Mguy and Falcon hit the Manila malls (pics galore!)

[Falcon]

So in a nutshell: Mguy and I, both young Asian-American guys, found middle-class Filipinas at malls and other public areas easy to approach, chat up, flirt with, take pictures of, and get numbers. Special thanks to Mguy for showing me how easy it is to initiate flirting with random women in Manila malls.


Mguy and I walked around some malls in the Metro Manila cities of Pasay City, Makati City, and Alabang today. The malls are frequented mostly by middle-class Filipinos rather than the lower-class provincial folks. Although some posters here have reported that women in Manila malls completely ignore them, we experienced quite the opposite. Mguy explained that it's because middle-class Filipinas tend to be suspicious of people who look like they could be white/foreign mongers, but not young Asian guys. For middle-class Filipinas, being with a white guy (except maybe for the Rock types or the engineer/well-to-do types) actually carries a stigma. (Contrast our experience with In Manila right now, all girls ignoring me, exactly like USA)

We both cold approached some women, and it turned out to be very natural, fun, and pleasant. We'd approach some girls straight with bold questions such as, "Hey, can we take your picture?" And they'd often say "yes" right away. We'd both flirt with the girls in Tagalog. (Mguy's Tagalog is native, while I have intermediate Tagalog speaking skills.) Look at all the friendly smiles we got!






These two girls were from China. Their reaction was completely different, and were more wary of interacting with strangers. However, they opened up once I explained to them in Mandarin that Filipinos tend to more open and laid-back, and that this is nothing to be worried about. However, they're still not as spicy, flirty, and seductive as Filipinas, and Mguy thought they were way too stand-offish and paranoid, haha. Here they are.




My camera had broken down the other day, so I went with Mguy to buy a new one. Mguy and I flirted with the camera saleslady, and took pics and videos of her. She was very smiley and happy all the time, and enjoyed the attention she got from us "babaeros". Look at how friendly and warm she is! This would not happen in Taiwan.








We also saw a girl sitting at a table by herself, so we approached her and sat next to her. She turned out to be a university student studying for an exam. She was about my age. She was even quite excited to hold up a sign for us that said "HA" (HappierAbroad)! She's middle-class, classy, and attractive too like Julia, the NTU girl that Rock had chatted up at a Taipei bookstore, but I found her far more approachable, easy to talk to, and "my type" kind of person.








Mguy even took me to Alabang, an exclusive area where upper-class Filipinos live. When we hailed a taxi from Makati to go to Alabang, the taxi driver knew right away that we had money. He kept trying to hike up the price, but we managed to settle it at 600 pesos. We also took the toll road (SkyWay), which cost us another 140 pesos.

At the end of the night, I decided to make it back to my hostel in Central Manila via jeepney and bus, even though Mguy had recommended me to take the taxi. On the jeepney, I met a cute, friendly girl from Laguna named Diane, who was also my age. She spent maybe over 15 minutes just trying to find the right bus for me, since the jeepney had dropped us off at a chaotic transfer area. She was incredibly friendly and talkative. And the end, I thanked her and blew her a kiss on the hand. She didn't pull away or react negatively, and only smiled back at me. I forgot to get a picture of her though, since I was rushing to get on the bus!

[Winston]

NICE!!!
Thanks for having that girl hold up the HA sign. We can use that as a promo here. lol

You seemed to do better than Rock and I at those malls. The girls there don't usually talk to us. I mean, the workers do, but not the shoppers. Which malls did you go to exactly?

Now perhaps you understand what me and Ladislav meant when we told you that the Filipinas have a very relaxing and soothing vibe about them. Do you feel it and see it now? It's priceless and something you could NEVER get in the USA or Taiwan.

You ought to challenge and dare Rock to go to the malls in Taipei and take pictures like that. lol. He won't do it of course and will have an excuse, but it just proves our point. Actions speak louder than words, and so do pictures!

[Winston]

Who is the girl on the right here? She's so hot. Did you get her number or email? She is in the top 10 percent in terms of looks in the Philippines.

[Falcon]

We flirted with girls in malls in Pasay City, like the Mall of Asia. But Mguy would not flirt with the upper-class women in the very upscale areas like Alabang or certain malls in Makati, since as an upper-class Filipino himself, he can't mess around with them as he can with the middle-class ones.

Mguy said that he'd recommend University of the Philippines (UP) girls for me. If I wanted to, I believe I could really date them!

We did so well with the middle-class Filipinas from Manila. Now just imagine how the working-class ladies from the Visayas would be like!

You seemed to do better than Rock and I at those malls. The girls there don't usually talk to us. I mean, the workers do, but not the shoppers.

The trick is to try to "be Filipino" and not look or act like an obvious foreigner. Mguy had said that these middle-class shoppers don't worship foreigners and prefer to stick to their own kind. We'd both speak to them in Tagalog, and when we do speak English, we speak with Filipino accents.

We flirted with many other girls that we didn't take pictures of. We could just shout out, "Hey maganda!" to random girls and often get smiles back.

[Falcon]

Haha, we didn't get her number. I found the university student holding up the "HA" sign to be more attractive.

Here are even more of the Filipinas at the malls who had smiled at us, given us eye contact, or even chatted/flirted with us (we didn't ask all of them to pose for us though)!

The amazing thing was, this was all done in one afternoon at different malls!

[Repatriate]

Excellent trip report. Mguy is finally leading you down the right path Falcon. There are quite a few legitimately attractive women in that report. That girl that you said you thought was attractive really is attractive too. You should have pushed for a date she looked smart and classy.

Maybe the Philippines is more your style Falcon. I think Filipinos are more relaxed overall in personality. Even the ones in the U.S. i've hung out with were pretty cool people.

[Falcon]

We did much of our flirting and approaching at the Mall of Asia.

But here's what Winston had said in viewtopic.php?t=11814&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 :

First of all, the girls in Mall of Asia are usually middle class and don't like to talk to strangers much. They don't even talk to me.

But they really enjoyed talking to strangers likes me and Mguy.

Maybe the Philippines is more your style Falcon. I think Filipinos are more relaxed overall in personality. Even the ones in the U.S. i've hung out with were pretty cool people.

The Philippines is the Mexico of Asia, and as you guys know, Latin America is more of my style than Taiwan is. If you interact very well and naturally with Latinos, then you'll most likely also be the same way with Filipinos.

Tagalog seems to come more naturally to me than Thai. Though many HA posters here would say Tagalog is completely unnecessary, for me it's highly necessary. They'll react differently and see you more as an equal. The conversations would be much livelier and more fun. It's like speaking Spanish to Mexicans who can speak English anyways, but the interaction in Spanish would let you connect with them even deeper.

[Winston]

Falcon,
When you approached them, did you use Tagalog or English? If you spoke Tagalog, wouldn't they think you are Filipino?

Is Mguy a white guy? Is he good looking? Would they be friendly to you if you were alone and not with him?

Also, do you find Filipinas to have the same vibe as Thai girls? Are they the same in terms of approachability and relaxness?

[Falcon]

Falcon,
When you approached them, did you use Tagalog or English? If you spoke Tagalog, wouldn't they think you are Filipino?

Is Mguy a white guy? Is he good looking? Would they be friendly to you if you were alone and not with him?

Also, do you find Filipinas to have the same vibe as Thai girls? Are they the same in terms of approachability and relaxness?

I would approach them using Tagalog or Taglish. Thus, at first they'd usually think I'm Filipino. I might tell them later on that I'm Taiwanese American. An open, fun, bubbly, and flirty personality counts a lot too. That's why they'd also be just about as friendly to me when I'm alone.

Mguy is a good-looking Filipino-American guy in his late 20's.

Thai girls do not have the same vibe as Filipinas at all. They'd be relatively more reserved due to more Chinese influence and Buddhist culture, but are still much more open than mainland Chinese. Filipinas vibe much more like Latina women, although Mguy and I both agree that Latinas can have a certain kind of outrageous flirtiness that even the Filipinas don't have. I mean, Filipinas sometimes call me "guwapo" or "pogi," but Latinas might smack me on the cheek and actually be aggressively flirty vs. just cute and giggly.

[Falcon]

Taipei to Manila: 90-minute flight, less than $40 one-way. They're so close to each other and yet so different.

For heaven's sake, just look at this huge, huge contrast!

[publicduende]

Taipei to Manila: 90-minute flight, less than $40 one-way. They're so close to each other and yet so different.

For heaven's sake, just look at this huge, huge contrast!

LOL I actually like the (Taiwanese?) girl who was with Winston more

[Taco]

There's lots of good looking, friendly, single women patrolling the malls in PI and some have even flirted with me. However, this is not a great place to find women you can trust, although it is better than going to a bar. Just remember, the better she looks the less likely you'll be dating her 6 months from now. The girl holding the HA sign is dangerous for sure.

[zboy1]

It's so refreshing to be in a part of the world where Asian women actually like Asian men--for once. It's a really nice feeling...and the women are very approachable throughout most (though not ALL) of Asia, except in the heavily Westernized Asian countries like S. Korea and Taiwan...

[Falcon]

It's so refreshing to be in a part of the world where Asian women actually like Asian men--for once. It's a really nice feeling...and the women are very approachable throughout most (though not ALL) of Asia, except in the heavily Westernized Asian countries like S. Korea and Taiwan...

Mguy and I talked about this topic a lot.

You know, middle-class Filipinas and Thais would actually prefer Asian guys over white guys.

At the malls, whenever Mguy saw an older white guy with a young Filipina (who almost wouldn't ever be middle-class), he'd shout out, "Monger!" Or, he'd make some weird noises. Hehehe.

You ought to challenge and dare Rock to go to the malls in Taipei and take pictures like that. lol. He won't do it of course and will have an excuse, but it just proves our point. Actions speak louder than words, and so do pictures!

It would just be "weird" in Taiwan. No matter no good-looking or conformist/mainstream-looking or Jay Chou-looking you are, I highly doubt that Taiwanese women would ever smile and pose the way these Filipinas did when cold-approached.

[ladislav]

At the malls, whenever Mguy saw an older white guy with a young Filipina (who almost wouldn't ever be middle-class), he'd shout out, "Monger!" Or, he'd make some weird noises. Hehehe. Razz

This is not nice. They could be a married couple. Or that man could be me. Or any of our members here. Please refrain- this is highly offensive and not appropriate. Unless you see a person coming out of a whorehouse or with a hooker from a hooker bar, you are making a race-based assumption. Totally out, gentlemen.