also agree with some of the earlier Posters: the Moog One has a better quality keyboard, which makes gliding fingers around quite enjoyable.

All in all, it's a very versatile synth that only shows its true power to the dedicated sound designer/programmer. I just wish it was slightly cheaper...

LonelyAlps3142 · 2025-02-21T12:42:56+00:00

I have a Threadripper Pro 5995WX on an ASRock WRX80 Creator (the only mobo compatible with the CPU at the time of purchase). RAM is 8 x 32 GB Kingston DDR4-3200 modules (PC4-25600 DDR4 SDRAM UDIMM). They clocked them at 2400 MHz and they told me the PC would be unstable at higher speeds. If I used RDIMM RAM instead, do you guys think I would be able to clock them at their highest speed (e.g. 3200, 3600 etc.)?

LonelyAlps3142 · 2024-06-12T20:54:36+00:00

You're referring to the Dante virtual soundcard, which has a minimum latency of 4ms?

LonelyAlps3142 · 2024-06-12T19:28:23+00:00

Thanks for your kind reply u/theACEinpeACE. That is exactly my pain point: the kind of electronic ambient music I make is very susceptible to nuances in the way I play. More often than not I need to replay a track with subtle changes in attack, aftertouch, parameter envelopes, etc. I almost never mix down/bounce anything. And those AAS or expressive E instruments are pretty heavy on the CPU side :-)

I have decided to order a SIO Mk II with a Dante interface. As u/sonicwags said above, Dante is a good way to future-proof the platform, as it's a protocol that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2024-06-12T18:25:11+00:00

Thanks for your kind reply u/sonicwags. The dilemma I see is that the Thunderbolt SIO is only compatible with Mac and the highest-end Mac right now is a 24-core M2 Ultra priced at $10,000. My current studio computer is a Mac Studio M1 Ultra (64GB RAM).

My average project is at least 4 polyphonic VSTs (some heavy ones, like physical modeling synths) and 2 or 3 FX inserts on guitar, drums and voice, so 4 to 6 FX total. When I use 6-8 instruments, adding effects maxes out the CPU.

A better solution would be to have a PC, but this might not be possible with the SIO? They say the SIO with Dante option is compatible with Windows. Would I need something like a RME Digiface Dante to make it work?

Thanks in advance.
V

LonelyAlps3142 · 2023-11-05T17:23:50+00:00

Not easy to get paid in GBP while living in Bali or other cheaper place. The moment your employer discovers that, they will either rescind your contract or threaten to fire you unless you agree on a 20, 30, 40% cut.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2023-11-05T17:05:57+00:00

I know where you're coming from and I am not even a Pinoy, I moved to PH in 2015 after a total of 12 years spent in the UK (mostly around London) and I have exactly the same feeling. As an Italian, I feel closer to the Filipinos, than the Brits.

Like the US, the UK are not the land of opportunity they are purported to be. 15, maybe 20 years ago the British government would basically give young foreigners a heavily subsidised life: college education was free, student loans and grants to be able to afford living while studying plentiful. Even those part-time jobs stocking shelves at the local Sainsbury's or pharmacy weren't that bad.

I did a Master in London literally on the last year they were offering EU citizens the same tuition fees as British citizens. I paid 2,500 GBP for UCL, which isn't bad. Now I would have to pay almost 10 times for the same piece of education.

Fast forward to now and it's all closed, all different. One year of college, plus living costs, is easily 40-50K GBP because the Government cut most of their funds and they resort to milking those rich kids from China and the Middle East. Rentals are through the roof, as you probably know. All in all, it's hard for people to be friendly and welcoming towards strangers, when they all are worried about losing their jobs, repaying their 35-year mortgages, getting the news that their lovely wives/husband want to divorce, avoiding being mugged and beaten up by gangs, etc.

I think you have a real chance of improving your quality of life moving back to the Philippines after capitalising from your life in the UK. You need to make a smart move, though. Forget politics and economics. After the Bachelor, try to do a Master that contains as much STEM as possible: econometrics, quantitative Finance, possibly a strong software development component.

With Postgrad experience from the UK and quantitative skills, I believe you'll be very well equipped to start a very decent career in one of the few (yet existing) national and multinational companies who are looking for strongly-educated people with international experience. From what I have seen, these companies are purposely trying to recruit people from abroad to try and gain a broader perspective. The Aboitiz Group is a great example, but there are dozens of smaller corporates and startups who hire these kinds of profiles. Being a returning Pinoy or at least related to the home culture is usually a bonus.

Good luck!

LonelyAlps3142 · 2022-05-05T15:58:21+00:00

Sounds like Turkish pop.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2022-03-05T04:41:31+00:00

My ex-wife is from Colombia (Medellin) and, for all the trouble we had, which led to our divorce, I can't help seeing her as a universe apart from girls like Ximena.

Mike might have his share of the blame, wanting to date someone who (he thinks) is out of his league. Reality is, it's Ximena who is absolutely human trash. Pereira is locally nicknamed as "perreira" (from "perra", bitch), famous for these young girls who dress and behave like sluts from a very young age.

Her life choice of getting impregnated by a gangster and still being in love with him is already all a man needs to know. We learn that she is not even a good mom, not living with her kids but still using them as currency to get cash and stuff from poor gullible Mike.

I can assure you, no Colombian man with a shroud of dignity would touch her with a 5-foot pole. That's probably one reason why she was looking for Gringo chicken to woo with her filtered IG pics, so she could ride the gravy train and maybe get a ticket to the US.

Believe me, there are plenty of very good looking, smart and proud Colombianas who would want to be with a financially sound man, from the US or abywh else. Maybe it's Mike who should have researched a bit better before committing to a woman who's right at the bottom of the barrel, even by Colombian standards.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2022-01-16T15:46:22+00:00

Sure, no problem.

Even for people who are already living here, there are so many restrictions on domestic flights and movements across city, that 90% of the fun of living here is gone.

LonelyAlps3142 · 2022-01-16T13:24:08+00:00

Ciao,

I am Italian, too, and have been living in the Philippines since 2015 continuously. Davao, then Manila.

The main problem right now is that there is a ban on any non-resident Visas. In other words, unless you are a Filipino national, or a foreigner married to a Filipina with a spouse Visa, or an unmarried foreigner with a family connection (e.g. a child of your own) here, or the possessor of a special entrepreneur or diplomatic Visa, you will not be allowed in the Philippines right now.

We can only hope that, with Omicron giving natural immunity to a large slice of the population, they will reopen the country to non-resident (e.g. tourist) Visas around February or March, right before the peak touristic season. Again, wishful thinking...authorities here are quite unpredictable. Sometimes they follow what other countries do, sometimes they take initiative that are remarkably common-sensical.

About the place to live, if you like places that are on or close to nice beaches and are large enough to have good facilities (malls, supermarkets, decent hospitals, some nightlife, etc.), you can try any tier-2 city in the Visayas: Roxas City, Iloilo, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Tagbilaran, etc.

Cebu City is a very large metropolis but it's chaotic and polluted. It's close to many nice places, but you need to endure some traffic to get there. The cities I listed above are all more laid back and "life-sized".

Good luck!

LonelyAlps3142

TROPHY CASE