People are, you know, like people 'n shit.

One does either need to have money to burn down here or be on their toes.  Some combination of both is good.  I find the difference in the people, such as it is, to be refreshing in a way.

Nobody has yet threatened me with violence or any such thing, but I always expect that possibility and take appropriate measures.  People do absolutely try to overcharge me for stuff.  Normally I just pay it because the cost is still absurdly cheap by my standards.  Normally they lose money because I would have given them a tip which is higher than to overcharge anyway.  A vast majority of people do NOT try to cheat me or overcharge me.

The funniest thing is that when someone does some sort of a blatant over-charge or other attempt to get a little extra money they seem to feel so good about how clever they are for 'fooling the dumb foreigner' even when it is blatantly obvious and ham-handed.  They seem to assume that I won't or don't notice.  It's so pathetic that it's almost 'cute' in a funny way.  My means and the scope of my life experiences is radically beyond what most of the people can really conceptualize that it's sort of feels like I'm in a different world.

I can only speak for myself and my own situation, but I find it fine down here.  I'm planning to stay (here in The Philippines or in some equally 'third-world' country if I have to move) until there is some light at the end of the tunnel for my home country (the U.S.).  That probably means I'll not go back sadly enough.

It helps that I spend a great deal of time in the Bitcoin ecosystem as it has evolved.  The Bitcoin ecosystem makes The Philippines seem like Japan when it comes to flakiness and dishonesty.