[Admin]

Beware! Lengthy read ahead: Click here to read his story

While this certainly isn't Utopia, the Philippines isn't as bad as he paints it. Hell, if I felt the way he does, I certainly wouldn't live here.

[locktite]

Sounds like a combination of an out of work NGO employee who is also a city slicker from the USA.

Quote

You come to realize there are no frozen foods, no frozen pizzas, no pot pies, no tv dinners, no sandwich meat.....Hardly anything you can find at the grocery store is "QUICK" food.

Oh the horror. No frozen pizza, how will we survive without this healthy staple?

I've spent some time in India and 30 days in PI so far, and sure it's not the promised land but it seems fine to me and the lack of reliance on processed foods is part of the draw to be honest. Trust me, India is a shithole compared to the PI.



From the comments:

Quote

His memo reads as if Justins real problem is underfunding

That's pretty insightful really.

This post has been edited by locktite: 10 July 2009 - 04:50 AM

[ayala]

Paul-I lived in the philippines for several years on several islands and travelled other islands extensively and never experieced one item of that guys rap.The only one that I can even come close to replying about would be buying a appliance from a unreputable source,If you buy from say-SM appliance store there is very little problem getting a repair or exchange.If you buy from the streets of colon-why expect a repair of exchange.

Admin, on Jul 10 2009, 05:29 AM, said:

Beware! Lengthy read ahead: Click here to read his story

While this certainly isn't Utopia, the Philippines isn't as bad as he paints it. Hell, if I felt the way he does, I certainly wouldn't live here.

[BBQ Joe]

ALL SPOT ON:


You hop into a cab in Manila. You notice the meter is turned off. You ask the driver to take you the airport. 5 minutes later you're there. "That will be 1000 peso, sir." If you don't pay you might just have a fight on your hands. Been there, done that. Won the fight. So forewarning never jump into a cab without the meter turned on. Pay close attention to if the Cabbie is running around in circles to run the meter higher - they love to do that.



You go to a doctor referred to you by your neighbor. Your neighbor says it only cost 70php for an office visit. When you're done at the doctor, the clerk tells you 500php. Welcome to the Philippines. Where if you're foreign, you get a special tax we like to call the "Skin tax"

Congratulations you're married and your wife is having your first child. You rush her to the clinic as she goes into labor. You're told the child was exposed to Hepatitus B, you need to vaccinate her. The shots cost more than the actual labor bill cost. 3000php later your new daughter is injected with her 1st of 3 booster shoots needed. You go home only to find out that the real cost is supposed to be 900php. Welcome to the Philippines.



Your DVD player breaks. You just bought it 3 months ago. You carry it back and the retail location refuses to exchange it. So you buy another one. A more expensive one. It cost you $60. You have it for 1 week, and it breaks. Welcome to the Philippines.



You finally find a grocery store that sells FRESH WHOLE MILK just like back home. You drop $7 for four 1 liter bottles (1 gallon) and take it home. As you sit down and crack open the bottle while flipping through channels to savor the taste of REAL MILK and not the powdered crap your wife has been buying. A foul smell emits from the bottle its spoiled..... It cost you over 150php in travel expenses just to get to the grocery store & you paid 80php for the 1 liter bottle of milk....



You don't feel like going to the grocery store, so you decide to send your wife to the market to grab something to eat. She brings back fish & fries it up. The fish feels funny as you eat it. Your tongue feels weird... One hour water your drooling all over yourself and your lips and tongue are numb. You run to the bathroom every 30 minutes crapping on yourself .....for days.... Welcome to the Philippines

It's been raining everyday for a solid week. You head to the kitchen to make a snack only to see a living sea of ants scurrying about in your kitchen floor. Not the harmless tiny black ants. But giant fiery red ants. So many in fact that if you had of stepped into the kitchen into the swarm. You would probably be dead now and not reading this. Welcome to the Philippines.

Its a bright sunny morning, you stretch your arms and get out of bed. Walk outside to inhale the fresh.....wait....oh yes, you're in the Philippines not home...*sigh* You wake up , walk outside and inhale the pugent smell of the pig farm to your north, and the grotesque river directly behind your apartment that is slap slam full of your very own feces since your landlord did not install a septic tank or septic system. The peso you pay the land lord every month to get rid of your trash goes directly behind your apartment and is dumped in the river along with your feces. There are mosquitoes everywhere breeding in this toxic sludge, along with the infinite supply of roaches & rats. Every now and then you happen to see a rotting corpse of a dog or cat floating in the sludge. Yes, welcome to the Philippines.

You receive your power bill, and notice they've went up on the rates yet again. This is the 8th consective month in a row they've jacked prices. You pull out your calculator and begin to convert the 300 fees that are listed on your power bill and see just HOW much does it cost per KwH. After you're done you see you're paying almost 20 cents (USD) per KwH. Yet almost every sunday the electrical company decides to kill power to your whole area for 8+ hours a day. You even get charged a tax when your power is offline. Welcome to the Philippines.

You realize you cannot afford air conditioning and you are forced to just use fans. Now after living here 6 months you've developed a real nasty skin condition that looks like hundreds of tiny pimples bursting all over the hot spots of your body. Your armpits, the crack inbetween your shoulder. Your inner thighs, Behind your knees. It burns like fire, and nothing seems to relieve the pain except 2 weeks of laying in front of continual air flow. Welcome to the Philippines.

Your internet provider hasn't sent your bill in 2 months. Come to think of it, they have NEVER sent the bill. They call you and tell you - you have 2 days to pay your bill or their disconnecting your internet. You tell them you haven't received the bill, and you would be more than happy to pay it WHEN THEY SEND THE BILL. They say, we sent it sir... I have never received a bill, you reply to the rep. You call here every 2 months threatening to disconnect. We play the same game everytime. I tell you send the bill and I'll pay. 2 weeks later i get the bill after you call threatening to disconnect and I pay. welcome to the Philippines.

You go to pay your water bill, it's Noon. They've already closed for the day.. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to renew your visa at immigration. Their closed. The sign says Closed for Holidays Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to pay your power bill. Its 4:00pm, They've already closed for the day when their hours are supposed to be till 5:00pm. Welcome to the Philippines.



You have a scheduled doctor appointment at 11am. You show up 30 minutes later. As you're waiting you notice the doctor slips out and leaves. The receptionist tells you to come back at 5pm as the doctor is now on a 6 hour lunch break. Welcome to the Philippines.

Noone has websites. Noone has online billpayment. A double cheeseburger cost you $2 at McDonalds & Eating out here in the Philippines at a restraunt that won't give you food poisoning is more expensive than in the USA. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to the grocery store, because you're out of spices. You actually have to travel to 5 different grocery stores, to get the spices you need because none carry all or the same spices. You begin to notice there's something different about the ground beef you been buying. It's too sweet. Too greasy. You begin to wonder is it really beef to begin with or something far...far worse. As you pull out the slab of pork tenderloin you bought at the grocery store, you notice their are WORMS in the meat!!!!! Welcome to the Philippines.

[locktite]

HE says he's in Angeles City, so that might sway things a little. AC has been accustomed to being around a US Military Base for eons, and since then it's become a mecca for nightlife seeking tourists. Not knocking that I'm just saying the people of AC might not be 100% of the same mind as people who live in other locales.

The only huge ripoff I experienced in the PI so far was in a store in the SM Clark mall, the Inbox. If I was 'underfunded' I would likely be pretty sore about it, instead I just laugh it off.

[yorkyboy]

Admin, on Jul 10 2009, 04:29 AM, said:

Beware! Lengthy read ahead: Click here to read his story

While this certainly isn't Utopia, the Philippines isn't as bad as he paints it. Hell, if I felt the way he does, I certainly wouldn't live here.

His glass is definitely half empty. A good read. Some half truth in there. But people need to learn tolerance and realize The Philippines is not like your home country. Just as England is not Canada.

When in Rome do as the Romans.

[HTM]

I think this is a honest review from him. Have seen others who have the same views on RP, much of what he says is also true for some. There are many losers and bum from the West in RP, "White trash". I think these will be the losers no matter which country they live in, RP is not guilty!

I think that the RP is a beautiful and great country, they also have a lot of great art and culture. What I think is negative in the RP is that they export their greatest value, namely, highly educated workers.


Harry

[tom_shor]

So why is he there is he stupid?

He picks a wife that can't cook then complains about having to cook. (Aparently she can't tell when fish is spoiled either)

He lives in Angeles but he doesn't like the nightlife so why does he live there?

Why does he live in that house? He picked it.

Maybe he is just trying to eliminate expat overcrowding by painting a bleak picture.

He should move back to the US and not be allowed abroad again.

[mattwilkie]

I was trying not to get involved in this.. BUUUUUTT a lot of the things he said are true.. but very over the top.. as its probably more to do with the fact all the issues have piled up and hes just grumbling about it all. The white tax thing is "just crap" if anyone is stupid enough to pay it I leave it to them for being that stupid.. always get a price up front and ALWAYS if they wont change the price just tell them its "mahal!!" and walk off and go somewhere else.

Ants are a pain I had them setup home in my DVD player and Xbox 360 but its something thats a constant battle but not something thats going to ruin my day.

Immigration you only have to browse through to see headaches.. opening and closing times aswell (as I turned up on one of those national holidays myself).

But lets be honest the crap that goes on in the Philippines doesnt compare to the West..

Im owed around $4000 on a tax rebate from last year in the UK. I put all the paperwork in and it was due 2 weeks ago.. response from the tax office "we are having a computer update CALLBACK in 4 weeks".

I have so many headaches when dealing with government bodies in the UK its nothing compared to the Philippines.. and another thing the Philippines is a lot cheaper to resolve any issues.

That guy seems to have an issue about everything. No doubt hes had a view a friend of mine had which to be honest is the "Come to Paradise" scenario and arrived to find its nothing to what he expected. Justin sounds bitter and annoyed about being here but no doubt his arm wasnt twisted..

Somedays it gets me down but then again thats life..

[softail]

It sounds to me like the guy simply didn’t do his research before making the big move. I believe most of the complaints that he has have been addressed on this site at one time or another. As far as employment he should have checked out the opportunities before making the plunge. Not sure if he moved there to marry his wife or not, could be a problem if he decides to give it up and move back home.

Doug and Sally

[Admin]

Greetings:

After I read it, I did feel as though that is his honest view of the Philippines. But, I also felt as though he was like a few guys I have met here, over the years. He probably can't afford to return to his home country, in this case the US, so he lives in a country where he isn't happy. But, by the way it reads, he has created many of his own problems.

To me, that is like working a job that you hate, or for people you simply do not respect. He will never, ever be happy in the Philippines.

My advice to him would be, either move out of the Philippines and go back to the US (which I know he won't do), or, at least move to a different part of the Philippines. This entire country isn't like the all mighty "Manila". There are actually many better places to live in country.

Either way, I would be one happy guy if I lived here and truly felt the way he does. You couldn't pay me to stay here, hell, you couldn't pay me to stay anywhere, if I had his view!

[Mik]

He makes Angeles City sound like a really bad place. Glad I live here in Cebu.

[JamesMusslewhite]

Just a whinny tater tot, with an over inflated opinion of himself. Every one of those conditions has happened to me back in the States. You have to use common sense, pay your bills early, and if the place is closed then go back when it is open. He thinks they are there to serve him. This is the type that will work a waiter or waitress to death, only to leave a quarter under an overturned glass of water.
His wife can not cook, can not buy groceries, friends hate him, everyone out to get him, and his panties don't fit. He thinks he should be an English teacher because he can pronounce the words correctly, but he is teaching non-English speakers. He can not speak their language correctly to be able to assist their needs. He needs to take his non-conforming ass back to the Sates and go to most inner cities or industrial areas and see how clean the water, air, lots, and streets are. 40% of Americans live in the same conditions he described every day.
I smell spoiled pampered isolated middle to upper middle class kid; angry because life is not perfect. Move to another part of the Philippines or go home. I have never had anything that resembled his problems here, and personally believe he is as much of a problem as the Foreigners he described. His is stupid so all the Philippine must suck. What a pussy!!!

This post has been edited by JamesMusslewhite: 10 July 2009 - 09:34 AM

[whatever]

I would say that if an American writes up something like that about for example Italy or a French person about America, it would sound quite similar.

I have had close encounters as described but you get used to the customs and all is fine. Just this afternoon I showed friends some pictures of what building and construction projects we did in the Philippines and they were shocked how cheap and nice it was. Of course, I didn't go to a general contractor and gave him a blank check. I am behind each dollar I spent in the Philippines and you can ask my wife how many taxi drivers in Manila didn't turn their meters on last time when we were there: 0.

But look around you in your home country. Don't you think that you are getting ripped off? Last year I had 5 quotes for a heat pump in my house, ranging from $7,000 to $9,000. I got it done for $4,000 in the end. Kitchen cabinets, quotes ranging from $8,000 to $11,000. Git it done for $5,000 in better quality because I drove my trailer to the US and picked it up myself from the manufacturer, Just had a concrete driveway done, quotes from $5,800 to $7,000. Got it done for $3,100. Everybody wants your money everywhere in the world. Same with groceries, we did a comparisson, one popular stor charged $120 for the same groceries you can buy somewhere else for $95. That stuff adds up.

.

.

[BigRob]

I felt sorry for the guy.

[Jay]

He's either just a whiner or he's still new here and experiencing culture shock. Or both. He needs to realize that he's in another country, not a clone of the USA.

[robert51]

i had some of the stuff done to me but what the heck ... dont get mad get even...

[rainymike]

Admin, on Jul 9 2009, 10:29 AM, said:

Beware! Lengthy read ahead: Click here to read his story

While this certainly isn't Utopia, the Philippines isn't as bad as he paints it. Hell, if I felt the way he does, I certainly wouldn't live here.

I felt like that the first time I lived overseas. It was rough, but I was a dumb kid back then and just unprepared for life and had to blame everything and everyone else for my inexperience. America is good at turning out kids like that. Takes a serious slap in the head to grow up and discover what life is really all about. Thirty years of good headslaps later ... and I hope I'm a little more mature. We'll find out shortly.

But yeah, the guy feels like crap and sees the boogieman around every corner because he hasn't come to terms with himself. Well at least that's how it was for me. But I think younger people need to hear that side of the story and try to understand that you're jumping into a new world. Probably even us old farts. But hopefully us old farts are a little wiser and know how to deal with it up better.

[Art]

As I understand his situation he arrived with 2 weeks to do everything with another 2 weeks as back up he caught dengue fever and asked his US employer for an extension of his holidays and holiday pay I think. His employer laid him off so he did find himself in a foreign land with no income. He also married? a woman with another mans child so that made his immigration application more difficult. What I understand is that he is being supported by his family back in the US and he is trying to fix his paper work for his new family so he can go back.

Yeah he didn't do enough research before he came and got caught by circumstances without enough funds and maybe his wife was a bar girl? pregnant to another foreigner. He seems pretty pissed with foreigners begetting children and not taking care of them. I would too. I got the feeling he is religious and of course he is in the wrong place living in Angeles . I think he got in over his head and is feeling the frustration of seeing his life fall apart.

He is a guy who walked into a situation he was totally unprepared for. Warning to others know what you are doing as opposed to thinking you know what you are doing. Leave the dreaming for sleeping time.

[Alan S]

If he is that unhappy, why did he spend so much time on a computer writing that, instead of trying to do somehing constructive?

Too many people complain, rather than act.

[BigRob]

Art, on Jul 10 2009, 03:43 PM, said:

As I understand his situation he arrived with 2 weeks to do everything with another 2 weeks as back up he caught dengue fever and asked his US employer for an extension of his holidays and holiday pay I think. His employer laid him off so he did find himself in a foreign land with no income.

If this is in fact the situation, he can easily find a US attorney that would gladly go after the company. Pro Bono even.

[letsGo]

Apparently a case of competition in tourism.

One thing that the East falls behind is that Asians still have this mentality when it comes to competing with each others in business arena. Instead of making progress and improve their quality, they rather choose to blemish the reputation of their competitors. Hence, no progress. In the West, when they say compete (in business), the mentality is usually improving and striving to be better than your competitors, not sabotage your competitors.

[bret]

my two centavos...

I can understand some of his comments. I have not lived in the Philippines, but have lived in Korea and certainly felt like the local population really did not like us Americans being there. But, that probably had a lot to do with with the fact that we were US Military, young, drunken, holier than thou, guys with an attitude towards foreign lands probably not dissimilar to what Greek or Roman soldiers must have felt and acted like in centuries past. A lot of my fellow soldiers would get drunk and treat the locals like crap because they were just young drunken a-holes. I found myself ashamed at times for being associated with those brutes.

I would think Angeles City having the history it has, must be one of the worst places in the Philippines to set up house and home with any sort of expectation that it would represent normal filipino culture. I have never been to AC, but have heard plenty of war stories about the place. Even when I was 19 and stationed in Korea, AC was famous...basically a giant "ville" chock full of young girls for the taking and all sorts of sin for the making. Not exactly my idea of a place to take my wife and children to settle down. Even if it has settled down over the years since the US military left.

I have been to plenty of "real" cities, towns and villages in the Philippines and can safely say that the experiences "Justin" has written about don't exactly jive with my experiences. However, they could happen anywhere. If he is white, he better not move to parts of the Bronx. If he is black he better not move to parts of Alpharetta Georgia. I have bought spoiled meat in Giant in the US. Can't say that the power goes out often or offices close before stated hours that much in the US. But, those are the difference you need to expect when living in a underdeveloped 3rd world country, versus a developed 1st world country. That's just common sense, or maybe experience.

Any guy thinking he is going to move from the US to the Philippines and compete with the locals for local jobs in any industry sector (especially customer service) where they have plenty of experienced and skilled labor, is out of his mind. The Philippines has so much educated and motivated labor, that it's one of their major exports and sources of GDP. Even inexperienced labor will win out over experienced since they cost less. Unless he is a rocket scientist and they suddenly have a space industry, or something similar, foreign worker jobs in the Philippines are mostly going to be of the self employment/entrepreneurial type, or you are there on an ex-pat package for an international company.

[mattwilkie]

scianna54, on Jul 10 2009, 10:33 AM, said:

I would say that if an American writes up something like that about for example Italy or a French person about America, it would sound quite similar.

I have had close encounters as described but you get used to the customs and all is fine. Just this afternoon I showed friends some pictures of what building and construction projects we did in the Philippines and they were shocked how cheap and nice it was. Of course, I didn't go to a general contractor and gave him a blank check. I am behind each dollar I spent in the Philippines and you can ask my wife how many taxi drivers in Manila didn't turn their meters on last time when we were there: 0.

But look around you in your home country. Don't you think that you are getting ripped off? Last year I had 5 quotes for a heat pump in my house, ranging from $7,000 to $9,000. I got it done for $4,000 in the end. Kitchen cabinets, quotes ranging from $8,000 to $11,000. Git it done for $5,000 in better quality because I drove my trailer to the US and picked it up myself from the manufacturer, Just had a concrete driveway done, quotes from $5,800 to $7,000. Got it done for $3,100. Everybody wants your money everywhere in the world. Same with groceries, we did a comparisson, one popular stor charged $120 for the same groceries you can buy somewhere else for $95. That stuff adds up.

.

.

Its an honest opinion but probably written on a bad day.. Im back in the U.K. which is a country im ashamed to be part of these days.. I just clock on make my money then leave. Its not the people btw! as most people I know are great and friendly the issues for me are political and the fact getting things done isnt so easy anymore.. I must pay my tax return in time.. but they owe me several thousand pounds from last year.. what was the response??? "We are having a computer upgrade call back at the end of July" (its already been 6 weeks). Its illegal to drive on a driving license without my current address BUT I need my driving license to get work and I cant trust them to return it on time..otherwise i cant drive whos wrong here?
The costs of running everything is going up and now the government is talking of adding another £200 on fuel bills per household for windturbines but will we get share options??

Its all about mismanagement of funds and uncontrolled immigration that has led to huge financial problems and the recession we are supposed to have reached the bottom of.. But have we?? As we have tax hikes in 2010 to cover the costs of wasted and badly thought out ideas of the labour government.

See I could write a similar letter on the UK... There is one difference though.. I call it the factory... I leave home in Cebu and just go to work before returning home.. im thankful I can find work when most cant and it proves all those years at college paid off
The guy who is unhappy in Angeles really should have done his research.. a lot of the stuff written online is misleading and biast.. so a few holiday vacations before making the big move is something I would advise anyone to do.. but something more on the lines of house swap than a living in a resort.

[fanboat]

BBQ Joe, on Jul 10 2009, 04:55 AM, said:

ALL SPOT ON:


You hop into a cab in Manila. You notice the meter is turned off. You ask the driver to take you the airport. 5 minutes later you're there. "That will be 1000 peso, sir." If you don't pay you might just have a fight on your hands. Been there, done that. Won the fight. So forewarning never jump into a cab without the meter turned on. Pay close attention to if the Cabbie is running around in circles to run the meter higher - they love to do that.



You go to a doctor referred to you by your neighbor. Your neighbor says it only cost 70php for an office visit. When you're done at the doctor, the clerk tells you 500php. Welcome to the Philippines. Where if you're foreign, you get a special tax we like to call the "Skin tax"

Congratulations you're married and your wife is having your first child. You rush her to the clinic as she goes into labor. You're told the child was exposed to Hepatitus B, you need to vaccinate her. The shots cost more than the actual labor bill cost. 3000php later your new daughter is injected with her 1st of 3 booster shoots needed. You go home only to find out that the real cost is supposed to be 900php. Welcome to the Philippines.



Your DVD player breaks. You just bought it 3 months ago. You carry it back and the retail location refuses to exchange it. So you buy another one. A more expensive one. It cost you $60. You have it for 1 week, and it breaks. Welcome to the Philippines.



You finally find a grocery store that sells FRESH WHOLE MILK just like back home. You drop $7 for four 1 liter bottles (1 gallon) and take it home. As you sit down and crack open the bottle while flipping through channels to savor the taste of REAL MILK and not the powdered crap your wife has been buying. A foul smell emits from the bottle its spoiled..... It cost you over 150php in travel expenses just to get to the grocery store & you paid 80php for the 1 liter bottle of milk....



You don't feel like going to the grocery store, so you decide to send your wife to the market to grab something to eat. She brings back fish & fries it up. The fish feels funny as you eat it. Your tongue feels weird... One hour water your drooling all over yourself and your lips and tongue are numb. You run to the bathroom every 30 minutes crapping on yourself .....for days.... Welcome to the Philippines

It's been raining everyday for a solid week. You head to the kitchen to make a snack only to see a living sea of ants scurrying about in your kitchen floor. Not the harmless tiny black ants. But giant fiery red ants. So many in fact that if you had of stepped into the kitchen into the swarm. You would probably be dead now and not reading this. Welcome to the Philippines.

Its a bright sunny morning, you stretch your arms and get out of bed. Walk outside to inhale the fresh.....wait....oh yes, you're in the Philippines not home...*sigh* You wake up , walk outside and inhale the pugent smell of the pig farm to your north, and the grotesque river directly behind your apartment that is slap slam full of your very own feces since your landlord did not install a septic tank or septic system. The peso you pay the land lord every month to get rid of your trash goes directly behind your apartment and is dumped in the river along with your feces. There are mosquitoes everywhere breeding in this toxic sludge, along with the infinite supply of roaches & rats. Every now and then you happen to see a rotting corpse of a dog or cat floating in the sludge. Yes, welcome to the Philippines.

You receive your power bill, and notice they've went up on the rates yet again. This is the 8th consective month in a row they've jacked prices. You pull out your calculator and begin to convert the 300 fees that are listed on your power bill and see just HOW much does it cost per KwH. After you're done you see you're paying almost 20 cents (USD) per KwH. Yet almost every sunday the electrical company decides to kill power to your whole area for 8+ hours a day. You even get charged a tax when your power is offline. Welcome to the Philippines.

You realize you cannot afford air conditioning and you are forced to just use fans. Now after living here 6 months you've developed a real nasty skin condition that looks like hundreds of tiny pimples bursting all over the hot spots of your body. Your armpits, the crack inbetween your shoulder. Your inner thighs, Behind your knees. It burns like fire, and nothing seems to relieve the pain except 2 weeks of laying in front of continual air flow. Welcome to the Philippines.

Your internet provider hasn't sent your bill in 2 months. Come to think of it, they have NEVER sent the bill. They call you and tell you - you have 2 days to pay your bill or their disconnecting your internet. You tell them you haven't received the bill, and you would be more than happy to pay it WHEN THEY SEND THE BILL. They say, we sent it sir... I have never received a bill, you reply to the rep. You call here every 2 months threatening to disconnect. We play the same game everytime. I tell you send the bill and I'll pay. 2 weeks later i get the bill after you call threatening to disconnect and I pay. welcome to the Philippines.

You go to pay your water bill, it's Noon. They've already closed for the day.. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to renew your visa at immigration. Their closed. The sign says Closed for Holidays Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to pay your power bill. Its 4:00pm, They've already closed for the day when their hours are supposed to be till 5:00pm. Welcome to the Philippines.



You have a scheduled doctor appointment at 11am. You show up 30 minutes later. As you're waiting you notice the doctor slips out and leaves. The receptionist tells you to come back at 5pm as the doctor is now on a 6 hour lunch break. Welcome to the Philippines.

Noone has websites. Noone has online billpayment. A double cheeseburger cost you $2 at McDonalds & Eating out here in the Philippines at a restraunt that won't give you food poisoning is more expensive than in the USA. Welcome to the Philippines.

You go to the grocery store, because you're out of spices. You actually have to travel to 5 different grocery stores, to get the spices you need because none carry all or the same spices. You begin to notice there's something different about the ground beef you been buying. It's too sweet. Too greasy. You begin to wonder is it really beef to begin with or something far...far worse. As you pull out the slab of pork tenderloin you bought at the grocery store, you notice their are WORMS in the meat!!!!! Welcome to the Philippines.

HOW DID YOU DO THAT BOSS PICTURE...BOSS??