Well to start with you should of at least jumped out and got your viagra after giving him the 500.

LOL maybe you haven't spent much time on the streets there but the viagra they sell is fake - it ranges from blue coated sugar pills to rat poison. Take at your own risk.

only gonna spend 2 days in manila. should i stay in malate or makati (budget is 20-40$ twin bedr)
which has the best nightlife/bar/restaurant scene. i also like to do some sightseeing (local markets, fake markets etc, not so interested in the big malls) during the day.

ive got experiance backpackin india and sea couple of times if that matters.

I have no doubt its fake, but if you gonna be throwing 500 out the window to make someone go away the least you could do is get what they were selling in the first place. LOL

Cheaper and sleazier in Malate/Ermita. It has bars like the manila bay cafe - a large two storey 24 hr bar with live bands at night. It is also packed wall to wall with freelance prostitutes if you are into that thing. You can get a half decent hotel room for about $30 in this area.
Makati (burgos st) is a bit more expensive but still sleazy having more bars with gogo dancers. hard to find a hotel room for around $30, i'd say the average is around $50 for a half decent room in this area.
Not to sure about the market scene there in Manila, maybe try baywalk at evening.
http://www.philippines-travel-guide....a-baywalk.html
I know you said you are not interested in the big malls, but you should check out the Mall of Asia its not too far from Makati but it's closer to Malate. I think when it was built in 2006 it was listed as the 4th biggest shopping mall in the world.
But to answer your question I would recommend Makati everytime over Malate. Be careful at either place at night especially if you are alone and drunk. I'd advise not to walk and to get taxis to get around. But in saying that be careful in the taxis also. Make sure the meter is turned on when entering the cab. I've travelled to many places around the world and would rate the Manila taxi driver as the most difficult to deal with.

I have a question for anyone there with experience cashing out from a poker site to a Philippines bank account.

I've stayed in metro Manila off and on the past few years, and I have a bank account there that I use to withdraw funds from my poker account. My bank just emailed requesting documentation regarding the recent wire transfers I received in my account.

1) What is the general attitude of Philippine banks towards funds received through online gambling?

2) If I send my bank the cashout confirmation email I received from my poker site's payment processor, will they be OK with that, or do I risk having my bank account frozen?

Any advice for how to proceed is greatly appreciated, thanks.

I'm not an expert on this, but from what I've heard, its very difficult to do anything online gambling related with PI banks.

There is a website called 'Poker Manila' you should check out on this matter.

It's got an internet poker subform, and there will be some people in their that would be very knowledgeable on this subject.

I've got a Phillipine bank account and have cashed into it via moneybookers no problem. Maybe try this instead of transferring directly from your poker account to your Phillipine bank account.
I would withdraw all your money first before sending them any information. IMHO they look for any reason to seize a foreigners money.

you cant sign up for neteller in PI right? can you sign up for moneybookers there? or do i need to sign up for that before i leave the us?

For you guys who live/been in Cebu: Is it possible to find a decent condo close to the beach and close to the casino & night life at the same time? Would be awesome to be able to walk to the beach (15-30min) and also play some live donkaments or degen off cash the Ivey way on craps every now and then .

I lived on Samui, Thailand for 8 months and made a little information sheet to be able to compare to other locations in the world.



Feel free to fill in the blanks on Cebu and upload the file again!
You can download the ODT file here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3581128/Loca...s_Location.ods
Or the Excel file here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3581128/Loca...s_Location.ods

The casinos are all in Cebu city. The beaches are mostly in the provincial areas outside of the city.

The first time I lived in Cebu, I actually lived right on the beach, but I wasn't in Cebu city, I was living in one of the provinces, Talisay.

I'd suggest living in the city, which is close to all the card rooms/casinos and the night life (Mango ave, is were most of the night life is,) and then going to one of the provincial beach areas a couple times a month when you need a break. It's not going to be a 15 - 20 minute walk, but it will be less then an hour via taxi, so still not too bad, and a solid option once a week or so.

Nice list you have there Disorienter! That's exactly what one should do when comparing cities to live in (take notes kick2dante). But I would suggest converting to a number/point system, because sometimes things are not so black&white and certain rows should be weighted more heavily than others. Also consider adding rows for the local language (how easy/difficult it is to learn) and healthcare (availability and cost).

Samui must of changed a lot since i was last there, so may things should be green.

Paul idea about x/10 would be better gauge for sure

Thanks for the link. I searched through it and there's a subforum relating to cashouts, but nothing specifically regarding local banks attitude towards online gambling.

Yea, unfortunately moneybookers is a no-go for me. I've actually had no problems so far doing a few wire cashouts directly from the poker site to my PI bank account. But before when I was there in person they would just ask simple questions in conversation like "What do you do for a living?", etc...to which I'd obviously give vague answers. But now that I'm out of country, they asked if I could please send documentation of the recent wires.

I'm a little concerned when you say they "look for any reason to seize a foreigner's money," but tbh that seems like a pretty brash generalization. Does anyone else here have direct knowledge of that kind of thing actually happening?

Thanks, and yes I thought someone would suggest a point system instead . Maybe 1-5 on rating-type questions and 1/0 on the ones that can be yes/no.

Anything particular that you would like to change? Some stuff might be my personal experience and would be more fair to judge with points. For example most people find the natives being friendly, while me and my friendly travelpartner found most of them to be wearing a facade and seemed to dislike foreigners by heart. Even though I'm very friendly myself, I felt threatened several times during my stay.

Well gas and alcohol used to be cheap I cant imagine they have gone up much more in recent years have they? Especially when compared to the west?

Anyone ever played a gambling game out in the provinces, where basically you have 3 ping pong balls, throw into a hoop which then bounce around and land on a board marked with either a K, Q, J, 10. You obviously bet on which one you like, if you land 1, 2, or 3 balls on your card you win x1, x2, x3.

Super fun game, so sick if on the last ball thrown then knocks your winning ball of your card and onto something else.

Trying to figure out the odds but cant remember how many cards are on the actual board.

lol paul B reminds me of the guy at the poker table that sees a guy show a meaningless bluff on his first hand in a tiny pot, and then 4 hours later paul will stack off to him with top pair for deep stacks and say "well i had to call cuz he is a maniac" even though the guy has played nothing but the nuts the rest of the time

whatever his first impression is is all he goes by and doesnt even try to adapt

so i should make a list like that with all my vast knowledge of the cities i was thinking about? oh i know since i dont have any knowledge ill go to a forum where other guys who have lived a similar lifestyle to me and ask them questions about those things, o wait nevermind thats just me being lazy, so ill go get the answers in another way but since u cant see me doing the research that means im not really doing it

i want to try manila first............. thats all there is to it

its not i hope paulB will be ok with me wanting to try manila first, its i want to


no live poker in thailand and gambling being illegal there are two big things imo, ya i know plenty of people play online in thailand, but ive lived my life and i dont wanna go to a country where gambling is illegal to gamble for a living and end up as the poster boy for "dont go to thailand to play online poker and end up in jail like this guy"

ya its a long shot, but if it could happen to anyone its me

Haha, i strongly disagree to everything you just said.

Look bro, stop talking and just do it.

K2 you would not get arrested if you went to the police station with your laptop, got online with the chief of police and explained to him in fluent Thai, that you was gambling for money online.

well in that most unlikely situation you might but just as likely scratch his head and kick you out or take a cash fine off you for being a crazy farang.

I gamble in bars all the time, in front of police, **** i have gambled with police in walking street, dice that is not cards.

Anyway live poker in Manila does not even begin to make up for how much better Thailand is, like it is not even close.

Suffice to say I am missing Thailand now.

In fact i don't know why i am advising going there, i hate all the white people living there and ****ing it up for me

I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts this kick2dante fellow never steps foot on foreign soil...

LOL not sure about that but i will bet a dollar to dime, he and paulB wont be party buddies once he gets here