The Philippines, To go or not to go.

Mr S · Post by **Mr S** » March 12th, 2009, 6:25 am

Boracay is lame and over rated, only good if you want to bring a family or have a girl friend or wife. If you're single going there, it totally sucks.

gmm567 · Post by **gmm567** » March 12th, 2009, 10:02 pm

thanks s for your input. I've talked with a bunch of those girls on tagged, and they confirm justwhat you said. So I am coming.

I am going to bang hot feminine wom- just like you.

ladislav · Post by **ladislav** » March 13th, 2009, 1:18 am

Mr S wrote:Boracay is lame and over rated, only good if you want to bring a family or have a girl friend or wife. If you're single going there, it totally sucks.

One problem in the Philippines is the absence of good beaches and the fact that you always need to go to some resort to find a beach to swim in. The shore is either gnarled with mangrove trees' roots and is unswimmable ( "Manila" means just that- mangrove place) or it is rocky or it has ugly brown sand. That is why white sand ( which is everywhere in Florida and California for hundreds of miles) is a percious commodity there and they build resorts in the areas where there is some of it or they bring white sand from the outside. Boracay has that white sand and they make a big deal of it because to them it is. Plus it is a prestigious place to bring families or go on honeymoons. But the mayor there disallows go-go bars or any kind of nightlife that is not family oriented. Because that would scare large Korean, Japanese or other such familes from coming. I went there alone and I did not enjoy it. I went there with my mother and we had a ball there.

ladislav · Post by **ladislav** » March 13th, 2009, 2:48 am

I have also seen warnings for the Philippines though. The State Department warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago and urges extreme caution if traveling there.

I wanted to find a place that has a lot of english speakers, a place with beaches, a place to do tourist stuff and take lots of pictures. Some place where people are nice (well as nice as I can find in the states not asking for much)

In the end I could go to Florida, or California but that doesnt make for a very good vacation story does it? Maybe Australia?

I have been to Mindanao several times. There are good areas there and bad areas. Sulu archipelago is dangerous even for Filipinos. However, many areas of Mindanao such as Surigao as well as Cagayan de Oro or Butuan are safer than many places in the USA. Davao is also fairly safe. Plus if you are a white or a black guy, most Filipinos are shoulder height to you and many are scared of you. Even in groups they get shy when they see you.

All things need to be kept in proper perspective.

I wonder how many foreign governments issue warning about the USA. I personally do not feel safe in any US city after dark or even during the day. That is why one needs to know where one should go and where one should not go in terms of areas of the city. BTW, the USA is known on many countries as a violent, dangerous place where one can get beaten, raped, shot or jailed on a slight pretext and given astronomical prison terms. Many of my Saudi students dread going there because of the danger. There is another danger in the USA- the country is involved politically all the time and every tme there is a conflict with some country, people who appear to be of the race of that country get harassed, beaten and even killed. No matter if they are tourists, green card holders or native born.

Remember a Sikh who got killed after September 11? Then a Sikh Temple attacked ( because they look like Osama bin Ladin). Then, I knew of guys from Byelorussia who got killed by Puerto Ricans in New York because they were "Pollacks" in the wrong neighborhood. My native language is Russian ( and I am not from Russia, btw) and I always tell my mom to tone it down when we go outside and try and speak in English only because you never know what bozo patriot can come out of the woodwork and do some crazy thing. 39% of Americans own guns and some wacko can have it in his car and pull it on you if he is in a "patriotic" mood or even in the moment of road rage, too. Cops can also shoot you if you just put a hand in your pocket- I almost got shot once just reaching for an ID. I find America to be a scary place. Police everywhere, mean-looking dudes swaggering around all over the place. It is scary. Only when you move into some exclusive neighborhoods behind the gates can you find friendly people who are not scared of you.

If you come from the USA, you already know what danger is and you should be hardened to it.

Now, if you come from Switzerland or Japan or Singapore or some other safe country and go to the Philippines, then you should worry, but if you come from America, you can just relax. Most countries are safer than America to begin with. Just act as you would if you were in East LA when in the Philippines and you should be OK.

The biggest danger here is not random violence, but con games and scams and all these false friends who try to get your money through sweet persuasion, cute girls with boyfriends/husbands who swear love to you and ask you to help them. Lots of sneaky backstabbing people who try and black mail you and all that. They have their own ways of making you part with your money and it is not by violent means. Those you need to watch out for. Hookers who file rape charges against you, slander, lies, all kinds of underhanded crafty stuff behind sweet Asian smiles. That is what most Americans become victims of of they get in trouble there.

On the other hand, you have a huge number of very straight, super honorable, very hard core Christian people who would never cheat you, who give you correct change all the time, who welcome you like I had never seen anyone welcome anyone on Earth. Girls who love men with the kind of love that has been gone from the Western world for 100 years at least, families that are strong, very little race discrimination, people treated on thier merits- if they are good people, the are accepted, if they are bad people, they are rejected. That is one segment of the Philippine population that is the country's treasure. Once you find those, they wll be your friends for life and you could not wish for anyone better. These take time to find and you need to live your way into society there, because those who make a beeline for a tourist are usually dubious characters one needs to be careful of. Also, big cities everywhere on earth create monstrous people with no compunction and no remourse.

gmm567 · Post by **gmm567** » March 13th, 2009, 1:59 pm

well yea, ladislav, why doesn't the state department issue warnings to people travelling to Los Angeles? There are 100,000 gang members there in that city. Orange county has 200,000 people in the county jail at anyone time. L.A. is a very dangerous place....and you should be very cautious where you go. Going to East LA, or South Chicago, and many other areas in the US, is scary and dangerous.

momopi · Post by **momopi** » March 13th, 2009, 6:41 pm

gmm567 wrote:well yea, ladislav, why doesn't the state department issue warnings to people travelling to Los Angeles? There are 100,000 gang members there in that city. Orange county has 200,000 people in the county jail at anyone time. L.A. is a very dangerous place....and you should be very cautious where you go. Going to East LA, or South Chicago, and many other areas in the US, is scary and dangerous.

Statistically speaking, the worse places to live in CA is Stockton and Modesto.

Post by **Winston** » March 14th, 2009, 1:39 pm

ladislav wrote:
Mr S wrote:Boracay is lame and over rated, only good if you want to bring a family or have a girl friend or wife. If you're single going there, it totally sucks.
One problem in the Philippines is the absence of good beaches and the fact that you always need to go to some resort to find a beach to swim in. The shore is either gnarled with mangrove trees' roots and is unswimmable ( "Manila" means just that- mangrove place) or it is rocky or it has ugly brown sand. That is why white sand ( which is everywhere in Florida and California for hundreds of miles) is a percious commodity there and they build resorts in the areas where there is some of it or they bring white sand from the outside. Boracay has that white sand and they make a big deal of it because to them it is. Plus it is a prestigious place to bring families or go on honeymoons. But the mayor there disallows go-go bars or any kind of nightlife that is not family oriented. Because that would scare large Korean, Japanese or other such familes from coming. I went there alone and I did not enjoy it. I went there with my mother and we had a ball there.

W: This Korean American guy told me that there were go go bars in Boracay but that they were kind of expensive. He barfined a few of them. Are you sure there are none?

Post by **Winston** » March 14th, 2009, 1:45 pm

Damn Ladislav, you must have grown up in a bad area in the US. Like a poor part of LA?

I grew up in Fremont in Silicon Valley and it was the safest place in the country. Nothing ever happened. You were more likely to die of boredom than anything else. But then again, suburbs were created to raise children and exclude the outside world in a safe sterile environment.

ladislav · Post by **ladislav** » March 18th, 2009, 10:09 am

WWu777 wrote:Damn Ladislav, you must have grown up in a bad area in the US. Like a poor part of LA?

I grew up in Fremont in Silicon Valley and it was the safest place in the country. Nothing ever happened. You were more likely to die of boredom than anything else. But then again, suburbs were created to raise children and exclude the outside world in a safe sterile environment.

I lived near ghetto areas in New York, Mexican and Puerto Rican areas, I had to walk through the ghetto to go to college, got threatened and cursed all the times, once got smacked by an Italian American guy high on smack( pun intended); then I lived in Puerto Rico itself- some rough areas there, too. Worked in downtown LA- my students would come to class with bullets lodged in their heads, some would quit school because they were...dead.

I was also in East LA working, heavy gang territory, South Central LA- hard black areas, and lived with illegals near Korea town. Too poor at that time to go anywhere else. The places were dangerous as hell.

One gypsy lady told me once: "gutter attracts you". She was right. In retrospect, those areas were fun. The people were either very hostile or very very friendly.

Compared to tough black dudes and Puerto Rican gangsters that I had met, Filipinos seem like such sweet creatures!

Now I live in Palm Springs, CA and nothing ever goes on there.

Hero · Post by **Hero** » April 1st, 2009, 5:30 pm

ladislav wrote: Now I live in Palm Springs, CA and nothing ever goes on there.

Why would you want to live in the USA again? Are you back permanently?

jamesbond · Post by **jamesbond** » April 1st, 2009, 6:16 pm

WWu777 wrote:Damn Ladislav, you must have grown up in a bad area in the US. Like a poor part of LA?

I grew up in Fremont in Silicon Valley and it was the safest place in the country. Nothing ever happened. You were more likely to die of boredom than anything else. But then again, suburbs were created to raise children and exclude the outside world in a safe sterile environment.

That's funny! The suburbs are boring as hell! Living in the suburbs is about as exciting as watching cement dry! lol

I live in a suburb that Money Magazine said was the best place in the US to raise a family. No wonder why it's a horrible place to live if your single! I am bored to tears living in the suburbs, it's nothing but married people and children. Then again, it is very safe, no crime and it's very quiet. I could move into the city but then the crime is higher and it's noisy and crowded. The taxes would be higher too living in the city, so I guess I will stay in the boring as hell suburbs!

momopi · Post by **momopi** » April 1st, 2009, 6:50 pm

There are many beach front bars in Boracay and you can probably chat up the girls there at night. When I go to resorts I usuall bring my own girl, so it's not an issue for me. Also, I think Boracay is probably a lot less remote than El Nido in Palawan.

I read that many PH private schools have their student vacations in Boracay, and the girls love to hit on the hunky pinoy dive masters. So if you want to know where the party's at, you could try diving and befriending the dive master. Bu it's an young adult theme and middle aged folks might not fit in. I've never tried this, so cannot testify to it. Good luck!

th3g4me · Post by **th3g4me** » April 5th, 2009, 10:31 am

Well I am making plans for my trip, and my 26 hour flight with two stops. :S

I've been talking to a lady from Manila online. I am going to meet her in makati (I think?)

I guess she will show me the around. I'm going in December and it was $1600 for flight and hotel. How much cash should I take? I imagine most things food etc can be paid for by cc/debit?

I'm staying for one week btw.

gmm567 · Post by **gmm567** » April 5th, 2009, 12:40 pm

I think you're probably overspending. Winston has a site for cheap airfare at $600 roundtrip. You can easily get a nice hotel room for $20 a night. So you should be able to do the hotel and the airfare for $750.

th3g4me · Post by **th3g4me** » April 6th, 2009, 10:29 am

idk the lowest price I can find so far is 1300. Ive checked travelocity, hotels, and expedia.

Do you have a link?

The Philippines, To go or not to go.

Re: The Philippines, To go or not to go.