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Published: April 19th 2008
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People heading to the plane in Cebu
No, it is not raining. They gave out the unbrellas so that people didn't have to get sun on them for the 10 seconds it took to walk to the plane! No, not Disneyland, The Philippines! According to a global survey conducted in 2005, Filipinos came out among the world's happiest people. It certainly shows.
At the end of our time here, one thing that stands out to me is just how lovely and friendly the locals are. As I mentioned before, the most recent statistics in the Manila newspapers said that 33% of people live on less than $1 a day, up 3% from last year. Despite this, and despite the fact that they have to endure seeing rich foreign men come in and "steal" their young pretty females, everyone seems very happy and they are some of the friendlist people we have met on the whole trip. I think it helps that the vast majority of people speak very good English. Instead of dealing with just the "tourist touts" of much of South-East Asia, which are the ones who are generally out to make a quick buck from the tourists, in The Philippines, foreign tourism is so limited that the locals treat you just the same, charging you the same price for food and transport as they would a local. Well, not exactly the same. They are always so
very helpful and accommodating, asking repeatedly if everything is OK with genuine concern. For example, we'd often ask local restaurants if they could cook us omelette and rice fresh, rather than the cold and congealed meats that were pre-cooked on offer on the counter. Every time they were totally obliging, trying to cater to our fussy foreigner needs. After the meal, they would hesitantly ask us if everything was OK, and when we assured them that it was "very good" or "excellent food" they would reward us with a big smile and a gleeful clap of their hands. All of this just added up to us really wanting to leave a small tip to show our appreciation.
To sum up, I have been noticing a few inconsistencies here that are quite funny and strange, and I want to share with you as they never cease to puzzle me:
- The national dish seems to be chicken and rice, or pork and rice, but they are an island nation. Where's all the fish?
- They are such a meat eating country, but they provide only fork and spoon for eating, no knives!
- The modern air-conditioned shopping malls found in every major city are the hub of social activity and usually very crowded, but they
still never have small change to give you!
- Many local restaurants in this very Christian country have posters of Jesus on the wall, but next to it are posters of almost-naked girlies!
- In Manila and other major cities, there are armed guards with guns everywhere, but seemingly no crime!
- Videoke (the local name for karaoke) is the national passtime, but no-one can sing! Ho ho!
In the end, The Philippines is a country that you need a lot of time for in order to survive the poor ferry connections and still have a shred of sanity left. If you can manage the transport, you are rewarded with a country that is still very untouched by tourism compared to the rest of Asia (we never once took a bus with another foreigner) and blessed with the happiest and friendlist people of earth, beautiful white sand beaches, and brilliant diving.
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Vince
non-member comment
Great Blog
Great observation there...especially concerning seafoods...That's so true! As far as eating with fork and spoon, it's easier to scoop rice with a spoon rather than a fork and one just needs to learn how to cut meat with those two utensils which is actually easy. As for guns, it takes a lot of time to get used to really. And yeah, traveling in an archipelago does take a lot of patience but indeed, this place does offer a lot of surprises! Be back, there are quite thousands islands, endless beaches to discover! I will.