Moneybookers hasn't worked in the country since 2009. My last withdrawal was by check requested on April 20 and it arrived in a couple of weeks but they issued it in PHP and took out a charge something like 8%, not sure exactly how much they took out and why. The withdrawal was for 800 USD and I got 31900 PHP.

Saint Illians INN: Where I am at right now. In the south west corner of Makati Santallian st. and Feranado st. Very comfortable, friendly staff, hot shower cold AC and very clean!! +63 917 8240767 20% discount if you pay in cash. should run you about 35$ US. You will need to pay in php of course.

Take any white cab they are all metered. The meter starts at 40 and goes up pretty slow. I know what you mean about the tourist gouging It can be so stressful. For what its worth Its really not the bad in Manila just when you get out in the rural areas or the tourist spots. Luckily I have been traveling with a native Filipino so when ever i get swarmed bye "transportation specialist" i just point to her and let her negotiate. This trip would have been hell without her!!

Edit: I think the pickup at the airport might be higher. I think i paid 500 php from the airport to a hotel near here. Not sure if I was over charged or not. But it's only like 12$ US. Compare that to the meter starting at 14$ at Dallas Fort Worth International and it's really not worht getting stressed out over IMO.

Biggest thing is to clarify "this taxi has a meter?" than when you get in make sure the meter is switched on right away. If they say "no meter" than just look for another taxi, there are plenty to choose from. Every so often you will hear of a meter which has been rigged but this very rare. Make sure you get yourself some small bills to carry around (php 50's 100's) so they can't pull the "no change" move.

Wtf, really? lol

I guess bank transfers and wires are down too. FML. I'm not paying 8% to cash out. I wonder if I should just go to Thailand for now.

Sorry to spam thread, but is it possible to do FTP bank or wire transfers to a USD account in PI without paying outrageous fees?

Stars will. If you get a local bank account and a credit card with credit fund transfer you can withdraw to your credit card with ftp.

Crazy thing just happened. Was changing my last 200 US at the money change both at the mall. This the third transaction i have done here and i am getting a very fair rate. .006% margaine. 43.1 and the market rate is 43.385. Nice! However one of bills is old and tattered, series 1996, and the lady, a muslim lady, inspects it closely and then hands it back to me. I show her the watermark and the 100 USA strip. In very good English she says "It is a geunine bill sir but I can only give you 4000PHP for it" WTF. I polite accept the bill back and thank her for the transaction.

Any thoughts on why one 100 bill is worth 300.1 PHP less then another?

there are certain years and series that were highly counterfited. even if she thinks the bill is legit they are not supposed to change them. I am fairly certain 1996 is one of those years. same thing happened to me when i was changing in several hundred when i was there. the guy flipped through the bills and hand 2 or 3 back to me and said he wouldnt change them. I am currently sitting on 3 older series $100 bills in thailand that no one will change for me, same deal.

So as long as I have a credit card linked to philippines bank, I can withdraw from FTP? What is the weekly limit? Also, have you used this method successfully post-black friday.

All I need to be a happy man is to get my ftp withdrawals moving reliably and be able to deposit/withdrawal @ stars and maybe even party and ongame if I luck out.

I don't know for sure about Thailand, but Moneybookers stopped handling gaming transactions for several Asian countries a couple of years ago, probably due to money laundering concerns.

You could try trading FTP money for Stars and do a bank wire (PartyPoker works too) if you can find someone to do a trade. And I don't know if the 8% charge was a percentage or a fixed amount, which it could be.

I just did a $11k transfer between my USD and PHP account at BPI, I got 43.27 (the market rate was 43.38 as well).
The way to do this is by visit the bank and make sure they personally call the main office for "special rate" which is normally only for preferred customers and big amounts. First they will show you what they call "best rate" (which today was 43.20) on the screen, don't accept that if you transfer a decent amount, it will take a few minutes but eventually they will call the main office and you will get "special rate" (43.27). I use lines like "we're talking about half a million pesos..." etc and that always works.

Okay, that makes since. I had some crazy wild theories, never mind that though. Sometimes my mind wanders a little!

I was actually at the BPI location in "Walter Mart"...Walter Mart, how funny, and was going to change there but there was a line of people opening accounts, applying for loans, normal banking stuff. Good info thanks a lot. I am planing a return trip in the future maybe for 6 months or so. It seems there could be a lot of potential to capitiliaze on the growing economy. Namely real estate, condo, investments. As well as call center consulting and English instruction.

if they pull the no change move, go inside whereever they dropped u off to and make them wait while u get change. even if it takes 10-15 minutes. there fault for lying about not having change.

i have 5-10k pstars i want to change for pesos. will give a discount. pm me.

Can I go to Philippines without first obtaining a visa? I googled around but got conflicting answers...

Yes you can go there and stay for over a year on a tourist visa, you just pay a nominal fee (50-70$) every one or two months. Eventually all you will need to do after a year is a visa run for like 24 hours and you can start over.

Since you want to go to school you can also go there on a tourist visa and convert it to a student visa but you are going to need all the documents to be admitted to the school.

Anyone on PLDTs 3Mbps plan who would like to post a speedtest towards Paris at off-peak hours please?
Would be very helpful. Thanks.

how much at an average cost renting 1 room condo in philippines ?

location matters a lot

Why in the world would you want to move to the Phils?

lol I'm from there and I hate it there

People keep egging/harassing me into giving them money

The last time I was there was 2005 and people kept harassing me into giving them money, they even sneak into my room at nights while I'm sleeping to steal from me

You must have stayed in a bad area and place. The only time I had beggars asking for money on the street was outside a nightclub in Malate around 4am. Sometimes you have people knocking on the car window, but just knock back (a polite way to say no) and they walk away.
So you look Filipino? Why would they harass you?

However, I know American-Filipinos who moved back to the Phils without telling their relatives cause that's a whole different story when it comes to asking for money

Sneaking into your room lol, what kind of place were you staying at?

1 room as in a studio or 1 bedroom?

Yes, location matters a lot. But I give you rough figures in Manila/QC
Studio = 5k-30k
1 BR = 7k-50k
Lowest can be found all over Quezon city (Fairview etc) and highest at Rockwell, the Fort and Greenbelt.

If you head out to the province (Batangas etc) you get a 1 BR for 1.5-2k and nice house with 4BR for 25k.

Don't blame the country if you have a family of thieves. Lock your doors and windows.