A guy lost on Boracay

Civilized business – no one in a gas station or market in the US will raise the price on you just because you’re a certain race.

I really miss self-checkout in Wal-Marts. Its interesting how we consider the US to have some scummy people all over, but even in walmart, they let you scan your own groceries and pay in the machine…completely unattended. man, that was nice.

Real Products…..as in genuine stuff. Not fake clones from china in real looking packaging.

Real meds. I have gotten fake medications too many times here. I once had cemetadine that were chalk tablets.

Decent staff – I know, its a weird thing but you constantly hear that store staff here will tell you they dont have a certain item when they really do. Seems like a small thing but I have never seen it so common, anywhere in the world but here. I recently bought an electric toothbrush in Manila at the closest thing they had to a Best Buy..nice place…tons of employees waiting on you……. But this guy told me with 100% pure confidence and a smile – that they didnt sell those.

its not a matter of them not knowing, but they dont bother to check. I have never, in my 23 countries of worldly travel, seen that happen anywhere else.

I miss fast-food. Jollibee and Andoks is not fast food…it isnt even safe food. Fastfood used to be fast food…you didn’t eat it on holiday and you didn’t eat it on vacation. Here, people will save up for a year or more to visit Boracay with their family but on their blogs, they consistently mention that their first meal was fried chicken at Andoks. –what a crappy and greasy and unhealthy holiday meal— Gimme Taco Bell any time.

I miss..well…i dunno.

I miss the seafood section in the supermarket–for that matter, I miss supermarkets. I looked for frozen or at least decently refrigerated meats and fish in Robinsons but nope…it was all open. The 4 refrigerated lanes had hotdogs. I have never in my life seen that much variety of hotdogs.

I miss security – I semi got used to it in the middle east, but never expected to see it’s lack here. The ninjas, (muslim women with the full body/face hajib) walk thru security and hand paperwork…no one checks to see who they really are. Now, they’re busting terrorists on this island. Not a good sign.

I miss store layouts. If your place is not large but you have 3 different toy sections and the cosmetics bags are in the wood-crafts section, then the logic escapes me.

I’m not really fond of these chickens and the smell of pigs. I’m used to it but coming back from the airport, it hit me strong as just how much this island smells. I went thru the wet market and almost convulsed at the smell of milkfish rotting in the sun with nothing more than a small de-fly fan to cool them.

I miss work. Really, I do. I am not allowed to have employment in the Phils but they get bent out of shape every time someone wants to restrict the Filipinos allowed to work in the US. Thats the way they are….from the US? No job for you!

I miss driving.

I miss gas stations.

I being able to buy good cuts of beef for a BBQ.

I miss being able to buy chicken for a BBQ that doesnt have bone chips in it from being hacked apart along no particular axis.

I really miss Wal-Mart, I know I already mentioned it…but I do.

I miss having a postal system.

I miss being able to order on eBay without paying double the price of the item on import taxes.

I miss privacy – from neighbors, from resto employees, from everywhere. It’s worse than a highschool girls locker room.

I miss reliable internet.

I miss qualified doctors.

I miss central air.

I miss winter. Snow. Ice. I miss seasons period.

I miss traffic laws.

I miss drinkable water.

I miss hot water.

I miss microwaves.

I miss being able to cook w/o having to roadmarch 14 KM for food.

I miss water pressure.

I miss dogs that chase cats.

I miss pet-stores.

I miss post-it notes

I miss not living on a hillside in the fucking jungle with palms and banana trees all over the fucking place and roosters crowing all hours of the night and neighbors cooking with scrap construction material so the fumes of burning paint come into the window and government agencies that use computers and deodorant and toilet paper and sidewalks where people arent trying to steal from me or sell me their children or a whole society where I get charged a different rate for everything because I AM FUCKING WHITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yea, there’s a few things I miss.

2 Responses

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1. 

   Rod

   Dude sounds like u been dere too long! Me I can’t get there enough! See ya soon bro!

   Apr 9, 2008 at 5:02 PM

   Reply
2. 

   Michael

   This is by far the best post so far. Probably because I can relate to it very well after living part time there in the PI and working in the middle east shithole country i’m in. You know the deal.

   Mar 14, 2008 at 8:43 AM

   Reply

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