General Info

[PirateMorgan]

I called PAL before I came and asked if I needed a ticket OUT of the country when I made my reservation. They said NO. When I checked in for my flight at the airport they said I needed it. So I had to buy a refundable ticket for Hong Kong ($450) When I arrived here last night they could have cared less about a departing ticket. Conclusion is-no conclusion. I don't know what to say.

[PirateMorgan]

I have now lived in the Philippines for 12 hours. Cebu is my new home. Costa Rica, Sosua, Lake Chappala and finally (I hope) the Philippines. I plan to post information here that might be interesting to others who are planning to come to the Philippines. And from the perspective of someone 70 (young 70) years old. I will post each new subject with an appropriate subject line.

[Random99]

It occurred again two days later. Same mall (rear entrance, where the taxis are unsupervised). Two drivers wanted p200 to go a p45-50 ride. A third driver agreed to 60 (hard rain).

West - Since it's going to be raining for the next few months, you should try out Uber. Although, Uber does have surge pricing -- at least it's somewhat upfront about it.

[WestCoast1]

Yes. We were commenting recently on how that opportunism had dwindled. I have not experienced it I a long time (several years). In fact, two weeks prior, in two cities outside of Manila (Cebu and a province), I took taxis several times at downpour / heavy traffic times, and every driver performed flawlessly, no hint of opportunism.

It occurred again two days later. Same mall (rear entrance, where the taxis are unsupervised). Two drivers wanted p200 to go a p45-50 ride. A third driver agreed to 60 (hard rain).

I got an interesting explanation from the driver of why the sudden opporunism has come up. I didn't ask for any explaination, he just offered it (and who knows if this is true or not). He said he rents taxis for p1000 per 12 hour shift. Since the rains started last week, the owners have increased the fee by 300 per day during the 'tie-poons'. He said the owners are claiming extra damage to the returned taxis from the rain. Does not make much sense to me, but there you have what he told me.

I did not point out to him that adding 300 to his daily expenses, does *not* justify all rides going up by 150+ (you only need to opportunisitcally raise 2 fares by that much to recoup p300).

[WestCoast1]

It's the same way in China. Opportunistic. Personally, I'd gladly pay $5 to get a taxi in a downpour.

Yes. We were commenting recently on how that opportunism had dwindled. I have not experienced it I a long time (several years). In fact, two weeks prior, in two cities outside of Manila (Cebu and a province), I took taxis several times at downpour / heavy traffic times, and every driver performed flawlessly, no hint of opportunism.

[ImAGuy]

There you have it: rain makes them suddenly *ssholes.

It's the same way in China. Opportunistic. Personally, I'd gladly pay $5 to get a taxi in a downpour.

[WestCoast1]

Recently there was discussion of bad-boy taxi drivers in Manila. I was one of those who poo-poo-ed that, saying that lately they had cleaned up their act. Well these things are like the weather here: just wait 15 minutes and it changes. With mucho rains recently in Manila, the worm has turned. I'm in a mall one evening during a downpour. Concluding my business I head out the front entrance, to find a massive line for the taxis. Seems nobody wants to walk in the downpour. I walk back inside and window-shop a bit, on my way to the rear entrance. I've got my umbrella, and its only just over half a mile to the hotel. By the time I reach the rear entrance, the rain has slowed nearly to a halt, barely a drizzle. I was tempted to walk to the hotel. But, there were taxis passing by, and nobody was in the taxi line. Easy pickings, right?

I step to the curb and a taxi pulls over. The driver rolls his window down and asks my destination. I tell him XYZ Hotel. He simply drove away. Another taxi pulls up and the driver asks my destination. XYZ Hotel. "Two hundred". What? Its a p45-50 fare (60-65 in mid-day traffic). Traffic is light. "Two hundred". Next, have a good day fella. Another taxi pulled up, with a similar result: the driver wanted 150. I told him meter+20, and he drove off.

I started to walk to the hotel (didn't need the umbrella). A moment later a taxi honked at me as he pulled over. XYZ Hotel fella. "One hundred". Eighty. "OK".

There you have it: rain makes them suddenly *ssholes.

[Mbsl65]

I am sure he is trying to make money by selling advertising in his site with an increased traffic. There are many morons like him.

Maybe this is already known here, but some dude who runs a popular blog put Philippines on blast a few months ago. He labelled it the easiest place on Earth to get laid, and even linked one of the dating sites. A lot of guys were calling him out on ruining the Phils.

I'll be there this month. Hoping the same thing that happened in China doesn't happen there.

[ImAGuy]

Maybe this is already known here, but some dude who runs a popular blog put Philippines on blast a few months ago. He labelled it the easiest place on Earth to get laid, and even linked one of the dating sites. A lot of guys were calling him out on ruining the Phils.

I'll be there this month. Hoping the same thing that happened in China doesn't happen there.

[Wicked Roger]

Skogis' point about the lack of sufficient local expertise to operate an airline to international standards is true, and not only for air transport, but for several areas of the service sectors.

The simple fact is that there are no institutional mechanisms here that would enable the service economy to achieve international standards nor, evidently, is there any particular desire to do so.

This is a country in which mediocrity is the norm, hyperbole the rule, and fantasy a permanent state of mind.

GE.

This today from the Philstar make interesting reading in light of the FRs recently about the airport. Nothing will surprise the seasoned traveler among us. The fact that it has taken a few weeks for the report to be mentioned in the press is also alarming IMHO. It basically slams the entire airport and management, the lack of investment etc. Carries see NAIA as high risk is always comforting to the passenger. If the subject was not so serious it would be funny.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...h-risk-airport

As GE pointed out there were plans for a new airport plus some politicians have pushed Clark (but that need huge investment in a rail service to Manila). But as he also noted, there is limited will to o anything unless people get there share of the pie first putting passengers etc well down the list of beneficiaries.

Read the last sentence, IATA (a least an authority on the subject) agrees that a new airport within a 50 kms radius of Manila is needed but pigs will fly first am sure.

[Simmer]

It is one of the worst run airlines. If they did true competition, they could not survive for a single day. I wonder how they could run an airport.

Maybe, if some of you fine gents have flown Phil airline long haul to Paris or London, you can correct me. But a B777 or an A330 is the same flying between BKK MNL as MNL CDG / LHR. Don't make me want to book their service for anlonger flight than 3 hrs. The aircraft itself beeing modern and all that is ok but they by far don't have the servicelevel in Biz class we can get used to in the western world (and how many westerns like the chicken adobo?)...

I have done LAX- (GUM) -MNL / MNL-LAX on PR. Those were looong flights, especially with the refueling in GUM on the way out (apparently they rarely do this any more as they use B777's more than B747's now. Better range). Food was okay, and plenty of it, service was okay, but broken IFE, broken seats, bassinets on the floor because of no attachment points.

But they have no direct competition for many long haul routes. PR are the only airline flying direct to MNL from LAX; United and Delta from the US converge on Narita and then diverge to various points in Asia, so a change of plane is required, which is a bit of a PITA. PR don't seem to interline with much else, at least ticketing anyway, so if you want a through ticket to, say, Davao from west coast US, you can either have PR or one of the Chinese airlines (I forget which), and that's your lot. So, many Filipinos prefer to take PR and I suppose many have some sort of pride in "their" airline. Crazy but that's the way it is.

[Member #4387]

Skogis' point about the lack of sufficient local expertise to operate an airline to international standards is true, and not only for air transport, but for several areas of the service sectors. I've stayed in many, though not all, of the five star hotels in Makati, for example and noted that all of the GMs I've met are Western. Even in the call center business, the larger, more successful companies are Western-owned and run. I attribute this not to a lack of talent, but to the deplorably low standards enforced by training institutions here. The simple fact is that there are no institutional mechanisms here that would enable the service economy to achieve international standards nor, evidently, is there any particular desire to do so.

To illustrate, I refer to a discussion I had recently with a friend who for years has owned and operated one of the best Western restaurants in Davao. He recounted his experience in interviewing a young woman who had recently graduated from one of the city's more expensive culinary academies. She introduced herself as "Chef Julie" (I've made up the name) who firmly believed.
--because she had been told so by her school--that having taken a two-year or perhaps even four-year course, she was actually a chef. My friend said her skills were at best rudimentary. Culinary academies, by the way are churning out ersatz "Chefs" by the thousands here, none of whom, I am quite sure, would be capable of holding more than an entry level job in a real restaurant kitchen.

This is a country in which mediocrity is the norm, hyperbole the rule, and fantasy a permanent state of mind.

GE.

You speak out my point as in general quite beautifully. I don't carry your native english tounge so I can not indulge myself with those fine words you are using. I understand them put in context though (my mom is american but her tounge today is clear native norwegian). They live by much a fantasy in phils. Hell, I know a while ago, as we have lack of nurses in Norway, a company started to provide hospitals with nurses. It proved though that they did not have a clue what plaster was, even less did they know how to take a blood sample (finding a nutiorous vaine).

Everything was questioned and they were send back (a few of them propably managed to get themself some norwegian wood so they could stay but it was mainly a disaster). Now it is only 2 institutions, Hi so ones, providing Norway with nirses from Phils as they have a norwegian logistic officer placed at the unis so they can view the quality of the educations. They can come easily with no hazzles from the norwegian embassy as they are needed.

I know a girl from San Fernando, a beauty, she just finished 3 years of culinaries and call herself a "baker" as in can decorate. I have viewed some of her work and my mom (I would not say me) can do a lot better than her. She would not before hell freezes get a job as a baker in Norway but maybe in phils I don't know. My mom is by the way only a math and chemical teacher at a UNI in Oslo, Norway.

[WestCoast1]

I attribute this not to a lack of talent, but to the deplorably low standards enforced by training institutions here. The simple fact is that there are no institutional mechanisms here that would enable the service economy to achieve international standards nor, evidently, is there any particular desire to do so.

SNIP

This is a country in which mediocrity is the norm, hyperbole the rule, and fantasy a permanent state of mind.

GE.

To piggyback on that:

Recently used Agoda to book a room at a hotel in the province. The hotel is also a convention center (its not a small place). Booked for 3 nights using agoda as the hotel has no website. Agoda shows wifi in the rooms. Could not get a wifi signal in the room, so I asked for a room with better wifi connection. "But sir we don't have wifi in any of our rooms. Lobby only". Great. Why does Agoda show you have wifi in both the room and public areas? "Sir it does not. Agoda shows we have wifi in public area only". I grabbed my laptop and got on Agoda and showed her the "wifi in all rooms" thing. "So sorry po".

Can I speak to the manager? "What manager sir?" The one who runs the place? "Oh sorry sir. No. He is not here now. You cannot speak to him". Ah, he will be back later today, right? Can you send him to my room to chat me? "Ah sir no. We don't know when he comes back". Tomorrow then? "Ah sir no. We never know when he comes here. Just you can talk to him if you see him here". Great. Send an email to Agoda asking if I can depart my reservation with these clowns and find a new hotel, without financial penalty for the remaining nights.

The next day my girl and I get up and decide to hit the mall. We depart at 9 am. I stop by the front desk and ask for my room to be made up, explaining that we were going shopping for a while. The receptionist grabs a walkie-talkie and says to make up room 203. Somebody responds "OK". We hit the mall and shop, and have a snack. The girl goes home. I get back to the hotel around noon to find the room has not been cleaned. I decide to go to a market and get some fruits, but first I stop back at the front desk and ask them to make up my room, reminding them that I requested it 3 hours prior. The girl walkie-talkies the same command. Reply on the walkie: "OK".

I go off and shop, then stop back in the aircon mall for some tea. Get back to the hotel at 3 pm and find the room still not made up. Head back to the front desk, to find the head maid talking to the receptionist. I ask once again to have the room cleaned, reminding the girl that this is the third time I've asked for the room to be cleaned. The head-maid gal intervenes with: "No". What? "No sir. We clean the rooms on a schedule. 203 will not be cleaned until later today". Really! I noted to the maid lady that there were only about 4 rooms being occupied by customers, and many unoccupied rooms were in the throws of being cleaned during the day. Did the occupied rooms not get priority for cleaning when the occupants were out? "No sir. We clean the rooms in an order. We will get to yours later". Amazing!

I turned to the receptionist and asked if she was aware of this? "Yes sir". So when I told you to make up the room at 9 am, you knew it would not get done till late afternoon? "Yes sir". Why did you call on the walkie-talkie? Why did you not tell me that they would not clean the room till later? And why did you repeat this behavior at noon? "I don't know sir. That is what we do".

I love this place!

To be fair, 3 minutes later there was a knock at my door, the cleaning crew had obviously been summoned.

There is a vast difference between the cultural expectations, and the local expectation is so low that I don't know if the western expectation can be met. A hotel manager in a different province said it to me once, out loud, in english. One day I had called the front desk to ask for an extra pillow to be brought to my room, 2 pm. About 4 pm (no pillow rec'd) I stopped at the front desk and asked again, as I was walking out the front door. At 7 pm I went to the front desk again to ask. At 9 pm (still no pillow) I went back to the front desk, got a bit rough, and insisted the pillow be delivered (and shortly after it was delivered). The following day at checkout, I mentioned this to the manager. Her response: "Foreigner want everything to happen for them right now. Its not the filipino way, sir". The fact that this is cultural, and that pinoy rarely complain about any bad service, means expectations will not change for a long time.

[GoodEnough]

Skogis' point about the lack of sufficient local expertise to operate an airline to international standards is true, and not only for air transport, but for several areas of the service sectors. I've stayed in many, though not all, of the five star hotels in Makati, for example and noted that all of the GMs I've met are Western. Even in the call center business, the larger, more successful companies are Western-owned and run. I attribute this not to a lack of talent, but to the deplorably low standards enforced by training institutions here. The simple fact is that there are no institutional mechanisms here that would enable the service economy to achieve international standards nor, evidently, is there any particular desire to do so.

To illustrate, I refer to a discussion I had recently with a friend who for years has owned and operated one of the best Western restaurants in Davao. He recounted his experience in interviewing a young woman who had recently graduated from one of the city's more expensive culinary academies. She introduced herself as "Chef Julie" (I've made up the name) who firmly believed.
--because she had been told so by her school--that having taken a two-year or perhaps even four-year course, she was actually a chef. My friend said her skills were at best rudimentary. Culinary academies, by the way are churning out ersatz "Chefs" by the thousands here, none of whom, I am quite sure, would be capable of holding more than an entry level job in a real restaurant kitchen.

This is a country in which mediocrity is the norm, hyperbole the rule, and fantasy a permanent state of mind.

GE.

[Member #4387]

Doesn't SM already own Philippine Airlines? It is one of the worst run airlines. If they did true competition, they could not survive for a single day. I wonder how they could run an airport.

My best bet is, and I agree that phil airlines are shitty company, they could become major player in Asia if they changed out all their (atleast many of them) top people with people actually are skilled in running an airline. The top CEO in ie Emirates is British, he got the job bcs arabs don't know squat about operating in an internationally aviation environment.

My bet would be also head people in Ethiad, Qatar and Gulf Air are from developed countries. Head in Cathay and other major players around the globe are skilled in aviation. I even know Air China, China Southern, Hainan etc have western people in the top managment(maybe not the CEO level but to acually run their airlines). To me, travelling sometimes biz class by phil airlines to BKK, it seems they don't give a shit. Maybe, if some of you fine gents have flown Phil airline long haul to Paris or London, you can correct me. But a B777 or an A330 is the same flying between BKK MNL as MNL CDG / LHR. Don't make me want to book their service for anlonger flight than 3 hrs. The aircraft itself beeing modern and all that is ok but they by far don't have the servicelevel in Biz class we can get used to in the western world (and how many westerns like the chicken adobo?)...