Crime-Safety-Advice-Pepper Spray

[YodaPagoda 0]

Wowie wow wow. I read all of these stories, and wondered if this was the same country I spent 6 months in. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had anything close to what some of these folks are saying. Stay with your fiancee/wife and don't give to the beggars ("wala!" seems to catch them by surprise.)

The closest I think one of my stories comes, was actually last month when my wife and I were going from the Ermita area near the US Embassy (after she got denied the tourist visa) and my wife (not me) negotiated a fare with the driver. I guess it had something to do with the traffic at the time of day, but we got from Ermita to Cubao in about 35 minutes during the middle of the day, and at that distance, the fare should be about 250 pesos, but my wife had negotiated about 350. For some reason she hands me the money to hand to the driver, and the driver thinks I'm giving him all 500 pesos! Once I told him "you already got 100 pesos extra buddy, don't press your luck" he had my change ready.

As for the OP's dilemma about just flying into Cebu...time is money, and any way to avoid the hassle of getting in and out of Terminal 1 in Manila is money well spent.

[TeapotGirl 66]

don't give to the beggars ("wala!" seems to catch them by surprise.)

I taught my beau that!! Oh my...funny.."Wala" means NONE by the way.

Terminal 1 in Manila is money well spent.

Terminal is for international flights so most likely that's where you're going to exit except if you're flight is PAL (Philippine Airlines, you'll be in Terminal 2.

Always always have a loose charge with you. Hide large bills. If they ask for more, say "WALA". Your GF must also be outspoken if these things happen. If she's another timid one, you'll have a difficulty because you don't talk their language.

Edited September 29, 2011 by teapotgurl1983

[TeapotGirl 66]

I did get hustled on the taxi ride once. That doesn't bother me. It's getting robbed of everything I got or something worse that would.

To an average Filipino, taxi is a luxury. We are used to heat, we won't mind riding in a jeepney, inhaling fumes or squeezing ourselves on the train just to save. We do not expect tourists like yours to feel the same thing so just at least be careful with the taxi. If you take the taxi, assumption is that you have some money because its more expensive compared to the rest of the means of transportation. More so if they see a white guy stopping them. If they're honest, it's not bad to give them tips but it should be you who initiated it. Taxi drivers that demands tip unprofessional. They can get reported for that but people here usually just let it go because they are paid by the extra of the car rent and nothing else. The traffic here is terrible and maybe that's the reason why a lot of them cheats. No matter what, no one's allowed to do that. This is a poor country but still a lot of people try to live honestly. Taxi drivers like that are called "kapal ng mukha" meaning thick-faced.

Edited September 29, 2011 by teapotgurl1983

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

To an average Filipino, taxi is a luxury. We are used to heat, we won't mind riding in a jeepney, inhaling fumes

I actually didn't mind using the Jeepneys, it was interesting squeezing my just over 6ft self into the pack with my not quite 5ft wife. It's amazing how honest the Jeepneys are especially compared to the Taxis. I mean you hand cash up the line of passengers to the driver's helper and you actually get proper change back!

When I went there to marry Anna we hired a LPG Taxi to drive us from Manila to Paniqui (in Tarlac), we agreed to pay the driver 2,500Php. When we hit Tarlac, Tarlac the driver started complaining that he might not have enough LPG int he tank to get back to Manila. Anna simply told him that was his fault not ours. He stopped at a Trike Stand one town shy of Paniqui and said he couldn't go any further. Instead of arguing we got out and paid him the 2,500Php despite his protests that we should tip him. A kind Trike driver took us the rest of the way and got a 500Php tip for his trouble. Ironically Anna and I had already agreed that we would tip the Taxi driver about 1,500Php once we got to Paniqui. He was too greedy to get though!

Edited September 29, 2011 by Bob 4 Anna

[TeapotGirl 66]

For some reason she hands me the money to hand to the driver, and the driver thinks I'm giving him all 500 pesos! Once I told him "you already got 100 pesos extra buddy, don't press your luck" he had my change ready.

95% of the taxi drivers doesn't have a change. This is a trick so you'll just let go of the petty change but they do it with everybody. If you want to give a standard tip to every taxi you board into or simply just don't want to give a tip (which is totally fine, really), ALWAYS GET READY FOR LOOSE CHARGE. Don't show bunch of P1000 and P500!.

Edited September 29, 2011 by teapotgurl1983