Living in the Philippines

Remember all the important life lessons you learned when you were a kid? Those same lessons go double here in the Philippines and Asia in general. Western countries tend to “rubber pad” life for their citizens. You go about your normal day-to-day life knowing someone (police, politicians, etc.) is there to look after you and

Always very happy to be helpful, Filipinos LOVE giving directions and information but, unfortunately, are sadly lacking in accuracy or accountability. Hating to lose face by not having the knowledge, Filipinos will almost never admit they do not know the answer to a question asked or the location of a destination you are looking for.

So after a long flight to Manila from your home country, you’ve made your way safely and smoothly out of the airport. Being the smart traveler you are, you have packed lightly, secure in the knowledge that you can buy much of what you’ll need in town. It’s always better to only bring the bare

Even while the government works diligently at eradicating the massive corruption that permeates this society, it is also creating more opportunities for its government to be corrupted. By the very nature of the systems implemented to combat this scourge, there must inevitably be human beings conducting these checks, enforcing and administering these regulations. A situation

Are you thinking you may experience a language barrier in the Philippines? If you’re an English speaker, then you will be happy to know that speaking English in the Philippines is fairly common, especially closer to and in the major metropolitan cities such as Manila. Roman Alphabet Did you ever try to look up a

Be Warned This is something people don’t fully realize when they leave their Western countries. Nobody is going to protect you. There are no government oversight committees, watchdogs, Better Business Bureau’s, etc. You’re on your own and you better watch your ass. Here is something basic that you must understand. If you go to a