Looking for love?

You'll see them everywhere.

Cebu, being hot, sunny and relatively cheap, offers an attractive and seductive proposition for the western man of a certain age. Looking for a more appealing though no less risky late life crises than a $10,000 Harley, they liquidate their old life and dump the ball and chain for a hormonally fueled Asian adventure.

And for men such as these, that adventure needs to be topped off by a younger – and by that I mean much younger, exotic Asian hottie. If you don’t mind looking like a walking wallet, you can come here and surely find your fantasy.

Even if the last time you saw your six pack was when Michael Jackson (R.I.P.) was black, you’ll soon find yourself pulling faster than Jude Law at a Nanny's convention. Over weight? No problem. Over 60 – or even 70? Welcome aboard! Considered a bit of a minger back home? Not in this city.

And so they come.

And waiting for them in the countless internet cafe's are the thousands of women trawling through the personals looking for a man. They'll be writing and whispering sweet nothings to their 'Jowa' on Skype or Yahoo, even though some of them might have husbands or boyfriends waiting at home. So be careful.

Day after day, night after night, they will scour the ads looking for the lonely and the lovelorn in the hope that one of the men they are chatting to, won't turn out to be another player or sex tourist. For their dream is to find a prize; not physical perfection, but a decent man looking for his second, third or fourth chance in love, that only they can give him.

It’s certainly true that many Asian women are not so looks obsessed as women in the west, and if you have it, a little charm can go a very long way. What would never pass muster back home is not only tolerated here, but so common it barely warrants a second look.

Probably not her dad. SM Supermarket, Cebu

Because Cebuano's have seen couples like these many times before, and what would appear stare worthy back home merits only a withering look, a knowing nod or the briefest passing comment.

Age gaps of 20, 30 or even greater years are nothing out of the ordinary here, and when you look at the age of some of the men with a young Filipina on their arm, you know these girls have chosen to see something that others cannot.

Because I have no doubt that many girls here do have genuine romantic dreams of falling in love with a foreigner, not just to better their lives, but also because their perception - rightly or wrongly - is that foreigners will make better husbands than some vice ridden Filipino men.

Everywhere around me I see these girls, and while a few look like they charge by the hour, others seem happily settled and with their families blessing have had children with these tired but grateful old men.

40 year age gap? In Cebu, nobody's counting.

Whilst indulging my now serious spa habit, the therapist started chatting to me about her 18 year old daughter’s decision to marry a 50 year old American guy. I wasn’t sure whether to wince or congratulate her until I realised that she too, was very uncomfortable with the match. Uncomfortable, but resigned to it.

A Better Life?

And I couldn't help but wonder - are girls like these motivated just by money, material security and the chance of a better life abroad? With the average wage here about 265 pesos a day – that's just £3 – you can see how tempting a much older foreigner who comes with a modest income or pension might be.

In families where there is often only one person working, or just one daughter who has had the investment of a good education, marrying a foreigner can be a shortcut to financial security that everyone can benefit from.

And a new life in America or Europe with all the prospects that a new life could bring appeals much to Filipinos who though “Proud to be Pinoy,” leave the country in search of something better at the rate of around 3,000 a day.

So who I am to judge?

In Hong Kong, most of the 130,000 Filipina women who have gone to work there do so as nannies and domestic helpers even though most will have left family and children back home. So paradoxically, in order to give their own children a decent chance in life, they end up having to bring up somebody else’s.

As I sat in the restaurant at the Waterfront hotel, I couldn’t help noticing a western man, in his 70’s or 80’s, clearly drunk, browsing the buffet with what I later learned was his Filipina fiancee. I'd put her at no older than 30. Probably too old to find work as a bar girl or hostess, but with her allure still very much intact, she had cashed in her looks for dreams of foreign streets paved with possibilities.

And it made me feel incredibly sad that girls like these, whatever their background, seem resigned to throw away their youth and beauty on old men looking for one last throw of the dice that their own countries would never afford them.

But the Philippines is the of home of a million dreamers, enduring a difficult life with grace and good humour whilst daring to hope for something better. It is a land full of exotic women and lonely men who chase their youth, and every day the arrivals lounge brings more.

But a word of warning: If your heart is likely to be stopped by every heart stoppingly beautiful woman you might meet, then avert your eyes from from the Cebuanas seductive smile, or prepare to meet your maker, just moments after stepping off your plane.

Only in the Philippines.