Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to all my readers. This post is just a short note to remind everyone that the Christmas Season here in the Philippines is a “big deal” A very big deal.
I’m writing this on the 7th of December. The holidays will be here in a rush … like that Jeepney you thought you had plenty of room to cross the street in front off … and now you are looking at the scratches on his bumper in detail while you are wondering if the 1950’s technology in the braking system and the bald tires will bring him to a stop before you study the underside of his chassis in detail as well.
Banks and most businesses tend to take a a lot of time off. In addition to banks having extended holiday closures, remember that everyone spends money and the teller machine you are used to using may be empty when you go to get some Christmas cash … the fellows who go around in armored cars and fill them up are stuck in traffic or on their own day off .. so take the time to plan now how you’ll get enough cash to carry you through from, say, 18 December until 4 January.
Many businesses and some government offices will be open some of the days in the week of 28 December through 1 January 2010, but for sure no one is working New Year’s Eve and New years Day. Check now, or wish you did.
(especially important if your Visa is expiring end of this month .. you sure won’t be getting a new stamp over New Year, and overstaying is still overstaying)
Also, traffic in the next few weeks is going to be worse every day and stocks in stores will go down suddenly. That Christmas turkey you had your eye on, or that toy your little nephew wanted do badly will likely not be there Christmas Eve.
For those not used to it, this is the season of giving gifts to those you normally wouldn’t be expecting to. The postman, the trash pickup crew, the security guards for your building or subdivision, the receptionist at your doctor’s office, the people at the bank who always help you, so on and so forth. When they wish you a big, hearty Merry Christmas, that’s a sure sign they are expecting.
A hundred peso note is good for most people … I got about 30 of them last trip to the bank … they can get hard to find also. Might as well think this through before the season is fully here, because it’s fine if you get angry at people expecting a sort of “mandatory tip”, but just recognize it’s the custom and it won’t do any good to lose your temper and raise your blood pressure over it … you’re not in Kansas anymore.
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Hi Dave;
If someone wants Kansas, just click your heels three times and you’re there. My first Christmas here (before ATM’s) I was caught short on cash, it was no fun at all, so readers read and heed the above post!!!!!!
Yep, been there, done that, couldn’t afford the T-shirt.
It’s kind of a boring subject … unless you are put of money around the 25th and you have bills due … it then kind of “occupies your mind” for a bit. Another thing I should have mentioned … sometime gas and diesel deliveries get delayed as well, so it’s a good time to keep a full tank.
I have something ordered for our farm that is due to be picked up on 28 December. I queried the place I’m picking the items up twice now about the 28th, they said, sure, no problem, we’re working that day … so we shall see. But I already have a back up plan to go to lunch at a restaurant I like nearby, just in case picking up the items doesn’t pan out … the drive won’t be a total loss.
Gotta be flexible…
Dave: We went through this in the province last week… 7 ATMS offline until wee managed to find one in Aparri with cash…170 km of driving and a banca ride! Each year I swear I will go to Metrobank ahead of time… And each year I forget. Oh well… There’s always next Christmas!
Yep … it’s great, isn’t it? _not_. My plans worked out this year except I forgot that my car insurance bill never came in … so I called the insurance company and sure enough, my renewal paperwork never got sent out … so I wound up having to go to the bank and wait out an over-the-counter payment session two day’s after Christmas. It’s really true that sometimes you have to be very determined and also have a lot of time to spare just to be able to give some business your money … exactly the opposite of what many people think. But it’s really important to think ahead with ATM’s. Mnay poeple go along all year ‘living off’ their ATM, thinking things won’t be different at Christmas … and that just ain’t so.
Another ATM ‘fun thing’ I have rubn into is the lack of thousand or even 500 Peso notes. You find a machine hat is on-line and dispensing cash, only to find you cna only pull out P2000 or P5000 total, and it comes out in P200 or P100 bills. Some of the machines sit empty due to laziness or porr planning, but others, the relaoding crews just can’t keep up with the demand.