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A few observations on life out here (quite long)

Discussion in 'Life in the Philippines' started by subseastu, Jan 4, 2015.

  1. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    After spending a fair bit of time out here over the last 17 years I’ve come up with a few observations. Some will be tongue in cheek other not so much. They are purely my own observations and obviously you may not agree with one, some, all of them. Please educate me in that case.

    Filipinos are some of the most resilient, hardy, happy, cheerful, warm, friendly people I’ve ever met. This is of course a broad sweeping statement. To say that all Filipinas are loving, caring, sweet, careful with money, family orientated is of course completely ridiculous. Everyone is different as an individual but as a group the majority take over. Have your eyes open if you are embarking on a relationship. There are bad people here just as there are elsewhere in the world.

    The Philippines is one of the nicest / beautiful places on the planet.

    Corruption at all levels of office is rife, this can work to your advantage at a local level but anything above that and it has a detrimental effect on the country and population as a whole (see last years earthquake and typhoons of how the government has (not) handled it leaving the people to fend for themselves and rebuilding to the charities).

    The Church, see point above. Has massive influence over a huge amount of the population and government policy (though maybe not as much these days but the damage is done) that most of the population is living at or below the bread line.

    Poverty. Its everywhere and its heart breaking. Down I think the church telling young couples that they will go to hell unless they have at least 5 kids, also down to the lack of available contraception and advice on family planning. The main point of this though is you will see wooden shacks next to impressive churches, car dealerships, malls etc. People sleep where they can and eat what they can. You will need to develop a thick skin.

    Filipinos as soon as they start moving, either it be by foot, bike, scooter, motorbike, tricycle, jeepney, car, truck (hopefully not plane) have absolutely no spatial awareness!!! They will start, stop, turn as if they are the only people on the planet.

    Fruit and seafood out here is great, meat on the other hand is another problem. If you are willing to pay for import you can get reasonable beef. I’ve not had good pork in all my years here. You can’t go wrong with chicken. Be aware that everything is generally massively over cooked as well which is generally down to the misconception that is needs to be dry as a bone to kill any germs!

    Hope you like rice.

    The exchange rate and inflation (approx. 6% at present I believe) is starting to mean that its not the cheap exotic option it once was. Especially true if you like a few home comforts and buy imported goods.
    Building out here is full of pitfalls and no longer cheap. Quality of materials and workmanship varys massively but is generally poor unless you pay top dollar. You have to be on their case at ALL times as you will be fobbed off with inferior materials at over the top prices. This is only natural as you will be seen as the wealthy white monkey.

    Due to the general standard of materials here house maintenance is near year round as things will start to fall apart within a couple of years, unless of course you’ve paid for import materials which means you’ll get 3 years, lol. This is generally down to the high humidity out here, things start to rot.

    Do not in any circumstance get involved financially with a filippino (outside of your wife etc of course). Regardless of what you think you’ve agreed for repayment they will see it as a gift and treat it as such.
    If you search it out and get a little lucky there are some truly amazing places out here for the scenery and cracking, cheap places to stay.

    I never brought a car out here as it wasn’t really needed but if you do want one, do proper in depth research and be aware that most forms of transport out here fall well short of EU standards for maintenance.

    Research the areas you’re thinking of living in carefully. Be aware of crime (burglary), security of the house, flooding risk, Noise – tricycles, dogs, cockerels. Proper rental agreement (I’ve rarely received our rental bond back here, landlords use it to paint the house ready for the next occupant, though more likely go on the piss with it!!).

    Transport here is generally cheap though air travel is now fairly expensive and on par with internal UK flights from the ones I’ve experienced. You still get the 1 or 10php sales but these disappear nearly instantly. Expect to be delayed as a matter of course.

    Don’t drink the water.

    Don’t drink the really cheap local rhum or gin. It’ll make you blind!!!

    Philippines is the home of imitation, be aware if you are buying clothes, electronics etc.

    Filipinos love music and while most bands don’t produce anything original there covers are normally very good.

    The weather is getting more mixed over the last +10 years or so the line between wet and dry season is getting more blurred. By aware of typhoon season and where you are in relation to expected paths.

    Queues – there are non, as people will just walk in front of you. If you do the same though you will get tutted at a lot and sworn at in tagalog under their breath.

    Banking here is akin to 1960’s UK, very slow and basic.

    Why have one person doing a job that you can use 5 for? Most jobs here are massively labour intensive which is good for getting people in work but also means that wages are kept low.

    I think that about covers the main points of life out here though I've probably missed out a fair bit. Mostly warnings it seems but then that’s what makes life easier in new places I think.
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  2. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    Forgot a couple more.

    The roads are absolutely shocking

    If you thought british TV was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet!!
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  3. aposhark
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    aposhark Well-Known Member Lifetime Member

    Good posts, subseastu.

    Regarding living in the Philippines, I think the negatives outweigh the positives, especially if children are in the equation.
    Unless someone has enough money to pay for good education, health insurance, good car etc. Even then I still think I would start to resent being there after a while.
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  4. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    The biggest mistake with living in any country is taking your home country attitude with you. Clearly this is a very hard thing not to do, but my wife now doesn't particularly like being here full time after living in the UK and seeing what a country can / should be like. If you come here and adapt like a local then I suppose you can have a great time but as you say when kids are involved I suppose it'll be different. If you want something reasonable for your kids you will have to pay.....a lot, for them to get an education that is acceptable elsewhere in the world.

    I must say though regarding cars, I've never seen so many new cars on the road here! There must be some cracking finance deals at the dealerships.
  5. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    The Philippines is a great example of a country that could be so much more but due to political / powerful families here who have only their own selfish interests at heart I believe it will never improve significantly for the average person here. Most will be forced to eek out an existence living on a day to day, hand to mouth life. The trouble is as well is its so engrained in most people here that its just an accepted way of things.

    Of course the Philippines isn't the only country like this, most developing countries in Asia, Africa and s. america are the same. The wealth is held by a very small proportion of the population and its never filtered down to the masses. Its just sad, and as I've mentioned before the governments complete lack interests to help any of its people in the last 18 months of natural disasters has been the last straw for me.

    Never say never of course, we may retire here. A lot can happen in global economics in 15-25 yrs and the Phils rides well on Chinas coat tails but their boom won't / can't last.
  6. Methersgate
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    Methersgate Well-Known Member Lifetime Member

    "Aid is money given by poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries" - a Filipina friend, long ago.

    I am currently in Canlaon City, pop 50k or so, in the boondocks (pun intended) of Negros, thinking if I could retire here. Cheaper and simpler than my first choice which would be where you are now.
  7. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    Agree with that first statement.

    If you can adapt to the simpler life out here without the need for more first world goods / food then go for it, I would suggest an extended period out there, but of course you know that. My problem is travel out here as well, its painful at the best of times and even though I'm in and out of manila only every 4 weeks I hate it. I thought I could adapt but can't, maybe that will change with age when I know hopefully my attitudes change and I realise I don't need half as much crap as what I have now. Most weirdly is the fact the wife after 10 years in the UK and now 15 months out really misses the UK! I thought I'd struggle to convince her it was time to go back but she jumped at it.
  8. Anon220806
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    Anon220806 Well-Known Member

    My wife isnt in a hurry to re establish a life in the Philippines. She seems to want to remain in the UK.

    I have said before that the husband of my wifes friend spent some 14 years living in the Philippines. He has been a rig mechanic /drilling mechanic supervisor doing 5 weeks on the rig and 5 weeks in the Philippines for that time. Until 3 years ago when he and his Filipina wife moved to Lincoln and then the IOM. He / they have no intention of going back to live there.

    He is full of stories about the Philippines. They are mainly funny but not funny. His wife cringes when he tells them but more out of embarassment that she is from the Philippines. My wife laughs when she hears them. She says that what he says is all true. It is exactly how he says it is, she tells me. There is a air of futility about his opinion of the Philippines. He says that it never changes ( issues / difficulties ) and is relentless. And thats what drove him / them to upsticks. One of the biggest problems, from what he says, is being white.

    A fourteen year stint is a fair old crack at it. One cannot say he didnt give it a go, and some. And he certainly did not isolate himself and was well established in the community he lived in.

    I agree. You dont have to have set foot in the Philippines to know it. It isnt so different in many ways to some other countries around the world. Once you have been in some of them, then you are well briefed on what you will encounter in the Philippines. Granted, each country across the globe will be unique, but there is commonality between many.
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2015
  9. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    That is true but the main issue is one's ability to adapt to the new country isn't it. Things do work out here of a fashion but not as they do in the UK and its one's ability to accept this is whether you can live here or not. Most Filipinas become embarrassed of tales of their homeland when they've lived elsewhere (more developed countries) because they see how it can be done. But that's the thing, a lot of Filipinas move to more developed countries than here and so when they hear tales from their spouses its bound to be embarrassing to a degree even though all Filipinos know it true, to an extent.

    Buy a house in a secure posh sub-division in Makati or area of Cebu and in truth you could probably have a very nice life here. I know a few guys that have done it and would never in a million years consider going back to the UK and look at me daft when I say we're off.

    Maybe if I'd sold up lock stock in the UK and made a proper go of it out here knowing we wouldn't be able to run back to the UK when we wanted to it may have been different. In MY mind this was always going to be a temporary thing and I treated it as such. Temporary for how long? I don't know, 4 yrs maybe. I think because I know we where going back I think I treated this as a very expensive holiday.

    At the end of the day EVERYONE is different and has different expectations so in a nutshell its summed up by

    Horses for courses
  10. aposhark
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    aposhark Well-Known Member Lifetime Member

    It is much harder for my wife to look after the kids in UK compared to Phils where she would have much more help from family and friends.
    People can sometimes moan about anywhere they live. I have asked my wife many times if she wants to go back to Cebu but she always says "no".
    If we were married without kids the decision could be different, so we will wait until our kids are out of school before we decide but I will be in my 70's then and there will be other factors to take into account, Stu.
    It seems like we all have to try to enjoy as much as we can the things that are in our hands in the present as we consider things that may be in the future.
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2015
  11. Maharg
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    Maharg Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Too right. My wife's family, cousins etc had about 4 houses before the typhoon. After it, there was one house left standing so they have sisters, cousins and about 10 kids all in one Nipa hut.

    There was a small amount of financial assistance given to their village recently. they received - nothing! The reason given was that they have two daughters in Europe so they don't need it.

    If you scratch the surface slightly there is a lot of original music there, and bands doing their own stuff. There's a whole "Pinoy Rck" thing going on, and it's pretty good. I've been to proper gigs there and it's good stuff, very much akin to the British Indie scene.

    My own particular favourite from there that I've heard would be Imago, who are a very good band.
  12. Dave_E
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    Dave_E Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Never been able to find a decent "Chicken Tikka Masala" in the Philippines.
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  13. Anne
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    Anne Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Sad but oh so true...:oops:

    Didn't know such dish until I got here and I like it...:like:
  14. Timmers
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    Timmers Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    My wife too enjoys Indian food very much, Indian food is now the most widely eaten food in the UK, lovely.
  15. aposhark
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    aposhark Well-Known Member Lifetime Member

    Why not get the ingredients and make it yourself?
    A good Indian cookbook would set you right.

    Or fly over to Singers and binge out at "Banana Leaf Curry House" as I believe you live in that general area.
    Malaysia is full of good places to eat Indian.
    That always does the trick :D

    Joking aside, is there no Indian restaurant near where you go in Phils?
  16. Markham
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    Markham Guest

    There is an Indian store across from the Hindu Temple near Ayala Mall, Cebu City, where you can buy Indian spices and other culinary accoutrements and there used to be an Indian restaurant in that area also but it closed a few years ago. Too few English customers, probably!
  17. Dave_E
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    Dave_E Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    I can't get the same quality making it myself, I have tried back in the UK.
    A decent place will use a Tandoor to cook the chicken and bake the Nan bread
    Chilli Con Carne is far easier to make at home.
    Not been to the Philippines for a while, I had a superb Chicken Tikka Masala with Garlic Chilli Nan bread here in Ho Chi Minh city this evening. :D

    I remember that there was a decent Indian cafe just along N Escario St from the Golden Peak hotel, very spicy, almost lethal, but it closed six or seven years ago I guess.
  18. Anon04576
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    Anon04576 Well-Known Member

    Theres an Indian at the back of Mango unfortunately it was the beginning of the night on the beer so I didn't get to sample. It looked pretty authentic that's why it stuck in my mind.
  19. subseastu
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    subseastu I'm Bruce Wayne Lifetime Member

    Same with my wife as well. All of their houses where completely wiped out the other week. Luckily the Barangay captain is a nice woman and went to get aid for the whole village regardless of who is connected to what family. Saying that all they received was 2 tins of sardines, half sack of rice and some noodles per family. No other assistance.
  20. knightstrike
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    knightstrike Well-Known Member

    What year did you come to the Philippines?

    If you had arrived before 2009, you could have visited Prince of Jaipur in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Manila. It was touted before as one of the best Indian restaurants here in the Philippines. The owner Max Talreja (who is back in India now), is quite a character! Warm and well-spoken, he'll tell you stories about Indian history, royalty, culture.

    Plus he sometimes used to play Indian music back in his restaurant/club.

    I enjoy Indian food by the way, especially Gulab Jamun and Kerala Beef Curry!
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