Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?

Hello
This is called "Pilippino time". Everything run accordingly. People will tell you "I am in the jeepney" meaning that they are about to leave the house.  Everybody does it and nobody seems to care.
regards  Bruce

Great post Mugtech, it sums up life here pretty well.  You are a good wordsmith.

In Indonesia we called it rubber time, stretchable and flexible, but it was never broken.

One of the funniest things is seeing street vendor walking around selling watches,
I'm like really? Whatever for?....

Like your reference to Chicago... my favorite band. Does anybody know what time it is.

My thoughts:

1. People know what time it is. They just ignore it.

2. Regarding parties and celebrations, people reason that since most will be late by 1 hour, they will arrive late by an hour. Food will not yet be served anyways until after most guests have arrived.

3. Doctors have to deal with traffic, travelling from one clinic / hospital to another. If your doctor's hours starts at 11:00 am and he holds clinic at another location prior to that, expect that he'll be late by an hour. If he has a third shift at 2:00 pm, expect him to arrive at 4:00 or later (perhaps staying longer by an hour to make up for the hour lost through traffic.)

4. Contradiction: Many drivers drive recklessly, weaving and cutting through traffic, risking life and limb, to arrive at their destination 5 minutes faster. Why would they do that when they're late, or are expected to be late, by an hour anyways?

FilAmericanMom wrote:

My thoughts:

4. Contradiction: Many drivers drive recklessly, weaving and cutting through traffic, risking life and limb, to arrive at their destination 5 minutes faster. Why would they do that when they're late, or are expected to be late, by an hour anyways?

Probably because they were going to be more than one hour late, might miss some food.  Then again there is always way too much food, wind up splitting it up at the end of the night.

Yes. It's called "Philippine time". They used to blame the Lizards. Said they made Nests in the Clocks. Slowing them down, or stopping them altogether. But the advent of Digital Timepieces disproved rhat theory.

It is something you are going to have to get used to. It is 10.40am and we have not left for the doctors at 10.00am.
It's the way things are here.
regards  Bruce

Good thing the islands are all in the same time zone, or it could get confusing.

Noticed a recent thread brought up this topic, thought I would post this to bring it forward.  In the local spirit of mañana I waited 24 hours before looking for it.

randee01 wrote:

Like your reference to Chicago... my favorite band. Does anybody know what time it is.

Chicago the 60´s . My favorite too.

GoDees wrote:

Hello
This is called "Pilippino time". Everything run accordingly. People will tell you "I am in the jeepney" meaning that they are about to leave the house.  Everybody does it and nobody seems to care.
regards  Bruce

Philippines has been and will be in the future. Who cares? I visited 23 years ago and I´d like to come again!

mugtech wrote:

Typical day here in the province.  Were scheduled to leave on a van trip to Vigan to take my brother in law to the Doctors Hospital for an office visit.  We left 1 hour late, for no apparent reason, got to the doctor's office at 10:30 AM for a 10 AM appointment.  The doctor did not show up until after 11 AM, the 10 minute office visit was from 11:50 AM to noon.  We went to Mercury Drug to fill prescriptions, and 20 minutes later found out they did not have all required.  We then went to Two St Joseph's pharmacies, but they were no help.  So we went to a different Mercury Drug and got what we needed.  Got home at 2 PM to prepare for a 4 PM wedding
              We got the wedding invitation two days ago hand delivered.  The bride is somehow related to the man who married my wife's sister.  Never met the bride or groom before the wedding, but we were 2 of the 50 sponsors.  The wedding was at a residence only a 5 minute walk from our house, we arrived at 4:10 PM, and the service started one hour later.  It was a born again Christian wedding with all the trappings of a Catholic wedding except no communion.  Thought after 70 minutes it was about over when 15 people came down to the front carrying a 4 month old child.  Turns out it was the bride and groom's child, so the wedding turned into a baptism.  Great food followed, many napkins were blown away by the typical evening winds from the ocean.  They went through the usual wedding toasts and first dance while the guests ate and some took extra food, bagged it up and left.  By the time it was time for the bride to toss the flowers only the wedding party and about 10 other people were still there.  One of the bridesmaids caught the flowers and we walked home in total darkness, using cell phones as flashlights.

I witnessed a wedding once in Caoayan (close to Vigan). Do they still pin money (pesos) to the bride as the bride and groom do "the dance" - each side competing on who pins more money?

pej1111 wrote:

Great post Mugtech, it sums up life here pretty well.  You are a good wordsmith.

In Indonesia we called it rubber time, stretchable and flexible, but it was never broken.

He writes like a novelist! He should write books.

Charles508 wrote:

One of the funniest things is seeing street vendor walking around selling watches,
I'm like really? Whatever for?....

To ignore time stupid!

GoDees wrote:

It is something you are going to have to get used to. It is 10.40am and we have not left for the doctors at 10.00am.
It's the way things are here.
regards  Bruce

333 years of Spanish influence. Americans only stayed for a brief period of 48 years...

mugtech wrote:

FilAmericanMom wrote:

My thoughts:

4. Contradiction: Many drivers drive recklessly, weaving and cutting through traffic, risking life and limb, to arrive at their destination 5 minutes faster. Why would they do that when they're late, or are expected to be late, by an hour anyways?

Probably because they were going to be more than one hour late, might miss some food.  Then again there is always way too much food, wind up splitting it up at the end of the night.

Filipinos love parties and excitement. They love to bullshit or "shoot the shit" as we call it in the States!
I still have friends who live there.

Rammers wrote:

Yes. It's called "Philippine time". They used to blame the Lizards. Said they made Nests in the Clocks. Slowing them down, or stopping them altogether. But the advent of Digital Timepieces disproved rhat theory.

No, they now throw away their pieces or been held up in Quiapo!

Went to wedding where pinning money was done by 1/10 of the people who showed up for the lechon and drinks, and as soon as belly full, left. No one seemed to care, no one courteous enough to make excuse. Just jump into SUV and drive off with bag of free baboy for supper and late night snack. The level of disrespect is amazing, but do pinoy really think it is? Behind the curtain, maybe. But the small core of people who stick around tend to care about the couple, esp. when a special occasion like a wedding. What also gets me is that many couples have been co-habiting for many years already, and so the ceremony itself is relatively useless, because in this culture traditionally the marriage takes place when the man and woman start of share the same bed and all the activities that go on there. So much in the couple's formal 'wedding' is for show, and so there's deceit on many levels, and no one should be called on it, except for those who just show for the free meal and leave.

Pinoy drivers are among the most discourteous drivers in the world (after all, no one has a real driver's license anyway)! No one taught them manners as kids, and so like kids it's 'me first and get out of my way.' After a short while one gets into the swing of it, and starts to out-aggress the worst of them.

Yes, people do know what time it is. When they move to the west to get work, suddenly they start to arrive at work on time, and their driving habits conform with the rules of the road. External pressure and conformity therefore suggests that pinoy need adult supervision, constantly. Sad statement of affairs, but when money is involved, like salary and driving fines, suddenly they can do what's required. How much is all about respect? Not sure, as that is a subjective evaluation, but deep down I suspect that it does matter. At one wedding, on a hot day the priest was 30 minutes late, and one of the chief sponsors complained openly! That should be the norm, but whatever whatever...

Hello, come back anytime, l might have some more insight for you.
regards   Bruce

daenr wrote:

Pinoy drivers are among the most discourteous drivers in the world (after all, no one has a real driver's license anyway)! No one taught them manners as kids, and so like kids it's 'me first and get out of my way.' After a short while one gets into the swing of it, and starts to out-aggress the worst of them.

You should come to Brazil where I live. I´ve been here 24 years and I drive because of necessity. Otherwise, I avoid the streets altogether. Common occurrence of pedestrians being run over by careless and aggressive drivers. Some people don´t have a driver´s license but drive anyway.

Want to watch  funny videos? Search Youtube for people jumping in front of cars to collect money. Sometimes they just lay down in the street and then get mad when you drive around them.

W9XR wrote:

Want to watch  funny videos? Search Youtube for people jumping in front of cars to collect money. Sometimes they just lay down in the street and then get mad when you drive around them.

Looking at your picture, it looks like you might be one of them! ha ha! Does that happen at Henderson, Nevada bro? And I thought of retiring at Henderson.

What are you doing in Pasig brother?

daenr wrote:

Yes, people do know what time it is. When they move to the west to get work, suddenly they start to arrive at work on time, and their driving habits conform with the rules of the road. External pressure and conformity therefore suggests that pinoy need adult supervision, constantly. Sad statement of affairs, but when money is involved, like salary and driving fines, suddenly they can do what's required. How much is all about respect? Not sure, as that is a subjective evaluation, but deep down I suspect that it does matter. At one wedding, on a hot day the priest was 30 minutes late, and one of the chief sponsors complained openly! That should be the norm, but whatever whatever...

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Lot´s of unfamiliar customs and traditions - habits as normal as could be in your country might not be here. So following people who know the ropes is the best thing to do. Negative opinions you should keep it to yourself or move on. Northern latitudes vs equatorial is different geograhically and comparison of evolution in terms of temperament, customs and traditions that come with it is very diverse and contrasting. You should enjoy the adventure while it lasts.

Henderson Nevada is a great place to live (safe, clean, quite & everything close by). Want to meet a rich future wife? shop at Whole Foods. if you can find a parking space between BMW's or Mercedes, which hog the lot.

Good drivers, no tricycles, motor bikes or Jeepneys.

Summer temperature (July & August) may reach 115 degrees F (46c) it feels cooler than 35c in the Philippines. Extremely low humidity, blue skies 300+ days a year. Rain fall totals about 4 inches a "YEAR", 10cm.

It's cheaper to eat out than dine at home, with over a 100 casinos close by, there is always some 2/1 promotion at buffets. You can get a prime rib & lobster tail dinner for $12.95. Ever get sick of eating prime rib? I did. (8 of the 10 worlds larges hotels all within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of each other.

Yes there is a Jollibee and Filipino Markets plus a huge Filipino population of 110,000.

Back to the original thread, "People throwing themselves in front a vehicles trying to collect money, these videos are mostly Chinese with some Filipino.

W9XR wrote:

Henderson Nevada is a great place to live (safe, clean, quite & everything close by). Want to meet a rich future wife? shop at Whole Foods. if you can find a parking space between BMW's or Mercedes, which hog the lot.

Good drivers, no tricycles, motor bikes or Jeepneys.

Summer temperature (July & August) may reach 115 degrees F (46c) it feels cooler than 35c in the Philippines. Extremely low humidity, blue skies 300+ days a year. Rain fall totals about 4 inches a "YEAR", 10cm.

It's cheaper to eat out than dine at home, with over a 100 casinos close by, there is always some 2/1 promotion at buffets. You can get a prime rib & lobster tail dinner for $12.95. Ever get sick of eating prime rib? I did. (8 of the 10 worlds larges hotels all within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of each other.

Yes there is a Jollibee and Filipino Markets plus a huge Filipino population of 110,000.

Back to the original thread, "People throwing themselves in front a vehicles trying to collect money, these videos are mostly Chinese with some Filipino.

Hmnnn.... I´m packing light. To Henderson I go. Ehrrr,,, 6 bags to pack for a year.

Robal,

If you are serious there are two coupon books you should buy, Las Vegas Advisor & American Casino Guide. American casino Guide can be purchased on Amazon (discounted). Between both books you can eat almost free for a year plus plenty of gambling coupons (free money).

I almost forgot FREE BOOZE.

W9XR wrote:

Robal,

If you are serious there are two coupon books you should buy, Las Vegas Advisor & American Casino Guide. American casino Guide can be purchased on Amazon (discounted). Between both books you can eat almost free for a year plus plenty of gambling coupons (free money).

I almost forgot FREE BOOZE.

Tip well noted! I´m sure the coupons are for different restaurants but is there a particular restaurant that offers more coupons than the others? What´s the best casino to eat out with 'em coupons and also to use the gambling coupons?

robal

Hi Robal,

If you go to the web site of Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide, you can see a long, long list of coupons. One thing to keep in mind, they expire next month, so you would be interested in the 2020 books when they come out. Between the books over 50  buy one get one dining coupons alone, the books even overlap.

Depending how long you will be there, if you're on vacation you can cherry pick the ones that have both gambling & food. Since we lived there for 13 years, we never had to buy the books, the casinos found us and our mailbox was full off offers.

When we started to have friends, it seemed everyone was giving us bottles of wine as gifts. The reason why? Because the casino would mail you a coupon to stop by for a free bottle of wine. We had so much wine that we stopped going for the free bottles. We finally sent them on to the Philippines in Balikbayan Boxes.

If on vacation the best coupon is for the Ellis Island Casino, they have two restaurants, both good. They have a BBQ where you can get a rib dinner a choice of a full rack or half a rack & half a BBQ chicken. $13.95 but buy one get one and sign up for the players card and get $2 off. The other restaurant has an off menu steak special that you have to ask for. A filet cut steak, with a free craft beer, I think was $8.95 and buy one get one. Also four free drinks at the bar (booze) (free no strings attached). Also a $5 match play for blackjack. Bet $5 win $10.

One trick my wife & I use at other casinos is bet $10 on roulette with the coupons (bet $10 win $20). She would bet black & I red. Lose one $10 bet and win one $20 on the other bet, $10 profit guaranteed.  Plenty of match plays in the coupon book, some even at $25. Bet $25 win $50. When I was new to Vegas, we went on coupon runs, map out the casinos and just bet the match plays and leave, easy to win a $100 dollars.

Almost of the time we would go to local casinos and stay off the strip. The only time we would drive down the strip is for vacationing friends to sight see. We lived close to the Green Valley Ranch, Sam's Town, East Side Cannery, Sunset Station & a little dive casino called Longhorn Casino. If you are a local, cash your paycheck for free (Longhorn), you get a $5 free play, you can buy a $20 free play for $10. Eat at the restaurant (two can eat for $20) and when you pay your bill ask the cashier for a free "Ace" coupon, if there are two of you ask for two coupons. The coupon counts as an "Ace" at blackjack. If they deal you a picture card for a blackjack you win 1 1/2 times your bet. $5 bet wins $7.50. Every two weeks with the coupon winnings we would eat for free and take home some money, "Thank you Longhorn Casino for free food and hundreds of dollars".

Are you planning a vacation or are you going to move? Be sure to sign up at each players club and use the card, sometimes at sign up you get free stuff. If your on vacation you might get offers in the mail for free rooms or discounted rooms.

Don't believe the room prices from travel sites, rooms maybe cheap but they tack on a resort fee which could be more than what the room costs.

W9XR wrote:

Hi Robal,

If you go to the web site of Las Vegas Advisor and American Casino Guide, you can see a long, long list of coupons. One thing to keep in mind, they expire next month, so you would be interested in the 2020 books when they come out. Between the books over 50  buy one get one dining coupons alone, the books even overlap.

Depending how long you will be there, if you're on vacation you can cherry pick the ones that have both gambling & food. Since we lived there for 13 years, we never had to buy the books, the casinos found us and our mailbox was full off offers.

When we started to have friends, it seemed everyone was giving us bottles of wine as gifts. The reason why? Because the casino would mail you a coupon to stop by for a free bottle of wine. We had so much wine that we stopped going for the free bottles. We finally sent them on to the Philippines in Balikbayan Boxes.

If on vacation the best coupon is for the Ellis Island Casino, they have two restaurants, both good. They have a BBQ where you can get a rib dinner a choice of a full rack or half a rack & half a BBQ chicken. $13.95 but buy one get one and sign up for the players card and get $2 off. The other restaurant has an off menu steak special that you have to ask for. A filet cut steak, with a free craft beer, I think was $8.95 and buy one get one. Also four free drinks at the bar (booze) (free no strings attached). Also a $5 match play for blackjack. Bet $5 win $10.

One trick my wife & I use at other casinos is bet $10 on roulette with the coupons (bet $10 win $20). She would bet black & I red. Lose one $10 bet and win one $20 on the other bet, $10 profit guaranteed.  Plenty of match plays in the coupon book, some even at $25. Bet $25 win $50. When I was new to Vegas, we went on coupon runs, map out the casinos and just bet the match plays and leave, easy to win a $100 dollars.

Almost of the time we would go to local casinos and stay off the strip. The only time we would drive down the strip is for vacationing friends to sight see. We lived close to the Green Valley Ranch, Sam's Town, East Side Cannery, Sunset Station & a little dive casino called Longhorn Casino. If you are a local, cash your paycheck for free (Longhorn), you get a $5 free play, you can buy a $20 free play for $10. Eat at the restaurant (two can eat for $20) and when you pay your bill ask the cashier for a free "Ace" coupon, if there are two of you ask for two coupons. The coupon counts as an "Ace" at blackjack. If they deal you a picture card for a blackjack you win 1 1/2 times your bet. $5 bet wins $7.50. Every two weeks with the coupon winnings we would eat for free and take home some money, "Thank you Longhorn Casino for free food and hundreds of dollars".

Are you planning a vacation or are you going to move? Be sure to sign up at each players club and use the card, sometimes at sign up you get free stuff. If your on vacation you might get offers in the mail for free rooms or discounted rooms.

Don't believe the room prices from travel sites, rooms maybe cheap but they tack on a resort fee which could be more than what the room costs.

@W9XR:

Thanks for your tip! I´m planning a visit to my sister and brothers in CA next Christmas and I´d like to try your suggestions. I had a plan once to retire to Nevada and I was eyeing on Vegas or Henderson because of Nevada´s friendly tax treatment especially to retirees. But the winds of change swept me away to South America and this is where I´m now. I´m still looking for a better place to settle because of recent policy changes in Brazil that affects retirees. That´s one of the reason I joined the Philippine
forum to evaluate it as a prospective candidate. Maybe one of this days I might end up in your city -Henderson for good. Only the higher powers know.

Thank you very much for your detailed report. I hope you´re enjoying the Philippines. Maraming salamat at saka na tayong magusap!

robal

yes, most of the 3rd world is pretty bad. India is perhaps the worst in some cities where people die from travel accidents regularly. But whatever, eh?