OK, certain things would be considered cheap by US or even developed NE Asian standards. I would say the main ones are maid/servants and taxis. But about everything else sucks.OutWest wrote:The housekeeper is working 6 days a week. I suppose I could get one for less, but I am not interested. there are some housekeepers near us that are being paid about $40 a month for full time, 6 days a week service.The taxi fare includes a small tip as well...ph_visitor wrote:That is still expensive for China, and not everyone is paid or thinking in USDollars.OutWest wrote: In Mindanao I pay:
Housekeeper full tiime- $75 month plus meals
50 Kilos of rice - $35
Perfect haircut with tip $1.50
gardener full time $130 month
Property taxes on decent
middle class level house $80 year.
Doctors office visit $8
Locally produced coffee
roasted whole bean $1.70 lb
taxi ride 2 miles $1.15
Ready to roast Chicken $2.15
However, if you are doing a first visit and you are around Manila, you are getting hosed at every turn.
$75 a month is 475 CNY rmb per month! A housekeeper costs 30 rmb X 4 times a month. Not 120 CNY each week! You are overpaying or the RP is MUCH more expensive than China.
Taxi ride 2 miles. $1.15 is 7 rmb. I pay 5 rmb for the same. So the RP, a much poorer country, costs more.
Haircut with tip. $1.50 USD is 9.5 rmb. I pay 10.
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Buses.
a 4 hour trip in China is 45 CNY or 308 php. My two hour bus ride this week cost 700 php!!!
Really, guys. I feel that I have been lied to, mislead, and told a distorted version of 'the truth'. This has been a truly disappointing experience. A tremendous let down in nearly every way except that the country is very beautiful and warm. I cannot over-emphasize how disappointed I am at this moment.
Prices are translated to USD because most here think in dollars vs Philippines pesos..( 1 USD = about 42 pesos now)
The Philipines is NOT nirvana, but there is a lot better experience to be had than what you have had so far.
Outwest
I stayed out in Cagayan de Oro and even spent some time a couple hours out in the sticks of Mindanao. I had to suffer terrible air (they cook with some sort of charcoal which burns my eyes badly), crappy roads and vehicles, turtle slow Internet, horrible food, constant racket from roosters, often overpriced supplements (melatonin and vitamin E for example) and limited options in pharmacies, lack of good air-con, lack of entertainment options, etc. When you take V-hires out province areas in the hills, you are stuffed into the vehicle like chickens and many drivers barrel down steep wet roads like they are on suicide missions. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that you can live in PI (ex Manila or Cebu) for less than US$1,500, US$1,000, or even much less. But in all cases, your life quality will totally suck if you are used to anything which remotely resembles basic standards available in the west or even NE Asia. If you want anything close, you will either pay dearly for them like some VIP or just not get them.
Rural and urban Thailand, though far from perfect, is so much better in regards to life quality than anything I've ever seen or read about in PI. Re-read some of what Mr. S has written on this topic to get a better sense. He's spent considerable time in both places.
KEY RULE: POOR DOES NOT EQUAL CHEAP! Some examples which bear this out: PI, Kenya, Nigeria, DR, and Haiti.