There are some foreigners though who behave exactly like Richard Gere did with Julia Roberts in the movie "Pretty Woman", (and can afford to) spending an obscene amount of money on the girl of their affection. They will shower their girl with expensive cell phones, laptops and other gifts. But unfortunately, these foreigners spoil it for the rest of us and contribute to the "Santa Claus" image.

But most foreigners are not rich. They are budget conscious, frugal and efficient with their money, not spending beyond what is necessary, which is how it is in the real world after all. The problem is that somehow, all foreigners in the Philippines get lumped into the "splurging unlimited cash" type personified in "Pretty Woman". It's an unfair stereotype, but it exists.

What's really funny though, is that even when hippie backpacker travelers walk around the Philippines, hustlers and peddlers STILL call out to them thinking that they are rich and treat them like cash cows just because they have white skin! Anyone with any worldly sense about people know that backpackers - the kind who stay in hostels - are often on a very TIGHT BUDGET, and are not rich at all! They even LOOK and dress like they're poor! Yet Filipinos are clueless about this. I guess their greed and ignorance transcends their common sense about other people. Lol. That would be the logical conclusion.

- Unfortunately, since foreigners here are used to being targeted by hustlers, peddlers and those wanting to sell them overpriced goods and services, or taken advantage of, as though they were rotating targets in a "carnival shooting gallery", they eventually become overly defensive and dismiss everyone trying to help them, including well meaning locals who are just trying to help without any ulterior motive. Such is the unfortunate consequence of "building up your defenses", in that eventually you stereotype them all as "greedy hustlers to be avoided" for convenience sake, or because you just don't want to deal with them anymore, period.

- Filipinos do not even feel guilty about wasting their own food, leaving it out to spoil or leaving uneaten rice in the cooker to spoil, which they will do over and over again. Thus there is no shame at all in wasting even their own resources. It is not uncommon for a Filipina to get taken to a restaurant, order a meal and then take only one or two bites, throwing the rest away, not even taking it home, all because they aren't paying for it. It's a total disregard for waste.

- Filipinos themselves will playfully admit that they typically behave like children in that when they want something, they want it NOW, without regard to expenses or consequences. So basically you would be dealing with "adult children".

- It is very difficult to find intelligent conversation in the Philippines. People there seem incapable of thinking and observing, or forming intelligent opinions and observations.

You will mostly only have intelligent discussions with other expats and foreigners. While middle class educated Filipinos will only be able to speak English more fluently with you than average, they will still not usually be able to form intelligent opinions and observations.

The average IQ in the PH is something like 86, which is quite low. So if you are an intelligent reasoning person, you will feel out of place, since dumb and simplicity seems to be the norm while thinking is out of place.

Also, the incompetence and inability to answer simple questions will seem quite annoying, especially if you demand competence and straight answers.

- Most people's English is only at the basic level. They understand you if you ask simple questions like:

"Where is the CR? (bathroom)"
"What time is it?"
"Where are you from?"

Those they will understand and respond. But if you ask them:

"Can I apply this retroactively?" or ask them things involving steps, details or specifics, they will struggle and look confused.

They also are not accustomed to intellectualizing over concepts. For instance if you say to them, "The term 'pure Filipino' is an oxymoron because by definition a Filipino is a mix of different ethnicities, not a purebreed", most will not understand this statement, nor will they know what "oxymoron" means.

In Asia such intellectual musings and observations are considered useless and irrelevant in day to day practical life anyway. Instead, people's minds are used to focusing on simple practical matters only.

Therefore, when travel guides such as Lonely Planet say that everyone in the Philippines speaks fluent English, it's more of a politically correct statement than the truth.

- Most waitresses in the Philippines are very simple (dumb and clueless to put it bluntly). They cannot fix problems or answer questions, only take orders and send them to the kitchen. But when you ask questions or request that items be altered, they seem to get a "brain fart".

They are especially clueless when you ask them why the same dish isn't prepared like it was last time. In such cases, they can do nothing but deny, deny, deny. They can only get the cook or manager to discuss it with you.

What's odd about this is that they seem to have a photographic memory of faces and will recognize someone they haven't seen for three years even, yet they can't recognize when items in their restaurant have been changed (usually for the worse).