Glad to see you're enjoying time in my home country! Its interesting cause my dad works business there. What company are you working for, if you can tell us? ^^

I miss it

. You need to vacation in boracay someday.

KoBlades

Austria248 Posts

April 29 2012 18:36 GMT

#26

On April 30 2012 00:55 MightyAtom wrote:

Show nested quote +

I think my kids will be playing Diablo 5 with me as well as yelling at me to stop feeding when we are playing dota3 together ^^ TL 4 Life!

maybe legacy of the void will have been released by that time too ^^

how

United States538 Posts

April 29 2012 18:59 GMT

#27

Very cool blog, great read!

Endymion

United States3701 Posts

April 29 2012 19:30 GMT

#28

thanks for the blog MA, your perspective as a global traveler is awesome!! please post more of these!

ReketSomething

United States6012 Posts

April 29 2012 21:14 GMT

#29

That's scary o_O

Sounds like you had fun

cmen15

United States1519 Posts

April 29 2012 21:16 GMT

#30

great blog sir, you did a nice thing : )

drooL

United Kingdom2108 Posts

April 29 2012 21:50 GMT

#31

I love you for your blogs. I think you're my favorite TL user who I've never spoken to personally.

MightyAtom

Korea (South)1897 Posts

April 30 2012 00:03 GMT

#32

Hey guys, I'll respond in more detail in 48 hours with pictures, but I'm rushing for a deadline in 4 hours then presentation, then meeting then I'm gonna grab dinner and a flight back home.
Cheers!

mel_ee

2448 Posts

April 30 2012 00:21 GMT

#33

nice write up like always. those lil kids in philippines are crafty people. did you enjoy any food in particular from PI?

Chunhyang

Bangladesh1389 Posts

April 30 2012 00:24 GMT

#34

Republic Act 9344, Section 6 [Philippines]:

SEC. 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility. - A child fifteen (15) years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of this Act.

A child above fifteen (15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he/she has acted with discernment, in which case, such child shall be subjected to the appropriate proceedings in accordance with this Act.

The exemption from criminal liability herein established does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be enforced in accordance with existing laws.

So yeah. The eight year old could kill you for your bag and nothing would happen to him. That intervention program? It's nothing. The social welfare people don't have the money to run it properly, so NOTHING happens to kids who commit crimes in the Philippines. No exceptions. Syndicates employ kids to do various kinds of criminal work, because if the kids get caught nothing happens to them.

It's actually likely that a kid caught here might get adopted by a foreigner. Yep, you may want to teach your new 6 yr old kid English and arithmetic, but he already knows how to break into cars without setting off alarms and stabbing people with icepicks in crowds so that they bleed to death without feeling any pain twenty minutes later. + Show Spoiler +

The parents won't knows either because the criminal records are confidential, and only the social worker and policeman who investigates has access to the records. It's criminal to divulge the same. On a side note, it's gotten so bad that policemen hardly ever waste their time trying to run after these kids anymore. You report that a little boy or girl stole your money, and they won't do a thing about it. It's a waste of effort. There are other crimes out there were the criminal at least has a chance to be put behind bars.

Rant off. Nice blog. I'm surprised at how much you like the Shangrila Buffet. A chef friend of mine used to work there and he said the food was terrible. Then again, his favorite food is instant noodles, so I'm not sure how reliable his opinion is ^_^

Schmieds

United States312 Posts

April 30 2012 01:53 GMT

#35

It's really a shock living in the first world for your whole life then going to Manila. The good news is that the people are nice and all speak English, and good Pandesal is readily available! Nice blog.

Edit: But yeah, I generally learned not to trust kids :p

NicksonReyes

Philippines4431 Posts

April 30 2012 03:55 GMT

#36

Good read! 5/5 because I can relate in those situations and it's nice reading about it from a foreigner's perspective. I know I should never give those children money but I just can't help giving them my few spare changes sometimes(based on tv documentaries and stuff I see, they get their asses kicked by their bosses if they won't be able to collect enough) and also, one of my teachers told us that he once tried giving his food he bought for himself to an elder but she just threw it to the ground and kept asking for money, so it's really confusing when thinking about what to give these people.

Ciryandor

United States3735 Posts

April 30 2012 04:27 GMT

#37

I've always encountered this kids, and I'll have to say you're lucky to not encounter those kids who'd go up to jeepneys and give envelopes to everyone there, because those kids are the ones that are actually are part of the gangs. Some of these kids who knock on doors are part as well, but it depends on the location you encounter them. There's also the blind minstrels and the women with babies (each works protected by the Yakuza and the Triads; don't remember which is which), but they're rare in Makati.

Also, ellerina/Nickson, TL Manila Meetup? PM ME.

rebdomine

6040 Posts

April 30 2012 05:10 GMT

#38

Reading about other people finding it hard to turn down beggars makes me wonder how cold-hearted I am for not even feeling an ounce of sympathy for them.

And I used to think the Makati Shangri-la had really good food, until I got to try out Mactan Shangri-la's buffet. Sponsored by a rich relative when I was still a student.

EDIT: Can I crash your little TL Manila meetup? :D :D

KhAmun

United States1005 Posts

April 30 2012 06:19 GMT

#39

Tremendous blog.
Nice to see such genuine, successful people.

kubiks

France1328 Posts

April 30 2012 07:08 GMT

#40

I'm completly impress by the fact that you can sleep 5 hours for 6 days without loosing too much in efficency, if I do that one or two days i'm a useless

.

I already got picpicket by 8 years old looking boy. I noticed it because someone was managing to follow me (it's not the case anymore, but at the time I was walking very fast, so if someone could follow me I was suspicious). I neary got sth stolen because he had a friend that tried to pickpocet me at the same time, but I managed to keep myt stuff. And immediatly they were like : "why are you doing this ? We did nothing ? We're gonna call our big brother !", like they did nothing....