March 18th 2015 Journey from iliolo city to Davao city

This has been my travels so far in the Philippines.

Waiting at the airport in iloilo where toilet paper is a scarce and rare commodity.

In Davao after I shook off a couple taxi hustlers and found a line up for the metered taxis.

My room at the Daylight Inn in Davao City.

My view of  San Pedro street outside.

Well I check-out of ONG BUN HOTEL at 5:40am and instead of getting the 110 peso refund she says it is a 60 peso refund and that they charge 50 pesos for the TV which I didn't want because I don't watch TV and she is adamant that that is the amount she is allowed to give so I pulled out my lap top and show her the ONG BUN website where the 385 peso (Standard A/C) room is listed and the next one up is 495 pesos and show her the email from her boss stating I reserved the 385 A/C standard room. Once she checked it over she reluctantly gave me 110 pesos back and seemed a little annoyed as she kept her head down and didn't say anything when I left (I usually get a thank you sir or good bye sir). You might think I am being petty for a few extra dollars here and there but you are constantly getting "nickeled and dimed" here to the point they want to turn you upside down and shake every last peso out of you. I went to McDonalds for my 2 coffees and then grabbed a taxi to the airport. 

When I got in the taxi I told the guy I wanted to go to the airport and he said "OK, 400 pesos?" and I said "No, you will be turning on your taxi meter and I will pay you what is on that" and then he smiled and turned on the meter. Trust me, you will always get ripped off if you take "their prices" since they know the cost of everything here. Turned out my fare cost 278 pesos from ONG BUN HOTEL to the airport. Meters never lie but taxi drivers do. The taxi driver was young (24 years old) and told me he rents the taxi for 1300 pesos per 24 hours and usually makes 18,000 pesos ($500 cdn) per month which is the same amount he was making working as a truck driver in Saudi Arabia for a 2 year contract. That is pretty good money here and a very easy job since I saw lots of people bending over in rice fields on the way to iloilo and I am sure they don't make the big bucks. 

I get to the airport and go to check-in and she weighs my bag at 20.8kgs and says "Sir, your ticket allows for 15kg of luggage and you are 6 kgs over that limit which is an extra charge of 1200 pesos" (Basically the same price of my cheap airline ticket and the extra 200 peso per kilogram charge was not mentioned anywhere on my airline receipt). I knew there must have been a reason I got such a good deal on that ticket! So I tell her I will take some stuff out and realize my old laptop weighs 3kgs by itself and the other newer one is just a little lighter. So I got the suitcase down to 12.8kg and so am packing another 13kg carry on bag onto the plane and was just hoping they didn't weigh it getting on the plane since I am only allowed 7kg carry on luggage. Reminds me that $3 hand made marble chess set that I bought in Vietnam back in 2006 that ended up costing me $60 in extra airline weight fees. 

As I went to the gate I found out I had to pay a 200 peso ($5 cdn) domestic passenger terminal fee. Just more nickel and diming. I go through the metal detector and take a seat at the gate and head to the washroom and realize their is no toilet paper in any of the stalls so I go to COFFEE BREAK restaurant there for a coffee and mention the toilet paper problem to the guy and he says he will find the maintenance person and get him to get some. I head back to the washroom and see one roll of toilet paper for 3 stalls to share. Later I saw a filipino walking out of the washroom with a wad of folded up toilet paper in his hand as he is talking on his cell phone and carefully tucks it into his back pocket for next time (Note to self: GOOD IDEA!!). From what I have read from long term expats that have lived in the Philippines for 10+ years they say that 90% of the people who move to the Philippines end up moving back to their original home country as they never completely "adjust" to it here and I can easily understand why. We are used to things being a certain way but over here it runs completely different and can test a persons patience and nothing is going to change anytime soon. 

They didn't weigh my carry on luggage so I was home free. I found Cebu Air to be very comfortable as their seating was very spacious and I could get to my window seat without anyone in my row having to get up at all. The flight left 20 minutes early and the flight was 1 hour long. I got out and picked my suitcase up at the luggage carousal and went looking for transportation outside the terminal for downtown Davao (Pronounced "Da-bow"). Some taxi drivers just standing around spotted me and one came up to me asking me where I was going and told me it was a flat rate of 500 pesos. I could see on my LP guidebook map that it was only 12 kilometers away and there is no way it was 500 pesos and probably half of that so I continued walking up the stairs where I saw a bunch of filipinos waiting for something so I assumed maybe a jeepney was picking them up. Another guy who was dressed like an airport employee (but probably wasn't) told me there were no jeepneys into town and showed me a very nice laminated and professionally done list of all the FLAT RATE FARES for Davao but it just didn't feel right and the fact that they are soliciting business from a white guy only and no other filipinos, told me it was just another rip off. Every time I told them "I want a METERED TAXI!" they recoiled and hissed like I just sprinkled Holy Water on them. Well the filipinos were all in line waiting for metered taxis so I waited 10 minutes until it was my turn for a taxi. The taxi ride was 178 pesos. 

Last night I was looking on a webiste for budget accommodations in Davao (www.Agoda.com) and decided to go with the Daylight Inn at 250 pesos per night. I noticed some had the cheapest prices but said there was a 22% service and hotel charge on top of that but when I got here they didn't charge me any tax and I assumed it is only to make up the difference when people book online through these travel websites since they lose some money to the travel website. The hotel reception had me read the rules of the hotel and one of them was "Not allowed to eat Durian in the hotel rooms". I remembered it was a fruit but haven't tried it yet and asked the guy why that was a rule and he said Durian tastes delicious but is a very smelly fruit and stinks.