Baguio is Cheap. Kung Alam Lang Niya...

Juny La Putt, webmaster even during the Vietnam War time, came home from Hawai'i to watch the Panagbenga. Here's his notes:

Most probably some of you would be interested to know something about
the cost of living out here in the City of Baguio. I did look around
and tried a few things myself. Here's a sampling of how inexpensive
things and services are out here in the city:

$3.28 - dinner (grilled tanguigue with rice & vegetables plus a can
of San Miguel light beer) at Veniz Grill. Tanguigue is a fish
which is known as "ono" in Hawaii.
2.40 - breakfast buffet at the Veniz Hotel (eat all that you can
and drink as much juice and coffee)
0.77 - blood sugar test
0.19 - to check your blood pressure
1.63 - cost for a bowl of beef or chicken noodles at Luisa's Cafe
1.62 - lunch at Betty's Restaurant (grilled tilapia with rice,
salad, and a glass of coke)
0.76 - student's budget lunch (rice with two dish choices) at the
basement of Maharlika Livelihood Center.
3.50 - taxi ride from Baguio to Fort Del Pilar & back (about 25 kms)
5.85 - aircon bus fare from Manila to Baguio (250 kms in 6 hrs)
1.35 - haircut and shave at a barber shop along Gen. Luna Road.
3.65 - one hour of whole body shiatsu massage at the massage center
located at Camp Allen ($7.70 if done in your hotel room)
0.05 - cost of a single piece of sweet banana
0.67 - cost to have a new pair of pants altered by a tailor.
0.39 - the hourly cost I pay to go online at the Faith Internet Cafe.
0.10 - to use a public bathroom

Back in Honolulu, I usually give as much as 10% up to 15% for tips when
eating in a restaurant. Out here, most people just give us much as 20
to 40 U.S. cents and some don't even leave a tip at all. For my haircut
at a barber shop in Kapalama, I pay $10 for a haircut plus a $2 tip
while out here I can have a haircut and shave for just $1.35.

I took a quick tour of the Baguio Public Market this Friday afternoon
and took a lot of pictures of what are sold in the market. You will get
to see the pictures when I post these later ... and you will be
surprise to see how cheap the vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, and
various other commodities are.

From a local newspaper ad, I saw a 2-story, three-bedroom homes being
sold at prices ranging from only $23,077 to $28,846 and this already
includes the lot on which the home is constructed. There is no doubt
that the dollars you earn in the United States will go a long way if
spent here. I guess this is the reason why so many who have lived
abroad have came back to retire here. And this is not typical among
Filipinos alone. There are a lot of foreigners who have married
Filipinas and who have decided to make Baguio their home too.