General Info

[Mr Enternational]

Tips for avoiding romance fraud (adapted from Scamwatch).

Never send money to someone that you have met online.

Never agree to carry packages, or accept suitcases or bags from someone you have met online.

Always assume that the person you are communicating with may not be genuine.

Consider carefully any requests to travel (domestically or overseas) to meet someone you have met online.

Don't feel pressured to respond in the moment. If in doubt, stop chatting and block the number.

Try telling that to a loner guy with his dick on hard sitting at home where he can't get any pussy or even a chick to give him a hug. All that common sense shit goes out the window.

[Red Kilt]

The Australian newspapers have been running a series of articles about so-called "romance fraud".

The interesting thing about most of the discussion is that all of the duped people all maintained that they knew what they were doing and that this sort of thing "would never happen to them".

I thought this list was worth reproducing for the newbies online who fall for the clickbait lines.

Tips for avoiding romance fraud (adapted from Scamwatch).

• Never send money to someone that you have met online.

• Never agree to carry packages, or accept suitcases or bags from someone you have met online.

• Always assume that the person you are communicating with may not be genuine.

• Consider carefully any requests to travel (domestically or overseas) to meet someone you have met online.

• Don't feel pressured to respond in the moment. If in doubt, stop chatting and block the number.

[Sammon]

I'm planning my first trip to Philippines this year from India. The tentative plan is to land in Manila and take the Genesis bus to Angeles City. I only have Indian rupees cash and don't have any Indian credit / debit cards. How do I exchange these rupees for pesos? I've searched the forums and I understand that it's easy to convert major currencies like USD at the airport and local banks / stores, but am not sure if Indian rupees will be readily exchanged like USD. Any help to this newbie will be much appreciated.

I do not think Indian currency is convertible anywhere at the official rate. You need to get usd somehow to travel anywhere. Even when I take usd 100 dollar bills I make sure it is undamaged and crispy.

Can you take rupees to local bank to get 100 usd bills? Do not use airport money exchange because their rates for any currency is horrendous.

[Kabul Guy]

Are you talking about CAD here? Canadian Dollars? You were going to pay each lady almost 4,000 USD a month?
Are you talking about a condo in Canada or in the Phils?

This was in Canada and was for two of the most highly rated local ladies who would be into full interactive 3 somes. One had had a really bad date and wanted to leave the profession but liked the lifestyle and the money so she thought that having a very small clientele with a guaranteed income would work for her.

[Member #4566]

I only have Indian rupees cash and don't have any Indian credit / debit cards. How do I exchange these rupees for pesos.

Exchange the rupees to $$ in India before you go. Then change $$ to pesos in the Philippines. Bring new undamaged $100 dollar bills. Maybe there is a black market in India that gives a better rate than the bank. You will probably find it very difficult to find a market for ruppes in the PI and if you, do the exchange rate will be horrific.

[CamelToePokema]

I'm planning my first trip to Philippines this year from India. The tentative plan is to land in Manila and take the Genesis bus to Angeles City. I only have Indian rupees cash and don't have any Indian credit / debit cards. How do I exchange these rupees for pesos? I've searched the forums and I understand that it's easy to convert major currencies like USD at the airport and local banks / stores, but am not sure if Indian rupees will be readily exchanged like USD. Any help to this newbie will be much appreciated.

[WestCoast1]

"Link to Cebu Forum" has dropped from the (bottom of) the top set of threads, to the middle of the bottom thread (User Blog). Anyone know why? Disclaimer: I miss the occasional memo.

[Mogwai]

(We were looking at about $3 k CDN each a month. That would be $5 k for the place and $5 k each lady, with a small reserve in case we had people drop out.).

Are you talking about CAD here? Canadian Dollars? You were going to pay each lady almost 4,000 USD a month?
Are you talking about a condo in Canada or in the Phils?

[Mr Enternational]

I hear you on that one. I'm looking at picking up a place for myself in Singapore, and have ended up coming to the conclusion that it is better to buy one of the older places, because the new ones are just so damn small.

Besides that you see what you are getting and the place has already settled.

[BaddHabbit]

Exact same thing in Thailand RK. My main wingman (the guy who got me on ISG) bought a place in Pattaya. Well he paid for it 4 years ago, but since they wait to have a certain percentage of buyers before they start building, his place just got ready at the beginning of this year. I would have gotten my money back long ago. And like you said, these new places are match boxes compared to the older ones. He had to have his washing machine installed on the balcony. I mean there is not even enough space to change your mind in them.

I hear you on that one. I'm looking at picking up a place for myself in Singapore, and have ended up coming to the conclusion that it is better to buy one of the older places, because the new ones are just so damn small.

[Mr Enternational]

Don't believe everything you read BH.

Come and live here for at least 4 to 6 months and see for yourself. There are literally 1000's of properties being built all over the place (but especially in Metro Manila), and most of us (including some RE agents that I know) are wondering who is going to buy them or rent them. The presumption is that returning OFWs will buy them, but a completed condo building near my place that has been opened for 18 months has 40% of the units still unsold.

Exact same thing in Thailand RK. My main wingman (the guy who got me on ISG) bought a place in Pattaya. Well he paid for it 4 years ago, but since they wait to have a certain percentage of buyers before they start building, his place just got ready at the beginning of this year. I would have gotten my money back long ago. And like you said, these new places are match boxes compared to the older ones. He had to have his washing machine installed on the balcony. I mean there is not even enough space to change your mind in them.

[Red Kilt]

The real point of the posting was the more generalised point from the article about real-estate investment opportunities.

Don't believe everything you read BH.

Come and live here for at least 4 to 6 months and see for yourself. There are literally 1000's of properties being built all over the place (but especially in Metro Manila), and most of us (including some RE agents that I know) are wondering who is going to buy them or rent them. The presumption is that returning OFWs will buy them, but a completed condo building near my place that has been opened for 18 months has 40% of the units still unsold.

I bought an older-style condo unit 11 years ago but did so purely for somewhere to live and not as an investment, so I have "saved" a huge amount of money that would have otherwise gone on rental fees. A bonus for me is that my property has doubled in value as it is in a highly desirable position, has car parking space (very important), and is much larger than the newer units being built that are pitifully small. Of course, doubling in "value" only means something if there is a buyer if and when I decided to sell.

I would caution anyone against buying property for investment especially if you are a foreigner WITHOUT trust-worthy local advice.

[BaddHabbit]

I was actually in discussions with some guys back home where we would pay for the place, set it up with hot tub, sauna etc and have two girls live there. They would be paid a "salary. ".

>SNIP<

However for the guys who come and go, renting a place on a 12 month term, setting it up as the group wants, with scheduled times to use just might work out. You could offset some costs with Airbnb when not otherwise in use by the investors.

Well, the original comment was just an amusing thought experiment (You're a party-pooper, Mr E!), but being in the AEC industry I can in fact see how to make it work, even after a mongering destination were to go cold. The real point of the posting was the more generalised point from the article about real-estate investment opportunities.

[Kabul Guy]

When I go somewhere to get pussy the only deals I want to make are for exactly that. There are already plenty of monger friendly hotels and condos around. Why get bogged down with the stress of business deals. This is supposed to be a relaxing period. And when the mongering hotspot turns to a mongering cold spot then what?

......

Don't add unnecessary shit to your plate. Focus on the mongering at hand. Who wants to leave with more grey hair than they came with?

I was actually in discussions with some guys back home where we would pay for the place, set it up with hot tub, sauna etc and have two girls live there. They would be paid a "salary. ".

Each "investor" would have exclusive nights. It would have worked out much less than traditional methods but we could never get enough guys interested in to make a go of it. There were two ladies who did fully interactive 3 ways interested in the arrangement. They wanted a veto right on any investor.

The main drawback to getting others to come on board was that they said that they would quickly tire of the same two several times a month. A few were OK with once a month but the original ones in the discussion wanted to have several nights a month. The girls wanted to keep it to less than 6 guys so we were looking at 5 times each a month. (We were looking at about $3 k CDN each a month. That would be $5 k for the place and $5 k each lady, with a small reserve in case we had people drop out.).

We were going to set it up that you could come as early as 6 PM and sleep over leaving by 6 AM. In hind sight it was a good thing we never went ahead with it. Just after the discussions fell apart my employer closed doors and I had to leave for overseas work ending up here a year later.

However for the guys who come and go, renting a place on a 12 month term, setting it up as the group wants, with scheduled times to use just might work out. You could offset some costs with Airbnb when not otherwise in use by the investors.

[Mr Enternational]

And that got me thinking.. :-p Monger-friendly buildings, and entry layouts. Big beds, mirrors, large showers, large bathtubs, etc, etc. I can imagine a network of places around the world in the various monger hot-spots, catering directly to the lifestyle. Buy in and get 4 weeks a year to spend in PI, or DR, or Ukraine, or Ghana, or Thailand, or, or, or. Woot!

When I go somewhere to get pussy the only deals I want to make are for exactly that. There are already plenty of monger friendly hotels and condos around. Why get bogged down with the stress of business deals. This is supposed to be a relaxing period. And when the mongering hotspot turns to a mongering cold spot then what?

I got a buddy down in Rio now who invested in rental property when Copacabana was a mongering hotspot. Now that it is a mongering cold spot he has sold his places but is still left with the burden of getting his money out of there a little at a time. Or what if you had invested in Boracay? You would be mad as a mf right now.

Go. Have fun. And take your ass back home (or move there). Forget all the bright ideas (especially the ones that revolve around mongering.) Reminds me of my buddy a couple of months ago getting the bright idea to buy a bunch of dresses off Amazon and bringing them to Pattaya to sell. Clearly it was not a well thought out plan. First of all, if the girls had money to spend on that then they would not be hookers in the first place. Second of all there are plenty of rolling stores running around selling $3 dresses. And of course the ones that he had he would have to sell for way more than that. Needless to say, he went back home with just as many dresses as he arrived with.

Don't add unnecessary shit to your plate. Focus on the mongering at hand. Who wants to leave with more grey hair than they came with?