$2000 Reward for Hardworking Filipinos 🇵🇭

Harry returns to Manila — a city he says he comes back to every year for the energy — and spends the day handing 5,000 pesos, roughly $100, to everyone who does something for him. It starts in Quiapo, the chaotic downtown market district he prefers to the polished parts of the city, where he has a phone repaired, eats fresh lumpia made by a vendor who has to be ready to run from the police, and hijacks a stall’s microphone to advertise their t-shirts. He races a bike taxi across town to BGC, has a 500-peso massage on the side of a highway from a man who has done it for 24 years, eats Spanish fusion, gets a haircut with a scalp treatment he can barely stay awake through, and finishes at Greenhills Mall buying an iPad and an Apple Watch to give away as mystery gifts.

Key moments

• [00:00] Back in downtown Manila, which he visits every year for the energy and the friendliness, with William along for the day.
• [01:09] Magic water at 20 pesos, and a plant at 50, from stalls he can’t identify the boundaries of.
• [02:44] Someone is handing out free food and water on the street.
• [02:14] Why he prefers this area: the people are far friendlier and more interesting than in BGC or Makati.
• [04:59] He borrows a stall’s microphone to advertise their t-shirts to the market, and notes there’s only one country where you can do that.
• [06:04] A broken iPhone back panel. The quote is 1,500 for labour; he asks for the local price and gets 1,300.
• [07:45] The repairer fixes about five phones a day, working with heat to scrape the back panel off before replacing it.
• [08:18] The original part costs 2,500 rather than the 3,500 listed — a vlogger discount. Harry leaves 5,000.
• [09:30] Fresh lumpia, two pieces for 50. The seller’s cart is portable because the trade is illegal and he has to be able to run.
• [10:31] He sells around 150 pieces a day, and makes them from scratch — a recipe from his grandfather.
• [12:22] Harry leaves 5,000 there too.
• [13:22] What strikes him: everyone speaks English, which he calls a breath of fresh air.
• [13:22] A church ceremony, with candles sold outside for wishes. The Philippines is strongly Christian.
• [14:31] Santo Niño figures for homes and businesses, at 2,500.
• [16:02] Counterfeit perfumes — Calvin Klein and Ray-Ban, “definitely real”.
• [17:13] The food market: palabok at 35, sticky rice, and a Filipino dish he compares to pad thai. The stallholder works from 5am to 8pm.
• [20:07] A tip for the stall’s sales team.
• [20:45] A Pakistani vendor selling chicken biryani, working in Manila and missing his family more than the food. He recognises Harry from his Karachi videos.
• [21:28] A bike taxi race across town — $100 to whichever driver arrives first.
• [21:56] His rider works eight-hour days through Manila traffic.
• [22:58] The case for bike taxis: they save hours in a city where this is what light traffic looks like.
• [23:31] The rider earns around 500–900 pesos a day (from video – unverified).
• [24:03] BGC, which he calls nicer than most cities in the UK — parks, malls, designer shops, walkable.
• [24:37] 5,000 split between the two riders.
• [24:55] A coconut seller. Harry buys the entire stock — 69 coconuts at 50 each — but takes only one, so they can still sell the rest.
• [25:52] A roadside massage beside a highway, 500 pesos, from John Rich, who has been doing it for 24 years and built the massage bed himself.
• [26:57] The comparison that makes the point: the same length massage at his hotel was 2,000.
• [27:28] He pre-empts the comments — he’ll be told he overpaid or underpaid either way, so he pays what’s asked.
• [28:36] Around 10–15 massages a day, 12-hour days, roughly 3,000 pesos daily (from video – unverified). Asked for a message to the world, the masseur says life here is hard, and the hardest part is the rising price of groceries and oil.
• [30:58] On cockfighting: a Spanish inheritance, licensed, effectively prohibited in Manila but still watchable in Mindanao and the provinces.
• [32:07] Harry leaves 5,000.
• [32:14] A Philippine Marine Corps static display and recruitment drive in BGC, with armour, artillery, sniper rifles and a new coastal defence unit.
• [34:24] Dinner at a Spanish fusion place, with tacos, prawns and roasted cauliflower — small plates, and knives and forks because they’re in BGC.
• [38:30] 5,000 shared between the staff, for the service and for Christmas.
• [40:36] A barber shop, quoted 550 for a skin fade.
• [41:39] The barber has cut hair for 24 years, eight of them in that spot, and reckons well over 10,000 haircuts.
• [43:27] The hair wash and scalp treatment included in the price — something he says would cost far more in England.
• [44:29] A steam treatment on the face and a shoulder massage; he thinks he fell asleep, and the whole thing runs 30–45 minutes.
• [46:14] The bill is 1,600, cash only. He leaves 5,000 for the staff to share.
• [47:19] Greenhills Mall, his favourite in the country: good prices, no scams, and cheaper than BGC’s malls. A Sunday church service is running inside it.
• [47:53] He notes how much it has been built up and organised since his last visit.
• [48:25] A second-hand iPad Air 4 in mint condition, listed at 19,500, talked down to 13,500 with a one-month warranty.
• [50:38] He offers the seller a dollar or a mystery gift — she picks the mystery, and it’s the iPad.
• [51:50] An Apple Watch SE at 11,000, also with a month’s warranty.
• [54:26] The same trick with the second seller: $20 or a mystery gift.

Extracted pages

• Places: Quiapo, Manila
• Country: Philippines
• Tips: Reward honesty and hard work, Try the street version of everyday services, Haggle with a reference price