The Different World Of The Philippines

[expatuk2014]

17 hours ago, Jake said:

You should be grateful Expat UK.  Your flowers are in full bloom thanks to my fresh fertilizer.....he, ,he.

I know Filipinos dont throw anything away ! we even have 2 old pc cases as pot stands, and 3 old tyres that were floating in the bay are tree bases my wife amazes me every day

[DaveB]

I'm a newly arrived ex-pat.  Though I've travelled here a lot over the years. my wife and I are now embarked on settling in to retire here.  I've had a lot of opportunities to shake my head and chuckle at how the Filipinos figure out how to solve a problem by using whatever they have handy.  Yesterday, I experienced resourcefulness I just have to share.

My  bother in law drove my wife down to the San Fernando Pampanga civil government enclave yesterday to get her driver's license.  All three of us were wearing the Philippine national uniform: t-shirts, chinellas, and shorts.  The guard at the entry denied us entrance - because we weren't wearing pants.  So...another tap dance with a Philippine bureaucracy's penchant for last minute information.  Oh darn...gotta come back tomorrow.

As we were standing outside the compound chuckling, this thought popped in my brother in law's head.  He approached one of the traffic directors outside and asked if we could rent some pants.  Yep...three vendor booths down the road is a lady who rents pants.  She pulled out a big plastic Hefty garbage bag full of the things, my brother in law and wife got a pair each, paid 50 pisos rental, pulled them on over their shorts, and then were granted admittance to apply for her driver's license.  My wife was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Two things fascinated me about this.  1.  How did my brother in law get the thought, out of the blue, to even ask the question?  2.  I am amazed at the lady who recognized a market niche and filled it.  Entrepreneurial genius.

Only in the Philippines.

[Guy F.]

Long pants and shoes, not sandals, are required at many government offices.

[DaveB]

25 minutes ago, Guy F. said:

Long pants and shoes, not sandals, are required at many government offices.

OK...but you gotta hand it to the lady who figured out she could make 50 pisos renting them out.

[RBM]

10 hours ago, DaveB said:

OK...but you gotta hand it to the lady who figured out she could make 50 pisos renting them out.

Very normal, at the Justice department here there is a guy with a large cardboard box full of dress for this purpose. He is just beside the entrance.

[DaveB]

4 minutes ago, RBM said:

Very normal, at the Justice department here there is a guy with a large cardboard box full of dress for this purpose. He is just beside the entrance.

I love it.  I've always admired how resourceful Filipinos are.

[Guy F.]

On 11/10/2020 at 6:37 AM, DaveB said:

OK...but you gotta hand it to the lady who figured out she could make 50 pisos renting them out.

Agreed. And P50 is a reasonable price.