I'm surprised that Sabang has a reputation for being more expensive than Subic/Angeles. Yes the girls might be a little more expensive. But you can get yourself nice accommodation for less than 1000 per night and Drink is cheaper. The most you will ever be paying for a SML is 60.

Getting to Sabang is also pretty easy and hassle free. You can get the Si-Kat bus/boat from the City State hotel for 700 and it takes about 3.5hours all in. There is a risk of getting stuck but in the 12months I have been here I have only heard of the boats not going maybe 5 times and they were all during Sept/Oct when the Typhoons were about.

As Alex said there is plenty to do during the day. Nothing better than hiring a boat, getting some girls and going to a beach to BBQ meat and drink Rum & mango!

Oh well, nothing wrong with Sabang either, both places are great. I just prefer one over the other, and Barrio Baretto (in Subic) is not that well known, so it's a good alternative.In either place anyone would have great time. Sabang in Puerto Galera is the first place I went to when I came to Philippines for my first time, planned to stay for a few days but ended up staying for 3 weeks.....Anyways cheers

Red Horse + Vodka Redbull=bad Badness

Hi guys!

I have another question.
I'll be heading towards Manila in less than a week.
I remember that I need a plane ticket OUT of the country to be able to enter, if I've understood this correctly.

Anybody know some sites online where I can book cheap flight tickets to "nearby" destinations? Since I probably won't be using it, the destination doesn't really matter I guess. Suggestions welcome.

You people in this forum have been extremely helpful. If we meet up, I'll buy a few rounds of beer
Thanks

Tiger Airways is pretty cheap. It goes to singapore. I wouldn't want to actually fly using them because you have to add a bunch of time to go to clark airport instead of naia. http://www.tigerairways.com/

Where can I find a nice game that isn't hold'em? Somebody host a mixed game, low stakes would be fine and higher great with some staking.

Awesome. Pretty lol that taxes&fees were 3x the ticket price though
Now all is taken care of, apt. aswell.

There are several budget airlines that fly out of the Philippines for cheap: Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, AirAsia, Jetstar, and Tiger Airways as Alex mentioned.

I have flights booked to Jakarta and Taipei, and the one way flights are $20 and $25 USD respectively. In the past I've booked CRK-BKI for around $10 USD after taxes. If you have some time, I would recommend seeing some cities outside of the Philippines anyway, and you shouldn't have a problem finding cheap flights as the airlines are always offering some kind of promo rate.

Just thought i would pop into the thread as just got back from my philippines trip.

Managed to visit Davao, Cebu and Manila didn't have any problems - the only time i felt husseled was by the taxi drivers at the Manila airport.

Didn't see much of davao outside of the resorts there (Pearl Farm was amazing) I know of the trouble on Mindenao but despit all the military checkpoints always felt safe.

Cebu was a lot more touristy and managed to do a bit of site seeing Magellens cross etc but wouldn't be tempted to go back again - would move straight on to Boracy and Siquijor

Manila only stayed a couple of days and found it a lot more expensive then other places - the malls are quite impressive but didn't manage to sample the night life.

Going back next year so if anybody has some ideas of what to see next time?

Also does anyone know where i can get some info on property and real estate markets in the phillippines? From what I'm aware there are limitations on forigners owning property this is more to check that my girlfriend isn't being burnt (Have a condo being built in Makati)

Colliers International for Philippines housing market data. Not sure what you mean by having a condo built in Makati. Is she buying a condo unit and hiring an interior designer and contractor for the finishings/furnishings?

Off topic, for guys who plan on moving here: as long as you don't look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and have enough social skills to be able to hold a girl's attention, you will have immense success with the ladies. After almost two years of being here, I'm still amazed how easy it is sometimes.

However, like in any other country, you have to be wary about gold-diggers. The huge majority of girls here are super sweet and caring, but there are a few that will not hesitate to take advantage of you and your money. If you just wanna play the sugar daddy role, that's cool, but at least sample as many cuisines before you settle on one dish. And it's always good to have a backup plan in case you change your mind.

The limitations on foreigners on owning land is that at least 60% of the property has to be Filipino owned. There are ways to secure your this by setting up a corporation, 50 year leases etc...

So with a Condo Complex as long as 60% of the condos are owned by Filipinos, foreigners are allowed to purchase their own unit outright. So your GF should be ok.

However there is this pre election.

Thanks for the replies,

my girlfriend is from the philipines so ownership wouldn't be a problem for her.

The condo is being built as we speak and then we have to hire people for interior decoration (not in makatai but in Cubaq near the araneta coliseum - i was getting confused) Think the plan would be to rent it out.


Just wanted to get some info to make sure she's not paying to much on the mortgage etc and seeing if its worth looking at further properties.

Cheers!

Eh, I'll have to disagree with Paul on this one. I felt like it wasn't hard to get girls, but it wasn't super easy either. I had a fair bit of success with women while I was there but it felt like I usually had to work for it (with some exceptions). For every time I got the girl I probably got nowhere with 2 or 3 other girls, maybe more . Fwiw Paul might have slightly more game than me. Also, as you move up to girls who have options in life (i.e. aren't dirt poor and/or are pretty enough that she can get another guy with money who isn't fat and old) it gets progressively harder quickly. Not saying it's hard to get girls in Manila, because it really isn't, but it isn't like shooting fish in a barrel either imo, although it is still substantially easier than in the US or Europe.

Allright, I've arrived in Manila and some hours ago got into my apartment.

Came yesterday and stayed at a hotel downtown, I probably got owned by overcharging because a guy I talked to at the airport "fixed" everything but whatever, I needed some fast service, I'm a blank file and don't mind a few experiences.
First impression is pretty good and pretty hilarious every driver I talk to seem to wanna hook me up with prostitutes and drive me to various locations.
Conversation from today was like this:

Me: So, what are some good places to visit in the area?
Driver says something about a volcano and a waterfall.
Me: Cool. What about other towns? I hear Cebu is a good city as well.
Driver: Cebu city is pretty much same as Manila, but pretty far from here.
Me: Ok I see...
Driver: Do you like beaches?
Me: Well I do, sometimes. But I'm not a big beach person.
Driver: But do you like BEATCHES?!

This cracked me up pretty bad =)
Anyway, staying in a tower at Salcedo Village this month. Pretty decent. I've been walking around for some hours and there seems to be a lack of convenience stores except the 7eleven lookalikes. Plenty of super cheap fastfood. Doesn't seem to be a hotspot here, but I'm sure it's not far to go.

Temperature is nice and weather rocks. I can sit on the balcony and grind poker with a cold beer.
Thinking of visiting Metro Card Club tomorrow and see what it's like, I don't know the best place for live action but I wanna go there and play some, check out the level etc. Seem to have relatively low stakes tournaments though.

Looking forward to exploring more of the city. I'm not a huge whore guy so if you are one of these guys, just stop advertising

Pretty much know no-one here so if someone wanna chill out some day or go to a casino/club thats cool =)

Welcome!

Hey everybody, I am planning to move to SOutheastasia in September and was first focused on Thailand but because of the recent developments I am looking at other options.

I want to go somewhere where its's not too expensive, there is good nightlife and nice places to eat. What would you guys recomment? From reading a little bit I heard makita is quite nice, but It seems really expensive. I found some pretty bad looking 1br apartments for about 500€, seems quite expensive. Any recommendations?

Can anyone recommend a good dentist in Metro Manila?

Thailand is still better even now. I wouldn't recommend bangkok though, Phuket is almost completely unaffected, and 500 euro will get you a long way in Thailand.

srsly brah get a life... why your always troll ar thread here ? idiot, there are to many grindrs in thai already and it's not that much better than here wtf? man we don't go to tahi thread and trash talk thailand wtf, man get a life seriously. its just sad.

I totally disagree, but I'm glad many people think so, if Philippines was filled up with tons of tourists like Thailand is, it probably wouldn't be as much fun as it is now.

If I were you I would probably spend a couple of months travelling around finding a place that you like. The problem with coming to the Philippines in September is that you will arriving during the rainy season. Last September/October was pretty damn wet.

Thailand and the Philippines are two totally different beasts. To determine what is better is all about what you want in a place. I like the fact this place is so chilled out, there are no egos and if I'm lucky I won't meet any backpackers complaining that their $1 beer is too expensive or their $20 dive wasn't value for money.

A major issue with Thailand is that you have to leave the country every 90 days on a tourist visa to get it renewed, compared to Philippines where you can stay 18-24 months before you have to leave.

Fwiw I think Czglory hates the Philippines because APPT Manila had him staying in the Ermita/Malate area, which is gritty, to say the least.

I mean
I don't wanna sit in my apartment and grind. I'll postpone it 'til I "have" to or I'm losing my real life roll too fast =)

Having a real blast at Metro but I've been going bust a lot, ATM fees are ******ed and 10k+10k+10k just, not fun in the long run.
I think I wanna play live now since there are a lot of options, living by my self and grinding countless hours doesn't appeal to me after I find out what great social people Filipinos are. Although I am an introvert per def, meaning being overly social drains my energy over time, it's worth it and gives a lot.

Now I just need to fix the HSBC bank account and be on my way. It would however be nice to keep my roll with me..I'm aiming for 50/100 I think because I don't wanna carry around a higher roll. I need to check out RW and Hyatt also to find out where I wanna play, although I absolutely love the [girls in] metro.

Tho I'm no B&M expert. What would be an OK roll, think I'd need more than 5BI with me and then just stop if I go bust? I also wouldn't want more than 200K lying around in the apartment. Meh I'll figure it out.

Hit me up if you see me in the B&Ms in Manila. Semi ginger pale european in mid 20s dressed probably with jeans 100% of the time and a dark shirt, chin beard thing, slim because I forget eating all the time, probably most easily spotted with a San Mig light in my left hand shuffling chips in the right when I'm not reloading which is like half the time apparently

Fanapathy- For storing money you can pick up a pretty decent room safe for around 5000p. If your having people in your apartment that you don't know too well then its deffo the way to go!