Things To Love, Like Or Hate, Or Maybe Like To Change About The Philippines

[Mr Lee]

I think number one has to be, that I love the friendly people and that includes all the ladies who smile or raise their eyebrows at me and make me feel really good about myself, but I enjoy the smiles and friendly faces of everyone. I have found when I smile at people, male or female, old or young, they most often smile back and in the USA that would be unusual. I enjoy a good meal at a reasonable price and those can be found at many out of the way places that the people who live in the Philippines eat at on a regular basis. And did I say the great San Mig beer and the usually reasonable prices at most retail eating places. Along with those two goes the ability to tip or not tip and not be considered an AH if you don't tip or at least not called one out loud by the staff as they would in the US,and any tip seems to be appreciated and that might be because Filipinos are not known to be big tippers. Heck, I can sure understand that because money is often hard to come by in the Philippines and tipping is not a priority and taking care of their own family is. I love being able to get in a taxi and go wherever I want without paying big bucks and it feels good to not have to drive all the time like I have to do to get anywhere in Florida.Let me leave some for others to fill in but there is so many great things about the Philippines that it would take forever to list them all.Now things I hate,I do not particularly like it when I am walking around the cities and have to step over the pee on the ground and the smell is disgusting. It would be great if they opened some public restrooms but I am not sure that would even solve the problem.I think most of all I hate the pollution and often find it hard to breath when someone is burning garbage.Noise pollution is also a pretty big problem with the dogs barking all the time and the roosters crowing and of course the loud music playing, but fortunately for us, living in a condo and turning on the air conditioning blocks out most noises and IMO most noises are not as bad when high up in a condo compared to living right next door to them. It hurts me to see so much poverty and especially to see beggars in the streets and often sleeping on the concrete and I wish that I could help them all, and my heart wants to give them money but my brain tells me that it is not a good idea because it would only cause more problems for them and for other expats. My wife and I do give food though at times.I hate to see how so many Filipinos think that it is OK to try to take advantage of foreigners and I wish they would all learn that they can get more and do better if they treat us fairly. With that said, there are many Filipinos who do treat us fairly and do not try to take advantage of us at all. I wish the jeepneys had taller tops so I would not have to bend down when riding in them and I would ride in them more often if they did.I think most of all, I really hate to see how some foreigners feel the need to treat Filipinos poorly or to take advantage of the many naive ladies who come from outside the cities and may not be street wise yet, just to boost their own egos or fill their own insecurities.I think what is important is that the good things out weight the bad in both quantity as well as importance. Ok, now it is someone elses turn. :1 (235):

[Jollygoodfellow]

Along with those two goes the ability to tip or not tip and not be considered an AH if you don't tip or at least not called one out loud by the staff as they would in the US,and any tip seems to be appreciated and that might be because Filipinos are not known to be big tippers. Heck, I can sure understand that because money is often hard to come by in the Philippines and tipping is not a priority and taking care of their own family is. I

Dont mean to get off track here but tipping is not a Philippine thing as it is not in Australia, I think that the Americans have brought the tipping thing to the country and the average Filipino is not going to tip as its not their custom.This is also a problem for people like me when visiting as in my country we dont Tip but now a lot of restaurants in the RP are expecting it thinking we are all Kano's.Tom

[Mr Lee]

Sorry Tom, just another thing that some can hate Kano's for. :1 (235): As far as I know, a lot of countries do not have tipping and the Americans have ruined it for all of them as well. I worked part time in a strip joint years ago as the manager and the biggest complaints I would get from the workers was that the foreigners were not tipping them, as if it was mandatory, :rolleyes: and I told them that tipping is up to the customer and if you don't like the type of customers we get, go find another job and if I found them to be not taking care of anyone, then I would fire them on the spot. They usually learned to average because some guys were big tippers and others not.A lot of places in the Philippines now have a 10% service charge, so none of us can get away without paying that. As for tipping, I figure if I get a good price on an item and they give me exceptional service, I will give them a tip to brighten their day and I will tell them that I feel that they were exceptional and that was why I tipped them, and that way they always remembered us when we would go back to eat again and try to get us to sit with them.I do not tip in most places that charge the service charge, unless they really earn extra, like when I have bottomless iced tea and I never have to ask them to fill my glass because they are always there to do it on their own, but I usually do tip in places where there is no service charge and they give us great service. One of the ways that I try to get around tipping at times is to have my wife pay and then they do not expect the tip and she will still give them something but not what they might expect from a Kano.

[Mik]

I like doing occasional small favors for my neighbors. Lately, when we were trimming some trees I gave some firewood to them. Then last week I noticed a neighbor's MCWD water pipe that was shooting water into the street. The pipe had come apart at a coupling. I had an extra 1/2" union and my own tools so I shut off their water at the meter and replaced the coupling with the union. I refused the neighbor's offer to pay for the part. So they bought a couple of San Mig grandes for me and three other neighbor guys who were hanging about. My neighbors are poor (not much education) and really limited with English but they did show their appreciation. The language barrier is a problem at times. You really can't think about changing things here or it could make you crazy. You have to go with the flow and accept it. The language thing with the poor local folk could be changed, but I would have to be the one to change and learn Cebuano. Maybe someday I will.

[Mr Lee]

Mike, you have a kind heart and that is so nice of you to do that for the neighbors...... I helped to lift in an aircon in my tenants apartment and fixed some plumbing issues and they were upset because I did it myself and did not get someone to do it.......... I think they were embarrassed because they put me on a pedestal and I try to explain that we are all equal and I will do whatever I can for them and that they should not hesitate to ask me and I have built a pretty good rapport with a few of them already......... A lot of the Koreans say hello to me now and the kids all say hello and it feel good to have them not be afraid of me and not put me above them....... I even buy snack food for the security guards when I go out to the corner to buy some for us. Public relations I guess.I think it is OK to try to change things in a helpful way but not to impose our way of doing things or our thoughts on the locals....... Like I said, it would be nice if they build higher jeepney tops for some of us and down the road, maybe some might think it is a good idea and do it if they read about it because maybe they never thought about it, so bringing it up cannot hurt.The same with the burning, they are hurting themselves and us and shortening their own lives and that of their children, so mentioning it cannot hurt IMO.As for the peeing in the street, if and when there were more CR's, I am sure it will cut down on some of it but old habits die hard, so I would guess that is something I will have to put up with and it is their country, so I just have to learn to conform.The language thing, when we are in the provinces, I give English lessons to the children and they teach me Bisayan at the same time..... I make it fun for them and because they are teaching me too, they like it. You might try that with some of the neighbors children and before long, you might even have them interpreting for you.....Life is all about helping one another and them buying you the grande was nice of them in return for you helping them. :1 (235):

[wallyperrier]

Mike, you have a kind heart and that is so nice of you to do that for the neighbors...... I helped to lift in an aircon in my tenants apartment and fixed some plumbing issues and they were upset because I did it myself and did not get someone to do it.......... I think they were embarrassed because they put me on a pedestal and I try to explain that we are all equal and I will do whatever I can for them and that they should not hesitate to ask me and I have built a pretty good rapport with a few of them already......... A lot of the Koreans say hello to me now and the kids all say hello and it feel good to have them not be afraid of me and not put me above them....... I even buy snack food for the security guards when I go out to the corner to buy some for us. Public relations I guess.I think it is OK to try to change things in a helpful way but not to impose our way of doing things or our thoughts on the locals....... Like I said, it would be nice if they build higher jeepney tops for some of us and down the road, maybe some might think it is a good idea and do it if they read about it because maybe they never thought about it, so bringing it up cannot hurt.The same with the burning, they are hurting themselves and us and shortening their own lives and that of their children, so mentioning it cannot hurt IMO.As for the peeing in the street, if and when there were more CR's, I am sure it will cut down on some of it but old habits die hard, so I would guess that is something I will have to put up with and it is their country, so I just have to learn to conform.The language thing, when we are in the provinces, I give English lessons to the children and they teach me Bisayan at the same time..... I make it fun for them and because they are teaching me too, they like it. You might try that with some of the neighbors children and before long, you might even have them interpreting for you.....Life is all about helping one another and them buying you the grande was nice of them in return for you helping them. :36_1_50[1]:

for me, the most and biggest problem is that neighbours around try to get money from me........ we have theater and need some money for tools........ mama become sick, need medicine........u know what i mean, the more they ask, the less they getbut i also think every time, when i see people on the street, how to give this one a better life, a job, a house, work for food foundation???

[Mr Lee]

for me, the most and biggest problem is that neighbours around try to get money from me........ we have theater and need some money for tools........ mama become sick, need medicine........u know what i mean, the more they ask, the less they getbut i also think every time, when i see people on the street, how to give this one a better life, a job, a house, work for food foundation???

Wally, one of the things we tell them is that my wife's family is pretty big and we are not rich, so just helping her family leaves us with little money for ourselves, so sorry, we cannot help everyone, but when I have heard of someone needing medicine, then I would gladly send my wife to the drug store with them and pay for it if we could afford it, and when I hear of someone needing medical treatment, I would also be willing to pay for that as long as I could send my wife to go with them and pay the bill, so that I know it is also legit. Human life is worth so much more to me than a meal out and I would rather stay home and eat rice than let someone go without medical attention and especially if it is a possible life threatening situation. I have found with a lot of requests from family, when they used to ask for money for medicine or for doctors, we ask the name and number of the doctor or hospital and that usually stops the false requests because they know we will ask for that and my wife will call to check what is really necessary.I want to help the poor and especially our family, but I do not wish to be taken advantage of and I also know that I cannot be the one to go with them because the doctors or drug stores will probably charge me more, so I send my wife.Wally, your work for food idea is a good one and maybe some day some of expats can set up something that needs doing to help pay salaries to some people who need jobs.If I had a house, I would ask them to paint it, or if we had a car, I would ask them to wash and wax it, but in a condo there is not much we can ask family to do for us other then clean it from time to time and my wife prefers to do that herself.