Unlike Thailand, in The Philippines, gun ownership and being armed is legal. Hence, signs like this one below on the doors at banks. It is a bit weird to see guards with pistol grip shotguns at McDonald's though. Nonetheless: There is much less gun violence in The Philippines than there is in Thailand, where guns are 100% illegal.
Today, we were back from the village to the city of Cagayan De Oro to go hunting for a house to rent. We saw this house below, 35,000 pisos (28,500 baht, $850) per month, furnished.
We looked primarily in high end housing estates, which I found to be a bit of a let-down. The estates are so big (1000-plus houses) and lacking in any consistency of appearance in houses or construction that they don't seem like a development at all. In addition, the empty lots (of which there are many) are overgrown and nasty-looking, and while the houses... some of the houses... may be in good condition, the community as a whole feels neglected compared to what I'm used to seeing in Pattaya.It was out to dinner at Countryside Steakhouse at the recommendation of my friend in C.D.O., Mike. I had spare ribs which were simply awful, but Epril had one of the best steaks she had ever had, and I can say that the calamari (below) were splendid. (Total price: 1,500 pesos (1200 baht, $36) including drinks.)
I looked into the alcohol selection at liquor stores in Cagayan: Jack Daniels was cheaper than Thailand, but Johnnie Walker was more expensive. The beer selection was basically "any flavor of San Miguel you want", which is a bummer... although there is an ale called "Red Horse" which isn't too bad. Wines seemed to be moderately varied, but not more than 50 or 60 wineries. What seemed to be really lacking are cordials and mixers. No triple sec for margaritas was one that sticks in my memory. Looks like liquor runs to Manila will be in the cards if I want to live in Cagayan and have a properly-stocked bar.
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