I don't know what the nurse gave me but I felt it straight away and it was strong. The specialist gave me 120mg Etoricoxib (brand: Arcoxia) which I'm currently taking everyday.

Clearly the move is to go without insurance then. Would've cost me roughly the same in the US with insurance, or about 6-8 times as much without. Yet another reason to move over there.

If anyone here have had a kid here in the Philippines and know of good deals/hospitals/c-section costs/anything else related to pregnancy&delivering, please please pm or write me about it I would be so grateful for any information.

IIRC there was quite a bit of discussion in this thread about c-sections etc. ITT, did you search the thread?

i'm about to book a hotel to stay 4 nights... any help super greatly appreciated!

budget is roughly $50 to $100 (2,200 to 4,400php) per night. looking for best value, safety, noob friendly (since my plane flight arrives at 11pm, ideally would like to arrange to get picked up), no bus bombs if possible, and reliable (ideally free) wi-fi. i've heard rockwell is really nice... is it worth paying extra to stay there? otherwise is pasay ok? such as just opposite mall of asia?

also: anyone been to manila sea world? is it any good? :P

OK just to make this super clear because I cannot stand ripoffs and other people being ****ed over by ******s.
"EVERYONE" gets raped 1st time at the airport here!!! Don't fall in the trap when randoms, even they have some whatever fancy ID card try to fix all your problems...just IGNORE them and get your own transportation+hotel.

You can ask white-shirted uniformed security guards about directions and advice or where to get a taxi. They can in general be trusted and will give their honest help the vast majority of the time, unlike randoms approaching you.
White taxis are generic and when properly metered the cheapest. They can be found on 2nd level at the airport, while yellow airport taxis are on the ground level, much more expensive (relative terms taxis here are lolcheap anyway when they not ripping u off).
Your average taxi trip in this city costs less than p100. Just saying, when you get offered a nice price of "800 only sir!" then lol...man I can't even express my hate for this stuff Get a real taxi with standard taxi sign and not these randocars these *******s try to pull u into.

I would recommend www.pearlslettingagency.com, their standards are good and offer short time rental at decent prices. They will have fully furnished condos with internet inclusive, hotel-internet is normally a price rape of dimensions.

Would not suggest near mall of asia. There's not really a ton of cool stuff there except the mall and the seaside area which is nice to check out at night. You have "good" girly bars near though, firehouse etc, and starcity if you like carousels lol. I'd just suggest makati or fort. Greenbelt in makati is a great area for noobs and tons of nearby stuff, malls, whatever..but again even there u gotta use your head. Rockwell is ok but then again there's not much to do there. All in all I would for sure say Serendra is the most noob friendly place I've seen here, albeit the most expensive (??).

Good luck it's an awesome city in tons of ways though

PS as for general hotels you could go Somerset (olympia), price is ok and location good..but I would rather recommend an apartment for best value. Condobuildings here are in general pretty damn good.

When it comes to airport taxi I would recommend to go with the yellow airport taxis instead of the white independent ones.
I've ended up in situations when we already agreed on running on meter and halfway the driver says "how much?" and totally ignores that we have agreed on meter before I got in.
This situation happens once in a while with white taxis and is cool since you normally just threaten to leave the taxi and get another one. Not something you want to do when you have some of your valuables in the trunk.
So nowadays I always goes with yellow when I have my luggage with me and pays P300 instead of P150 to/from Rockwell/Airport. Simply not worth saving $2-3 in that situation imo.

thanks fanapathy and l4freedom

i have another question:

i've heard a lot about police being corrupt as hell there and to avoid them at all costs where possible. however i have this scenario in my head: i took out travel insurance and so i should be covered if any of my items are stolen. however to make an insurance claim generally you need to file a police report. if somehow my laptop is stolen, is it worth going to the cops and getting this done? or would it be asking for more trouble? any general comments regarding your experience with police there?

2nd question: how do you get the street vendor guys to go away... do you say "hindi" ?

1st: u just need the report? yea the police will help u get that done, why not?
2nd: "no thank you" might be a more polite way to get them to go away.

think im going to make the trip to manila for apt at the end of march, any suggestions as to decent hotels/areas to stay that are remotely close to the casino?

marriot, doesnt get any closer than that

Tell them to **** Off

I'm looking for a store in Manila where you can buy good office chairs (with neck support). I've tried my local Office Warehouse at Power Plant mall but the neck support was aligned with my back and couldn't be adjusted.

If anyone knows any place where I can possibly find a good one or if anyone have one for sale, please let me know.

thanks.

im in manila!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow this city is a hustle and bustle =) but i like it

Anyone set up Moneybookers/equivalent with a philippine bank ??

I have HSBC and I would like to withdraw my online grind onto MB, then ship them to my PI HSBC (I have both USD and PHP accts there)

Did any of u guys do this successfully???

BTW welcome langer Have fun!

How is your experience so far?

I plan to visit for the first time around June

I have done it.
Didn't have any problem setting it up.
Usually I have the money in less than a week after withdrawal from mb

Hey forum,

I am going to be getting a poker house in the Philippines for part of my stable that is interest, a couple poker friends, and probably 1-2 open rooms for guests/renting out etc. I was wondering if anyone here had a poker house going already I could talk to. I have talked to a couple people about the area and would like to talk to someone thats been through the process already. Hit me up on skype/aim "rocketmist82" if you do or know someone that does.

Thanks!

Out of curiosity...where exactly are you planning on renting? I was looking for options for a while, but 1. it's hard to find a huge apartment in Manila and 2. you'd probably have to rent for at least 1 year and 3. it's kinda meh to run a poker house depending on who you're renting with, as you'd expect a few of them to get other plans after a while, leaving u with higher rent/person etc etc
I'd be interested in joining if I remembered to stop thinking with my dick, which unfortunately I didn't

BTW there are no poker houses running here AFAIK

Any alcoholics in the fort, pm me and let's go drink redhorse

You are able to buy condo's or houses, but not the land on which they are built. Many companies advertise "50 year lease" on land with purchase of a house. They then extend the lease by 25 years at a time. (Maximum by law)

*****

For those of you in Manila, what Internet service(s) do you use? I stayed on Cebu island for over three years total, and the only two reasonable services available in the town I was in were SmartBro and Globe (wireless 3G), both of which I had HUGE HUGE HUGE problem with. The local mayor owned the only telecommunications company allowed in the city and wired Internet was nearly $100 a month for a snail's pace connection.

Customer service in the Philippines is non-existent according to foreigner's standards. I switched companies after my Internet was completely unusable for five weeks and they didn't send anyone out. They insisted it was working.

A year later, I had very similar problems with the other company for over a month. The techs they sent always said the central office "did not believe them" when they reported problems. They finally sent a tech supervisor out...Their findings? Too many subscribers...they had to upgrade their tower. How can they not know that??

****
And the doctors...Make SURE you get a referal from a trusted foreigner for a good doctor. I had a breathing problem while I was there (most conspicuous during exercising) and it seemed to me to be heat-stroke related, as I'd had a minor heat stroke years before.

The doctor I was seeing was a nationally-renowned infectious disease specialist who treated important visitors such as ambassadors. She was the first opinion--all tests came back fine and she advised me to cut MSG from my diet. (I strictly avoided that anyway!)

The second doctor I saw was a more-relavant respiratory specialist. I told him my problem and the first thing he did was look at my legs and noticed I had adema, which can be indicative of heart or kidney problems. I had recently had kidney tests that turned out fine, so I was hospitalized for three days while a heart specialist checked me out.

I was given a relatively expensive treadmill test. This was done in an air-conditioned environment and I told her before I started that I could run a marathon at this temperature (slight exaggeration...hadn't done a marathon since high school 20+ years ago...yes, I'm old). She "noticed" that at the highest level, there were some abnormalities, so she had a treadmill specialist do an exam which included an EKG...even more expensive. He said there was absolutely nothing wrong with my heart. Shocker!

So I asked the original heart doctor what could be the problem. The weather in the Philippines is extremely hot and humid most times of the year. However, back home I had worked in an athletic dome which became even more hot and humid during the summer, so I was used to it. I told her this EVERY time we talked.

She told me that there were two possibilities... 1. My body was not adjusting to the "extreme" heat and humidity in the Philippines. I reminded her again that I had worked in more extreme conditions for many years without problem. She said the only other possibility was 2. Stress.

I replied, yes I am stressed, but only because I don't know what my medical condition is! She was rather angry at me for suggesting neither were problems. Filipinos doctors are generally not used to patients telling them what they think is wrong (or not wrong). After all, they are the experts!

And the culture is such that the patient will not challenge the doctor's statements or ask many questions. If you go to an "average" doctor there, they will listen to you then prescribe you medicine without really explaining the problem or what the medicine is for. Those are details you're probably not interested in.

So i went back to the respiratory specialist for further consultation. I sat down. He said, "You know what your problem is? ...Stress!" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!

He prescribed me potentially addictive medicine, which I ended up not taking.

The problem got worse, so I visited ANOTHER respiratory specialist. This doctor actually listened to what I told him. Then he got up and...look inside my nose and throat. My first thought was that the other respiratory specialist had not done this during either visit.

He asked me if I had phlegm in my throat and I told him yes, the problem had been becoming worse. He told me my nasal passages were very congested and I was sent for a head x-ray which revealed that my sinuses were very congested. This had occured very gradually over a period of a couple years, so I really hadn't noticed. But yes, I was having constant troubles with phlegm at that point.

He discovered the symptoms, but not the cause. I'm still working with my doctor at home now to discover the cause. It's likely severe allergies, but we haven't found anything yet that helps much.

*****

I will be headed back to the Philippines in two to three months to play poker. This time I will be near Manila.

The time I spent in Cebu was extremely relaxing. The people there are unbelievably friendly. You do need to be very careful who you really trust. I am a very trusting person by nature, but need to be very careful. I have made a friend on Facebook who I trust completely, and she will be my guide and "mentor" during my next visit.

The culture is very Westernized, but it's also very decieving, as they have their own way of doing things.

If you live there for a few months, I highly recommend befriending and mingling with some good locals. Many are shy to speak English, as they are afraid you will think they speak it poorly. But I always tell them they know English MUCH better than I know Tagalog (the joint national language with English). English is often someone's third language. As a side note, I'm learning Tagalog using Rosetta Stone software and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn a foreign language.

You may need to do some experimenting to find out what "good locals" are, but the best ways to meet "good" people are attending special interest groups for your hobbies or playing sports. Basketball is huge over there. I play volleyball myself.

The locals are always interested in talking with foreigners. Just don't share too much with a stranger.

You could also meet and mingle with foreigners, but I tried to avoid most foreigners while I was there because when foreigners get together, often all they do is bash the people of the Philippines. As I said, Filipinos have there own culture and I'm still discovering parts of it. It can be very frustrating at times and it's easy to isolate yourself from the natives because of that frustration.

But many foreigners do not even try to understand the culture. They want to impose their values and ways of doing things on the Filipinos because the way they do things there is "dumb". Don't try it...it'll never work!

One last bit of advice...whatever happens, just RELAX. That's the culture there. It is basically taboo to get angry or have confrontations in public. Filipinos will understand that foreigners get that way sometimes and they are always very respectful. But they will accept you much more easily if you act like you're high on marjuana all the time and don't have a care in the world.

Sorry for the novel, but I hope it can help others avoid some headaches and have a better experience while staying in the Philippines.

yea its very nice man... i have been planning and reading things about it since november last year, and so i read a lot of the negative things to watch out for and hence was expecting it to be really bad. its not the case though... yes traffic is really busy but still its fine. catching a taxi has been no problem. i'm as tall and white as they get, and was expecting to stick out heaps... not saying i dont stick out, but i dont really notice it and can still go about regular things like shopping without too much extra attention (unless you seek it). a couple of times kids come up and ask for money but you just gotta look away. same as some kinda dodgy 55 year old guys talking in a heavy filipino english accent.

food is amazing, in my humble fast food loving opinion. i had heard people say they dont like the food here so maybe im the minority but i love it. wow jolibees is super sarap lol. its like the phils version of mcdonalds. as good or way better than australian fast food. they have everything here, for example jolibees has burgers, fried chicken, spaghetti, sweet and sour meatballs, steak, hotdogs, macaroni soup, etc. and you can get it all delivered for free. i ordered 2 main meals, 2 drinks, fries, serving of rice, one apple pie and a sundae, and in total it cost me about 300 pesos, which is about $7 AUD. and that's delivered for free to the hotel. almost everything can be delivered, such as mcdonalds, kfc, etc.

anything u want to know that i didnt mention (probly heaps lol) let me know and i can get back to you. im flying to cebu tomorrow morning and than Davao on Saturday




Kumakain ang Batang Babae lol

Umiinom ang Gatas

Nagluluto Siya

Tama!

I'll join the discussion and share a couple of my recent medical experiences.

Example 1:
On Sunday I became very sick. High fever (39.5º C or 103º F) and a sore throat so bad that I couldn't talk, eat or swallow. I noticed my tonsils were swollen -- I knew I had to get antibiotics (similar situation 7 years ago).
On Monday, I went to a recommended doctor nearby. He diagnosed my problem IMMEDIATELY and wrote me a prescription.
On Wednesday, I'm not fully recovered yet but I can eat talk, eat and drink.
Cost: 7 years ago, this same thing in California cost me $245 with medical insurance.
Here it cost me 400 pesos ($9) without medical insurance.

Example 2:
I wanted to get LASIK surgery done. I researched the **** out of this because eyes are important amirite. Well, the research says that Dr. Jack Arroyo of American Eye Center is the leading refractive surgeon in the country with over 20,000+ LASIK procedures under his belt. So obviously I went with him, did the surgery on Tuesday and I'm very happy with the result (20/20 vision after 10+ years of wearing contacts/glasses).
Cost: this would cost around $4600-5600 back home.
Here it cost me 45k pesos ($1k).

However, I do think (from reading others' experiences) that the health care here is "hit or miss." Sort of like restaurants in that if you just walk into one at random, you don't know whether you'll get good food or crap food, which is why some people say food in Manila sucks. One time I walked into a clinic as I was passing by and inquired about STD tests. The doctor said they have tests for HIV and VDRL. I asked what VDRL stands for, she said "venereal disease something something." Clueless.

The point is: I don't like to take chances when it comes to my health so I always research.

In the past I've had a successful tooth fracture repair, done several STD tests, blood tests, ultrasounds, etc. Fortunately all have gone well. I guess this doesn't apply to the more serious medical issues like organ disease and whatnot but I'm not at that age quite yet.

In summary:
I think the medical industry is one of the best parts about living here. It's affordable and all doctors and medical staff speak great English (unlike in Vietnam FFS).
A lot of doctors are garbage but a lot are good, you just have to look for the good ones.

If anyone is interested in living in Cebu, Philippines with other poker players, you can take a look here

Could someone point me in the direction of good sites for long term rentals?

I can find plenty of decent sites for Thailand but none for the Philippines??

www.housinginteractive.com is legit and decent afaik, but the prices are a bit high compared to if you can work directly with the leasing office of a building (if the building has one).