Can somebody suggest me some place to live in Philippines out of the city? I need a good location to write and do some soul searching. Someplace exotic without being commercialized. A hidden gem perhaps?

If you're a fan of beaches there are a few outside the city, it would take you a couple of hours travel time to go to one, or try Bohol it's pretty much quiet during the off-peak season. If your into the mountain landscapes and the like, you can try Sagada it's like a spiritual mountain, maybe you can do your soul searching there

bacuit archipelago imo. it's paradise.

hmm I'm considering living in Thailand for a couple of months from April, and after reading this thread I fancy staying in Makati for a few months also. Can anyone recommend any nice apartments to stay at? Budget is a maximum of $1k/month. Ideally around $7-800

Try looking for apartments at Fort Bonifacio, the apartments here are pretty sweet and posh. You can also try looking at Salcedo Village area its near the business district, the have nice apartments too. 700-800usd should be enough for a kickass apartment.

HEY THREAD. I'm flying into Manila tomorrow. I plan on getting a SIM card when I get there, so I'll PM my number to mnlgrind and whoever else is in town as soon as I can.

I'll be blogging about the trip here. I also decided that I'm gonna hold a contest in BBV and give out money to whoever comes closest to guessing how much money I spend in the Philippines. Should be fun.

Paul hit me up when you get her, do get a local sim card at like 7-eleven or something.

Contest? lol sounds fun man.

I'll be in the Philippines from April 2-April 11 with a couple of days stay in Manila, followed by a few nights in Borocay, and then off to Davao. (this is tentative, but probably the most likely itinerary)

I booked a room for two nights at the Hyatt Casino in Manila(Malate area) but the reservation is not confirmed yet. If I am unable to get confirmation at the Hyatt, are there any reccomendations for good Hotels in this area? I don't have to have the swankiest, yet I don't want to sleep with the ****-a-roaches..

Stuff I've learned in the past week:

People here are really poor.
Despite English being an official language, very few can speak it fluently.
The drivers here are ultra aggro and the traffic is nasty.

So in a whole week you haven't learned ANYTHING about the females there?

LH: I believe if you get a room at the hyatt thats the swankiest place in that area.
There are a couple of hotels in that area all of them are in a 5 min radius of the casino. you should check em out.

I wish you would elaborate on this more. Where has it been a problem. I assume in social situations it makes things hard, but what about business oriented things, shopping, taxis, restaurants, etc. Tell me what your guess would be on what percentage of the time the average Filipino understands you and what percentage of the time you understand the average Filipino. Thanks.

Thanks bro. The Hyatt was all booked up and was unable to make a reservation there. (although I might want to play some NL holdem there if they offer) I end up going with a place called Pan Pacific in the Malate area, it has great reviews and I figure why not splurge for only a few nights.

Paul B: what do you mean by lots of poors?? There are lots of poors here in big U.S cities as well. Are you running into lots of squatters??

The girls on a whole look pretty good here. Lots of exotic looking bitches. Also one big difference is how often I get hit on here (once or twice a day, which is once or twice more often than in America).

Some hookers are crazy. Literally. Mentally instable. I need to learn to stay away from them.

I don't know what you mean by "average" Filipino. If you walk up to a poor looking person or an older person on the street, chances are he/she does not speak English at all, only Tagalog. People in service industries (hotel receptionists, travel agents, waiters, cashiers, hookers, etc.) can speak decent English, at least good enough to do their job. Most taxi drivers will know how to ask you where you're going but most likely won't be able to understand anything beyond that. Like today, I asked a driver, "So what are you doing for Holy Week?" - he goes, "Yes."

It's a third world country, nothing like the US. Where I was staying (Ermita area), there are insane amounts of homeless people who live in shacks and walk around without shoes and/or clothes because they can't afford any. It's like those "Please help feed this child" infomercials on TV.

Even the middle class are relatively poor. A 40 peso ($1) tip to a doorman/bellhop/waiter will make his day. When I met up with mnlgrind, he told me that his college graduate friend would make ~$300 USD per month working for some finance firm. I couldn't believe it.

Aren't most hookers mentally unstable, even here in the U.S? lol

Great info, bro. I'm looking forward to my trip, a few days in Vegas, followed by a short flight to LAX and on to the Phils for about a week and a half. I got about everything I need except for a few valiums for the long flight (probably the thing I look forward to the least)