What are you missing in the Philippines?

Hello Diksha, nice to know you.
Yes I do miss something, food.
I miss Gathia Jalbee, Chevda, Dhokra, Hondwa, all sort of Bhajia. Daar Bhaat Saak Rotli.
Where can I get these? By the way I am in Angeles City Pampanga.

Consumer protection and customer service that is contactable, listens, delivers, meets customer expectations and does not make false promises.

I miss common sence among politicians and public - suppoused to be - service   
Some have, and there are such problems in our home countries too, but worse in Phils than Im used to, but that was known before I got direct contact with such -but its even worse than I expected 

As a Filipino said concerning the procedure to get - one of the many needed - permits to his small business, with a mix of sadness and joking:

Why make it hard, when it can be made impossible...?

Common sense among politicians?

captdcc62 wrote:

Common sense among politicians?

Where in the world is that? I want to go there.

Hello everyone,

Please note that off-topic posts were removed from here.

I would request you not to derail this thread.

Thanks,

Diksha
Expat.com team

Good customer service and Mexican food.

I'll try again seeing as my post was removed for some reason.

I miss a decent piece of beef, rib eye, t bone or a lump of beef to throw in the oven that tastes like beef and is tender.
Another member I briefly saw offered up a decent butcher but for some reason his submission was also removed.

Transparency and honor when it comes to warranties/guarantees and any hope of after sales service.

There was another point I made but that was yesterday and it appears old timers got me. FFTB has a good point, Mexican food. I can't buy tortillas or enchalada sauce here, improvise but not the same.

Never home sick nor miss the Aussie culture and to be honest don't miss the cost of living there.

Cheers, Steve.

Big pearl ~

About 5 or 6 of my posts were removed from another thread in this forum. Of course no reply when I asked why. Not good. I'll probably be banned for saying this.

What I miss in he Philippines, I think I truly miss good Mexican food. There was an excellent Mexican restaurant not far from my house, El Maguey, that has fantastic Mole Poblano, which is a kind of sauce made with chilies and many other ingredients and Sopa de aguacate, which is made with chicken and avocados. Umm makes me hungry.

Michael P. Carter wrote:

What I miss in he Philippines, I think I truly miss good Mexican food. There was an excellent Mexican restaurant not far from my house, El Maguey, that has fantastic Mole Poblano, which is a kind of sauce made with chilies and many other ingredients and Sopa de aguacate, which is made with chicken and avocados. Umm makes me hungry.

Agave has excellent Mexican food. The one in Eastwood closed but there is still one in Makati. Filipinos have acquired a taste for pizza but unfortunately not for Mexican food yet.

I really miss UK style bacon and sausages, I would have thought that in a country that rears so many pigs that somebody would be able to produce UK style bacon, I say UK style bacon because in the UK (unlike the US) they don't make bacon from belly pork, we in the UK call that streaky bacon and most people just use that to dress the breast of a turkey to stop it overcooking and drying out etc. The bacon we like is commonly referred to as short back bacon in the UK.

Yes Manila has many very good restaurants, I have lived there before and found the hustle and bustle more than I wanted to live with, but, I do miss the restaurants.

Michael P. Carter wrote:

What I miss in he Philippines, I think I truly miss good Mexican food. There was an excellent Mexican restaurant not far from my house, El Maguey, that has fantastic Mole Poblano, which is a kind of sauce made with chilies and many other ingredients and Sopa de aguacate, which is made with chicken and avocados. Umm makes me hungry.

Maya for those in Cebu, is outstanding, but expensive. Very authentic, with high quality ingredients. We used to go once a month and the boys loved it. For simple Mexican food, there is a chain called Red Lizard, located in Ayala and also IT Park, which is not too bad. I also cannot believe how difficult it is to find decent tortillas of all things. They had them at Rustans a couple times, then gone again.

There used to be a great restaurant called Canvas, for Aussie style food, which had a fantastic breakfast, but sadly they went out of business. I don't know why these businesses cant make a go of it. I believe there just aren't enough expats willing to ante up as they are obviously more expensive than the crap restaurants where you see most of them hanging out.

Hey Steve - our local S&R usually has Mission-brand tortillas and salsas. No enchilada sauce though.

I guess I'll miss Thanksgiving turkey dinner. S&R has frozen turkeys but way too expensive - and I'm not sure they would fit in our small oven. I miss a good sashimi bar with lots of choices (beyond tuna and salmon). And pita bread. And I agree completely with the common sense quotes - not just politicians but everyone that works in the government. No matter how illogical the rule or the process, they refuse to think that there might be a better way to get things done. "I'm sorry sir, I can only do what I'm told". But everything considered none of these things make me regret the choice to retire here.

rcvining wrote:

Hey Steve - our local S&R usually has Mission-brand tortillas and salsas. No enchilada sauce though.

Thanks rc but our closest S&R is about 4 hours drive.

Cheers, Steve.

Steve - tortillas are also available on Shopee.com

rcvining wrote:

Hey Steve - our local S&R usually has Mission-brand tortillas and salsas. No enchilada sauce though.

I usually buy the soft burritos, then wife cooks the ground beef with taco seasoning mix, cuts the  onion, tomatoes, lettuce then adds graded Kraft Cheddar cheese, hot sauce and sour cream (American style).

I haven't been able to find the extra large soft burritos.

Omo :
Besides food really missing honest decent reliable work ethics & sick of the many lame excueses given each & everytime when things FU which more often than not normally do (to name a few : Unreliable  Wifi Signal / Water Suppply / Electricity Supply / Car Mechanics / Other maintenance techs / Basic Health Care / Lawyers)

Sounds like someone is missing that good old USA extreme stress work ethic, shootings and lawsuit culture, that permeates America these days; only one way to fix that. Good Luck my friend peace and love.

Michael P. Carter wrote:

Sounds like someone is missing that good old USA extreme stress work ethic, shootings and lawsuit culture, that permeates America these days; only one way to fix that. Good Luck my friend peace and love.

Sorry no guns for me...I'll stick with my ever reliable can of pepper spray.

Over the range microwave

Plenty of shootings available still in Metro Manila

Good customer service, good Mexican food and good Bacon… all missing from the Philippines. Sounds like a great business opportunity for anyone with some cash and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Hello, I miss the Philippines, and my girlfriend, we are not married, I opened a small French bakery in Liloan, cebu island but closed for 18 months, the hassle impossible to return to the borders  still closed and both the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do nothing, leave it to abandon, here we hope to have permission to return

I  miss the people most there. As a strict vegetarian can't find much to eat there though. I don't miss the adventure of looking for vegan friendly restaurants  there ....haha 😄

Hi pnwcyclist

The Tinderbox near IT Park has tortillas that I feel are the right size and thickness.  I find those in the stores are too thin and small.  I believe they make their own onsite and have flour and sometimes wheat tortillas.  I usually buy 2 dozen at a time.  Sometimes they are out and will make them for you and call you when they are ready for pickup.  Tinderbox also has other fine meats, cheeses and a large wine/champagne selection

Take care
Bruce

Hi Enzyte Bob

The Tinderbox near IT Park (Cebu) makes their own tortillas.  Perhaps you can ask them to make oversized ones for you.

Bruce

asianXplorer wrote:

Good customer service, good Mexican food and good Bacon… all missing from the Philippines. Sounds like a great business opportunity for anyone with some cash and an entrepreneurial spirit.

FindlayMacD wrote:

asianXplorer wrote:

Good customer service, good Mexican food and good Bacon… all missing from the Philippines. Sounds like a great business opportunity for anyone with some cash and an entrepreneurial spirit.

I would say good Indian food and most especially GOOD BACON

Cheese

A consistant water pressure that can provide more than the paltry 7m3/month ration that I'm still getting....& yes cheese.

Not sure where you live manwonder nor topography/land size but have you considered installing your own well and pump?

Cheers, Steve.

Michaelm54 wrote:

Cheese

Personally I love mature cheddar and there is a brand called Vintage sold in SM that fits the bill for me.

bigpearl wrote:

Not sure where you live manwonder nor topography/land size but have you considered installing your own well and pump?

Cheers, Steve.

Not as yet....plans are in the pipeline... as for now we hv lots of rain so that flows through our inclined roof gutters & into my watertrough which helps a little.

I miss being able to get everything I need, when I need it. I miss being able to eat good food from any cuisine I desire, at any time of the day or night. Here in Alaminos City, everything closes at 8pm., the supermarkets do not have any selection of foods that I would wish to eat, and, this country must be the largest sugar eaters in the world, everything is so sweet, its sickening.

Yup they like sweets here for sure, and breaded chicken omg so bad for heart health!