Everyday life for an Expat in the Philippines

Just some random stuff that I've noticed and thought, well that's different...

• The malls have hardware stores in them.
• You cannot assume that a public restroom will have toilet paper.
• Toilet paper is called tissue, and they don't want you to flush it down the toilet.
• Table napkins are also called tissue.  "Napkins" refer to feminine products.
• Speaking of table napkins, unlike in the US, they are stingy with them.  Rather than getting a whole stack of them, they might give you two.  And they're little.
• I'm actually taller than average here!
• Hot water heaters are not the norm - I do not have hot water in my kitchen.  My bathroom has a small heater installed (under the sink) for the shower and sink in the bathroom only.
• Online bill payment doesn't seem to have caught on. 
• Internet is broadband and cables are all above ground, making the internet less reliable and of course not as fast.
• Security guards at most places let white people pass without checking them... as though white people are not security risks?!
• When you're at the department store, there are lots of people working who will help you.  They see you pick something out, and then offer up suggestions.  I feel bad telling them I'd rather just pick out my own things.
• There are lines on the road, but you wouldn't know it by the way they drive.
• There are no semi-trucks on the EDSA (the main highway) - I'm told they have their own road(s?)
• The things people pay for normally here would be considered luxuries in the US - particularly in-home child care and housekeeping.
• Being LGBT appears to be much more accepted here... which is ironic considering how religious the country is.
• If you're familiar with a "Mexican minute" - yeah, it's like that here too
• You can purchase things in much smaller quantities.  Examples - you can buy one bottle of beer (or other beverage that you usually see in a six pack) at the market or just one blister pack of medicine instead of the whole box.  Also, jars of things like mayonnaise for example, come in much smaller sizes. 
• Remember when we were young and we didn't worry about things like riding in the back of a pick-up truck, or going barefoot?  It's like that here.  Less fear-mongering than the US.
• No chiropractors.  It seems the massage therapists are a good substitute because they twist you and pull limbs and such, without the sudden jerk of an adjustment.

That's all I can think of.  Feel free to post questions and/or comments!