Hi
my name is james, i live in the south england, but hope to move to the philippines one day with...
Hi
my name is james, i live in the south england, but hope to move to the philippines one day with my wife. i have a view on most thing that i buy and i will try to tell you about them when i can. have a great day,
You will most likely enter via NAIA, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, (Manila international airport). The first thing that you will notice is there is a group of three men with instruments welcoming you. Not suprising considering that music and singing is so much the part of filipino life. The customs area can be very busy at times, but is always in constant movement, it may take about an hour to get through customs, but then it does in most busy airports now. The filipinos make it easy for people to get around and find your destination with ease, as there are so many staff waitng to help you. nothing is to much for them, they will do all they can to help you. Just make sure that you approch someone that is wearing a name badge and who works at the airport. if you know where you are going to you can get a taxi to your destination for a fixed rate. these are a lot higher than normal, but it means that you know how much you will need to pay in advance.
Culture
As you travel around the phillipines you will notice that there is a lot of different cultures here. you can have pizza hut on one side of the road and a jollibee (a fillipino style
burger king) on the other. You can have store selling Nike shoes, and next to it a shop that sells balot (a filipino special, a duck embyro in it shell. which they love to eat). eating is thier second favorite love, after singing.
One other thing that can not escape you attention is the quailty of life here. if you have money you are the king of the land and you can have anything that you want. however if you do not have any life is so hard. About 40% of the population lives of less than $2 a day.
However, you will not find many filipinos complaining about their situation to you, they know that they dont have much money but they make the best of it as they can. and they still live their lives to the best that they can.
Like most places on earth there is crime. but i think that a lot of people put this out of context, They see that there are so many hard up people here so think that it will be dangerous to the white person, because they have money. Not so iIl have never felt in any danger, there are a lot of police around if anything was to happen and all the police are armed.
Getting around.
As for getting around i found that the best way to get around was by jeepney. an elongated jeep that seats about 12-14 people, and for a charge of about 7.5p they will take you. like buses most jeepneys have routes that they take. the only way to know where they are going is to look in the front window as they will have the destination sticking up on a small sign. There is also buses, more expensive than jeepney's and very crowded. i dont really recommend this form of transport. Then there is taxies, these are the most expensive forms of transport, their are all air conditioned for comfort, just make sure that the taxi that you use has got a meter in it and that it is working. however they are still relitively inexpensive. Be aware that the traffic in the citys are bad. and there seem to be no rules on the road. There are no speed limits, and you can overtake, undertake cut people up and no-one minds. Considering this there a very few accidents! It can take more time to travel for one part of the city to another than you might think. so dont make plans for a certain time, as you might not get there in time. However it is expected that you can turn up, upto an hour late and it is part of the way here. Enough of the transport.
The filipino people.
The filipino people, they're must be the friendliest in the world, you can go upto anyone and talk to them. They love to talk. Dont worry about not being able to speak the local lingo (in Manila and the northern island it is mostly tagalog) as nearly all filipinos can speak English, although they will be shy to start with once they have started to talk they will talk all day if you let them. They has a love of life, and it is easliy spread, it is hard to be sad when in the company of a filioino.
The filipinos are a very God fearing people and are 90% Roman Catholic. if you look aronud there are altars everywhere, even in most of the jeepney's.
Filipinos third love after singing, and eating, is shopping, they have some of the best shopping centers in the world. even better that those in America. i think that the best shopping centers are the SM shopping centers. and their flagship store is in Ortigas, Manila. It is simply called Mega Mall. it is five floors high and over 1km long. if you can not find what you are looking for here then you might not be able to find it at all. However the prices are higher here than with the street vendors. But as the prices are so low anyway you can really find some real bargains. the night life is mainly around Quezon city, and Metro Manila in the north, and cebu in the south. It is very varied, from posh clubs to back street strip bars. what ever you fancy you will be able to find it. the drinks are cheap and the local tipple is a locally brewed beer, San Miguel, it cost about 40p for a half pint. The taste is almost the same as the San Miguel beer that we get here. Dont get involed with drugs at all. As here you will get the death penalty if caught with them. Apart from that you will enjoy yourself. There is also comedy clubs and karaoke bars, pool halls and amusements along roxas Blv which comes to life at night. If you like to swim then Manila is not a good place to go, there are no swimming pools to speak of unless you stay in a hotel that has one. the nearest place that has got a public swimming pool is about an hours drive away. for a country surrounded by water over 90% of filipinos do not know how to swim!
The country.
The Philippines consist of over 7000 islands, most are not inhabited. of the ones that are you can get to them by boat, or by plan to the bigger islands. the fares for these trips are a very good price when you travel outside the peak season. one of the most beautiful places to visit would have to be Boracay bay, it has got the most wonderful beaches and scenery. you can expect to pay quite alot for your needs in places like this as they do attract a lot of visitors. Tagatay is another great place to visit for the scenery which is about 1 hour from Manila, Baguio is known as the summer capital of the Philippines although further away about six hours drive from Manila. it has got a lot of tourist attractions that can be esaly got to from one of the main roads in the city called session road. the philippines is also famed for the chocolate hills, which are magnificent formations of perfectly shaped hills all clumpped together. to be honest i could write all day about what the Philippines has got to offer. The best way to discover the real heart of the counrty is to get down and really mingle with the locals. try not to be a tourist all the time. As a tourist you are expected to pay a higher price that a native, as well as to tip people. this can be quite annoying a times but dont let it get in the way. If you are considering a holiday with a difference then try the Philippines, if one part of the counry does not take your fancy then another part will. yes to get there is expencive, for a ticket to get there will cost about 550 pound for an adult and about 250 for a child, once you get there the prices are less than half the price you would expect to pay either here or in most of europe. so the only big cost that you will encure is the air fare. the weather in the northern part of the country is hot, about 25-35 degrees most days. even when it rains it is still hot. The southern part is drier and hotter still.
Overall.
Overall i think that the Philippines is a country that can give you the best time you have ever known. It has not been spoilt by the tourist yet, but it is becoming more popular all the time. i have been there three times so far and i plan to move out there one day. i love the country because of the way the peole are, because they respect you for who you are not what you have. they also treat each other properly, and want to be happy all the time. Should we not all live like that? i hope that i will see you there one day.
A good review, but would be a lot easier to read if it was spaced out a bit. Gayna x
vkitten 05.04.2006 21:02
Good review, but needed titles for different sections to break it up. It was interesting I write to a girl in the phillipines and would love to vist. Vicky
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