i know this is a very hard question to answer because traffic can vary but when you say its far from makati how far are we talking? how far from casinos or malate?

it sounds like a good place for me as im not really big on going out a lot, and if its safe and cheaper than makati ill definitely have to check it out

thanks again


wanted to add this to my post from last night but for some reason cant edit it (though i can edit this one) but i absolutely cant stand playing live poker every day, its just an awful existence, and i dont want to get a job so i figure i might as well go on an adventure and also see if i can still profit online

basically i have nothing to lose and the only 2 results that would be so bad that would make this a bad decision would be some sort of kidnapping that involved torture or getting locked up for 10 years and having to find out if i could actually kill myself in that awful scenario

may sound crazy (and probably is) but whatever its what i want to do

so i have now officially finished reading this entire thread, this post was on the last page (like 34 i think)

what is this pembo area? if its close to makati and the fort one could assume its a decent area, and $260 a month is really cheap for the area and it sounds pretty big

anyone know more about this? what am i missing that makes this a bad option?

Well you will learn to travel outside rush hours.

I stopped using the concept of time after a while, so I have no idea how many minutes it takes from X to Y.

It's somewhat near Metro, like 10-15 minutes / 100p taxi
Makati like 25-35 mins / 160p
RW 45mins / 185p
Malate 1hour+ / 250p

You should get to know Quezon City while in the area, Timog, Araneta, Q ave. QC is quite alright because there are few foreigners. Less rip offs, better prices, in some ways more convenient (in others, hell not) You're otherwise near-ish Fort/Taguig, Ortigas/Mandaluyong, Marikina

I just love the place despite all the **** that's there. It's like having an awesome but ******ed sadistic brother, I'd still love him.

Analogy fails aside, it's people, weather, girls, different atmosphere, always something going on and something to do. I feel like I can't put my finger on what I really like about it. About the "negative" stuff. A friend of mine who was over, got really tilted at stuff like traffic and inefficient methods/people, "everyone wants a piece of me", "all the girls only care about money" etc. I ignore those things for the most part or have a different view on it, doesn't bother me that much.

I find the most attractive 'quality' of phils and especially manila is that its just so interesting, just seeing how other people are living life everyday brings completely different aspect of the world, especially compared to other cities I have been to.

Add to that the tropical heat which you either love or hate, the craziness of a bustling city but with an almost non existent sense of time or urgency. The people are very attractive and take pride in their appearance even if they are super poor which results in mass of beautiful girls to look at anywhere you go. Plus if your an obvious foreigner you will be attracting attention which again some people either love or hate, for me I love it as it makes it easy to start conversations with almost anyone, and you get a special sense that you are 'respected'.

Furthermore, for the inner degen in us all as there is cheap alcohol and an awesome drinking culture where its perfectly acceptable to hang out with a bunch of strangers at a fiesta eating their food and slowly getting hammered at 10 in the morning. That just aint going to happen in a first world country. And as I said you will either love this or hate it.

koopa did u have to pay 12 months up front plus two for deposit?

i read this entire thread and dont remember anyone saying u had to pay all 12 months up front i thought it was just like the US pay first months and deposit up front and then pay month to month

whether you sign a 6 or 12 month you will have to pay 1 month security deposit and 1-2 months advance depending on the place, any they will want post dated checks for the duration of your lease, short term(< 3mon) they dont ask for pdc's.

This is some of what I quite couldn't put into words

Like, 8am at ministop. I'm usually up all night and I like to chill out with some drinks after grinding and so on. So I buy lots of liquor and beer, snacks, etc

Now, they don't frown and say "What? Alcohol? Now?" and silently think "Omg what a degen alcoholic wtf". They say "Are you drinking alone? Can I join your party later?"

It's just a fascinating culture with wonderful people.

I would really advise against paying everything up front. Checks.
One thing about brokers/agents in the PI that is generally true should sum up why:

Once they have your money, they don't give a **** about you

Negotiate the deposit. Chances are you'll never see it again. Protect your money, people want it.

Thanks for the pm kick2, you should of just posted what you said here tho, it explains nicely why you want to go phils.

ya i was hoping to get like a 6 month lease and give one month deposit, paul told me today though that you have to do a 12 month lease, pay all up front, and give 2 months deposit..... if thats the case i will need a lot more money than i was expecting

i can swing giving them a few months up front but not 14

this is why i was asking people about specific apts they have stayed in because after reading 200+ pages of threads here it sounds like getting a deposit back is a huge hassle if u are even successful

my response to pooters why philippines:

short version = english speaking, cheap, safer than cheap options south of US, online poker

long version = been playing poker in vegas for 5.5 years mostly played online, HATE playing live every day

few years ago got a part time job ended up working with a lot of philippinos, very nice people fun to work with and be around, one lady in particular is basically the best person ive ever met in my life im the type of person who cant stand having a job and i actually somewhat looked forward to going into work to talk to her all day (she had kids and was married nothing sexual about it)

they moved to san diego and i literally quit halfway through my first shift working without them

was debating what to do since i cant stand playing live was thinking about canada but that wouldnt be to much different than the US, then some guys ive recently befriended while playing live told me about how they had recently gone to PI, they loved it and it just put the idea in my head and i havent stopped thinking about it since

K2D it sounds to me your motivations are fine

Filipino people are nice, they are really good at being social. That's part of why I went there - personal development (I would consider myself somewhat socially awkward). You will have amazing conversations with them. I haven't got a ton of experience with the US - but where I'm from people don't really talk. If you talk to someone on the bus etc, they gonna think you're weird or out to rob them.
You can strike up a conversation with a stranger about ANYTHING. They will be interested and sympathize.

About the live - it depends.
There aren't a lot of western live pros. I had a good friend who had to move out, he couldn't make enough at his level. He played 50/1 for a living and made average 5BI a month (he had big valuebet leaks). You can definitely live-pro 100/200 * (this is like 2.5/5) but the thing is. Transportation sucks. You want the best game every time - that includes more traveling. You'll probably look at switching rooms every second session if you're serious. If you're doing like a 25 day month, you're looking at probably 40+ hours of traveling every month.

Based on that, I'd rather settle for 100-200nl online, or whatever your game of choice. You can survive on 25nl with a lot of volume as well. $1500 in profits/month will do. You can play SNG/MTTSNG, MTT is not recommended based on blackouts and bad connection. However, don't go to play poker, go for the awesome experience.

There also other options than Metro Manila, Angeles in Pampanga is a great place to stay for a while and the games at the Wild Aces poker club are ok, there are times when the stakes can get up there. usually the games are at 10/20, 25/50 and a 50/100 game. With the bigger game happening when there are enough people willing. I also heard that Casino Filipino there has opened back up a poker room there, dont know if this is true or not. A couple years ago there was a nice 200/400 game regularly played. Good food, cleaner air and more American goods readily available imo because Clark zone is nearby. I remember going to a supermarket in Clark that was just like here at home, where you got the exact same stuff being sold back home plus you can pay in US dollars too if you like.

For people going here, its better to pal up with someone on here who can show you the ropes, rather than just diving in to the wonderful chaos that is Manila

Look on a map:



Pembo - as well as Cembo, Rembo, Comembo, etc - are barangays for the masa. Sorta like housing projects.

Potential problems would be:
-Noise pollution (trikes, people singing karaoke at night, roosters, street dogs, etc)
-Burglary
-Flooding (inevitable from July-Oct)

Here's an ad of an apartment for rent in Pembo that I found on Sulit. Pics:




Personally I would not want to live there (I rent as nice of a condo as I can, to maximize my chances of getting laid) but like everything else about Manila, it all comes down to what you can tolerate.

Correction: I told you that "you need to be prepared to pay your entire lease up front."

My first lease here I only had to pay 3 months up front but for my second lease the owner wanted everything up front. I'm sure there are many other cases where foreigners had to pay entire lease lengths up front simply because they were foreigners/tourists, so it's just something that you have to be aware of.

PLDT is also like this. I had to pay a year up front for my landline+DSL, and I believe Alex had to as well.

Leases vary a lot. I've had leases at four different units. Two required payment upfront (but it's definitely possible I could've negotiated), one didn't, and one said that if I didn't want to pay a lease up front I had to open up a BPI family bank account. I only technically had to keep $60 in it as a maintaining balance and could just transfer money in every month, but it looked like a huge hassle so I just paid upfront. PLDT+DSL I didn't pay upfront fwiw.

Hey Guys! Read a lot of this! Just got offered a job in Manila, at a school there. Package is sick (accomdation, flights, bills, tax paid etc) and going to be living in sick pad in Taguig city. Ideally I would love to learn the language and know where is good etc. If anyone has a free weekend when I arrive (I think Juneish) that could show me about, I would be eternally grateful (plus pay for the beers!)

Cheeers

Looks like a lot of n00bs gonna be in Manila soon, including myself of course, even tho I been phils a few times and spent a total of 10 days in Manila, I am still a manila n00b for sure. Anyway perhaps we should all hook up and bumble around the city with tour guide maps

while pembo doesnt look like the right option its nice to see prices in that area at only $150ish

would you even be able to get internet at a place like that?

i find it very odd that you guys arent saying anything about specific complexes u have stayed at, between fanapathy and alex alone thats like 10-12 places you havent found any that you would either recommend or say to stay away from?

and fanapathy i really dont plan on playing much live at all, but it will at least be nice to have the option

as far as staying in angeles or clark goes ive considered it, it would be cheaper and someone real early in this thread said the internet quality was good there, but im not sure i want to tell my parents that im moving there and then have them go home and google it

also just because of how angeles is i sort of feel it would be a dirty and unsafe place, am i right that it would be safer in manilla/makati or am i off on that?

been watching that dru guys youtube blogs and he seems to have a pretty nice apt

ok looked around sulit a bit you guys know if these places are in decent areas? i was searching in makati city but it looks like they are on the borders

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...M+OR+LONG+TERM)

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...TI+Prime+Tower

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...dio+type+14500

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...and+Makati+Ave.

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/vi...IN+MAKATI+CITY

thanks again

I wouldnt recommend any of them, citadel inn and prime tower are very old run down buildings in a not so desirable area of Makati.

What is your budget, apartment size and what area are you looking for and I can give you some tips

I have run into the up front deposit at a couple places. I expected 12 months plus security at the top tier places (One Roxas Triangle, etc.) but even the Columns Ayala were asking 6 months plus security on a one year lease. At my current place I think we negotiated down to 8 months up front plus security.

To live in Angeles really requires either special interest or very high tolerance. I think RealOmahaKid used to live there but he hasn't posted ITT for ages.
I have only been there once, not going back. Well unless I'm matanda, mayaman, madaling mamatay

You will get stable internet if you want (figure it out first), and get a USB stick for backup.

In an area such as Pembo. I am familiar in Cembo and imagine it's similar. The apartments are alright at glance. You can get a place for like p6K, although here are things to consider
-Noise (from street life, neighbors, vendors, possibly jeeps)
-Moderate amount of roaches
-Frequent brownouts
-Limited water access (person whose place I stayed at, said that it was normal that the water was out a lot)
-Harder to get transportation

The pros are obviously price, cultural insight, much more interesting than "condo life"


My rent/deposit experience:
For 3 months lease I paid everything up front. (10K deposit, 30K rent - 1BR Cityland, Legazpi V.). Checks were fine as owner was friend-of-friend, but from what I hear 1-3months it's normal with everything up front.
6 months in EW, they required 2months deposit and p.d. checks. I said I'd like to pay everything up front and they were surprised (25K nego'd to 23K - 1BR Palazzo, EW)

The agencies usually take monthly and between 10-20k dep.

interactive map of makati with building names etc.

http://www.yellowasp.com/makatimap_v1/

hard to answer what my budget is, the cheaper the better (obv) but i dont want anything 3rd world ghettoee (like what fanapathy just said with not always having running water lol)

if im safe and its reasonably clean and i can get good internet thats enough for me, just need a 1 bedroom or even a studio

my apt ive had for the last 5 years in vegas is not anything you would consider nice, only real furniture is a computer chair, 1 recliner, and a mattress on the floor so i dont need much

the safety of the area would big the biggest concern

thanks


fanapathy omahakids posts were some of the funnier ones i read on here, some days he seemed normal, some days not so much, hehe

anyone been to clark? is it nice at all? would you feel safe living there?

Hey guys, I'm here at last - thanks very much for all your help and advice.

I'm staying at the Bellevue in Alabang and working just around the corner.

I'm not getting the attention you guys talked about (promised?) - perhaps because its just normal girls, who are just off-shift at one of the local call centres.

That said, I've mainly been working, and when I'm no its just the local fast-food complex - normally around 2 am in the morning. Should I just try talking to them? - shocking idea I know...

One other question - I'm working my way through my intro to tagalog book and definitely getting there, but I'm hoping to find a local tagalog tutor, any ideas as to how to go about this?