I have a love hate relationship with the Philippines.
Whenever I am away for so long, I start to miss the food, the people, and the beautiful beaches. Philippines has very cheap and fresh seafood, which is my favourite food. I can get a kilo of fresh oysters, clams, prawns, or premium fish at the market for less than 5$. Majority of the Filipinos are warm and friendly. People are always smiling and ready to help out. In addition, a lot of the service staff are very accommodating and helpful. Finally, the beaches are amazing. I’ve been to several beaches in Southeast Asia, Europe, America, but nothing beats the white sandy beaches of the Philippines. For example, we have Boracay, an island we locals visit multiple times. It has long and wide coastlines, picture perfect sunsets, and an entertaining nightlife. Boracay is just 1 of our famous beaches. We still have Coron, El Nido, Panglao Bohol, Siargao, etc. The list goes on…
However, when I am back in polluted, over-populated, and congested Manila, I start getting annoyed. Manila is very slow and inefficient as well. If you live in a fast-paced developed country for a few years, you’ll get culture-shocked or time-warped into the past. Coming back to Manila after living in Thailand, Singapore, and UK for several years, made me crazy. I remember applying for a mobile phone line in Globe (telco) during my first week. They told me that my number would be activated within 24–48hours! After 48 hours, my phone was still not activated. It took them 5 days to activate my number, but they behaved as if it were normal. Apparently in the Philippines everything is late or delayed. Filipinos are so used to not sticking to the right time or not committing to what they say. Everyone is just chilling as if nothing is wrong or urgent. Traffic is also horrible. At first, I felt very uneasy doing nothing in the car for hours, but thanks to technology I’ve coped. Government processes are inefficient and poorly executed. For example, I apply for a passport appointment online, but the system fails to send me a confirmation email. I call the customer service, but they tell me to wait for 5 days then if I don’t receive any email, just reapply for an appointment. Unfortunately, a lot of the slots are gone. The internet is extremely slow too. Sadly the cause of the slow internet connection is monopoly, corruption, and red tape.
It can get frustrating to live in the Philippines (Manila particularly) if you don’t go with the flow. However, you just need to figure out what you want from the Philippines. I personally saw a lot of untapped opportunities in this emerging market so I decided to stay. I just let optimism and my positive mindset lead my life.
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