Republic of the Philippines Not as it Seems

Discuss culture, living, traveling, relocating, dating or anything related to the Asian countries - China, The Philippines, Thailand, etc.
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Seeker
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Post by Seeker »

If you find pinays so damn ugly you may as well go back to China.

Most Filipinas are average looking, some are good looking, a minority are ugly. If you find them ugly then you just don't like their looks so I don't see why you're so mystified about people having different tastes to you. I've been to Korea, China and Japan, and only Japanese women really stood out for their looks. I'm sure you're no model yourself.

As for prices, were you really expecting to stay like a Western tourist on a cheap budget?
ph_visitor
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Post by ph_visitor »

Seeker wrote:If you find pinays so damn ugly you may as well go back to China.

Most Filipinas are average looking, some are good looking, a minority are ugly. If you find them ugly then you just don't like their looks so I don't see why you're so mystified about people having different tastes to you. I've been to Korea, China and Japan, and only Japanese women really stood out for their looks. I'm sure you're no model yourself.

As for prices, were you really expecting to stay like a Western tourist on a cheap budget?
I was expecting to stay like a CHINESE tourist in China. Little did I know that Hong Kong is cheaper in many ways. I did not expect a poorer country to be more expensive.

My flight returns to China in a few days.

I am looking forward to it very much.

The RP is good if you want to lay in the sun on a beach. It's a cheaper version of Bali or Tahiti, but I can stay in China hotels and restaurants for 1/5th the cost, and I can eat cheap healthy food every day that does not cause diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

Noodle dishes, vegetable vinegar dishes and a plate of meat with veggies won't be more than 20 Yuan unless you want to eat at the most expensive places. All over China you can eat for that price. 5 to 10 Yuan per meal, a healthy, hearty meal.

That's 30 to 60 php, and that price point doesn't exist here.
Healthy Pilipino food doesn't exist at ALL unless you eat 500 peso meals.

Sure, if you want to travel like a tourist in the RP you can but China and Hong Kong are cheaper.

Clearly, Pilipinos have taken the colonial mindset to heart as they do everything to appease visitors, up to and including having western cuisine everywhere, and marrying any white foreigner.
Seeker wrote:If you find pinays so damn ugly you may as well go back to China.
...and it is this attitude of those on this list, and Americans in general, that really sours me on current society.

This will-to-power, I don't care about anyone else, f**k You, I won't help you attitude is horrific.

You guys all think everyone online is young and healthy and just like you and you have ZERO tolerance or acceptance of anyone not like yourself.

This is the PUA attitude working its way into the rest of society, and this is your fault by being the selfish jerks you are and then bringing this to the rest of the planet.

Sit and think for 10 minutes what your counterpart will be like in 20-40 years when you are in my position and you converse online with some young asshole. They will be even more rude, more indifferent, more hostile, more insensitive, more uncaring.

That's the world you are creating for yourself.

Good Luck,
zboy1
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Post by zboy1 »

Clearly, Pilipinos have taken the colonial mindset to heart as they do everything to appease visitors, up to and including having western cuisine everywhere, and marrying any white foreigner.
Yes, I agree that Filipinos out of all the Asian races are way too Western oriented and self-haters in general; they worship anything white and western, and lack any sense of cultural pride and heritage. They essential have no real culture to speak of--of course, that's because of Western imperialism and subjugation--but that's another topic.
Seeker
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Post by Seeker »

Look at you accusing ME of being rude when you've called pinays ugly in every other post in this thread. How many times do we need to hear that you find Filipinas ugly? "So ugly that I can't look them in the eye". That says more about you than it does about them. The Philippines IS cheap when compared to Western countries, nobody said it was cheap compared to China or other countries in the region.
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Winston
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Post by Winston »

Check this out. I wonder why these expats make the Philippines sound like such a cheap place to live? Are we missing something?

http://philippines-living.com/topic/liv ... hilippines
Living A Simple and Meaningful Family Life in The Philippines
Submitted by First Sergeant on Sat, 01/10/2009 - 17:13
in

The Expat Experience

A Week From My Notes From 2005: Living A Simple Life with my Family

Today, 30 April 2005, I took my five children (12,9,8,4,2), my wife, two maids, and nine other neighbors, children, and cousins, total of 18 people, to the Rock Springs River Resort in Jasaan, about 25K east of our home in Cagayan de Oro.

The mountain resort has three stream fed swimming pools. Entrance fee is P20 per person = P360. Two cabanas on the wooded terrace overlooking the main pool were P100 each.

The food we brought with us, rice, chicken, spaghetti, pancit canton, stewed beef, 1/2 case of beer, and 3 gal of orange drink added P650 to our/my expenses.

I donated P50 to the pay for play kareoke machine for the singers/dancers, and another P50 for ice cream bars for the kids.

Total expenses were P1,350 (including ice). It came to exactly $25 for the day, for 18 people. (I remember, 10+ years ago, spending $150 for a dinner for two, incl wine, brandy, and Cherries Jubilee.)

Today was the day I watched my four year old jump off a diving board for the first time. And after a ten minute temper tantrum, which he won, my two year old followed his brother off the board.

They spent the rest of the afternoon trying to outdo each other, and follow their older brothers.

(To be honest, they will be three and five in July.)

Hopefully, tomorrow, Sunday, will be a day of rest. Because on Monday, we are meeting a friend at another river resort for a day of water sports. ( I don't think I could handle another "first" from a two or four year old.)

Wednesday will be the ex-pat meeting, and Sunday, the twice monthly ex-pat beach party.

How was YOUR day today, 30 April, 2005?

2 May 2005. My family, and two other ex-pat families went to a place on the river we had never been before. Entry fee, P20 per vehicle. We brought with us, beer, watermelon, soft drinks, rice, chicken, spaghetti, and several beef and pork dishes.

The village was getting ready for a fiesta. Four pigs,two goats, and a huge quantity of chickens were gutted in the river.

The children went wading and swimming, and three of the older ones, led by my nine year old, enjoyed crossing the river on the three- strand rope bridge.

Total cost per family for the day's outing; P300. ($5.50)

How was your day today, 2 May 2005?

(I just checked my calendar. In eight days, 30 April-8 May, my family and I attended 5 events, shared with 105 people in our group of ex-pats, families, and friends. Total cost was $51.00.

The pace will slacken, once school starts again in June.)
http://philippines-living.com/topic/wha ... hilippines
As former US Peace Corps
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/05/2009 - 03:03.

As former US Peace Corps staff, former owner of my own company in the US. I only have a small pension, a little social security and some savings. But I am living in good style, on a budget, with hospitable people who speak English. I do feel like a king. And, I am putting away a few dollars every month.

My two live in maids cost $35 per month, and of course their food. Having maids make me feel like a king and take all the mundane chores out of my life. Actually, they are more like daughters. My Filipina wife enjoys the freedom from housework and errands as much as I do, and the maids appreciate their jobs, and us.

I pay $160 for a small three bedroom, three bath house, with a nice yard that the maids keep up with the help of the neighborhood kids. It is in the university area of Cebu City, the Paris of the Philippines, where the mountains meet the sea. The land of scuba diving and beaches, rain forest wandering and night club hopping. There are excellent hospitals nearby. My next door neighbor is a MD, her husband, an engineer. They are not rich, but the neighborhood is mostly professional, upper middle class. Houses in big guarded subdivisions with swimming pools can be had for about $1,000 per month, but besides the cost, I like the friendliness of the people in the more modest neighborhoods. Finding a house like mine as such a good price will take a month, maybe, but you could get lucky and find one in a day.

Public transportation is great in Cebu City, a city of about 500,000 hospitable souls. The Philippines is the only English speaking Christian country in Asia, so communicating with the driver is not a problem. Taxis are air-conditioned, new, and readily available. You can go to anywhere in town for $2.00 and a long trip to the airport is about $5.00. Make that even less with the recent continued devaluation of the peso. Yesterday I went to visit a friend and my taxi fair was 25 pesos. I gave him 30 pesos, .75 US cents. He chased me when I got out of the car to give me the change, about .10 cents. He could not understand why such a big tip, or a tip at all. I guess I am just a spendthrift. I do not recommend buying or driving a car here. BTW, today's peso rate was 43 to 1 US dollar.

Jeepneys are the way most people travel. They are lokal (local) ornate or gaudy, depending on your taste, jeep style vehicles that carry from 16 to 18, on each side in the back. Two ride with the driver. They have flags, decorations, colors, family and nicknames, logos, mud flaps, and other ornaments covering them. And even altars on the dashboards. The shotgun seat is best and reserved for the disabled. You can travel across the whole city for about .05 US cents. Jeepneys are harder to get at rush hour, though there is not too much rush here. Have you heard of Filipino time? Jeepney travel is a good way to meet a lot of nice local folks. They do love Americans and all foreigners here, perhaps to a fault. You can do no wrong, if you are a guest in their country. Jeepneys and taxis are safe. In fact Cebu City is a lot safer generally than most places I have lived in the States. You can walk the streets at 2:00 in the morning and have no problems, male or female, in almost all parts of the city.

I got a haircut and short massage yesterday from my best barber in his air- conditioned shop for .75 cents. My dentist has put caps on my teeth for $65 per cap. He practiced in the States, Century City, as a cosmetic dentist for five years and brought all his equipment back with him. That is why he is so high, compared to other dentist here, he says. I can't let him know how outrageously low I feel his prices are, now can I? A face lift, the works, eyes up and down included, is about $4,000 including three day stay in a quality hospital and the many costly tests required prior to qualifying for this elective procedure. Airfares are low here, so if one is considering dental work or cosmetic surgery, they could save a bundle just coming here for that work. The saving would more than pay for the airfare and other expenses in most cases. Now if you are only going to have one gold heart implanted in a tooth, it may not be a good idea. But I don't know recent US dental prices. It may pay.

There are two major shopping malls here with almost everything you can get in the States. Some of the imported good are higher priced but some are lower. Books, reprints for sale only in the Philippines, can be very cheap. There are the local markets that are more "old Filipino" in nature where a lot of bargaining goes on. At the malls the prices are fixed price. The local markets are much more colorful, but you have to be a skilled negotiator to survive. Southeast Asians are known for their bargaining skills.

If you get crazy for American food it is all here, from McDonald's to the Marriott Hotel's best restaurant I have ever eaten in. The Hyatt is pretty good too. Radio Shack is here, and other discount US retailers have just gotten permission to move in, including banks. There are Casinos, all the latest movies (movies are about a dollar for the best, in English) and thousands of computer diskettes for just a couple of dollars, though not quite legal, I understand. Playstation games are less than $1.00 but only run on the 220 voltage. I trained one of my maids who was formerly a cook for a group of Japanese students how to cook American. She is excellent. And I get my hot whole wheat bread fresh from the oven every day.

Filipino men are very handsome and romantic. The women are beautiful and a delight to be around. Nightlife is fantastic and cheap. I guess the Philippines is known for that, more than anything else is. I don't so much nightlife because I married one of these beauties seven years ago. She is the best thing that has happened in my life, next to moving here.

Universities abound in Cebu. It is an excellent place to get a very cheap but good education. You may know of the many Filipino MD's, nurses, CPA's, lawyers, etc. working the States on their Filipino credentials after taking a state test of certification. The courses here are geared to US requirements. Computer schools have sprung up everywhere in the last few years. A private tutorial on Corel Draw or PhotoShop or some such by a local computer school teacher, is about $50 if they come to your home: about $5.00 less if you go to them. Language lessons, if you want to learn just about any foreign language can be had for about $1.00 per hour.

There are some political and economic problems, but they do not seem to be a threat to me here in Cebu. All of that seems as about as remote to me as the States. All I know is the peso continues to weaken and the dollar gets stronger every time some radical group makes a bomb scare in Manila. I do not recommend even visiting Manila. It is dirty, expensive and unfriendly, compared to the rest of the Philippines. This isolated violence, mostly in Manila and a large island far to the south, Mindano, is recent and hopefully short lived.
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Winston
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Post by Winston »

ph visitor,
Where do you find cheap hotels in China? A guy here named Xiongmao said that hotels there were about $30 a night. How do you find cheaper than that? Any tips? Are they advertised online? Or do you ask taxi drivers?

I heard that taxis in China were expensive at 7 RMB a kilometer.

What about train prices? How much and for what class of compartment?
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Post by Mr S »

Any info about Philippines that is more than a year old is probably off the mark in regards to prices. Inflation is out of control here, even though the government says it isn't. But I can see the price increases in restaurants and grocery store. Mainly anything tied into food or nightlife like beer and liquor, the prices seem to be going up quite drastically. So don't believe prices posted about the Philippines that's over a year old. Personally, prices seem to be going up quarterly, so a few pesos over a year can ad up to an extra 10-20 pesos on any given product or service.

I don't know how the locals are coping with the price changes, but it doesn't seem to phase their junk food eating habits. I still see them piling into McDonalds, KFC, Jolly Bee, Etc. I don't know why cause the amount these places charge now does not equate to proper value. Like for instance KFC's bucket meal here is now almost 900 pesos! In just a few years it went from between 500-600P pesos to 900, and nearing 1000! I'm not going to pay those prices, but somebody is?! I would think there would be a limit as to how much the companies can inflate prices here and get away with it, but I guess not. Either the people going to these places get money sent to them from overseas or they just don't watch their spending habits and don't care about the price increases enough to boycott these places.

You can still find cheaper places to eat at the food court of malls. Usually you can get a Filippino or Asian meal for under 150 pesos, but quality will vary. If you eat at an "established" restaurant, your looking to pay between 250-500 pesos for a meal depending on what you order. Foreigner owned restaurants catering to expats and tourists will often times purchase imported foods or buy higher quality local stuff so their prices will be higher. Look at spending between 300-600 pesos for a full course meal. I think most of the tourists or expats going to Philippines can afford these prices so they pay them. PI is not really a back packer friendly destination anymore, maybe over 10 years ago but not anymore. So you can't really travel on the cheap unless you stick to the smaller provincial cities and stay in real dives or dumps, probably equivalent or worse than what you would find in back packer type places in India. Roaches and Shitty bathrooms, beds, stuff like that. If you want to stay in decent places nowadays you have to spend between 30-50 dollars a night, unless you want to down grade and stay in lower end Filipino style places which are typically crappy in my opinion. Even those places are overpriced, now going for at least $15 dollars a night, usually closer to $20. So one needs to spend at least 800-1000 pesos more on a lower end Filipinos style quality room or 1200+Pesos a night for a better quality room that may still be kinda shitty in comparison to other countries prices.

As I stated before the Philippines is slowly going down hill not upwards. Although the locals don't really notice, those that travel probably do. Going to the Philippines is not really of much use anymore if you are trying to save money. For me there are much better places in Asia now for that. IT's still okay for romping around with younger woman, but even they are not as plentiful as just a few years back. Oh well, maybe it's time for those who once enjoyed the PHilippines to find a new place...
Last edited by Mr S on January 28th, 2012, 7:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, 121-180 A.D.
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Post by Repatriate »

Mr S wrote:
I don't know how the locals are coping with the price changes, but it doesn't seem to phase their junk food eating habits. I still see them piling into McDonalds, KFC, Jolly Bee, Etc. I don't know why cause the amount these places charge now does not equate to proper value. Like for instance KFC's bucket meal here is now almost 900 pesos! In just a few years it went from between 500-600P pesos to 900, and nearing 1000! I'm not going to pay those prices, but somebody is?! I would think there would be a limit as to how much the companies can inflate prices here and get away with it, but I guess not. Either the people going to these places get money sent to them from overseas or they just don't watch their spending habits and don't care about the price increases enough to boycott these places.
There's probably a simple economic explanation for that. A great proportion of the Philippine's gdp per capita (if you subtract out oligarch wealth) relies on remittances from abroad. So relatives send money back to the Philippines and their worthless douchebag relatives waste it on fast food, handbags, drink, and that sort of thing. The elite who control distribution, agribusiness, and local franchising just continue to jack up prices higher and higher because the "poor" can and will still pay because of the foreign money from abroad. Eventually this will be catastrophic because there are a lot of people without relatives abroad making money. They are forced into an even lower standard of living.

This is a country where people find it acceptable to boil leftover trash to feed their citizens and there is little to no moral outrage about these things. That should tell you something right there.
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Post by Winston »

Mr S,
But those trip reports were from expats in Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro. Perhaps things are still cheaper down there? They certainly are cheaper than in Manila or AC.
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Mr S
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Post by Mr S »

Winston wrote:Mr S,
But those trip reports were from expats in Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro. Perhaps things are still cheaper down there? They certainly are cheaper than in Manila or AC.
Like I said, In the bigger cities the prices are still high. You have to go outside the cities to the small provincial towns to get lower prices, but most expats or tourists don't do that unless they are familiar with the Philippines already. Prices are out of control here, all over PI now. Like for instance a bag of Lays potato chips used to be under 100 pesos a year ago, now it is 114 Pesos!, so it went up at least 15 pesos in a year. I just went to Davao and went to one of the grocery stores, yes prices are a little cheaper than in Manila but not by much, only by 5 pesos or less depending on the item. Any imported product is still artificially high, but people with money will pay cause they want the higher quality. Most locally produced food here sucks in comparison.

Those reports are old too, they are from 2009. So prices have risen a lot since then.
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Post by Dogboy86 »

My budget for food in the states is throught the roof as well. The cost of fuel drives it up here and once up it rarely drops. I can't see a bag of lays potato chips made in the states being any cheaper in the Philippines than it is here. Maybe I'm mistaken in my thinking...
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Post by OutWest »

Winston wrote:Mr S,
But those trip reports were from expats in Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro. Perhaps things are still cheaper down there? They certainly are cheaper than in Manila or AC.
Food prices are somewhat cheaper in Mindanao. The price of food in restaurants is of note, but can you imagine what it would cost in the
states if you ate out every meal? Typically if one has an apartment or house in most places, they buy their food in grocery stores.If they want
a supermarket type place like Gaisano, or better yet by far, is to buy food in the plentiful markets, especially the early morning markets.
If you have a housekeeper, that is all taken care of anyway, and she gets the best price. The Outwest Cafe, aka my kitchen, serves delicious meals at cheap prices!


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Mr S
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Post by Mr S »

Dogboy86 wrote:My budget for food in the states is throught the roof as well. The cost of fuel drives it up here and once up it rarely drops. I can't see a bag of lays potato chips made in the states being any cheaper in the Philippines than it is here. Maybe I'm mistaken in my thinking...
I was just using an example off the top of my head cause I've been shocked as to how fast the price of Lays has gone up in recent months. I occasionally buy them cause all the other local brands have MSG or are way over priced cause they are imported from the States. The Lays available in Philippines are made in Malaysia so may be slightly cheaper than state costs but still more than local cause they are imported from another Asian country.

They never drop prices here in PI either. Like for instance they built a new Pure Gold in my area which competes with Shopwise and Ever Go-Tesco. Now you would think at least one of these places would lower prices to attract more customers that may be off-set because of the new grocery store. But no, They all colluded with each other and raised prices across the board! f***ing assholes! If I go down the rd a few KM's to a different store the prices are slightly cheaper. So this was a deliberate attempt to take advantage of the locals in the area. The few Chinese-Filipino families that own all the big businesses here do not compete fairly under a true capitalist system, they collude with each other and keep prices all the same across the board no matter what store you go into. So people shopping at SM stores will see the exact same prices at Ayala stores like Landmark. It's ridiculous here. They also push out any attempt at a foreign owned big box business from opening their doors in PI as well, cause they know they could never compete properly with a Walmart or IKEA for example. So the locals and expats that live here are stuck with lower quality stores that sell low end products in comparison to neighboring SE asian countries.
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher, 121-180 A.D.
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Post by davewe »

OutWest wrote:
Winston wrote:Mr S,
But those trip reports were from expats in Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro. Perhaps things are still cheaper down there? They certainly are cheaper than in Manila or AC.
Food prices are somewhat cheaper in Mindanao. The price of food in restaurants is of note, but can you imagine what it would cost in the
states if you ate out every meal? Typically if one has an apartment or house in most places, they buy their food in grocery stores.If they want
a supermarket type place like Gaisano, or better yet by far, is to buy food in the plentiful markets, especially the early morning markets.
If you have a housekeeper, that is all taken care of anyway, and she gets the best price. The Outwest Cafe, aka my kitchen, serves delicious meals at cheap prices!


Outwest
Do you need reservations for the Outwest Cafe?

This is the way I'd do it in many third world countries; have a cook or housekeeper. Cheaper than restaurants and sure as hell better than my cooking.
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Post by Dogboy86 »

Mr. S I understand you were using an example as was I. I have a very high level of respect for those of you here living abroad and taking the time to help those of us still in the U.S.

The Outwest grill sounds delightful...
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