Back from Philippines and France

[ladislav]

In August, I did my first post covid drip to the PH. Spent most of my time in Manila and Angeles. Went to Bacolod, as well. Just a few thoughts.
The Philippines as usual, is a great place to visit and for an extended stay. But after 3.5 months, I was itching to leave.

The good things now: the people are way nicer to tourists than before. Also, there are fewer Korean "competitors". You see a more balanced mix of nationalities among the foreigners. Before Covid, everywhere you went, it was a river of glum-looking, sour-faced Koreans everywhere. They owned many places. But Covid reminded them that they can't own anything. Many bosses went packing.

It was again very nice to revisit my old haunts without being cock-blocked by them.

The ladies in the girly bars are prettier now as the economy suffered a huge setback. So, it is kind of back to the old days, but not entirely. The ladies everywhere are friendlier, because again, they now have less money.

Clark has a sparkling new airport which looks 1st world. Amazing. When you order a ride, make sure they do not take you to the old one.

But outside of the ladies and the friendly, inclusive people, many things began irritating me.

Now, with everyone having a cellphone, people listen to music on it or watch sports without headsets. This creates huge noise pollution everywhere you go. You want to have a meal, and the waitress sits down and listens to YT and then, other attendants and customers do, too. It was not so prevalent before, but now, it is everywhere and it starts getting on your nerves. Quiet becomes a rare commodity.

The constant power cuts and Internet cuts also begin to wear you down. Then, if you get a cheaper hotel, the security there sucks. Their security cam would not record because of constant downs with the Internet. The staff just listens to the music all day or watches soap operas. Someone got into my room and stole things and they could not even play the recording on the security cam.

The fact that people cannot answer simple questions such as " Are banks open on Saturdays in the Philippines?" also starts making you feel tired. " I don't know" is an answer from a 40 year old man.

And then, you realize that most food is kind of inedible. They put sugar almost into everything, especially Western food. Sweet spaghetti, sweet ketchup, a lasagna with a sauce that tastes like ice cream. You start yearning for a normal sandwich, a hot dog with mustard, normal milk and a burger without sweet sauce.

I enjoyed what was there to enjoy and left after 100 days.

Anyway, it is not expensive to route your flight back to LAX through Paris, so I did it. Cost about a grand.

A down and dirty on Paris:

The city is magic. Magestic. Nothing like this anywhere. In most parts of the world, such architecture would be smaller and located in a historic center. But in Paris, the whole enormous city is a historic center. Tall, medieval buildings on streets that disappear into the horizon. Grand domes of cathedrals everywhere, and then, every building tells a story. The art is beyond description. I went up the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, the Monmartre and the Champs Elysees. And the food was great. I was starving after the Philippines and ate and ate.

Was it expensive? It was cheaper than LA by some 20-30% mainly because the Euro went down by 20-30%. Of course it was not Philippines-cheap but still not so bad.

The people were not as rude or arrogant as others say they are. Most looked modest and down to earth. The whole place was kind of socialist with a lot of equality in the way people treated each other. The minorities ( and even the majorities) were not as angry or hateful. I would meet black people who would greet me and nod back when I nodded at them. The place is a lot more integrated than the USA. A lot. In France, there is no hyphenation, no stats gathered on ethnicity or descent, no difference between native born and foreign born in the law, no ethnic labeling, and a citizen of France is a Frenchman. Period. A much better system than in the USA.

The city was full of people who were from former French colonies: Black Africans, Berbers, Cambodians, VNese, Malagasis, etc.

As far as the women. Not a good place for a man to go and pick up girls. This is why nobody goes there for that. I saw way more men than women everywhere and lots of people of Arab origin. So, if you want to fall in love in Paris as a tourist, better go there on honeymoon with someone you already have.

[kangarunner]

What were the entry requirements to get into France? Any visa required? I've heard from others France requires proof of income (X amount of Euros per day). Is that true?

[Yohan]

In August, I did my first post covid drip to the PH. Spent most of my time in Manila and Angeles. Went to Bacolod, as well. Just a few thoughts.
The Philippines as usual, is a great place to visit and for an extended stay. But after 3.5 months, I was itching to leave.

Thanks for the update, I will leave soon to Cebu.

I agree with you, nice for a visit, but better to leave after a while. Same is true with Thailand BTW, just came back from Thailand to Japan a week ago.

[kangarunner]

Thanks for the update, I will leave soon to Cebu.

I agree with you, nice for a visit, but better to leave after a while. Same is true with Thailand BTW, just came back from Thailand to Japan a week ago.

Do you suck dick too while you're there?

[Yohan]

What were the entry requirements to get into France? Any visa required? I've heard from others France requires proof of income (X amount of Euros per day). Is that true?

What is your citizenship?

Many foreigners do not need any visa (Schengen-Visa) for entering France.

Financial status is in general only requested when applying for a visa (usually some amount like Euro 65,- per day) to prove that you have enough money to quality for a tourist.

(I am EU-citizen living outside of EU, but holding a valid EU ID-card, in my case of course nothing is required, not even a passport)

[ladislav]

What were the entry requirements to get into France? Any visa required? I've heard from others France requires proof of income (X amount of Euros per day). Is that true?

US passport no reqs. They stamped it and gave me 40 days. Stamped on the way out. Asked for nothing. But I have heard they might ask for a ticket out or ask you to show your credit card.

[MarcosZeitola]

In August, I did my first post covid drip to the PH. Spent most of my time in Manila and Angeles. Went to Bacolod, as well. Just a few thoughts.
The Philippines as usual, is a great place to visit and for an extended stay. But after 3.5 months, I was itching to leave.

The good things now: the people are way nicer to tourists than before. Also, there are fewer Korean "competitors". You see a more balanced mix of nationalities among the foreigners. Before Covid, everywhere you went, it was a river of glum-looking, sour-faced Koreans everywhere. They owned many places. But Covid reminded them that they can't own anything. Many bosses went packing.

It was again very nice to revisit my old haunts without being cock-blocked by them.

The ladies in the girly bars are prettier now as the economy suffered a huge setback. So, it is kind of back to the old days, but not entirely. The ladies everywhere are friendlier, because again, they now have less money.

Clark has a sparkling new airport which looks 1st world. Amazing. When you order a ride, make sure they do not take you to the old one.

But outside of the ladies and the friendly, inclusive people, many things began irritating me.

Now, with everyone having a cellphone, people listen to music on it or watch sports without headsets. This creates huge noise pollution everywhere you go. You want to have a meal, and the waitress sits down and listens to YT and then, other attendants and customers do, too. It was not so prevalent before, but now, it is everywhere and it starts getting on your nerves. Quiet becomes a rare commodity.

The constant power cuts and Internet cuts also begin to wear you down. Then, if you get a cheaper hotel, the security there sucks. Their security cam would not record because of constant downs with the Internet. The staff just listens to the music all day or watches soap operas. Someone got into my room and stole things and they could not even play the recording on the security cam.

The fact that people cannot answer simple questions such as " Are banks open on Saturdays in the Philippines?" also starts making you feel tired. " I don't know" is an answer from a 40 year old man.

And then, you realize that most food is kind of inedible. They put sugar almost into everything, especially Western food. Sweet spaghetti, sweet ketchup, a lasagna with a sauce that tastes like ice cream. You start yearning for a normal sandwich, a hot dog with mustard, normal milk and a burger without sweet sauce.

I enjoyed what was there to enjoy and left after 100 days.

Anyway, it is not expensive to route your flight back to LAX through Paris, so I did it. Cost about a grand.

A down and dirty on Paris:

The city is magic. Magestic. Nothing like this anywhere. In most parts of the world, such architecture would be smaller and located in a historic center. But in Paris, the whole enormous city is a historic center. Tall, medieval buildings on streets that disappear into the horizon. Grand domes of cathedrals everywhere, and then, every building tells a story. The art is beyond description. I went up the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, the Monmartre and the Champs Elysees. And the food was great. I was starving after the Philippines and ate and ate.

Was it expensive? It was cheaper than LA by some 20-30% mainly because the Euro went down by 20-30%. Of course it was not Philippines-cheap but still not so bad.

The people were not as rude or arrogant as others say they are. Most looked modest and down to earth. The whole place was kind of socialist with a lot of equality in the way people treated each other. The minorities ( and even the majorities) were not as angry or hateful. I would meet black people who would greet me and nod back when I nodded at them. The place is a lot more integrated than the USA. A lot. In France, there is no hyphenation, no stats gathered on ethnicity or descent, no difference between native born and foreign born in the law, no ethnic labeling, and a citizen of France is a Frenchman. Period. A much better system than in the USA.

The city was full of people who were from former French colonies: Black Africans, Berbers, Cambodians, VNese, Malagasis, etc.

As far as the women. Not a good place for a man to go and pick up girls. This is why nobody goes there for that. I saw way more men than women everywhere and lots of people of Arab origin. So, if you want to fall in love in Paris as a tourist, better go there on honeymoon with someone you already have.

If you find Filipino food too sweet I advice you to stay away from their fastfood. Jollibee is designed originally for kids hence the overt sweetness. Chow King is the far superior choice. Some local eateries (calinderia) offer various less sweet and more spicy and savory dishes (Bicol express in particular being a favorite of mine). Foreign restaurants are often great if you can find them. While Filipino cuisine is in many ways inferior to other Asian cuisines, a man can still eat well by going to the right avenues and avoiding the crazy sugar level.