Ambush pickpocket attempt on Winston! Was it a setup?

[momopi]

Winston, she has an iPhone 4 here in the picture. It costs $700. Where does a good girl get the money for an iPhone4? She probably works on Fields and didn't want you to see any of her friends.

It may be a fake iPhone. Or it may not be hers. The phone she had was a really basic one. All the girls on Fields Ave claim that they can't even afford to buy a barbecue stick or burger. I don't know why. But I doubt on their low salary, which mostly gets sent to their parents, they could afford a real iPhone.
She told me she works at a Korean restaurant and makes 480p a day, which is above average for a waitress job. She even named the restaurant. I wonder if that's true. Why would she need me to help reimburse the 1200p she lost in her purse then?

Unlocked iPhone 4 retails for $450 new from Apple. 4S starts at $550, and v5 starts at $650 unlocked with no contract. Used and grey market cost less. The photo with her holding up the phone has the bottom covered so I can't really tell, but it looks real enough. Unfortunately I cannot see the EXIF data from the photos either.

If a girl can't afford to buy an expensive purse or phone, she can get a guy to buy it for her. But this is not important. So the pick pockets stole some receipts? Were they credit card receipts?

[CerealKiller]

Winston, I was robbed before by someone I knew from school in a setup.

Why did they choose you? Because you look weak. That's why I'm telling you to lift weights and get stronger and athletic, first off, people will be less likely to pick you as a target for scamming/assault/robbery, and second off girls will like you better. Win win. Other people will recommend becoming more street smart/getting more social skills, whatever, but this is the easiest way, as the physical manifestation of you is much easier to change than your mind.

Winston will never take this advice cause if you read some of his previous posts concerning exercise it's too much effort, time consuming and he doesn't like 'sweating'; so this scenario will never happen in this particular Earthly dimension. Perhaps Winston likes exercise in a parallel universe, but we have the opposite Winston here in this universe. There is no convincing otherwise, I've already tried. He'd be more apt and interested in using gimmicky health products or plastic surgery before he lifts a dumbbell or uses a treadmill regularly. That's the way it is, he is set in his particular thinking patterns nowadays for the most part.

I concur. It's like a law of physics. As far as I can ascertain, 'Winston' and 'advice' simply cannot exist in the same sentence.

Just sayin...

[Devil Dog]

Winston, you go to the Philippines again and head straight to the asshole of the whole country, AC. Of course you are going to meet the worst element of their society at that location.

[OutWest]

Winston, you go to the Philippines again and head straight to the asshole of the whole country, AC. Of course you are going to meet the worst element of their society at that location.

Quite right...it is the sphincter of the Philippines...some cannot resist it! LOL
I avoid that and ALL of metro-Manila like the plague...flying through Cebu avoids the
whole mess.


Outwest

[eurobrat]

...

[Jester]

Winston, you go to the Philippines again and head straight to the asshole of the whole country, AC. Of course you are going to meet the worst element of their society at that location.

+1

[Winston]

Unlocked iPhone 4 retails for $450 new from Apple. 4S starts at $550, and v5 starts at $650 unlocked with no contract. Used and grey market cost less. The photo with her holding up the phone has the bottom covered so I can't really tell, but it looks real enough. Unfortunately I cannot see the EXIF data from the photos either.

If a girl can't afford to buy an expensive purse or phone, she can get a guy to buy it for her. But this is not important. So the pick pockets stole some receipts? Were they credit card receipts?

Well maybe the phone was pickpocketed off another victim? It's not easy to get a guy to just buy you a $400 iPhone like that. You should try it. lol. Or it could have been a China imitation phone. It looked somewhat worn.

Yes I think they were credit card receipts. What can they do with those? They only show the last few digits of my credit cards.

[Winston]

Winston, she looks like a girl into Koreans. u can tell by the way she has done herself up. those girls in AC are easily identifiable. she probably targeted you because she thought u were Korea. lets face it, the way a korean would react to that kind of scam and the way an expat would react is different. after living in Asia for so long among north-east asians, i can tell you that most of them will not resist in a mugging like that, they will just be docile and give in. and they will surely give the girl money afterwards. its called "shao ma-fan", meaning taking the route of least hassle. an expat would probably react the way you did...

Do you really think she works in a Korean restaurant like she claims? She gave me the name of it. I should check it out.

I told her I was American. I do not have a Korean accent, Korean body language, or Korean vibe. I don't see how anyone could mistake me for one.

Expats tend to be more generous and wasteful in their spending. I just saw an expat today order a wine glass and then leave without drinking it.

The Koreans around here are not passive. They are assholes and mafia types.

I don't agree that East Asian adults would allow kids to pickpocket them. What are you talking about? Perhaps you misread. These were beggar kids about 12 or 13 years old. Had I wanted to, I could have kicked them out of the way. But one of my hands was holding the girl's hand and I had a heavy bag attached to my shoulder. Had my hands been free, I would have pushed them away before they came onto me.

I don't see why you said East Asians would stand there and allow kids to pickpocket them. That's not true. Kids are just a pest, not that dangerous.

Now I walk with no bag and just put whatever I need into my front pocket.

You told me once that you had your Android snatched out of your pocket in AC. How did that happen? Why didn't you push away those pickpocket kids? Just be on the scope outside 360 degrees and don't let any barefoot kids with dirty clothes get near you.

[Winston]

Winston, I was robbed before by someone I knew from school in a setup.

Why did they choose you? Because you look weak. That's why I'm telling you to lift weights and get stronger and athletic, first off, people will be less likely to pick you as a target for scamming/assault/robbery, and second off girls will like you better. Win win. Other people will recommend becoming more street smart/getting more social skills, whatever, but this is the easiest way, as the physical manifestation of you is much easier to change than your mind.

Winston will never take this advice cause if you read some of his previous posts concerning exercise it's too much effort, time consuming and he doesn't like 'sweating'; so this scenario will never happen in this particular Earthly dimension. Perhaps Winston likes exercise in a parallel universe, but we have the opposite Winston here in this universe. There is no convincing otherwise, I've already tried. He'd be more apt and interested in using gimmicky health products or plastic surgery before he lifts a dumbbell or uses a treadmill regularly. That's the way it is, he is set in his particular thinking patterns nowadays for the most part.

Dude, I already told you, I am NOT a gym type. I told you many times. Are you deaf? Not every guy is a gym type.

I am a tennis, swimming, martial arts type. I have stayed in shape with those sports before. And also long walking. Going to the gym is not natural. The Native Americans who were in tune with nature didn't go to the gym, yet they were were in great shape and muscular. See the movie "Last of the Mohicans" or "Dances with Wolves".

I told you before, you don't need to go to the gym. You just need to remain physically active and moving throughout the day. Even the BBC said so on their program about exercise. Go to YouTube and type "BBC truth about exercise".

You are acting very narrow for some reason. How many times do I have to repeat the above?

I've been doing just that, like the BBC recommends. I've been walking a lot and eating one meal a day, so I've been losing weight and getting some of my health back again. AC is colder now. Not as hot as before. I don't know why. Maybe the pole shift thing. So I've been walking outside a lot and even in the mall. And I've been doing a soup fast or eating only one meal a day with only light healthy snacks or soups.

Btw, Angeles does not equal Fields Ave. You can have fun in AC and avoid the scammers and pickpocketers by staying on Friendship Rd. where the small cozy cheap bars are. The expats staying on Friendship here tell me that they never go to Fields either. You can experience AC just on Friendship Rd. and avoid all those scammers and hustlers on Fields. Mr S doesn't like the bars on Friendship, but I and many other expats here do. It has a more intimate personal feel to it.

I also like connecting with the bar girls and spending one or two hours with one I like. Its easier to do that on Friendship because the ladies drinks are cheaper. Mr S doesn't like to connect with them though. He's not the type that tries to connect with them or sweet talks them with bola bola. He prefers to hop around and change bars every 15 minutes, which is expensive because of all the drinks he has to buy every 15 minutes. I've never liked that style and found it inefficient.

I'm just saying that you can have fun in AC without all the risks if you avoid Fields Ave. Just trying to broaden you guys' minds, which are quick to judge.

[Winston]

@Winston,

I knew you never had street cred (i.e. street smarts in this context). Maybe you should have put away your "dark is bad, light is good" and start judging everybody for the content of their character.

White-washing can do a number to street smarts and innate judgement: money and intellectualism don't always keep the flies away from the rotting carcasses.

This is why, as a man, you ALWAYS LEAD, even if you don't know the area well. Men lead always!!!!

No. You are wrong and not taking some things into account.

1. I do have street smarts. I'm one. of the few foreigners here who have never lost any valuables. Rock recently had his Amazon Kindle stolen, and Sean (air kind) had his Android smart phone pickpocketed out of his pocket by kids. The only thing I've had stolen before is a little 4GB memory stick.

2. Usually white guys here are the target for scams. I've lived here for years and rarely experienced any scams, only some overcharging and overpricing. Filipinos don't target Asians as much as they do Whites. So I rarely get scammed in comparison with other foreigners.

The light skin thing is based on my experience. It is true that all beggars here are dark skinned. That's a consistent pattern that everyone here can see and will concur with. It's a definite pattern. Even Rock acknowledged it when I brought it up. Come here and you will see for yourself.

3. I've sidestepped many scams before. Just because a few fall through the cracks doesn't mean I'm not street smart. It just means that no one is perfect and nothing is 100 percent. What about all the other scammers I wisely avoided and repelled? Why don't you take those into account?

You judge too much based on one incident. Besides, this was unprecedented. I've never had a girl set me up before. So this was a new one. It's not comparable with the Russian scams. She seemed totally normal too.

4. There's nothing wrong with letting a girl lead. I'm ok with that and nothing usually goes wrong when I let them do that. My mistake was allowing her to lead me away from the crowds and walking on a highway rather than getting into a jeep. Had she taken the lead in more crowded areas, it would have been ok.

However, this was not a totally bad mistake because in the past, I've taken MANY GIRLS in AC away from the crowds to quieter areas and nothing bad had ever happened. So how was I supposed to know it would this time?

Perhaps the real mistake here was not demanding that we ride in a jeepney instead of walking. Also, when we walked to the coffee shop, nothing happened. Why didn't the setup happen during our first walk? Was she trying to connect with me first so that I'd be more helpful when she got robbed?

Remember, hindsight is 20/20. I've met hundreds of girls in AC before and this has never happened. So I was going by my past experience, which makes sense. It's impossible to foresee every little thing that goes wrong in advance. No one can do that. But I do get scammed and robbed FAR LESS than other foreigners here. In fact, Rock is a highly experienced traveler yet he got his Amazon Kindle device snatched.

No one is perfect. But I wasn't that reckless.

Hope you can listen to reason.

[Winston]

Winston, I was robbed before by someone I knew from school in a setup.

Why did they choose you? Because you look weak. That's why I'm telling you to lift weights and get stronger and athletic, first off, people will be less likely to pick you as a target for scamming/assault/robbery, and second off girls will like you better. Win win. Other people will recommend becoming more street smart/getting more social skills, whatever, but this is the easiest way, as the physical manifestation of you is much easier to change than your mind.

Winston will never take this advice cause if you read some of his previous posts concerning exercise it's too much effort, time consuming and he doesn't like 'sweating'; so this scenario will never happen in this particular Earthly dimension. Perhaps Winston likes exercise in a parallel universe, but we have the opposite Winston here in this universe. There is no convincing otherwise, I've already tried. He'd be more apt and interested in using gimmicky health products or plastic surgery before he lifts a dumbbell or uses a treadmill regularly. That's the way it is, he is set in his particular thinking patterns nowadays for the most part.

I concur. It's like a law of physics. As far as I can ascertain, 'Winston' and 'advice' simply cannot exist in the same sentence.

Just sayin...

Not when it comes to bad advice or inapplicable advice. If I took everyone's advice like a robot, I'd be screwed. I'm not that stupid. I think. Do you take every advice given to you? Duh.

If I gave you good advice, would you always follow it?

Case in point:

I gave Mr S good advice about finding a hot bar girl early before they are all barfined. But he never takes it. Instead, he's made the same mistake hundreds of times over for years and never changes. He never listens either. What do you call that?

You can't expect people to just change their habits. It's not that easy.

Everyone likes to criticize and tell others what to do, but no one likes to be criticized or be told what to do. That's why you are all hypocrites, or most of you that is.

You guys have a mob mentality. This is why democracy can never work, and why the Founding Fathers never set up a true democracy in America.

[Rock]

@Winston,

I knew you never had street cred (i.e. street smarts in this context). Maybe you should have put away your "dark is bad, light is good" and start judging everybody for the content of their character.

White-washing can do a number to street smarts and innate judgement: money and intellectualism don't always keep the flies away from the rotting carcasses.

This is why, as a man, you ALWAYS LEAD, even if you don't know the area well. Men lead always!!!!

No. You are wrong and not taking some things into account.

1. I do have street smarts. I'm one. of the few foreigners here who have never lost any valuables. Rock recently had his Amazon Kindle stolen, and Sean (air kind) had his Android smart phone pickpocketed out of his pocket by kids. The only thing I've had stolen before is a little 4GB memory stick.

2. Usually white guys here are the target for scams. I've lived here for years and rarely experienced any scams, only some overcharging and overpricing. Filipinos don't target Asians as much as they do Whites. So I rarely get scammed in comparison with other foreigners.

The light skin thing is based on my experience. It is true that all beggars here are dark skinned. That's a consistent pattern that everyone here can see and will concur with. It's a definite pattern. Even Rock acknowledged it when I brought it up. Come here and you will see for yourself.

3. I've sidestepped many scams before. Just because a few fall through the cracks doesn't mean I'm not street smart. It just means that no one is perfect and nothing is 100 percent. What about all the other scammers I wisely avoided and repelled? Why don't you take those into account?

You judge too much based on one incident. Besides, this was unprecedented. I've never had a girl set me up before. So this was a new one. It's not comparable with the Russian scams. She seemed totally normal too.

4. There's nothing wrong with letting a girl lead. I'm ok with that and nothing usually goes wrong when I let them do that. My mistake was allowing her to lead me away from the crowds and walking on a highway rather than getting into a jeep. Had she taken the lead in more crowded areas, it would have been ok.

However, this was not a totally bad mistake because in the past, I've taken MANY GIRLS in AC away from the crowds to quieter areas and nothing bad had ever happened. So how was I supposed to know it would this time?

Perhaps the real mistake here was not demanding that we ride in a jeepney instead of walking. Also, when we walked to the coffee shop, nothing happened. Why didn't the setup happen during our first walk? Was she trying to connect with me first so that I'd be more helpful when she got robbed?

Remember, hindsight is 20/20. I've met hundreds of girls in AC before and this has never happened. So I was going by my past experience, which makes sense. It's impossible to foresee every little thing that goes wrong in advance. No one can do that. But I do get scammed and robbed FAR LESS than other foreigners here. In fact, Rock is a highly experienced traveler yet he got his Amazon Kindle device snatched.

No one is perfect. But I wasn't that reckless.

Hope you can listen to reason.

No Winston, I left the Kindle on a table at a KFC in SM Northmall. Get yr. facts straight my boy. When I returned for it some 2 hours later, it was gone (surprise surprise) and not turned in to lost and found. That is very different than having it taken from your bag.

I've made the same sort of mistake a couple times in Taipei too. Miraculously, I got my items back in both of those cases.

I also remember accidentally leaving my iPod at a mall counter in the States. I passed by there later and the black dude working the counter called out to me asking if I had lost an iPod. I checked and sure enough, it was not with me. I looked at the one he had and it was mine. I bought something from his counter and told him to keep the few dollars in change as a token of my appreciation for his honesty.

[Rock]

@Winston,

I knew you never had street cred (i.e. street smarts in this context). Maybe you should have put away your "dark is bad, light is good" and start judging everybody for the content of their character.

White-washing can do a number to street smarts and innate judgement: money and intellectualism don't always keep the flies away from the rotting carcasses.

This is why, as a man, you ALWAYS LEAD, even if you don't know the area well. Men lead always!!!!

No. You are wrong and not taking some things into account.

1. I do have street smarts. I'm one. of the few foreigners here who have never lost any valuables. Rock recently had his Amazon Kindle stolen, and Sean (air kind) had his Android smart phone pickpocketed out of his pocket by kids. The only thing I've had stolen before is a little 4GB memory stick.

2. Usually white guys here are the target for scams. I've lived here for years and rarely experienced any scams, only some overcharging and overpricing. Filipinos don't target Asians as much as they do Whites. So I rarely get scammed in comparison with other foreigners.

The light skin thing is based on my experience. It is true that all beggars here are dark skinned. That's a consistent pattern that everyone here can see and will concur with. It's a definite pattern. Even Rock acknowledged it when I brought it up. Come here and you will see for yourself.

3. I've sidestepped many scams before. Just because a few fall through the cracks doesn't mean I'm not street smart. It just means that no one is perfect and nothing is 100 percent. What about all the other scammers I wisely avoided and repelled? Why don't you take those into account?

You judge too much based on one incident. Besides, this was unprecedented. I've never had a girl set me up before. So this was a new one. It's not comparable with the Russian scams. She seemed totally normal too.

4. There's nothing wrong with letting a girl lead. I'm ok with that and nothing usually goes wrong when I let them do that. My mistake was allowing her to lead me away from the crowds and walking on a highway rather than getting into a jeep. Had she taken the lead in more crowded areas, it would have been ok.

However, this was not a totally bad mistake because in the past, I've taken MANY GIRLS in AC away from the crowds to quieter areas and nothing bad had ever happened. So how was I supposed to know it would this time?

Perhaps the real mistake here was not demanding that we ride in a jeepney instead of walking. Also, when we walked to the coffee shop, nothing happened. Why didn't the setup happen during our first walk? Was she trying to connect with me first so that I'd be more helpful when she got robbed?

Remember, hindsight is 20/20. I've met hundreds of girls in AC before and this has never happened. So I was going by my past experience, which makes sense. It's impossible to foresee every little thing that goes wrong in advance. No one can do that. But I do get scammed and robbed FAR LESS than other foreigners here. In fact, Rock is a highly experienced traveler yet he got his Amazon Kindle device snatched.

No one is perfect. But I wasn't that reckless.

Hope you can listen to reason.

Yr. strength is being a tight ass and not falling into the sugar daddy trap that Lad and many others do. But u should not engage the street kids or other types who approach u. U gotta learn to display meaner and colder body language.

I don't have much problem with street kids and random types who come up to me for a reason. I calculate my path to avoid them (street kids and ladyboys and aggressive touts). I never make direct eye contact with anyone keen to approach me. I'm as cold as ice with a hard gaze to them (I kinda emanate the same vibe to them that hot ass chicks in a US club often do to random punters who try to approach them). If they block my way, briskly walk around them keeping distance, if they keep following and approaching me, bark something harsh in a language they don't know (I use Mandarin) and I never ever make any convo with them. In Asia, that's usually more than enough. But places like DR and certain areas of LatAm, touts and street kids are even more aggressive and sometimes dangerous. I've had to resort to acting a bit crazy (babbling incomprehensibly and looking at them with a wild eyes) n a couple cases to thwart harassment. But I also never insult them or curse them with universal swear words. U don't wanna give them any excuse to go into offensive/attack mode. Ginger actually witnessed a lady insult a group of street kids in Malate and end up getting assaulted.

Anyway, net result of my actions is never having anything snatched or even pick-pocketed from me.

[Winston]

Well I've also never had anything pickpocketed either. My Pacsafe wallet is attached to a steel chain and everything valuable is in my front pocket. I'm streetwise in that sense.

But my point is, NO ONE can cover every base, every track and every detail. Even you leave your devices on the table and forget them. Sometimes things will slip through the crack. Even if you are street smart.

Even the most experienced expat here, Ladislav, has had his cell phone stolen many times in the Philippines. But then again, he is not a calculating type of guy who takes many precautions. He is too relaxed and isn't anal with details.

I usually scare off beggar kids too. I give them a mean face and hostile body language, especially when they approach Dianne. That's usually enough. But if you are on a street with few people at night they can get physical and grab onto you. At that point, you do have the right to kick them since they are attacking first. They are usually half your size, so you can knock them down easily.

Most of the time, raising your hand does the trick. But this appears to have been an ambush. Next time, I will walk with no bags. Then my hands are freer to react. And I can launch a back kick more readily.

The last time we were in Ermita, Rock, and those kids started touching me, why didn't you do anything? You just walked on like it wasn't your problem. Most of my other friends would have grabbed the kids and thrown them. Friends are supposed to protect each other. I would have done the same for you.

My hand was busy holding a girl at the time though. And I had to protect my bag too. That's what sucked. Those street kids usually approach guys with girls or carrying bags, when their hands are not free. If I walk around alone with hands and legs free, they don't usually dare to even touch my arm.

Btw, you can't always avoid those street kids. They sometimes pop out of nowhere. When I was set up, they came out from behind a parked vehicle. I usually walk around them too if they are visible. It's not sanitary to touch them.

[Rock]

The last time we were in Ermita, Rock, and those kids started touching me, why didn't you do anything? You just walked on like it wasn't your problem. Most of my other friends would have grabbed the kids and thrown them. Friends are supposed to protect each other. I would have done the same for you.

I don't wanna get near those mongrels. They are like tar babies. If u get any contact, more will just keep coming and grabbing at u from all angles. Since u say u r not afraid of Chiayi ghetto types, I figured u could handle a small street boy, lol. I'm not getting near those little rats. The more contact they get with u, the more opportunity they have to snatch something out of yr. pockets. I always always distance myself but if really cornered or surrounded by such figures, I will act crazy and fight to keep them away, even if I have to throw one or more of them.