Philippines – Goodbye – See you in a couple of months!
Ok – time to go. I will see you later Philippines!! I updated a bunch of stuff on Philippines – Hello!! blog. I went to a lot of different places and tried a lot of food!
Quick Observation:
- A lot of Spanish names (San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Fernando, Angeles, San Antonio, San Pedro, Santa Rosa, etc – I didn’t realize Spain colonized the Philippines for ~300 years.
- Good thing I got 4 passport pictures before I left the US – so I can get China Visa in the Philippines.
- I read a China culture book and I think it applies to the Philippines as well (probable other countries where labor is not as expensive). Quick highlights
- When you purchase an item, you have to pick it out, go to someone else to pay for it, get a receipt that you paid, and go to someone else to pick it up. This is the way it works in the China embassy (get a number, wait, then go to window, drop of visa application, come back when they tell you to, get number, wait, pay, then stand in a different line, and pick up passport), when Meg was buying a fan, and at the pharmacy. Just plan to wait and read a book/e-book.
- Don’t point and motion w/ your palm upward. Motion w/ your palms facing down. It is more visible when you watch traffic cops. The green (go) side is on the back of the hand w/ palm facing down and the red (stop) side is on the palm side.
- I am sure there are other things, but can’t think of them now.
- Bring water everywhere you go. It is hot and humid. Otherwise you will be stopping to buy water.
- There are a ton of 7-11 stores here. Most 7-11 stores: Japan, America, Thailand, and then S. Korea. Noticing all of the American franchises is interesting.
- The cost of Starbucks is the same or pretty close to US prices in Philippines and Bali. I was surprised because I expected it to be adjusted to the country prices. This maybe distorted because I was at resort towns or the business district (Expensive places – probable the only place Starbucks is located).
- There are a ton of Coffee Bean and Leaf stores here – LA coffee company. I am not really a coffee drinker but they are the best place to wait – AC, fairly clean bathrooms, and free WiFi (especially when you are lost). There is a couple of Seattle’s Best coffee shops as well.
- Yabu-Yabu – great idea – I think this would work very well in the US. The CEO, John Concepcion used social media to sell out Magnum ice cream bars in the Philippines – I know people who really like Magnum ice cream bars. They have cash and good product ideas. Can’t buy stock in the US market because of low volume – I will have to do some more research.
- This is probable the year for Eco tours. There are a lot of young people making a huge difference to their communities, while running successful businesses. They have passion and drive to make a sustainable impact to the people’s lives, while running a successful business. Rags2Riches and BamBikes. I had a great time (see Philippines – Hello)
- Air quality, never thought about it, until I got here. Everyone expects you to be careful about water, but no one mentions air quality. People where masks (especially around traffic – which is almost everywhere)
- Water – the interesting thing about this is that most people where I travel drink bottled water (5 Gal bottles) – hotels, schools, restaurants use bottled water for service water and they buy ice. So I did not have any issues w/ drinking ice water or filling up my water bottle at different strategic places.
- Probiotic seems to work great. I haven’t had any issues w/ brushing my teeth w/ tap water (rinsing w/ bottled water), eating street food, restaurants, etc.
- Coconut oil works! I had this growing skin rash on both of my arms since I got to Bali – started small, then grew – almost like hives. I used soap, antibiotic ointment, other ointments and then tried coconut oil. After a couple of days, the rash, hives, bumps were gone. There is a small dinosaurs print/rash still on my arm – like the one you get from chrome when you have no internet connection. I guess I don’t need that tattoo yet Karly!!
- Philippines and probable the rest of the world uses A4 paper – not the 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper in the US. There was a long list of things to print out for visa applications.
- Planning trips takes a long time – I have to write up a flow chart or create a solver (just kidding!!). Dependent on # of places, time allocated planning, # of people going – you think this would be easy – it is 1, length of time gone, type of vacation (adventure, beach, etc.), planning on returning, … I will probable have a better idea on the variables in a couple of months.
- Just because things are cheaper than the US, it is easy to spend money if you are not careful.
- Credit card, cash, and ATM’s – not sure what is really cheaper. Btw the exchange rate fees, bank fees, credit card fees, and transition fees – I am not sure what is better. 3-6% adds up for each part of the transaction. You never get the exchange rate listed in the currency converter.
- Set up a wire transfer before you leave your country. Some of the trips that I booked, requires a wire transfer or 3-6% fee for using credit cards. My bank wants me to sign papers in person to set up wire transfer – well I am not going back to the US to sign anything in person. Meg helped me out!
- Low budget airline sites have bugs on them (well lots of online sites have bugs) – sometimes one type of payment will work, while others will not. You may have to try all of the payment types (different credit card, paypal) to purchase your tickets. Then you have to check your bank account, credit card, or paypal to make sure the reservation and payment went through. I know several good testing people that can help catch the bugs 🙂 !!
- Google translator is great.
- Isa is right – people are really nice and traffic is bad. Isa did not mention the great food!!
- My uncle was right – I blend in everywhere. When I was in Bali – people spoke to me in Balinese, in Hong Kong – people spoke to me in Cantonese, and in the Philippines – people spoke to me in Tagalog. The Filipino people were not impressed w/ my Salamat (thank you!) – they were surprised that I only spoke English. Meg calls me Pan Asian.
- Thank God for friends!! Meg and her family let me tag along for a couple of trips, stay at their house, introduced me to some of their friends, and introduced me to some of the best of the Philippines!
- Good Bye!! I will see you later!!