Very often to our way of thinking we are justified in raising our voice and yet in the Filipino culture you don’t. At least not unless you are very much higher up on the social pecking order than whoever you are scolding. Most mistakes and errors are not to result of a determined act to upset the foreigner or to harm you. So many upsets can be put down to ignorance and lack of exposure to other ways to do things.

Filipinos do things the way they do for what to them are good reasons. It is irrelevant if there is a better way to achieve the objective if, as a result, you incur utang, or an obligation or debt. It is just as pointless to do it in a way that causes someone else to look incompetent or stupid, even if they are!

What is more important than getting the job done is that everybody has a good time doing it. Even if the job is not finished, is slipshod or rubbish, so long as the pakkisama or group harmony is intact then all is well!

You have to remember they come from a culture where the group is more important than the individual. unless the individual is the rich owner of all the land on which they earn their meagre living. This is still very much a feudal society in many ways and the influence and power of the catholic church and the ruling oligarchy is still very much in place, especially in the province.

You’re not going to change anything and it will be easier to just accept the way things are and that while you could do it better, cheaper, quicker and safer some other way, it just ain’t gonna happen!

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I wonder if the plastic garden chairs are bolted down? Nah!

I prefer to drive myself. I know it sounds arrogant but I have yet to be driven by a Filipino who drives as well as I do or better. I was professionally trained I confess but the standard of driving in the Philippines is pretty woeful. However the amazing thing is not that they have so many accidents but that they don’t have more. Accidents are either minor fender bender bingles or major multiple fatalities.

Having said that I have driven all over the country and only ever came off my motorcycle once and never had an accident in many years of driving. The secret is to be aggressively defensive, use your horn constantly and expect the worst at any moment. Never let your guard down for a second,e specially in city traffic and watch for pedestrians… the odds are they are hoping Jesus is watching for you on their behalf. They will just walk out into the traffic without looking either side (so they don’t catch your eye and feel obliged to stop) and you will have to avoid them and any other vehicles in the vicinity.

Heavy rain can make it hazardous to drive as well as causing major landslides and road holes to appear. Roadworks are often not lit at night or properly marked or cordoned off, so watch for craters to suddenly appear in front of you with nowhere to go to avoid the thing. Drive at a speed that allows everyone to jump out if need be… almost serious there. Do drive slower for the most part and it will minimize the damage from any hits should they happen.

Have fun, drive like the locals do to a degree and just keep your wits about you. Thrive in chaos because that is what it is, chaos.

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Lechon Baboy - Roast Pig - Delicious!

Some people can live off fresh air it seems. In the Philippines too many Kanos live off beer and Tanduay rum and eat hardly enough to keep their liver’s functioning. But I like to eat. I enjoy my food and while I don’t eat to excess I confess I do like my steak and potatoes. An often heard complaint when expats get together is that it is difficult to find good food here. Well yes and no.

If you live off the local cuisine then you like rice and a little meat and very few vegetables. Most Filipino dishes I find pretty bland and nothing like the plethora of spicy, tasty Thai dishes or Malaysian cuisine. Even food in Indonesia or Vietnam beats Filipino cooking… for my tastes.  So I buy food I can cook and cook my own western style meals for the most part.

Hardest thing is finding a good quality steak at a realistic price. You can go to a major supermarket or delicatessen of imported goods (such as The Tinderbox in Cebu and elsewhere) and get whatever your heart desires. In places like “Market! Market!” at The Fort in Taguig, Manila you can easily find everything you want. But in the provinces it is more of a challenge. My best advice is to stock up when you go to the city. Take an ice box with you so the meat stays fresh all the way home.

The local butcher at the market will do you a nice beef tenderloin if you get there on the days when ‘baka’ or cows are slaughtered. Be firm or else he will ‘chop chop’ the tenderloin instead of filleting it into steaks for you. I used to cut my own steaks at my Suki’s (regular supplier). Make sure you cook it yourself if you like it anyway other than over done. Filipinos are not steak eaters and don’t really know how to cook them properly, not to mention the cost is prohibitive for most of them.

Your local market will sell you pork and chicken. Goat is also available but too often the meat smells very strongly and it takes a lot of slow cooking to get it tender. I used to buy lamb once a month from The Tinderbox but finding the mint jelly to accompany it was a little harder to arrange sometimes.

Condiments can be a problem. Just getting a quality meat tenderizer might require you asking a friend coming in from overseas as the local stuff is little more than sugar and salt. Many of our favourite sauces, ketchups and such are available but it does pay to stock up on anything when you see it. It might not be there next week and it could be a long time between orders for some lines.

The locals do a great roast pig, they call it Lechon Baboy. Lechon means roasted and baboy means pig. You can also get very tasty lechon manok, or BBQ spit roasted chicken. Both are excellent. Do be aware some feasts will ahve you waiting for blessings and special guests so the lechon baboy will be cold, greasy pork by the time you get to it. Also not everyone cooks the crackling properly and even the good ones usually have it thinner than we are used to. Forget apple sauce unless you bring your own.

Basically you won’t starve here but ovens are rare and so you will have a lot of fried, boiled or casseroled dishes and not too many baked or roasted ones. You can find pretty much everything you want and looking for it is half the fun. The other half is the joy you experience when you find it and then get to go online and tell everyone where it is to be had.

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1. How Much Do You Pay In Rent?

In Talisay, just next to Cebu City we had a larger, three bedroom house and a carport area and we paid US$120 a month. That kind of money will still get you a fair place in the provinces but around town you would have to look very hard. In Manila I was unable to find anything under US$200 a month that I would live in and now, a few years later I would say you need to budget for twice that to start thinking of places out in the suburbs, maybe Taytay or Quezon City.

Which is still pretty cheap! A buddy of mine in Cebu (actually Talisay and high up on the hillside, has a huge mansion of a place. It includes a great swimming pool, garage with chauffeur/security guards quarters, maids quarters and a two bedroom guest house and lovely grounds behind a very high and private wall. This place is awesome and he pays just P37K a month. At current rate that is US$800. If you can afford to step up to that kind of spend then there is a lot of excellent rental property out there for you to choose from. Personally I like the idea of renting there. If the neighbors turn out to be too noisy you can always go elsewhere. Remember ownership is nothing, control is everything.

I have friends in other places who have amazing beach side homes that are well appointed and cost them a few hundred a month. Others spend closer to a thousand and live like movie stars. There are a ton of web sites listing rental properties in the Philippines. Don;t forget to buy the “Philippines Property Primer” and read up on renting, leasing and so much more. For thirty dollars it is a great inv

Huge house, landscaped grounds, wall, gate house, maid/guards quarters, swimming pool and guest house - US$800 a month.

estment.

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1. I Like To Eat

The Philippines is, or at least it can be, one of those exciting places. Especially if you are not a Filipino. Just as they would find living in Deadstop, Arizona exciting, you can be fascinated with life in San Nowhere, Cebu. For a while.

This web site is here to take up the slack, to show that everyday life might not be constantly exciting but it can still be interesting. If you are contemplating relocating to the Philippines for whatever reason, work, retirement, new life… this site will give you a chance to tune in to everyday life.

What does it cost to get cable TV? How do you register your motor vehicles? Why does it take so long to get served at the department store? These and a multitude of other, mundane but equally important to everyday life questions will be addressed and answered here.

This isn’t a site about go-go dancers, kidnapped tourists or anything you might read about in the tabloids. It is all about the realities of normal, everyday living in a less than ordinary locale. Whether it’s getting your hair cut or finding a store that sells decent bread, if it is in the Philippines then you can discuss it here.

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1. Not Every Day’s An Adventure!