The Bureau of Immigration. It's in Intramuros (near Manila Bay). P3,005 to get an additional 38 days.

Hey guys, I'm leaving Hawaii to go to the Philippines early next March. Does anyone know where i can find good rental listings online? I'm planning on staying somewhere in Makati, probably in the Rockwell area because I've heard good things about it. I've tried checking out craigslist but it seems like all of the listings are repeated at least a dozen times each and it's really annoying.
Hey Paul B., how were you able to find your Rockwell place. Most places I see are almost $1000 a month for a studio.

Thanks in advance

I would go directly to a leasing office wherever you want to live. I would recommend Joya. It is the newest development and closest to the mall. The leasing office is right next to the South Tower and open 24 hours.

I went to see some Rockwell units with an agent and was quoted P35,000 for studios. I went back on my own the next day and all of a sudden studios were P25,000. So avoid using an agent because the prices will be higher.

Do they offer short term leasing? I'm planning on staying there anywhere between a month to a year depending on how much i like it there. Were you able to get your P25,000 studio fully furnished, or would i expect to pay more for that?

Yes, short-term is available but expect to pay more. I got very lucky with my place imo. Not only was it a steal, I was able to negotiate a 6-month lease for the 1-year monthly rate. Check your PMs, you might be interested in what I have to offer.

SHADY PAUL

what do you have to offer? pm me if u have a deal. i'm still looking for a place i can settle on. geoff

What kind of prices are we looking at for Joya for like a 2 bedroom?

I think 60-80k pesos, depending on size, lease terms, parking, Rockwell Club membership, etc.

The offer is for my place, starting in April. Send me an IM when you're online because it's a bit complicated.

I've decided to make my place available for 6-7 months and I've listed it in the Marketplace. Here's the thread. If anyone's interested, just PM me.

The post also contains a map of Rockwell and the surrounding area, so anyone interested in living in Rockwell should check it out.

I'm going to Philippines in april for a few months. Haven't decided where yet, so what do you suggest. I've mostly read about Manila and Cebu, but not sure. I don't have much of a plan, just chilling and seeing where it goes. Is it possible to get a decent place for under P18K/m in any place in a decent neighbourhood.

People really speak good english almost everywhere?

I think, for that budget, your best bet is Ortigas (where Metro cardroom is located). Ortigas is quite safe imo, and a lot cheaper than Makati, Rockwell, Fort.

English is spoken almost everywhere. Very rarely will you come across someone who doesn't speak English (taxi-drivers occasionally). Most Pinoys are completely fluent in English.

For the guy asking about poker sites, to the best of my knowledge, the only poker network blocked in the Philippines is iPoker - but you can get around this with VPNs (www.fullfwd.com, etc).

NETeller is completely unaccessible in the Philippines. Moneybookers is fine for P2P transfers, but you cannot use MB now to deposit/withdraw from gaming sites at all (new rule brought in a few months ago). I think I heard someone say Click2Pay was the way to go, but I haven't used C2P so can't comment on it.

IMO, Joya (where Paul lives) is one of the best apartment blocks in Manila (it's located in Rockwell, which is a pristine, upper-class, high-security area). Joya is one block from a large shopping mall, and a few blocks from Burgos St.

Rockwell >> Fort >> Makati central...imo.

Hey guys, I found a link to the leasing rates in Rockwell Joya http://www.e-rockwell.com/downloads/joya_leasing.pdf I'm gonna try to get a 1 BR loft in Joya...hopefully there's one available!

Hey Yoyo, did you get your place for the price listed in the link...or did you pay more? I wonder if I need to haggle with them to get the listed price. I know Paul B. got a good deal on his.

You can definitely do better than the rates in that brochure but I think you would have to be extremely lucky to find a 1BR loft for rent. I think all of them are bare and the few that have been turned over are being constructed or resold.

FYI yoyo didn't live in Joya. He was in Manansala (behind Joya).

Darn....i was really looking forward to a loft unit. Do I need to do any haggling with them in order to get a better price?

Yea, 1BR lofts are baller and I was thinking about buying one myself.

re: haggling - yea, you'll be dealing with the leasing office who can make requests with the owner. Also, not all units will come exactly how you want them so you will likely have to negotiate the furnishings and options too.

hey
looking for someone to translate 5 small phrases from tagalog to english.
will tip on stars

pm me
cheers

PM me what you want translated and I will help you

FORT>legaspi (makati)>salcedo (makati)>rockwell

Can you please explain why you think these places are better than rockwell? I was dead set on finding a place in rockwell next month because of the great things I've read about it....help!

I can't say much about Salcedo Village but I find it interesting that sooraw finds Legaspi Village better than Rockwell. My Mandarin teacher lives there, right off Dela Rosa Street, and it definitely feels like a big downgrade compared to Rockwell. We can hear cars honking non-stop from her 24th floor condo because of everyone going to and from Greenbelt/Glorietta. The traffic also makes it feel polluted/smoggy and hard to find a taxi (I often have to walk down to the Shangrila to get one, lol). In my opinion, you'd really have to be strapped for cash to live there.

The Fort is the up and coming area and Bonifacio High Street is where all the new fine dining restaurants are. But Makati still has the most restaurants (according to munchpunch.com) and I think that most locals still prefer Makati to the Fort, at least that's what I got from reading a "best place to live" thread on a Filipino forum.

which bar on burgos street has the best girls?

i was in 3 and its nothing TOP bronx, ivory (something) and flamingo.

how is divino?

can i get a cab near metro club at any hour?are security guards there?

heard its a bad area... some friends went there and they didnt like inside so they just left right away

the overall consensus is that Metro Card club is safe. Just don't go taunting people or flex your muscles when u win a big pot

maybe they were talking about a different casino in the gritty ermita/malate area??

I've never come out of Metro at night and *not* seen a large line of cabs waiting outside.

During the day, occasionally have had trouble getting cabs, but daylight is pretty safe - Ortigas isn't that bad an area (not like Malate).

If you win a lot, open an account at Metro and leave the funds there and come back and collect them later (if you're alone when leaving). Or else you can ask management for a security guard to escort you to the cab line if you're worried I think.