Guys kinda urgent, i'm about to book to stay at Makati City Gardens hotel and the Cebu Grande hotel, are they any good? and is 2200-2500 php a night an ok deal? im going to book it tomorrow so if not someone reply here or pm me so i can change my mind! thanks!

FYI, good luck and enjoy your stay here.

In reply to your questions.

I just want to add to Alex's answer that the hardest problem are the queues. Go there on weekday morning before 12 when normal ppl are working and you get it done in 10-15min. Queues get crazy in the afternoon in some offices and the process takes many hours.

You can also pay some legit firms to do it for you, although I don't know which firms specifically.

Is weed generally easy/safe to get here?

Can anyone comment on this guide (esp the part about Malate):
http://www.webehigh.com/city/detail.php?CITYID=2265

you will get ripped a tonne like i get like half an ounce for like 2k pesos bushy buds its not bad i been in asia so long so i forget how good aus weed is PM me if you need hookup

If anyone knows any, please let me know. I might need to use one for my next extension.

Thx for replies.
Also wondering how easy it is foreign to buy house or land for his own name(like in Thailand there is some difficulties)? Can buy condo?

Hi all, was thinking of heading out to the Phillipines for APT Manila at the beginning of April and possibly staying out there for an undetermined amount of time after. Quick Q regarding money, are there high surcharges from ATM machines from foreign bank providers, and indeed are ATM machines compatible with western bank accounts.

Following on from that is it possible to set up bank accounts there as a foreigner and are there lmits as to how much cash you can bring with you into the country.

Apologies if these have been answered before but didn't fancy trawling through the entire thread, thanks.

I use Blue Horizons, I believe they have a Manila office as well as the one I use in Cebu. Always did my extensions for me quickly and it was only like php 500 extra on top of the regular immigration fee's (if you use a service like this just be sure you are getting the immigration receipts back with your passport to make sure everything is in order)

Condo's yes

Land is the same as Thailand. Foreigners can't technically own land, either they have to get married to a local, purchase it in their name and own it jointly (not advisable unless you are sure they are the "one") or they have to own a company out here with filipino partners and purchase the land in the name of the company.

You can open a bank account within this country but it just depends on the bank and the policy, if you have HSBC in your home country you should be able to move money to the HSBC's here with a little fuss. Wouldn't advise anyone to be carrying large amounts of cash especially through the airports, sure plenty of people have done it with no problems but trust me it's a risk not worth taking. (your supposed to report anything over 10k peso's which is like 250 bucks but in reality they wont kick up much fuss for anything not exceedingly large)

ATM fee's (for ATM cards from outside the country) are getting kind of out of hand, right now its like $5.50 per withdrawal (php 200 on top of like 1 or 2$ depending on the ATM) + whatever international fee's your bank decides to charge (its like 1% for me). On top of that most of the ATM's have low withdrawal limits per transaction (around $250) forcing you to perform many transactions (and be charged with fees every time) just to withdraw a larger amount of $. HSBC ATM's allow up to nearly 1,000$ per withdrawal and some of the other larger international banks have higher limits also but these are semi-rare. Most of the Filipino banks aren't really familiar with direct deposit, but any of the international banks here will probably be more accommodating.

A slight correction.

Thanks for the replies, just to clarify, if I set up an HSBC account where I am now (UK), then when I get to the Phillipines I can walk into an HSBC branch over there and access my account as readily as I could here; I wouldn't have to go through any funds / account transfer process or still have to set up another new account because it's a different country?

Thanks I didn't know that, always thought that number was absurd low (that provision was probably made when 10k peso's was worth a lot more and just stayed like that)

Oh how I wish it was like that. Not so easy, this is where the fuss comes in.

You would have an account there in your home country and than you would need to open an account here that would allow to transfer funds between them and only certain types of accounts allow you to do this. You would be still able to use your atm without an account here though and to be honest I have just been using my ATM all this time. I'm planning on getting a HSBC (or a bank that offers something similar) account eventually with this set up but it's kind of pain with all the requirements.

It's v. easy to open USD accounts here, not as easy to open peso accounts as a foreigner.

Ok, thanks for your help, something to look forward to when I get over there.

HSBC UK and HSBC Philippines are separate entities (they are basically different banks).

Personally I write a check from my bank account in the states to my USD account in Manila -- takes about 3 weeks for the money to hit but it's free and easy. I think this is the best method in the long run for people staying for a while, since ATM fees and wire transfer fees add up.

P.S. Killah, don't buy property in the Philippines until you've lived here for AT LEAST a year.

I am curious, would you guys mind to post some pictures of your houses or maybe the beach?

And what would you say is the best place to go on vacation for say 2 weeks?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/39...er-pad-828794/

This has some pics, I'm not currently looking to start a poker house though.

Still bit more about banking
So it is better to open USD account here?
But i quess i still had much more use for pesos... Is there some fees to withdraw pesos from your USD account then?

just bring it to a money changer. there all over the place and charge less then banks.

Seems bit fuzzy... And will cost some extra also. And do you even have to find some 'special' atm to withdraw dollars?
So i quess i still would like to open peso account(i'm euro also) or is it just too much trouble?

There's been some questions regarding medical costs and insurances in this thread.
A week ago I got first hand experience in Makati which I think could be valuable to the ppl living here.
First of all, I decided to go without a medical insurance. If something serious happens I can go back to EU and get my free treatments there.

OK, I woke up with some pain in my left foot, same foot as I've been a bit "stiff" in the days before.
I decided to fight the pain and go to the gym and do a bit of running. BIG mistake! I screwed up my foot big time.
I bought some painkillers but the pain got worse and worse and the morning after I had to go to the hospital.

I went to Makati Medical Center and ended up at the primary. A good looking nurse comes by and gives my pain relief through a shot. A young doctor (mid-late 20s) comes by and sends me to the x-ray. X-ray reveals nothing.
The doctor then do some simple tests to see if the heel string is off.
Then he basically says that I got Tendenitis which I knew was wrong.
Then he says that we gonna send you home with pain killers. I was like WTF.

So I insisted to do a magnetic scan to see what was wrong ligaments and strings etc (where I suspected the problem was).
The young doctor speaks to his manager and she comes by and do the same tests after discussion with her who clearly knew a lot more than the young one calls for a ortopedia doctor.

3! ortopedia doctors comes by and had a look at it and they knew what they were talking about. They put a cast on and get me an appointment to a specialist (their manager) for monday (this was on Sat).

Total bill: P3900 (the x-ray was 700, pain killers 400 etc)

I go back to the specialist on Monday and he concluded that my ligaments was damaged and I need to keep the cast on for at least another 2 weeks. He also gave my some stronger pain killers and did a new cast.

Total bill: P700

What kinda painkillers they got you on? I noticed its hard to come by stronger stuff out here (opiate type like vicodine, morphine etc...)