If you don't have much travel experience or street smarts, definitely Thailand. JayPez's post in Sandviper's TR thread basically reflects what I've been saying for a while:

I also think it takes a certain type of upbringing to enjoy the Philippines.

Indeed and would recommend everyone to get some filipino friends, it helped me a lot to understand the culture here the spare 6 months I've been here so far and you experience different stuff that you normally wouldn't with you farang friends.

You can get maids here for 3.5k which is around $80, almost half-price compared to Thailand.
If you talk about Rockwell which is really high-end then compare it with high-end in Bangkok which is at least as expensive. My condo in Bangkok(Sukhumvit) when I lived there was pretty expensive, even to a Swede like me
Personally my rent + bills are cheaper in Manila (I stay at Rockwell) but my cost for food are WAY higher. This is simply because I'm used to eat out all the time (3 times a day) and don't like the local filippino food or crap food like KFC/McD (my food budget here is around 100k)
In Thailand I ate Thai food most times and I loved it and it saved me a bunch of money.

1year writeup

I've now been staying in the Phils - primarily Manila - for a little over a year straight

What I'll write in this post is my own opinion.

There are too many things to mention to talk about This post suits best for PI noobs or people that have stayed here short time.

Best thing about the PI: The people
Worst thing about the PI: Poverty combined with corruption and all the endless amount of BS that induces
The Filipino locals are wonderful to socialize with, if you get involved with them in a setting where nothing is expected from either party.

Places visited outside NCR: San Fernando/La Union, Baguio, Cebu, Bohol, Coron, El Nido, Puerto Princesa, Nuvea Ecija, Angeles
Rent decent motorbikes for p500/24hrs or less when in a smaller town. This is a lot more fun than trikes.

Place of choice to go on vacation, and it's not close: Coron, Palawan.

Condos rented in Manila: 7
Best area: Serendra, Fort/Taguig
Worst area: Salcedo Village, Makati
Best value: Eastwood, QC
Best way to rent: Directly thru owner. All brokers I've had have been sketchy in one way or another.

Times ripped off or scammed: 6-8. 1st week: 4
What is important to know is, that when you do not quite know where you want to go - where something is, how to get transportation...or when you feel "lost", that's when the hyenas jump you. They pick up on it very well and will try to exploit you and a lot of them are somewhat pro at deceiving or extracting. Reject any help you didn't ask for, but do indeed ask for help from others. Security guards in general are more than happy to help you find something almost always.

Taxis: Avoid rush hours and always put the meter (or get a better deal than meter if you know the avg fare to the destination). If someone gives trouble or disagrees to your terms, just get out and get the next one. When someone appears offended just walk away. Sometimes drivers pretend to not know the exact destination. This is somewhat rare. Round up your fare to nearest p10. You shouldn't be tipping a lot after the new prices - if so stay within p20. Keep an eye on the meter. The 3.50 increases every 300m during no traffic, if more frequent then a "batingting" device is more than likely, where they have a trigger connected to the meter. Note, this is more rare.

Highest drinking bills in 1 night: p25K
*you can get wasted for p30, gg

Best food: Sofitel Buffet (ainec), Mamou/Aubergine (Fort)
Best value clean fastfood: Jollibee obv

Best place to grind live: Resorts World
Best place to play for fun: Metro
FTs made: 3
Times slowrolled: 92384981

Best/worst place to get raped: LA Cafe (MBC)

Toughest challenge about playing online poker for a living in the Philippines: Volume. Reason: You'll find out.
You need about $1K/month to survive in Metro Manila

Filipino: "Hello my friend!" in general translates to: "Hi ****** I'm gonna try get your money"
Seriously though, for picking up some of the language I suggest
-Rosetta Stone
-(non serious)Relationships with girls that have broken English.
-Watch ABS CBN dramas or local news once in a while
-Use what you know when going out or interacting.

Rewards for knowing a little bit Tagalog: Locals like you more. While talking to girls that don't expect you to know a word, this is the absolute nuts. Less taxi scam attempts. More fun social interactions especially if you know some kind of slang phrase You'll know more often what and who people are talking about. Making yourself understood to those that can't comprehend simple English (you'll almost never encounter that though).

For relationships, some kind of part time gf you can trust would be the best deal. They can have immense value when traveling and to help keep your best interests when making deals/etc.

Might continue this post later.

Ok can someone please answer my question.

Are you paying taxes on your online poker winnings?

Hi, I didn't go online for a while so caught up with the thread.

Been living there for near 2 months now.

Minuses with Eastwood are C5 pollution and that the nearest supermarket is a little bit far to walk if you want groceries regularly. They are building one here now though.

Eastwood is good because it's got everything for normal needs right there within few mins walk, easiest/quickest place I've been to get a cab..100% legit drivers so far, no hassle.. samplesize like 20-25, longest time to get a cab maybe 2mins during heavy hours. Lot of restobars and some 24/7, livebands frequently, cheap buckets.
Distance to most nearby popular destinations are managable, Makati ain't too far and it's also near Ortigas, Taguig, Cubao, Marikina...convenient that C5 is right there.

Most buildings are good, decent condos are about half price of central MKT and IMO the nearby options are near equal, better for me, depends what's your value obviously.

Used sulit.com.ph and texted a few brokers there. Avoid Pearls unless you like huge elec/water bills.
Since all buildings are walking distance in EW, it's easy to view like 10 units fast if you want.



On a side note while catching up, there's a lot of PI bashing above. I guess I can admit to having done this a little myself. We're guests here, the people have their reasons for what they're doing. It's easy to deal with after a bit of experience, this is just how things are. I'm still trying my best to fully understand, until then I can only try to accept and make the better out of it.

Hey!

Thanks for your very valuable information, I'm thinking about going to Manila or Davao after the swedish summer is over.

Just 1 question, what does C5 stand for?

Thanks alot!

Oh it's one of the major roads in Metro Manila. Circumferential Road 5. C4 would be EDSA but they rarely use that name.

Cool, how do you feel about going outside Manila as opposed to Bangkok? Was there much of a difference between the 2, poverty-wise, and safety?

Rockwell seems like the nuts, can you surf close by?

Great post, what about Makati district didn't you like?

This was Salcedo Village specific. The area is less than pretty, very few restobars, no malls. Basically it's infested by bank buildings and traffic.

Makati nearby or in Greenbelt is great shorter term. Value "decreases" over time in GB and Rockwell. I don't see why RW is great except the standard of the buildings. There's not much there and the surrounding area is less than nice. Powerplant Mall a couple restobars outside and then what. Long term RW residents might please explain why it's desirable... Burgos regs I guess
GB area has more beggars outside the mall last half year, it sucks to get a cab during busy hours..this is what I mean by value decrease because it becomes "boring" after a while to just hang around the nearby malls. Taxi action near Glorietta/Shangri La is becoming ridiculous, bumhunting foreigners so it's hard to get around comfortably. My opinion I guess, I'm in the Philippines and want more culture and variety than what I'm used to in the West. As for safety in Makati, yeah pretty damn safe sleeping in a chair in DelaRosa st. with a shotgun around the neck 4AM (this became a standard sight lol). The most common high end areas in Makati are nice but you might as well be living in another country then. Price isn't worth it if looking to save a little bit of income

Manila reminds me a lot about Bangkok. The streets look the same, but cities have a big contrast between rich and poor areas. Both cities are pretty far away from decent beaches so you need to take few hours drive to hang out at the beach. So no, you can't surf close by Rockwell

The main differences are:
- Manila have a big middle class that can afford to eat at restos and drink at decent bars, you often find yourself being the only farang in the mall/resto/bar/club and I personally love it. Bangkok have no middle class and you more or less only find farangs(guys) at most restos etc. Malls and restos are great places to pick-up girls in Manila, girls are happy to give their numbers and loves to text

- Language obv, most people here have good or decent english and signs and information are all in english. Only highly educated and prostitutes speak decent english in Bangkok.

- Bangkok is more tourist-friendly and usually more things to do for foreigners. I also find the nightclubs at RCA and Bed supper club to be way better than the nightclubs in Manila. Guilly's on Q-ave. is best in Manila/QC imo.

- Bangkok have a much bigger poker community that usually plays soccer and basketball.

- Food, filipino food here is as cheap as thai food in thailand. Manila have a wider selection of asian, european and american food but it comes with a cost (many times more expensive).

Any advice how to get hold of the owner and avoid the brokers?

i was able to get owners numbers by talking to the door people at buildings (in Eastwood) and asking to see vacant units. they were able to give me the owner contact info of the units i liked. in the end i ended up going with unit via an agent that i found off of sulit/craigslist.

Tips about apartments:

-If you've never been to Manila before, do not rent a place long-term (yet). Because you might end up hating it. Stay for at least 3-6 months and see how you like it before committing to a long-term lease.

-My experience renting apartments mirrors what fanapathy shared. Brokers are ******ed and should completely be avoided if possible. They're slow to respond to inquiries (sometimes don't respond at all), oftentimes know nothing about the units or buildings they advertise and post wrong details (sometimes intentionally, sometimes inadvertently). I agree that you should try to deal with owners directly - it's just a matter of emailing/texting as many people as possible and getting lucky.

-Biggest tip: if you're planning on staying for a while, get an unfurnished unit and furnish it yourself. Not only do you save a lot of money in the long run, you can pick out all the furniture you want according to your own taste. I also recommend getting a split-type inverter air con, which will lower electricity bills and prevent health/mold problems (a few of us have had this problem before and it sucks).

Looking for an informative post on living somewhere else/smaller cities/provinces and getting the best value for money.

There aren't enough people writing about ie. renting a non-baller house and living the laid back life, or living on 15K/month, etc.

Also, my guesstimate is that the amount of Filipino online pros should have grown a lot the last year.
So Pinoy lurkers are more than welcome to contribute to this thread and give advice in areas where you have superior knowledge, or call us out when we are wrong

Yea I'd love to get somebodys take on Davao for example, I'm basically choosing between Manila and Davao for after the summer. Like, how is the nightlife? Internet connection, food etc

Thanks!

Right I will try my best. I live in Sabang, Oriental Mindoro The area is commonly know as Puerto Galera but Sabang is where the action is.

I have been in Sabang for nearly two years now. I initially came to the Philippines for a 4 month holiday to visit my father who has a house here. With the intentions of grinding the poker to make money to travel around SE Asia before getting to Aus/NZ to bum around and work for a couple of years.

I'm in my mid twenties and the last two years have been pretty crazy. I have probably been drunk for about 80% of that time but that is in part down to me having something to do with a bar (I don't really want to go into too much detail regarding this as it is a public forum).

Attractions

Diving -

Lots of dive sites within a 10 minute boat ride from any of the 50 or so dives resorts. The cost per dive is around P1000 and around P13000-P18000 to learn to dive. I have a marginal interest in diving it's there and I go occasionally. If I was down to my last P1000 and was given the choice of 6 Jaegerbombs or a Scuba dive I'm taking the Jaegers.

Drinking-

Pretty much everything here revolves around drinking. If someone says one of the following phrases to you there intentions are for you to go out drinking during the day time.

Hiring a boat and going for a beach BBQ
Visit the ATM in Puerto Galera
Home poker game
Volleyball at whitebeach

The average price for a regular SML is about P60 but during happy hours you can find P30 beers in certain bars. However a warning to any "backpacker" types. If you come to the Philippines and start complaining that your P40 SML was too expensive I will literally break your face off.

Most local drinks are cheap but if you want to start doing shots and vodka redbulls then the nights going to get relatively expensive.

Bars

Day time drinking spots there are two Floating bars the one with the Slide being the most fun. Big apple is generally a decent bar to day time drink and play some pool (Brag played 3 frames v Efran Reyes in the Big apple).

Night time most of the action is situated between Big Apple and Eddies place. Broadway bar has a live band every night and killer pool most evenings. Its a good starting point before the girlie bars. There is now a Nightclub but it very rarely gets busy. A good place for picking up regular girls or girls from the bars who are hunting for a victim.

Girlie Bars

There are six of them here and all operate the same standard practice of P1000 for the bar then P1000 for the girl in the morning. There has been a massive influx of Koreans in the two years since I've been here. These boys take whoring to a completely new level. During peak Korean holidays it's been known for some of the bars to be empty 10minutes after opening. There can be a bit on tension at times but i'm not really bothered by it.

In general though the girls seem to be on the newer side of things compared to the seasoned hardened veterans of Angeles. If your under 30, not hideous looking and have a somewhat decent personality the girls are going to love you. Don't really want to go into a big discussion about the P4P scene but one of the best bit of advice I was given early in my stay here was

As soon as you pay its business it's no longer Personal


Accomodation

You can stay in a studio/1br apartment in central Sabang for around 8k-12k a month + bills. A five minute motorbike ride out of town and your starting to get a lot more value for money. A few apartment complexes have swimming pools. A 4 bed balla house with swimming pools, sea views and massive gardens is going to set you back about 25-40K depending on quality and timing.

Internet

Its generally fine but its slow as hell. I have a 0.5mb line that I can comfortably grind poker on. But if I start opening up numerous web pages then it can't handle it. I have smart bro as a backup as well and in certain locations can use it to play quite comfortably.

Food and Shops

There is zero high street chain stores here. But Batangas is a 1 hour boat ride away etc.. Restaurant food here is pretty average and a little over priced but there are some gems out there.

I'd say if you had $1000 a month you could have a basic but comfortable time here.

Probably a lot of stuff I missed out but this is getting a little off tangent. Will answer any Q if anyone has any.

Most interesting thing you've seen since your involved in the nightlife scene at some level? (no need to get too much into detail)

How standard is it for a bargirl to 'pay' you by laying out 1000p neatly on the pillow after sex, me putting it in the safe and her not asking for it back the next day? From what I understand if the barfine is 1500p she would get 700 meaning she has occured a loss of 300 for the night? Is this some sort of hustle gone wrong?

^ makes no sense? Maybe she's trying to give u part of barfine back so you'll tip more? Eh...

Anyway for those that haven't caught the recent news, http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle...tarting-may-30

No more public smoking in all Metro Manila. Fine is p500 or 8hr community service if you don't wanna pay. Will be interesting to see how this is gonna take effect in practise, since people are smoking basically everywhere.
They say 10 Filipinos die hourly due to cig smoke.
I wonder though how many die because of traffic/etc pollution. GG.

The air quality in Manila is terrible. Fining people for smoking along Edsa is not going to improve air quality. WTF...ban smoking in the resturants and bars. Rediculous.

Ban smoking in bars will just reveal the smell of urine.

Air quality in almost any urban part of the Philippines is bad. It's not so much smoking (outdoors anyway) as it is pollution. Burning trash and virtually no enforced regulation on vehicles which absolutely pour out smoke at all times (old diesel jeepneys) are common and very prevalent in congested high traffic area's. That's one of the reason you see most of the locals covering their mouths with some kind of hankie when they're walking in the streets.

Anyone in Manila interested in going to Avilon Zoo?