What convinced me to go to Angeles...

zzzz · Post by **zzzz** » November 8th, 2010, 8:39 pm

... http://www.youtube.com/user/gentooman19 watching these video blogs by DRU convinced me it was a fairly safe, fun place with lots of women. I'd strongly recommend anyone interested in visiting Angeles or on the fence start at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGMiPkS-AwU day 0 & 1 and keep watching until at least day 20 or more. Especially for someone who hasn't traveled much, it is quite scary and you don't know what to expect. These videos will give you a pretty good idea of the experience in Angeles. I was amazed by how widely used English is, how decent things were overall (service, food, hotels, etc), and how friendly everyone was. One thing not mentioned much in the videos is prices but I could fill people in there if they have any questions. For instance he was staying at Affinity Condos which generally run 30k+ pesos a month.

E_Irizarry · Post by **E_Irizarry** » November 9th, 2010, 7:14 am

Have fun. Some of the bargirls' attitudes are becoming a bit funky there, but nevertheless you should be able to sift though that.

Ask Mr. S. and Ladislav and Winston for more 411 on AC, RP.

ladislav · Post by **ladislav** » November 9th, 2010, 10:07 am

I just spent 10 months there and am back in CA. Yeah, it is more or less safe and of course English will be used in the Philippines. It is the official language there- the Philippines is a former US colony. Schools and laws and newspapers are all in English. The Congress runs in English.

You need to watch out for set ups of all kinds, though and do not befriend anyone too much. The town is very very corrupt.

Sometimes there are serial killers- like there was this guy- a few months ago- he was befriending foreigners and going to their houses to "repair computers" and then killing them. He had killed 9 of them and their Filipino partners and helpers.

There are also set ups whereby they have people of not proper age to go to your house and then organize a 'raid'. In some bars there are girls without any IDs or fake birth certificates/IDs working. Some girls who want to date foreigners online- they are in AC, and they post online, are fudging their age. Be careful!

AC is also a big center of Cyber Sex- which is illegal according to the Philippine law.

I have also heard of street vendors selling cigarettes and approaching you and foisting a marijuana cigarette on you and then calling the cops on you which are conveniently nearby.

Another thing that is not recommended or recommended at your own risk is sharing a house with other foreigners- you never know what they'd do. Your next room neighbor can be into something illegal and then if there is a bust, you may be involved by default. I did that and my neighbors brought some girls who were into drugs and some girls of dubious characteristics (I shall say no more). And he was doing all kinds of weird things on his computer and then he put a key stroke reader on it then people who were using a common computer put in their passwords in there and then he opened up their private sites and was running around and blackmailing them. All kinds of weird stuff goes on; if you stay there long term you will know about it. So be careful!

Repatriate · Post by **Repatriate** » November 9th, 2010, 11:49 am

ladislav wrote: Another thing that is not recommended or recommended at your own risk is sharing a house with other foreigners- you never know what they do. Your next room neighbor can be into something illegal and then if there is a bust, you may be involved. I did that and my neighbors brought some girls who were into drugs and some girls of dubious characteristics (I shall say no more). And he was doing all kinds of weird things on his computer and then he put a key stroke reader on it then people who were using a common computer put in their passwords in there and then he opened up their private sites and was running around and blackmailing them. All kinds of weird stuff goes on; if you stay there long term you will know about it. So be careful!

There are a lot of weird fuckers in Thailand as well. I don't trust the vast majority of expats here for this reason. I pretty much hang out with a lot of Thai-Americans or "vetted" foreigners who they know. I could tell you a bunch of stories about various encounters. There was one where a guy (fat American expat) spent 3 years stalking someone I know with anonymous nicknames and through forums. They were co-workers and had a falling out and the guy had some sort of insane grudge about it even though my friend totally ignored him.

zzzz · Post by **zzzz** » November 9th, 2010, 12:53 pm

I've also noticed expats being weirdos at a higher rate than Americans still in the USA. I imagine in red light towns that will be even worse than normal. I intend to be careful, I've read about all sorts of scams (taxi scams, poker scams, pick pockets on the Jeepney, etc) so I hope to be problem free.

NorthAmericanguy · Post by **NorthAmericanguy** » November 9th, 2010, 2:59 pm

zzzz wrote:I've also noticed expats being weirdos at a higher rate than Americans still in the USA. I imagine in red light towns that will be even worse than normal. I intend to be careful, I've read about all sorts of scams (taxi scams, poker scams, pick pockets on the Jeepney, etc) so I hope to be problem free.

Yea, my buddy who was in the military told me when he was in the Philippines and he was involved in a card game and they started to run a game on him, and so, he started to walk away because he knew it was a scam but then all the guys tried to get in his face and try to jump him. He said he got saved by a woman he was messing around with, she came to his aid and the guys backed off.

He also said something about the taxi service too. He said you got to know what one to get on so you won't get scammed.

Another person (a girl) told me to watch out when you go out to eat as they have different prices for expats or they will try and charge you more even after you paid.

Or, if you take a person out to eat, they might call their friends over to eat too without your permission, they will then leave you with the bill to pay.

The_Adventurer · Post by **The_Adventurer** » November 9th, 2010, 3:37 pm

Funny. Everytime I think I might want to return to the Philippines, I read another thread like this and remember why I lost interest in the first place. It's sad really because there are many good points to being there. When you consider the bad, though, it makes one wonder why bother?

Sure, if you have a nice girlfriend and keep yo yourself, as I did for nearly 2 years, you'll be perfectly fine, but what about having real friends to hang out with, and being able to be involved in things? Even my girl's family constantly told me about stuff such as written above. Who wants to be looking over their shoulder all the time?

NorthAmericanguy · Post by **NorthAmericanguy** » November 9th, 2010, 3:46 pm

Terrence wrote:Funny. Everytime I think I might want to return to the Philippines, I read another thread like this and remember why I lost interest in the first place. It's sad really because there are many good points to being there. When you consider the bad, though, it makes one wonder why bother?

Sure, if you have a nice girlfriend and keep yo yourself, as I did for nearly 2 years, you'll be perfectly fine, but what about having real friends to hang out with, and being able to be involved in things? Even my girl's family constantly told me about stuff such as written above. Who wants to be looking over their shoulder all the time?

I know man... I hear you.

zzzz · Post by **zzzz** » November 9th, 2010, 11:52 pm

Terrence wrote:Funny. Everytime I think I might want to return to the Philippines, I read another thread like this and remember why I lost interest in the first place. It's sad really because there are many good points to being there. When you consider the bad, though, it makes one wonder why bother?

Sure, if you have a nice girlfriend and keep yo yourself, as I did for nearly 2 years, you'll be perfectly fine, but what about having real friends to hang out with, and being able to be involved in things? Even my girl's family constantly told me about stuff such as written above. Who wants to be looking over their shoulder all the time?

Could you elaborate on both the good and bad, but mainly the bad? You really spent 2 years there without any decent friends and in constant fear of danger/scams?