Anyone that has read more than a few pages on this blog knows I love living in the Philippines. How many people dream of being able to live a life like mine? To recline under a palm tree on the beach while soaking up the sun or in my place, the pretty girls walking by. Well, don’t shoot me, the sun is my enemy.
I have that life. It is a good life and I do enjoy it very much. For many of us, those that are not rich or 
even well off can and do increase their opportunities in life by living in a developing nation like the Philippines. The Philippines might be one of the better choices simply due to the people of the Philippines. Yes, I know the bad Filipinos are what you hear the most about. You know what, Filipinos hear mostly about bad Westerners too. Those doing the right thing, rarely are featured in the papers.
Is it paradise? Hardly. Today, I expected to suffer through another super hot day with no air con. I thought there was a very good chance that the electricity would be cut off today. That didn’t happen and I’m glad to be wrong. I really thought the electriicty would be shut off today. However, I’ll get to worry about it all over again next Sunday. Based on the prior two months, I can expect a day without electricity this month and we are fast running out of Sundays for which the power company can inflict its wrath on us. I take it personal; I think they are out to get me. haha
No Cokes In The Philippines?
Instead we had another issue today. I have a few bad habits and being addicted to cola drinks is one of them. Guess what? There are none in Bogo City for the last two days. We use to get all our cokes at the beginning of the month. Why we stopped doing that, I don’t know. Well, sometimes people help themselves to them. So we started keeping them in our bedroom to stop that. Then Jessie just stopped doing it. I just asked her to start doing that again. She said “Okay” but we’ve had this conversation about five times now.
There are no Coke or Pepsi products to be had in Bogo City. Jessie even stopped by Jollibee. Jollibee’s is fast foods franchise much like McDonald’s but better. Even they have no Coke. They don’t have Coke Classic which I can’t drink and they don’t have Coke Zero either. Before moving here, I had completely got off caffeine. I drank Coke Zero only. I’m a highly motivated somewhat anxious person. I do not need any caffeine. Coke Zero in the Philippines isn’t quite null and void of all of the bad stuff. It has no sugar but it has plenty of caffeine.
It isn’t uncommon to run out of either Coke or Pepsi but this is the first time we’ve run out of both. What? Is there a bubbly water shortage or what? I don’t know if there is one distributor for both products in the Philippines. I doubt that would be the case any place in the USA. There must be some cause for this though.
I tried to find out who owns them or to see if they had a common address in the Philippines. I couldn’t find out much about the Coke distributor in the Philippines. Mostly I kept getting taken to the home page in Atlanta Georgia. Do you know if the companies are related? Do you know why there are no cokes in Bogo City? Is it just northern Cebu or is all of Cebu out of these kinds of soft drinks?
I did leave a question on the Pespi website for the Philippines. I asked them if they knew that Bogo City was out of Pepsi and if so, why? Maybe the Coke and Pepsi driver were racing on our one highway and collided it. I think running out of a product for an entire city is hard for a Westerner to comprehend but two of them?
It certainly isn’t the end of the world. I’m more amused than anything else. Bewildered might be a better word. It isn’t uncommon that we have to search them out but it is uncommon not be able to find either one.
Because of the auto-immune disorders and diabetes, that I have, I’m extra thirsty. Sarah, are you there? I think diabetes is also an auto-immune disorder. See, I’m always curious about the details. Sarah is a reader that either is an MD or very close to being one.
So this Sunday, I was spared being out of electricity but not my caffeine fix. I’m drinking bottled tea like a British man that’s been lost in the desert for a week but I need my fizzle. All I want for Christmas is a steady supply of coke? Well, that and delivered by a horde of Filipina. Sorry, I really like Filipina.
Life In The Philippines Requires Adaptation
Next Sunday is going to be a prime time to plan to be away from home. That all day brownout can’t be too far away 
and I still have not been to Capitancillo Islet. I am trying to conserve cash but I’ve not been any place at all lately. I think it is time. I don’t know if I’ll go but it is on my mind. The timing seems perfect. First I have to get off my vampire schedule. I am back to sleeping in the day and working through the night. This low dose caffeine though is about to put me fast to sleep.
You know, if you’re going to live in the Philippines or any other developing nation you’re going to reap a lot of benefits from that. You’ll also have some issues that are not quite up to what we are use to in the USA. If you can’t learn to take some of these minor inconveniences in life with a smile on your face, it could get very frustrating for you to live in the Philippines.
Tagged with: Bogo City • Cebu • In the Philippines • Live In The Philippines • Living In The Philippines
Filed under: Living In The Philippines
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Another interesting and entertaining article, I remember when I was Olongapo in 2010 the same thing happened kinda… By choice here in the states I am a diet Pepsi drinker, but didn't like the taste in the PI, so I found that diet Coke was my beverage of choice… but will not drink it here… and the city ran out of diet Coke for 2 days, so I found myself back to diet Pepsi… Never did develop a taste for it, but unlike you I did have a choice…
I've been to Bantayan Island when I couldn't get a diet drink. I can't drink the ones with sugar in them, they make me feel pretty bad. It just ain't worth it. Plus, I'm not use to that much sweet any more. I felt pretty bad after a day with no caffeine, I didn't realize how addicted I had become to them again. I hate it because I had to work hard to stop the caffeine.
It is also hard, no impossible, but hard to find sugar free candy. I use to always have a lot of that around to cut back on the cokes. I use to ship it in from Amazon each month when I first got here. But I cut that out. Sure miss my butterscotch lifesavers. The way they package it makes the shipping expensive! So, I do without.
They do have some sugar free candy at SM and Duty Free. There is a sugar free store in Cebu City but I was't impressed with it. Pretty sad actually.
Thanks for the kind words Mark. Jessie published it before I was quite done with it. I thought it would take me about an hour to do this video. lol That was eight hours ago.
Hey Rusty, Coca Cola is made by San Miguel in the Philippines. The reason I know is because one of my friends is an engineer with them and on my last vacation there we were discussing that very product.
you may be able to find out from them what is going on. Have fun.
Hey Rick, its not unusual for it us to be out of one or the other but usually not both at the same time.
I don’t know them so its kind of hard for me to ask them. haha I’m such a SA.
Coke didn’t have a contact us page. It could be that there is a shortage of some common ingredent for both I guess but it is probably just bad luck. Something one has to deal with in the Philippines.
I’ve also noticed that none of the BBQ stalls have chicken head and feet any more. That bothers me much less. haha
I just added a video to this article. Hit the Google +1, Tweet and share it any other way you can think of please… lol
I am a “coke” nut as well and thought why?
I also don’t drink the “normal” with sugar; but the diet one.
I thought about it and I realized it was the “fizz” in the drink that was doing it.
So I setup a soda water fountain that I can mix anything I anted and it worked.
Try a mint Tea with soda water and you might find it interesting.
I have a friend who sends me that “MILO” zero calorie water/drink additive. A little squirt and Have a full glass of beverage with the soda water.
My coke habit has gone way way down; yet I do still drink a Cold Diet Coke once in a while and not Jones about it when I can’t.
I’m doing okay with just tea. i think it is the caffeine in my case. I never drank alcohol a lot because I seem to become easily addicted to things. Maybe that’s normal but it doesn’t really feel normal.
I’ve wondered about the fizz part as well and that does seem to be a part of it. But mostly, its the caffeine. The tea still has caffeine right? I don’t like the smell of the water that they deliver in Bogo City. I’m sure its fine but it just smells like death to me. haha Hard to drink that and the bottle water that taste great is a bit expensive but that’s what I need to be drinking.
I’m really thirsty though. i use to drink a ton of Gatorade. I don’t know if I can even get that here but I think I can. I use to have a quart bottle of it going all the time. I haven’t seen those in a while. And they started screwing with the flavors. I liked the orange just fine. I don’t even remember if it is full of sugar. Thanks for the tip on the cooler. With a house full of kids, I’d probably have to put that in my bedroom under threat of death. lol
That would be a deal breaker for me Rusty. If I am addicted to anything it’s diet coke (Coke Lite there). The clerks at my barangay 7-11 see the tall Kano walking in and automatically ring one up.
I’ve been living in Bogo for four years and this is the first time it has happened.
It sounds like you’re living in a much more modern place than I am. There are no 7-11 here. I don’t know if we have any in Cebu? I have never been in one. Or do you mean a store like one. I think they are in the Manila area.
I've added some spam protection on CEX and just TRYING to confirm I haven't broken things in the process.
Testing the spam protection… If you guys notice a problem please let me know….