Myths about the philippines

[outwest77]

After returning from my first trip to the RP i must say i was pleasantly surprised to learn that many of the bad things i had heard about the phils were totally off base.
Here are some of the "rules " that i found were totally not true.

1)Dont hold hands or express too much affection to your penpal in public, this is frowned upon in the  phils. ............

Nonsense, i found it to be exactly like the usa.

2)Dont Eat fresh fruit, uncooked food or drink the water.......

Maybe i have a strong stomach but from the day i arrived in manila i ate and drank everything , ice in the drinks etc, Did not even get indigestion.

3)Manila is a horrible, fithy, polluted armpit of the world with
nasty traffic, and even the women there have an attitude.........

Not only do i disagree with this statement i find it almost laughable.
I really  enjoyed manila, a million things to do, aircondition everywhere you go, friendly smiling people, "good morning sir, good morning maam." True the traffic is a bit  congested, but i saw only 2 fender benders the whole time i was there. A million things to do in
manila, cheap taxis, movies, restaurants. An exciting vibrant city,
Hardly saw any graffiti, did not see any police cars or ambulances whizzing by. I actually preferred manila in many ways to puerto galera, the locals in manila are certainly more friendly., What
an incredible vibrant city, fascinating place.

4)The Heat in The Philippines is like stepping into a sauna......

Disagree with that one too. Although it was hot, texas and florida in the summer are much worse in my opinion. Also did not see any cockroaches, or bugs to speak of while I was there, although in sabang the food  market had a lot of flies. The heat does not really bother me in the phils unless im in a place with  absolutely no breeze.I was pleasantly surprised at the weather.

5)The Cabbies in Manila will rip you off if you dont watch out.

I did not find this to be true, but maybe since my penpal jabbered to them in tagalog they did not try anything with me..........We did get a few "no meter" guys, and the first time she made him stop the cab and let us out. but the next few times i just said, sure. negotiate,
i know the fares we always pay, and i negotiated a fare equal or less than the normal meter fare. LOL

6)The hotels will give you a rate equal to about half if you let a pinoy person book the  room..........

Maybe this is true , maybe its not, but the hotels i stayed at were so cheap they wanted to charge 50 pesos for extra towels, i cant imagine them giving the room to a pinoy for less, since they might be able to rent it to a westerner and make more, , Then again i stayed in makati where not many pinoys stay unless they are more well off.
The next trip im renting a condo for 10000 peso a month including utilities, so that should save a few dollars.

Any other myths that you can think of that turned out not to be true when you went to the phils, please share with us.
Outwest

[donb2222]

... in response to Myths about the philippines, posted by outwest77 on May 4, 2002

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the Philippines.
But,  saying that Manila is representative of the PI is like saying that  all of the U.S. is just like NYC.
Next time please spend some time in the provinces, then you will see the real Philippines.
A good example of Filipinas being shy about public displays of affection is this:
I spent 4 months of the Summer of 2000 with my soon to be wife.  We had been engaged for 6 months, the paperwork had been filed, and I had just spent every day of 4 months with Vilma before I had to return to the U.S. for work.
Vilma goes with me to the airport, it will be several months before we see each other again, and Vilma is too embarassed to hug me or kiss me goodbye,  she shakes my hand as she says goodbye!

Don

[Jay]

... in response to Outwest......., posted by donb2222 on May 5, 2002

Manila IS part of the "real" Philippines. It seem's also like you are saying that NYC is not the "real" US, that you must go spend time in some God forsaken place like Wisconsin or something to get a taste of the "real" US. Not true. NYC is part of the "real" USA, and Manila is part of the real Philippines.

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: Outwest......., posted by Jay on May 6, 2002

Hey Jay,

You mean to tell me that NYC is the "real" US? Before 9/11 I would have debated that one. ;o)) It's kind of funny about people's tastes. Personally, I would much rather go to Wisconsin than NYC.

Dave "Cheese Head" H.

[Jay]

... in response to Midwest..., posted by Dave H on May 7, 2002

Hey Dave,

I thought you were from Michigan? I was just kidding about Wisconsin. NYC, Green Bay, whatever, all are part of what makes up the USA. You must see as much as possible of anywhere to get better perspective. Same in the Philippines.

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: Midwest..., posted by Jay on May 7, 2002

Hey Jay,

I am from Michigan, but Wisconsin has really good cheese. Their state moto is "Come to Wisconsin and cut our cheese!" ;o)))

My wife keeps telling me that I haven't really seen the Philippines until I've seen Luneta Park. I keep telling her that it's all her fault, since she should have taken me there!!! ;o)))

Dave H.

[Jay]

... in response to Gotcha!, posted by Dave H on May 7, 2002

Hey Dave,

 My wife loves it. It's just a nice little park to me. People there feel Luneta park is "it". It's where Jose rizal was shot. The monument is there.

Was that fart humor?

FART POLICE!! Take him away!

[Humabdos]

... in response to Re: Outwest......., posted by Jay on May 6, 2002

So is  Bakersfield Ca but why go there if you didn't need to?

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: Re:Jay, posted by Humabdos on May 6, 2002

Hey Hum,

Kind of like Miami, except I don't think it is part of the USA any more. I avoid going there at all costs.

Dave H.

[Jay]

... in response to Re: Re:Jay, posted by Humabdos on May 6, 2002

Point taken. However, Manila and NYC are the two largest cities in thier repective countries. Bakersfield is Podunk.

If you really want to experience and know a culture completely, a trip to the largest urban area is a must.

Guess, I'm just a city boy.

Jay

[donb2222]

... in response to Re: Re: Re:Jay, posted by Jay on May 6, 2002

You said "If you really want to experience and know a culture completely, a trip to the largest urban area is a must"

Regarding the Philippines I would have to disagree with that statement, if a person only went to Manila.
The reason is that Manila is very, very Americanized.
If you say that a person needs to see both the large and the small cities, then I would agree.  But to form an opinion from only seeing Manila would surely give a person an inaccurate opinion of the Philippines.
Most large cities in the world are too Americanized, IMHO,
What is the thrill in visiting McDonalds in other countries?
A person needs to see every aspect of a country to be able to  "experience and know a culture completely".
Many, many things are different between the small and large cities.
I spent 8 months travelling to about a dozen cities in the Philippines, and I seriously doubt that I understand everything there is to know about the PI.

Don

[Jay]

... in response to Jay..., posted by donb2222 on May 6, 2002

Hi Don,

That's what I meant actually. Visit both the large and small cities. Visiting both won't give someone "complete" knowledge, (nothing can, unless your Filipino, so I guess I shoulden't have put it like that), but it will give you a better understanding or perspective, if you like, on the people, IMO.

Jay

[outwest77]

... in response to Outwest......., posted by donb2222 on May 5, 2002

Don, you are right i did not see much of the provinces
i saw a little bit of batangas when we tried to visit her relatives one day, but thats another story, but i was shocked and amazed at the provinces. I will try to visit more places next trip.
The story about saying goodbye is funny, i did not even get a chance to say goodbye to my penpal , she dropped me at the airport, and "waited " out in front, while i checked into china airlines, then the security guard told her to wait downstairs at the arrival terminal, for china airlines..
How Do you think i would know where to find you, I said?
Well the security guard told me to go downstairs please, maam, so i did!!]
LOL

[Humabdos]

... in response to Myths about the philippines, posted by outwest77 on May 4, 2002

I'll agree with some of what you said but...

1.Public affection.
In Manila no problem nothing shocks them there they have seen it all!  But out in the province I wouldn't recommend it. Holding hands ok, kissing nope!

2. Fruit, water.
In the very remote provinces sometimes they use poo poo as fertilizer hence the warning. Also warter in the province may or may not be good. I use a filter or drink bottled water. I can't count the times I have been sick from drinking bad water!  maybe you have an iron gut?

3. Manila fithy and polluted? YES one of the most polluted cities in the world. Did you visit Tondo or Smoky Mt? Manila over Puerto G now thats laughable! ROTFLMAO!
Ok I haven't been there in over six years, could it have changed that much? Puerto is a divers hangout most of them are single men who at night like to have some fun. This is no place to bring a date!

4.Heat in PI.
Yes it is like stepping into a sauna for me! but I live in Oregon where it's cool. If you live in Huston Tx well I guess it wouldn't be that hot for ya.

5.Cabs will rip you off.
Yes they will if you are dumb enough to let them! It never happends to me anymore because I learned how to handle them.

6. Hotels will sometimes over charge you if you don't bargin
BTW they will also rip off the unknowing filipino if they can. ie... Filipina comes from province for first time with kano's $$ doesn't know the correct prices in big city gets ripped off.

As for tourist places well thats where some filipio's will go to ripp off people who are unaware of what things  cost so you will see scammers hanging around those places to take advanage of bobos as I call them ;-)

Had you gone there on your own without your filipina penpal you might have found things very diffrent.

As for spending most of you time in Makati well ... to each his own LOL That reminds me of Greg spending two months in Cubao Can't understand it?  

Outwest maybe you should change your name to Cityboy he he he  ;-)  

Please get out of the city and go somewhere Outwest! See the real PI theres over 7,000 islands out there waiting for you! I would recommend Bohol, Camiguin island, Siquijor, Dumaguete city, Sagada, Banaue, bontoc. Any place but Makati!  

Sorry for razzing you a bit Cityboy the main thing is you had fun!   Yes  you have been hit with the PI bug!

Humabdos

[greg]

... in response to All figured out in one trip? LOL, posted by Humabdos on May 5, 2002

Yeah...I made a major miscalculation staying one month in the Ghettos of Cubao Quezon City, one month in Makati City(moved there for luxury  after suffering in Cubao lol),  I did spend two weeks living in the Provinces of ILoiLo. Then on my second trip to meet and register my Son as an American, I stayed living high on the hog for two months in the same Apartment in Malate paying $800 rent. I never really visited the beauty of the Philippines, there always a next time )  Never say Never again.... I can say staying two weeks in the provinces of ILoilo was more enjoyable than the four months staying in the Manila area(yuk)