From Angeles - Answering some previous posts
Chinabank and Equitable PCI have ATMS on the wall OUTSIDE the SM City Clark entrance; just take the long snaking walkway and then go downstairs when it reaches the mall. These are the most useful ATMs because they carry Plus and Visa (and Banco de Oro inside the mall has Cirrus). I usually lean on ATMs as my first-choice money-extraction method in the PI because banks are so paranoid and bureaucratic with traveler's checks. Unlike in Thailand, you won't see money-exchange booths everywhere that take traveler's checks. You might see a few moneychangers but they'll want cash.
Reasonable transport leaving out of Clark airport is indeed still a problem. You might be able to get a special-ride jeepney for P100-180 if one arrived to drop someone. As in Manila at NAIA, taxis aren't reasonable (though in fairness the gouge price is similar to what the price would be in the U.S.). I was light enough on my bags to just walk all the way out of the airport to the road where the regular jeepneys pass, but it was a longer distance than I had expected.
Would also mention that Cebu Pacific flies Clark-Cebu three times a week now. There's no ticket office of theirs in town in Angeles and their website was rejecting U.S.-issued credit cards, but I got a RT ticket for US$75 after the taxes and junk fees at Action Travel on Fields Ave. Very pleasant flight: New airbus A319s and only about half full, with assigned seats.
Swagman bus still connects Ermita Swagman and Angeles hotels at P500.
A contrarian view of Angeles
Am wrapping up nearly 3 weeks in the Philippines, having taken in Manila, Angeles and Cebu (I might write about Manila and Cebu in those sections for organization's sake). Have been a twice-yearly visitor to the PI in most years since 1994.
Newbies in Angeles don't know how nice they have it with the SM City Clark and other conveniences so close. Back in 1996 you'd have to take a jeepney all the way to downtown Angeles for Internet access or for an internationally-linked ATM (often offline), and most food was on MacArthur Highway. Nowadays you don't have to go past the end of Fields Ave.!
Also, in constant-dollar terms the cost of customer drinks and barfines hasn't risen much at all since the days of the P25/$1 peso, though the last 2 years have made what used to be bargains much less so.
Overall I find myself wanting to cut my time allocated to Angeles on future trips vs. time for other places in the PI. Reason: The bar-hopping routine in Angeles seems like too much work and too time-consuming compared to options like LA Cafe in Manila (may it survive...) or Kamagayan in Cebu. Call me spoiled, but I'll try to lay out the case:
At first glance in Angeles it appears the female:male ratio in Angeles bars is quite favorable to males. Looks can be deceiving, though. Let's assume, for this exercise, that you're goal-oriented and there because you want to find someone nice to take back to the hotel and boink (if you mainly want cheap drinks you can do better than the girl bars!).
The main problem you'll run into is way too many "non-qualifiers," i.e. girls that for reasons of hers or yours or both, aren't possible barfines. Reasons could include:
1) Girl not much to look at, and she's working mainly for salary anyway. Many bars have quite a few of these; they're way past their prime but can hang on and work for salary because the talent pool is currently stretched thin (too many bars for the number of girls, best girls head to places like Makati for more money there).
2) Girl doesn't want to go with you because she's going out with friends later (could happen especially on Fridays/Saturdays), you're not her type, or she's got enough revenue from lady drinks or overseas boyfriends sending money that she'll not barfine very often and then only with attitude. Happens with the prettiest of the lot (the old saying, "Don't barfine the best-looking girl in the bar.")
3) Maybe it really IS the wrong time of the month.
Or, most infuriatingly...
4) Cherry girls. Am sure this has been discussed a lot before, but I'd come down solidly in the camp that says they just get in the way and there's no reason to have them. As a practical matter, I think they still exist because the talent pool is stretched thin over the number of bars.
Add up these four groups and you've got a high percentage of the bar not really in play as far as your needs go. Of course, bars still want the lady-drink revenue from these groups, so their incentives aren't aligned with yours on this one. You can eliminate girls in group #1 visually yourself and, if you're diligent (not that you should have to be in this case) ask about #4 before calling a girl over to make sure you don't sit down with a cherry girl when you don't want one. But usually you'll have to interview over a drink to find the girl is eliminated because of group #2 or #3 (hard to get at those upfront).
If it doesn't work out, you're back to square one as far as fulfilling your goal. Some nights you can go through multiple duds this way to try to get a winner.
OK, let's say you do get a really good one. Congrats. If you're like most guys you'll want to hold onto her for multiple days rather than having to repeat the whole process to get a new one that may very well not be as good. Makes sense, but it's also a factor taking more of the best girls out of circulation on any given bar-hopping night.
To put all this to the test just go to a bar, even a well-stocked one, around 1:30 a.m. with intent to barfine. You'll get noticeably far fewer interested glances than earlier in the night and may well see all the "qualifiers" gone. It'll definitely be a different vibe. Also, the later you go, the more likely the girl you have your eye on will turn out to be a group #2 or #3 non-qualifier.
Buying a drink for the mamasan or having a relationship there can be helpful, as she can point out the new arrivals and maybe give you reason to pick a borderline one.
But if you're semi-selective it IS very possible to go back to the hotel in Angeles empty-handed after a string of near-misses (don't think you're the only one it has ever happened to!) And watch those drinks; if you get too deep into the night on San Miguels or San Miguel lights trying to make something happen with a girl at the bar, something might not happen in bed. I think a good portion of the street-vendor Viagra sales go to people who don't need it medically but are maybe hoping it'll put the lead in the pencil that the alcohol took out.
So I submit that it's a lot more time, money and work to monger in Angeles than it first appears, and if you hit a 10 on your first or second time, consider yourself very fortunate. Just don't try to tell me that most guys are in the bars chiefly for the drinks, the non-nude scenery or the chance to snuggle up with a cherry girl but not go any further. Nonsense.
Eventually many people will ask themselves, "Why am I doing this?" After all, most girls you'll meet in LA Cafe or a place like Kamagayan in Cebu will want to go with you or at least give quick enough feedback if not. Add the drinks and lady drinks as overhead and even the Angeles barfines don't look as cheap. There's the STD screening in Angeles but we've heard how it's a system with holes. Would also be nice if Angeles had more "showing" (think Pattaya) so that bars could be useful as "ogling dens," but politically it's unlikely to happen.
So, at the risk or being labeled a wet blanket, I'll likely be cutting time allocated to Angeles to nights before/after flights into or out of Clark.