Coming in through back doors
I went to Manila for few weeks August and September. Long time since I visit there, very long. But, already back home again with Minda here at Zamboanga City. I arrived a few days now.
One thing that I notice in Manila, the product selection there is much different from here in Zambo. You know, here in Zamboanga area, we get many products from Malaysia and Indonesia. They call it “back door entry” because it is not coming through official channels – i.e. coming in through Manila.
Back door products are cheap too! Malaysian prices lower than Philippines. And, no taxes on these products, because avoiding official paths to the stores.
What kind of products come in through backdoor? Everything! Even food items. Fabric. Textiles. Clothing. Even thing like cameras and electronics. One time I saw Sony PS3 that is backdoor model.
Boats ply trade routes from Sandakan to Tawi Tawi to Zamboanga City every day. We see the products in Zamboanga stores, same products not to be seen in Manila and elsewhere!
Different flavor, different life in Zamboanga. Different products too. Different prices. Come visit Zamboanga – life different here!
Last 5 posts by Carlin
- Nothing but troubles - August 11th, 2009
- Warning: Danger for tourists - July 1st, 2009
- Watch me on the highway - June 14th, 2009
- When the Spanish come to Zamboanga - June 7th, 2009
- Fort Pilar, Zamboanga - May 23rd, 2009
Hi Carlin,
We have the same Back Door here in Gen San but its sold in what is locally named SM, no, net the famous supermarket chain but here SM means Sa Maranao as they are the people who bring the goods into the country!
Hello, Carlin!
Just curious about the food products are they safe? Here in the States we always try not to buy fresh food from outside the US.
It’s probably okay but one can never be too careful.
Also I plan to visit Zamboanga if and when I get to the Philippine.
hola carlin
finnaly you resurfaced.i thought some wild nurses might have tied you to a hospital bed or something.your lucky to get items at such a low low price.here on the island where i live is almost double comared to mainland prices.usually once a month we take the car on the ferryboat and shop there as we find things alot cheaper then here.hope all is well my friend.
how is your healing process coming along?i suspect very good having a personal nurse and all.
your friend Ron
you have to be careful to not eat at places that are off the street food vender’s unless you know them personally ! i notice Filipinos in general have a lapse in strictly refrigerating there leftovers in a timely fashion not only in the Philippines but here in america every husband of a filipina i have come in contact with 100% of the time i have had the same conversation with there wife is very slow or doesn’t even put away cooked meat or fish or chicken back in the refrigeration .that was a major argument between my wife and i when we first got married ,i notice filipinos tend to leave there food out on the table in there homes for hours with just a plate covering the dish in a hot humid setting like P.I. ,with knats hovering around the dish ,to me thats unacceptable food handling and thats a cultural thing i have noticed with Filipino.
I am with you Mike, as we are having food safety seminars in our house here every other day. Part of the reason for this ignorance is due to the fact that my wife and her siblings didn’t grow up with refridgeration, and the local supermarket displays thier meats etc. right out in the open where you can just pick your own, not wrapped or packaged and minimal refridgeration. It greatly bothers me too and I am constantly directing my family here on proper food storage and preperation. sorry to go off subject Carlin mi amigo and welcome back
Carlin
I was amazed at the amount of goods being checked in while I was on a flight from Zambo to Manila. The lady in front of me had at least 15 televisions and the guy behind me had about 12 fighting cocks.
Hi All – A good number of wide spread food contamination cases in the States often come from contamination of the machinery used in process of the mass production of the food or food products. Due to the mass production of these facilities, these cases make big headlines due to the scope of those effected. I suspect this is often the case in other “western” countries as well.
Now I’m not saying that there isn’t shortcomings in the RP in this regard, I just think many of the locals compensate for this in other ways. My Filipina spouse, even here in the States, washes and rewashes stuff before cooking that I’d never even contemplate washing prior to cooking. She has a tendency to cook things well done too, to make sure they are safe. Perhaps this is the reason that folks don’t get ill more often than they do.
It also most likely has something to do with the fact that most food in the RP is not mass produced / processed in large factories where this contamination can get out of hand and effect large numbers of folks.
Hi Carlin,
We used to call this “back door goods” as “barter” goods. Pinoy are so crazy with imported stuff and Zamboanga is the best place to get them. I remember when I was back home in North Cotabato 20 years ago that we travel by cargo ship and we pass by at Zamboanga. There are lots of vendors who climb aboard the ship selling all kinds of barter goods. You have to be good with negotiation in order to get what you want. The most common godds was this “sotanghon” noodles, “Hino de Pravia” soap,seiko watches and the “batik” product. The good olds days. Are they still doing that now? I have been living in Canada for so long that I missed this so much. I wish to do this again someday but you know when you are on vacation you are so constrain with the time and travelling by ship is not a good option. I envy you for living there but is it scary though, being surrounded by different type of muslims. No offense about the muslim they are good people and I am always fascinated with Zambo City.
well we do leave the food on the table but usually because other members of the family who are late coming to dinner wont need to reheat it. anyway thats the reason in my family..
Plus you notice, we use alot of vinegar in our dishes. its a preserving ingredient. no need to refrigerate coz it lasts longer
how much for the PS3 Cralin
Carlin, stuff the back door goods and ZWonga City, how’s your nurse girlfriend going?
The nurses here in the provinces tend to be HOT! They work for practically nothing and there’s a stack of them. I had a nurse GF for two years, I loved getting sick but I just hated the local hospitals so I changed partners to a teacher.
Why a teacher? because I need educating sometimes.
Ciao amigo.
Carlin…the backdoor has been left open decades (or centuries) ago. They forgot to close it. If you go back to history, the northern part of Borneo (Sabah) belonged to the Sultanate of Sulu. He leased it to a Brit rajah, and the Brits didn’t give it back to the Sultan of Sulu when they created Malaysia. I’ve been planning to move to the Philippines soon, winter is too cold here in Canada. Alex
Ha ha ha..trust pinoys whereever they are to play w/ acronyms! SM has other variations as well & that one is new for me.
Hi there,
I was intrigued by your comments there. Is it really true that people try to avoid purchasing fresh foods from outside the US. I’ve never heard of people thinking like that before. Here in the UK, our food standards agency is very strict, and imports are required to meet stringent health and safety standards, and are more likely “safer” than foods which come from twenty miles down the road which probably didn’t have to meet quite such stringent safety standards.
When you are in the Philippines, you may be a little concerned about some of the foods you see and the way they are prepared. Not much attention is paid to length of cooking time and cooking temperature etc. You have to exercise common sense. You won’t have the same levels of resistance to food bugs etc as the locals will have, so you need to make sure that any foods you eat are cooked thoroughly and are hot, and not left sitting before serving. That said, you need have no fear in the many many lovely restaurants you will find, many serving some of the nicest foods you could imagine.
After five years living in the UK, my brother in law returned to the Philippines for a vacation, and was delighted to see some of his favourite foods again. Unfortunately, he had partially lost his resistance to certain bacteria, and was badly affected by diahorrea for a day or two. That would be the same for virtually any country in the world, of course. I believe that imported foods are generally very good, since most countries only export the best of their produce, but the responsibility for cooking it properly lies with you.
hola carlin
i think your new lady is taking alot of your time now as you dont even reply to your articles anymore.i been waiting your responce for some time now,oh well mabe next month
anyone knows how to bring fighting cocks from zamboanga to malaysia? i think if it will guo under the legal customs, cocks might not be prohibited to enter while if we can go “backdoor” the better.
appreciate ur reply. thanks