There are some difficult things to deal with in the Philippines. One I mentioned earlier is called "Skin Tax". Basically when I buy some article or service and I pay for it myself, often I get short-changed. It's not much-- maybe twenty pesos (around 40 cents)-- just enough to make you consider whether to confront them about it or just let it go. This happens if Heide and others leave the taxi and I'm left to pay for it. Yesterday I was short-changed while purchasing steamed peanuts from a vendor with a stand just outside the shopping mall. The merchant fiddled with the change till everyone left but me, then handed me change which was twenty pesos short. It seems odd that they would do this since Filipinos avoid confrontation as much as possible. Instead of confronting them, the easiest way for me to deal with it is to let Heide make all the purchases.
I mentioned this to Bombi, our nephew who recently began working in mainland China, and he says that this happens to him too. "Skin Tax" is really a tax on foreigners. The locals figure if you make a lot of money, you don't mind being short-changed.
Disturbing situation #2: If you're driving a car and you hit someone, instead of stopping to help, I've been advised to drive off immediately. If you stop, there's a good chance of being attacked and possibly killed by angry relatives or an angry mob. I got this suggestion from two different sources. This is a good reason not to drive in the Philippines. Leave driving to taxis, jeepneys and tricycles. They are cheap and abundant. You can usually find them driving by every few minutes.
In the "Baguio City Travel and Info Map", I found this disturbing blurb under the title of "Unique Highlights". I quote: "Dog Meat Delicacy at Comiles 2 Cafe: Slaughtered minutes before cooking and cooked in the traditional adobo fashion (stewing the meat in soy sauce, vinegar, and cloves of garlic), dog meat supposedly has a certain 'heat' to it and is a bit oilier. An order costs around P150." 150 pesos is about $3.20.
Now for some really pleasant experiences-- of which the Philippines has in abundance:
This is a typical concrete house in our immediate neighborhood. What you don't see is the cliff behind the house.
Here's Heide in an open space by the side of the road. You can see into the valley and other mountains. We are at the edge of Baguio City with a population of about 300,000. It's in the hilly terrain within Northern Luzon's Cordillera Central mountain range and has an elevation of 1,500 meters above sea level.
Here's another gorgeous view into the valley.
Sometimes you see ramshackle houses with tin roofs.
Here's a woman living in a tin house. She's doing her laundry with two children looking on. Notice the large rocks holding down the tin on her roof and the furniture forming part of the roof of her shed.
In contrast, we look up the street at Mount Santo Tomas and see a cluster of elegant houses at "Valley Point". I was informed that the houses in the cluster are owned by Koreans. There is a school nearby owned and run by Japanese with the purpose to teach English to North Koreans. Foreigners are not allowed to own property in the Philippines, but they get around this by having the property in a Filipino's name. The house on top is supposedly for rent.
We start a walk up the hill towards the Korean houses. Notice the concrete utility pole. And the streets are all concrete. I have yet to see an asphalt road or driveway.
We pass some dramatic views of wealthy houses.
Finally we reach the Korean houses. Notice the strong Spanish influence in the architecture. You can see the "house on top" that we saw in the distance. Supposedly if we keep on walking up the mountain, we will reach a place which has the stations of the cross. Walking a little higher than the "house on top", we're still only a quarter of the way to the stations of the cross. Although our house is located at the jeepney "turnaround" area, some jeepneys do pass us on our way up.Duane and Heide.
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