Philippines Travel Tips & Resources

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Free
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Philippines Travel Tips & Resources

Post by Free »

Is it possible to make sticky threads (like the Announcement threads)?

The suggestion is to have sticky threads for various regions, including various travel advice, resources, etc.
Yes there is a wealth of info on the net in regards to travel, but it would be better to have individuals more or less on the same plane as us, who live in these places, provide info. Such as Wu in the Philippines and the various other members stationed throughout the globe in the pursuit of feminine females.

It would be nice to cover areas such as:

*Arrival tips (book an apartment online beforehand or book a budget hotel for some days, then find an apartment in person, etc.)
*Apartment rentals. Some internet sites to book through if possible. Average prices. Worth it or not. Typical setup. Etc. Also to include beach bungalow rentals for a more leisurely stay.
*Budget hotels. List a few for the top areas and average prices.
*Visas. For the Philippines, is it really approximately $80US every 2 months? Are there any ways around this, or just take it as part of the expense. It's not so much money. Can you take a ferry somewhere and re-stamp your passport?
*If planning a one way trip, how to buy the cheapest onward travel ticket, where to? This is required to enter the country?
*Better flight paths, from the US, Europe, etc. Best to fly to the Philippines, or fly to HK and then a small flight onward?
*The top areas, brief info (population, clean/less clean, etc., cost of living, etc.), ones better for various female encounters, etc.

There are several more things that can be added.

Highly suggested to start these types of Travel Info sticky threads for various regions.

Winston?
Last edited by Free on October 19th, 2010, 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ladislav
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Re: Philippines - Travel Tips & Resources

Post by ladislav »

*Arrival tips (book an apartment online beforehand or book a budget hotel for some days, then find an apartment in person, etc.)
Beforehand. Google cheap hostel, Manila cheap hotel Manila.
*Apartment rentals. Some internet sites to book through if possible. Average prices. Worth it or not. Typical setup. Etc. Also to include beach bungalow rentals for a more leisurely stay.
Google affordable apartments/condos- Manila. If going to the beach, go to where Filipinos go. Cheap bungalows. That is how would I find mine. Prices? $ 200-600 p/m for apartments. Or after you get here, buy a newspaper and look around.

*Budget hotels. List a few for the top areas and average prices.
Ibid. The easiest way. All online with a simple google search for updated info.
*Visas. For the Philippines, is it really approximately $80US every 2 months? Are there any ways around this, or just take it as part of the expense. It's not so much money. Can you take a ferry somewhere and re-stamp your passport?
Part of the expense. Arrive with a 21 day visa upon arrival (stamped). Extend a week before it expires by another 38 days. I like to go to well connected travel agents. All at major hotels in Manila, AC and Cebu. Add a bit more money and they get it for you with minimum paperwork. You don't want a ferry through pirate infested waters going to Malaysia/Indonesia. You fly to Hong Kong or Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia after 14 months. They say you need to be out for 5 days.

But there is a caveat. 1st- you need to get an immigration clearance if you stay over 6 months (before you leave) Travel agents can do it for you for some $50. I just prefer to fly out every 5+ months- who knows what some ex-gf can do to you? Also, you need to get an ID /tourist/alien visitor card if staying over 59 days. $50. Travel agents will do it. Find one who does visa extensions. Near all big hotels.
*If planning a one way trip, how to buy the cheapest onward travel ticket, where to? This is required to enter the country
Buy a ticket to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. $100 or so.
*Better flight paths, from the US, Europe, etc. Best to fly to the Philippines, or fly to HK and then a small flight onward?
Nah, I think better fly direct. Or try Dubai if from Europe.
*The top areas, brief info (population, clean/less clean, etc., cost of living, etc.), ones better for various female encounters, etc.
Cebu- capital of love/romance. Angeles City-flesh spot. None are clean. Populations 700K, 300K respectively. Cost of living - some $1K =1.5K a month- live well.
Last edited by ladislav on August 8th, 2010, 8:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Free
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Post by Free »

Great! That will be very helpful to readers.

I know travel info can be very extensive. You did a great job of keeping it short but laced with the key info.

We can always continue to add to this thread.

Thank you Ladislav.
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Post by Free »

In keeping with the purpose of this thread, I decided to move a post of mine over to here, as well as paste some quotes of travel info from other threads.

Ladislav, Winston, others?

Non-sexual massages?

There are some great ones in Hong Kong, Thailand, etc. What about the Philippines?

Who wouldn't like a nice normal massage for lower cost once or twice a week? Massages are great, good for health and feel wonderful.

So, are the non-sexual ones also quite popular in the PH? If so, are they good? Average costs? What about soapy style? Those are great, but sometimes too stimulating. ;)



About Cebu, seems from video a nicer city, but is it cheap enough like with Manila & Angeles City and the same night scenes too, if day prospects tend to be too dry some times?
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Post by Free »

ladislav wrote:
Which cities should I go visit in Philippines? How long should the trip be?
Go to Cebu. Forget others. Try a three week trip.

I can take sometime off. But other than picking up girls, what else can you do in the country?
Plenty. Imagine you are in Hawaii and everything is 5 x cheaper. What would you do?
Also, I heard there is a lot of kidnapping in Philippines. How do you best protect yourself?
Unlikely to happen to average single male tourists in big cities. Stay away from Muslim areas of Mindanao.

Marcus Aurelius wrote:There has been some really good advice here on the Phillipines, I don't have a whole lot to add myself; but that my girlfriend who is moving here to be with me is from there. I agree with Cebu. She told me it is a great city. You will indeed find the liberated and the conservatives thrown into the mix....but what I like about them in general is how friendly they are. I got this in Indonesia. Just smile at them, look them in the eye (feel free, you won't be seen as 'creepy') and say hello to them. They will almost always smile and give you a warm hello. I was able to just chat up girls in Jakarta doing this. Think of 'game' but in a nice way, not a shitty one.

I don't think they are lazy, they are just not as industrialized therefore the work is a bit fewer and far between.

But as to their culture...what made them appealing to me, is a Christian, is that the conservatives, and even many of the liberated ones are only so to a point because they follow the Roman Catholic faith. This is a good thing for you, religious or not, because they believe in STAYING in the marriage, dislike divorce, and its a norm to have large families. My girlfriend has five brothers and sisters.

The catholic influence of spain from the west helped their culture; it has given them values that they truly embrace.
ladislav wrote:
How much would a three-week trip to Cebu cost? Would US$3,000 cover the trip (not including air ticket)? ...
More than enough with the air ticket. Hotels- google- cheap hotels, Cebu. Pretty safe from random violent crime but watch out for pickpockets and over-chargers.
Winston wrote:
DCX_10 wrote:How much would a three-week trip to Cebu cost? Would US$3,000 cover the trip (not including air ticket)? Any recommendation of hotels? What about safety? Thanks a lot!
The cheapest tickets I found were through this site:

http://www.bt-store.com

The prices there change every hour though, so you'll just have to keep refreshing or reloading to find a lower price. You can get a really low price if you're lucky.

Or you can try the website for Hawaiian Airlines. They seem to have the lowest rates of the major carriers.


ladislav wrote:
...malls, any other recommendations?
Malls: Gaysano South , Gaisano Metro, Gaisano Tabunok, Gaisano Mandaue ( Mahn-Dah-oo-way).
Ayala Mall
Robinson Mall

You can try waitresses at most restaurants. Try tagged.com if you want contacts in advance
Winston mentioned bars. I assume there are nice ones in Cebu as well. Any recommendations?
Ask the taxi driver to take you to bars on Mango Avenue. Ask also for St Moritz Bar, Thunderdome, Firehouse. Go to Junquera ( Hoon-kay-rah) Street and near Mercedez Hotel on Pelaez Street. There are bars there.

Bar fines should be P1500-2700.
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Post by Free »

Heat/Humidity :(
Winston wrote: It is very HOT and HUMID year round. Arizona weather is like California compared to the Philippines. You never get a break from the sticky sweat on your skin. The only relief is to go indoors where there is air conditioning. This makes it hard to enjoy being outdoors. This also means that at your home you have to have the air conditioning on all the time, which skyrockets your electricity costs! It's unavoidable.

But you have no choice since it's so damn hot and humid day and not EVERY day of the year! Those who hate humidity will wilt in the atmosphere of the Philippines. In addition, the air also seems thin to some, making it hard to breathe or exercise.
Mr S wrote: Regarding the heat I only think it's unbearable from April to July, its best from December to March. However everyone will acclimate differently to the weather here and obviously it has more of a tole on you than it does me. I don't have or use AC in my house, just a fan and my body has gotten used to the heat. I would say walking mid-day in the sun for over 20 min will get me hot and sweaty, but generally other times of the day not so much. I think it all depends on one's constitution and over-all health. April to June is the worst part of the year in my opinion and I'll agree the heat and humidity is unbearable at times, especially if you have no AC. However other times of the year the rain helps and this time of the year, February it's actually not that humid compared to other months and isn't that bad. I guess that's why it's considered the high tourist portion of the year.

Winston wrote:
dsc wrote: Winston, have you adjusted to the heat/humidity of the Philippines?
Not really. I was able to tolerate it at first. But after a while I lost the tolerance. It might be due to bad health lowering my tolerance. See my other thread on this board called "My nasty health problems in the PH".

But I really don't like to sweat or feel humidity around me. Nothing good comes out of it. I can't exercise in humid weather, food spoils faster, insects thrive, etc. Nothing good about humidity.

It's not healthy either, cause it prevents heat from escaping from your body.

Even if you're indoors with aircon, you gotta come out at some point. And aircon costs a lot in the Philippines. My parents' electric bill is about a fourth of mine, even though my place is much smaller.
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Post by Free »

Davao Or Cebu?
wuxi wrote:I've read a lot of good things about Davao City recently. Its ranked in the top 20 cities in Southeast Asia. Besides beautiful women, it has a low crime rate, cab drivers that don't rip you off, friendly people, little pollution, great resorts and its close to a national park. I was just wondering if anyone on the forum has been there and liked it better than Cebu ?
pete98146 wrote:With retirement 5-10 years away, if we do retire in Philippines (Thailand is the other option). I think we are leaning towards Davao. Prices seem to be around 25% less expensive. I also like the fact that many of the laws are 1) Strict and 2) Enforced!

Davao is one of the only cities in Phils that has a 9-1-1 system. They have trash bins spreadout thruout the city that are actually used and emptied on a regular basis. No smoking laws in public buildings are strictly enforced. Traffic apparently is much lighter and the roads are wider and better organized and traffic laws are enforced as well.

In short, Davao is the "little Singapore" of Philippines which IMHO is a good thing.

Davao is also out of the hurricane zone.

I have a friend who is from Manila. She just took a trip to Davao a few months ago and she was raving about the place.

That said, Davao doesn't appear to be a place with much nightlife. Cebu would be much better in the entertainment dept.
ladislav wrote:Cebu, definitely. Unless one is married and /or gay. Davao has all these lonely angry men around- there are just lots of men there. The people look shy and un-smiley. Big, polluted, non-cosmopolitan. Did not like it. Cebu all the way!

Personally I like Manila strangely enough. I just love the anonymity and the ethnic diversity- real diversity- everybody mingles, makes friends, intermarries, inter-dates. Lovely! And everything you need is there. It is ugly as sin but that is the beauty of it.
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Post by Winston »

I don't know how to allow users make sticky topics. But if you want to make some stick info topics, I can try to see if I can modify the permissions settings to let you do that. I might have to turn you into a moderator to enable that.

I haven't had a non-sexual massage so I couldn't comment on that.
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Post by Winston »

Hi Free,
Ok I figured it out. If I make you a moderator, you can post sticky posts. I could also make it so that everyone can, but that might not be a good idea. Usually only moderators are supposed to be allowed to do that sort of thing.

So which boards do you want to make sticky posts on? I'll go ahead and make you a moderator if you want.
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Post by Free »

Thanks.
PM sent.
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Post by Winston »

Hey Free,
Are you going to do anything with this thread? If not, I'll unsticky it. I've already PMed you about it but got not response. I will try to email you about it.
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Post by noog »

Recently found this writeup ... some very good information about courting a filipina and visiting her in the Philippines and proposing. A lot of the material here was spot on with my personal experiences ...

http://marcomarks.hubpages.com/hub/Find ... pine-Wife#
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Re: Philippines - Travel Tips & Resources

Post by soulman1949 »

ladislav wrote:
*If planning a one way trip, how to buy the cheapest onward travel ticket, where to? This is required to enter the country
Buy a ticket to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. $100 or so.
Thanks for the thread, useful information.

Just to introduce myself, as this is my first posting here. I'm currently in the UK but plan to settle in the Philippines once my pinay g/f's annulment comes through. We have some land and intend to build a modest place with some spare rooms to be let out to provide some security for my lady. This is in Koronadal in Mindanao.

I'm investigating cheap flights for nipping in and out of the country until we are married and residency is established. I notice Kota Kinabulu being quoted as a cheap destination. My nearest airport is Gensan, and then Davao. Which airlines offer the best deals?

Thanks
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Re: Philippines - Travel Tips & Resources

Post by Amaziah »

Good tips and i appreciate you for sharing such helpful thing because when someone is new to other region they need to be aware of the things which is there need that is things grow.
For me the most reasonable source of traveling is kissimmee to boca raton transportation and i find it useful every time.
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Re: Philippines - Travel Tips & Resources

Post by Nami321 »

You are right Amaziah. These tips are really good and helpful for all visitors. I also appreciate you for this effort. Now Amaziah! I want to talk about Manila city. It is the capital city of the Philippines. I visited there only time in last 2 year. I want to go there again then I need your help about attraction, accommodation and many other things. Can you help me?
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