Republic of the Philippines Not as it Seems

[keius]

PH_Visitor:

By all accounts, you should be used to the kind of changes occurring in the PHI. As mentioned by others, the rate of change, inflation, etc moves very fast in the PHI. The same is true for China(i'm using China since you were using it as a point of reference). My in-laws are still in China and i'm still providing support for them. Exchange rates get worse. inflation seems to happen at 4x's the speed of the US. Economic development/change seems to happen at 4x's the pace as well....although i doubt this is true for the PHI. You need to realize that living in Manila for the PHI is the equivalent of living in Beijing/Shanghai in China. While I was in China enjoying myself, and I thought i was fairly frugal, i was going through $2-3K USD per month, without having to spend on housing. And that's in a 2nd/3rd tier city. It's all about the lifestyle/level of comfort that you are willing to pay for.

Gotta give China one thing, that one child policy...while screwed up (should be 2 child policy) has at least provided some measure of control for the insane population growth and poverty that the PHI is dealing with (blame their religion issues).
I'm still undecided on which gov't is more corrupt and self-serving.

Next time you travel, do your research more thoroughly. And stop the whining please, no one really disagrees with you on the points you've made (on Manila). The hostility is because you are coming across as a non-stop whiner.

[ManInSiam]

delete

[Mr S]

I generally don't eat out much anymore, occasionally I will if I'm out of town. But because of the price increases and less money in my pocket, I'm reluctant to spend Western prices in PI, for substandard food and service for the most part. I just go to the grocery store and pick up some fruit and cans of sardines or tuna and eat that in my hotel room. Local canned sardines go between 11-25 pesos a can depending on the brand and style. They got sardines in glass jars now which run between 65-100 pesos depending on brand/style. You get a bit more than in a can and I guess maybe its healthier than canned fish. I think cans nowadays are lined with BPA, which is a estrogen mimicker so one should limit their canned goods if possible. I think the PI is still kinda primitive though and can't afford to spend ectra to line their inner cans with plastic, so it doesn't matter for the locally produced canned foods. I notice the plastic lined ones on foreign imported foods from Europe and North America.

So I can get a healthy full meal for less than 50 pesos by just eating fish and fruit. High protein, healthy Omega 3 fats, and some local fruits gives quite a nutritious meal. Nothing fancy but it works. I'm not really a food guy so I could care less what I eat as long as its palatable and nutritious. I refuse to spend 300+ just to eat a meal at a local restaurant unless I have no other choice.

I left the states in 2003 after I saw what Bush was doing after 9/11. I had a feeling things were not going to get better but slowly deteriorate. The two + years I had been working at my job things jst kept getting slowly worse rather than better. I've noticed that in EVERY job I did since I started working. Everyone I talked to that had been at the company/Navy would always say how much better it was in th past. So I figured this was a trend in America all over. So since I was still single and didn't have any major commitments I left, sold everything and took about 5k+ cash and decided to get by overseas by teaching. It's not the greatest job in the world but it got me out of the USA matrix and I was able to be truly free, unlike in USA. This was before Winston really had a strong online presence, he was beginning to explore Eastern Europe and Russia.

Teaching is the easiest way to go overseas, but most people can't hack it for long. They either get bored or they get stuck in a particular country for whatever reason, and try to branch out doing something else. Most only do it for a couple years then end up back in their original country of origin.

Most elite Filipinos only care about their family clan and business partners that can get them ahead. There are some honest ones out there but they are few and far between. Most of them realize the corruption is completely out of control here and they send their sons/daughters overseas to go to school.work to obtain a second citizenship. The dirty corrupt ones just stick around and pass the buck on to their trained sons and daughters to continue their cronney system of corruption. the ones that should be standing up against the system are now making new lives overseas in Anglo-Western countries, they are far removed from the goings on of the Philippines other than their cultural ties. This is what the power structure encourages, they want the potential troublemakers to go overseas and either send money back or visit as tourists. There is no current hope for the Philippines. If things are to ever change here is will take at least another 2 generations, most likely longer. So we are looking at some 44+ years into the future.

I'm not saying PI is totally a bad place to live, it has its positives and minuses just like any place. I suppose at this juncture in my life its easier for me to live here than in the states. Most likely this will change in 5-10 years, but for now I'm getting by Okay with the normal complaints that any human has about various matters of society. The key is being able to see and interpret upcoming future trends before they come to fruition. Get out before they impact you life. I did this in the states, I will do this in PI if i sense any upcoming dangerous trends. For now its okay here, other than the typical reoccurring issues that is part of the PI and won't be going away anytime soon.

[ph_visitor]

ph visitor,
Where do you find cheap hotels in China? A guy here named Xiongmao said that hotels there were about $30 a night. How do you find cheaper than that? Any tips? Are they advertised online? Or do you ask taxi drivers?

I heard that taxis in China were expensive at 7 RMB a kilometer.

What about train prices? How much and for what class of compartment?

Hotels are 128 to 198 RMB per night.

That is 858 to 1339 PHP per night, in a more developed nation. Under $30 usd. Closer to $20.

You can easily spend 698 for a very nice room. That's 4725 php for a top flight hotel that exists in most cities. Those are for The Party, but you can check in. They have a certain type of name to search for.

As no one has been helpful here for me, I see no reason (at all) to share any information that I know about China.

No, I won't tell you more and no I won't respond to your PM question Winston.

You guys didn't help me, and now I am returning the favor.

[Seeker]

We can't make the women more attractive to you.

We can't lower the prices.

So how can we be of any help to you?

[Rock]

ph visitor,
Where do you find cheap hotels in China? A guy here named Xiongmao said that hotels there were about $30 a night. How do you find cheaper than that? Any tips? Are they advertised online? Or do you ask taxi drivers?

I heard that taxis in China were expensive at 7 RMB a kilometer.

What about train prices? How much and for what class of compartment?

Hotels are 128 to 198 RMB per night.

That is 858 to 1339 PHP per night, in a more developed nation. Under $30 usd. Closer to $20.

You can easily spend 698 for a very nice room. That's 4725 php for a top flight hotel that exists in most cities. Those are for The Party, but you can check in. They have a certain type of name to search for.

As no one has been helpful here for me, I see no reason (at all) to share any information that I know about China.

No, I won't tell you more and no I won't respond to your PM question Winston.

You guys didn't help me, and now I am returning the favor.

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

[Winston]

ph visitor,
Where do you find cheap hotels in China? A guy here named Xiongmao said that hotels there were about $30 a night. How do you find cheaper than that? Any tips? Are they advertised online? Or do you ask taxi drivers?

I heard that taxis in China were expensive at 7 RMB a kilometer.

What about train prices? How much and for what class of compartment?

Hotels are 128 to 198 RMB per night.

That is 858 to 1339 PHP per night, in a more developed nation. Under $30 usd. Closer to $20.

You can easily spend 698 for a very nice room. That's 4725 php for a top flight hotel that exists in most cities. Those are for The Party, but you can check in. They have a certain type of name to search for.

As no one has been helpful here for me, I see no reason (at all) to share any information that I know about China.

No, I won't tell you more and no I won't respond to your PM question Winston.

You guys didn't help me, and now I am returning the favor.

How can you say I didn't help you? Do you have extreme cognitive dissonance? In this thread, I posted a ton of info and pics on food prices and 12 hour apartelle prices in Manila, and gave you many specific examples and names of places you can eat at and stay the night at for cheap. Remember? I spent a lot of time on that - just for you! You unappreciative bastard.

[Dogboy86]

ph visitor,
Where do you find cheap hotels in China? A guy here named Xiongmao said that hotels there were about $30 a night. How do you find cheaper than that? Any tips? Are they advertised online? Or do you ask taxi drivers?

I heard that taxis in China were expensive at 7 RMB a kilometer.

What about train prices? How much and for what class of compartment?

Hotels are 128 to 198 RMB per night.

That is 858 to 1339 PHP per night, in a more developed nation. Under $30 usd. Closer to $20.

You can easily spend 698 for a very nice room. That's 4725 php for a top flight hotel that exists in most cities. Those are for The Party, but you can check in. They have a certain type of name to search for.

As no one has been helpful here for me, I see no reason (at all) to share any information that I know about China.

No, I won't tell you more and no I won't respond to your PM question Winston.

You guys didn't help me, and now I am returning the favor.

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

Damn Rock, thought you were talking to Winston there for a second...

[ph_visitor]

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

...and f**k you guys, too.

Useless and delusional or lying keyboard jockeys spreading disinformation and the usual useless internet forum nonsense.

None of you have any right to refer to someone who has survived two heart attacks, and has lasting health issues as a result, as being 'whiney'.

Bunch of ill-mannered, ruthless young men with no empathy.

A true slice of America in 2012.

[ph_visitor]

How can you say I didn't help you? Do you have extreme cognitive dissonance? In this thread, I posted a ton of info and pics on food prices...

You posted burger prices to fast food joints that are appropriate for teenagers or those who wish to eat themselves to death at 5X to 10X the price of a bowl of healthy noodles.

Jollibee isn't 'food'.

[mercurymarch]

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

...and f**k you guys, too.

Useless and delusional or lying keyboard jockeys spreading disinformation and the usual useless internet forum nonsense.

None of you have any right to refer to someone who has survived two heart attacks, and has lasting health issues as a result, as being 'whiney'.

Bunch of ill-mannered, ruthless young men with no empathy.

A true slice of America in 2012.

I think it is a little ironic that an acknowledged old lecher, one with a foul mouth to boot, is trying to take the moral high ground.

[Rock]

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

...and f**k you guys, too.

Useless and delusional or lying keyboard jockeys spreading disinformation and the usual useless internet forum nonsense.

None of you have any right to refer to someone who has survived two heart attacks, and has lasting health issues as a result, as being 'whiney'.

Bunch of ill-mannered, ruthless young men with no empathy.

A true slice of America in 2012.

That's all besides the key point - if you don't like us and our forum, why are you here?

You imply that you're some infirm old man yet if memory serves me correctly, you're just early 40s. There are posters well over 50 here.

Your attitude is totally unacceptable. We spend time to help you by responding to your complaints, you get angry at us for doing that, and you refuse to offer any useful information from your own experience in return. How are you of any value to this community? And since you're written us off, how are we of value to you? It seems to me you are just using us an audience to whine to. So yes, you are indeed a whiner. Pretty pathetic for fully grown man.

Why don't you just solve your problem with us by leaving?

[davewe]

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

...and f**k you guys, too.

Useless and delusional or lying keyboard jockeys spreading disinformation and the usual useless internet forum nonsense.

None of you have any right to refer to someone who has survived two heart attacks, and has lasting health issues as a result, as being 'whiney'.

Bunch of ill-mannered, ruthless young men with no empathy.

A true slice of America in 2012.

That's all besides the key point - if you don't like us and our forum, why are you here?

You imply that you're some infirm old man yet if memory serves me correctly, you're just early 40s. There are posters well over 50 here.

Your attitude is totally unacceptable. We spend time to help you by responding to your complaints, you get angry at us for doing that, and you refuse to offer any useful information from your own experience in return. How are you of any value to this community? And since you're written us off, how are we of value to you? It seems to me you are just using us an audience to whine to. So yes, you are indeed a whiner. Pretty pathetic for fully grown man.

Why don't you just solve your problem with us by leaving?

+1

Most of the people who attempted to help or at least respond to his compliants aren't "ill mannered, ruthless young men." Ill-mannered older men in my case.

[OutWest]

It seems that you don’t need us and we don’t need you. So the best practical advice I can think of:

1. Change your ticket, leave PI immediately, and never look back.

2. Stop posting your useless whiney rants and leave this forum for good.

Good riddance!

...and f**k you guys, too.

Useless and delusional or lying keyboard jockeys spreading disinformation and the usual useless internet forum nonsense.

None of you have any right to refer to someone who has survived two heart attacks, and has lasting health issues as a result, as being 'whiney'.

Bunch of ill-mannered, ruthless young men with no empathy.

A true slice of America in 2012.

I think it is a little ironic that an acknowledged old lecher, one with a foul mouth to boot, is trying to take the moral high ground.

+1 ! Let us see...a potty mouthed lecherous crank with an attitude taking the high moral ground...LOL

>>formula for healthy cheap eating: Buy a cheap rice cooker or hotplate. Good for rice and noodles...buy canned
fish as Mr S points out. Find the closest open air produce market. Haggle prices! Buy fresh fruit and vegetables.
You might have to sneak the hotplate/rice cooker into your room, but that is easy. Leave it out of site if the maid
is around. It's cheap, healthy, and tasty if you have even basic skills. Small sardine type fish especially are heart healthy.
Rice or Pancit noodles, fruit, vegetables, fish...vary the combinations to taste. This is a good basic skill anywhere
in the world.

Outwest

[ph_visitor]

I am back in China, and my GOD the difference in the women is stunning.

I thought I was making it up or being overly critical.

No way.

The women here are hot, pretty and fuckable and the women in Sabang, Luzon, Manila, Batangas and AC are NOT.

It's that simple.

I walk down the street and think:

"Damn, now THAT'S more like it."

Easily one out of 6 is doable here, and in the RP I saw 3 in 14 days who were in the same category.

As others have noted, Pilipinas do not adhere to Pan-Asian standards of beauty. That's a fancy way of saying that the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, and Westerners with the same value set, think that they are ugly.