Lessons From London
No, my feet were firmly planted on Manila for the past days or so. Instead, it was my dad who took the trip for me (as if!); the official reason for his trip was a fact-finding mission for the government.
He just arrived a few hours ago, and I managed to pick up some interesting tidbits of info.
- Do not rely on your credit cards. Make sure you don’t run out of hard cash, preferably in the local currency, with U.S. dollars as back-up. My dad learned this the hard way when a couple of his cards (all of which are internationally accepted, e.g. Diners Club) were inexplicably rejected one after the other in their London hotel. Inexplicably, because these cards had more than ample credit space left (to illustrate, he was able to use them later in the stopover at Kuala Lumpur). It was fortunate that he had spare UK pounds left. I’ve advised him to contact the credit card companies to find out the reason behind the boo-boos.
- If you’re fond of gadgets, do your research before a close relative/friend of yours goes overseas. I didn’t do mine, hence I ended up speechless when my dad called me from inside a London computer and gadget shop, asking me if I wanted to buy something. I didn’t expect him to go to such a shop, and nor did he expect to find himself there — his colleague just happened to need something for his/her laptop. The words red iPod and Nintendo Wii flashed across my mind, but in the end I just dumbly said, “Nah, I’m fine, don’t buy anything for me.” Which was probably a blessing in disguise as that saved us some serious bucks.
- London’s becoming a more friendly place for Filipinos…because the city’s teeming with Pinoys. Teeming might be an exaggeration, but my dad says they got to meet kababayans right at the airport, at the hotel, and even at a McDonald’s branch. (Their fact-finding mission had something to do with OFWs and immigration.)
- If you’re a hobbyist, clearly explain to your close relative/friend that they should not buy a toy for you. Case in point at my aircraft models blog. Oh well, as I realized not too long ago, there’s a thin line separating a miniature plane model and a toy!
January 24th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Sorry, if you’re not a credit card person you wouldn’t have this problem. Of course you should have back-up cash all the time.
Yes, they’re toys. Admit it. No, seriously… Historically, even. But it doesn’t matter. Anime and manga have long been considered kiddie, but that doesn’t mean they’re intellectually-handicapped and inferior to other shows.
Stupid adults, I say.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
[...] Original post by Crimson Crux and software by Elliott Back [...]
January 25th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Credit cards should not be a problem if it were AmEx, VISA or Mastercard. Unfortunately, other cards JBC (?), Diners, etc. are not recognized in some parts of the world. If it were the big three above, a simple call to their hotline numbers would have cleared it up. But then again, it REQUIRED to have cash in the local currency - unless the bellhop has a credit card swiper.
Asking someone to buy you something overseas is difficult specially if the person does not know a thing about it. What is best is for you to do the research and keep in mind that taxes are always added. In the UK, VAT is 17.5% but you can always refund it if you’re a visitor.
Your decision not to have your dad buying a gadget there is correct - it is more expensive in the UK compared to the US or HK.
Pinoys in London or the UK for that matter are plenty. Having stayed there for quite awhile, I can attest to this. However, I feel bad that some of them are living below the UK poverty line, just so they can send money to their family here in the Philippines. One of our lab’s cleaning lady is one - we often spend time chatting before everyone else arrives in the morning (I usually am in before 8AM, when the cleaning ladies are cleaning). Some, however, do very well without marrying a Brit.
January 25th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Sir Rom I agree. However, aside from Diners, my dad had a slew of Mastercards (some of the boutiques didn’t even accept AmEx, though I’m not sure if that was in Malaysia already).
You’re right — partly the reason why I declined to have a gadget bought for me was that he isn’t really into gadgets and a mistake can be literally costly, hehe. Buti na lang!
At least, there’s an organization committed to helping immigrants in the UK (I think my dad met with their representatives). Any Pinoy down on his/her luck and wishing to return to the Philippines but doesn’t have the funds to do so can approach them and the organization will pay for the plane fare
January 29th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
[...] This one wasn’t bought from Fully Booked, but has a price tag more expensive than the first two combined. If my wallet was the one that engaged the price tag in a scuffle, I’d be tearing off my hair right now. Fortunately, it was dad’s wallet (that’s why he returned from his trip from the land of the Brits with a few hair strands missing). [...]