Philippines Expats, what up with the 12 round fruit, scam

[Old55]

It's that time of year and by now most of us have noticed around the house...... The Gathering of Da Fruit. 

I know we have talked about this aspect of Filipino culture but, what if?

What if you don't actually do the 12 fruit? Is it a scam? I mean if "someone" were very hungry and eat one it would be OK, right? Why do the grapes go over the front door? Is there a rule on the number of grapes? Exactly how round should they be? My wife always gets a pear, that can't be right?

We should all stand together and counter this fruit-O-rama and drink 12 beers after all it's our tradition. Right?

 

[Gratefuled]

I don't know how or when it started. The Chinese are very superstitious, perhaps they had a hand in it. I know that the farmers have a chance to peddle their fruit and the vendors jack the price up since the tradition will pass after the New Year.

I love the different varieties of fruit here throughout the year. 

[Jack Peterson]

57 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

I love the different varieties of fruit here throughout the year. 

 Not at 110 peso a Kilo for Mangos you won't 

 That is what they are asking today in Dumaguete

mnaguete

[intrepid]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

Not at 110 peso a Kilo for Mangos you won't 

 That is what they are asking today in Dumaguete

 

Wow Jack, throw some in the northbound current toward Laguna, they are usually always between p150-p180 here.  Let me know and I'll mail you a check.

 

[chris49]

15 minutes ago, intrepid said:

 

Wow Jack, throw some in the northbound current toward Laguna, they are usually always between p150-p180 here.  Let me know and I'll mail you a check.

 

Yeah, that's the out of season price. But that's where they get you isn't it?  No ripe mangoes readily available here, the green ones are just coming in. I have seen 40-50/kg or normally about 80/kg, I wouldn't pay 150. We got California seedless grapes, succulent big red, at 150/kg in Quiapo 2 weeks ago. They go 240/kg, Gina says 300 tomorrow.

But it takes a brave man to buck tradition here. We had a short meeting tonight. Gina gets 4000 pesos until Monday on condition she doesn't niggle me until Monday morning. All inclusive, inc petrol for the motor bike and drinks, probably soft drinks here at home. I ordered a bottle of Empi, so that's for me.

We should be ok until Monday, of course she doesn't know I pulled the 4k from January's budget, but we will talk about that later. February is a short month, so that's factored in.

[virginprune]

20 hours ago, Old55 said:

 My wife always gets a pear, that can't be right?

 

 

I ate the pear last night....oops 

[Queenie O.]

We don't do the fruit thing here at our place.  Any fruit that we buy, we eat right away.

Edited December 31, 2016 by Queenie O.

[Gratefuled]

14 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Not at 110 peso a Kilo for Mangos you won't 

 That is what they are asking today in Dumaguete

mnaguete

That's what I said, it's an opportunity for vendors to jack up their prices.  

[Gratefuled]

13 minutes ago, Queenie O. said:

We don't do the fruit thing here at our place.  Any fruit that we buy, we eat right away.

DITTO, that's what we do otherwise it spoils

[Jack Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

That's what I said, it's an opportunity for vendors to jack up their prices.  

Seems someone with a bit weight from the City hall has yelped as Today the mangoes are back to 65/70 per Kilo.