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04-16-22 06:47 #15077
Posts: 1562Originally Posted by WestCoast1 [View Original Post]
I have never put him on ignore; I just mentally ignore the more ridiculous posts. Admittedly, some of his recent posts have included some interesting literary references. In other words, either he has read more widely than most ISG members, he has extracted just enough content out of Wikipedia to sound literate, or he is a skilled plagiarist.
As to his hatred for the US, I understand that many people around the world resent American interventions in other countries. Our record is mixed. Germany and Japan have a lot to be thankful for in American efforts to prop them up following WWII. But Chile under Pinochet and Iran under Shah Riza Palavi were not our proudest moments. But to put things in perspective, Putin makes our interventions, even the Philippines in 1900-1901, look like walks in the park.
I don't think we should hold our collective breath waiting for Jackson to kick him off the board. Despite some of my past frustrating dialogues with him, I just keep him in sort of a mental ignore standing. I just don't take him very seriously.
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04-15-22 16:53 #15076
Posts: 6836Jackson-no-more
Originally Posted by Beavis [View Original Post]
Originally Posted by Beavis [View Original Post]
Who is at the helm?
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04-15-22 16:03 #15075
Posts: 812Originally Posted by GoodEnough [View Original Post]
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04-15-22 15:27 #15074
Posts: 6836Originally Posted by PedroMorales [View Original Post]Originally Posted by Beavis [View Original Post]
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04-15-22 15:18 #15073
Posts: 4050Originally Posted by Beavis [View Original Post]
GE.
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04-15-22 14:46 #15072
Posts: 6781Originally Posted by SoapySmith [View Original Post]
So if you do get the message and want to help this is not a scam as Baybay and Abuyog are badly smashed up.
Cebu etc seems OK based if you look at Baybay, bad rain but nothing like the devastation of those 2 towns.
As power is on. Off and very disrupted sending cash can take time to collect.
My 2 cents based on first hand reports from very good people (who are also very naughty kinky and in needs!
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04-15-22 14:37 #15071
Posts: 812Originally Posted by PedroMorales [View Original Post]
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04-15-22 05:31 #15070
Posts: 1562Tropical Storm Megi (local name Agaton)
The Philippines has experienced its first major storm of 2022, Tropical Storm Megi, Philippine name Agaton. It hit over the past weekend but accurate reports on deaths and displacements are just now coming in. Already there are reports of about 150 dead and scores of others missing.
Worst of the carnage seems to be on Leyte Island, especially in Abuyog on the eastern coast and Baybay on the western coast. These two towns are almost back-to-back at a point where Leyte Island is only about 15 miles wide. I've been to Abuyog but not Baybay. Both towns experienced mudslides that wiped out small villages and flooding in several other villages. Rescuers have dug out many or most of the buried bodies.
Unlike Typhoon Rai, this storm packed lighter winds, but the real damage was from rainfall. At this latitude Leyte has a hilly, nearly mountainous topography that descends steeply down to water on both sides of the island. But Filipinos try to farm these hillsides with rice, corn, and especially coconut and banana palms. Unfortunately, palms have very shallow roots, and when the soil becomes saturated palm trees offer little protection against soil collapsing on the hill sides. A similar fate in 2006 caused a coconut palm mountainside in the village of Guinsaugon, in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte to collapse, burying the entire village of approximately 1200 people.
Although it's unclear how islands to the west, including Cebu and Negros, may have fared, there are reports of damage across the Western Visayas as well. Some of us should probably expect solicitations for money to repair homes and replace carabao and other losses from the storm. (Dg, you've been warned.) Sorry about the overload of news reports, which span several days from this week.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/14/asia/...hnk/index.html
https://www.reuters.com/business/env...gi-2022-04-11/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eKW-0Spm5Q
https://www.rappler.com/nation/death...april-14-2022/
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/158327...-toll-hits-148
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04-14-22 03:17 #15069
Posts: 3261Antigen test
Tests are done at 3rd level, Terminal 3 NAIA airport. There is a make shift shop set up in the huge vacant area. Easy to find. Just circle around to it.
Yesterday I scouted out the place around 2 pm and there were about 30 people waiting for their results.
Now at 10 am I am the only one here. After taking the sample you have to wait in the waiting area for 30 minutes. Easy process.
Received my printed results in 10 minutes.
P600 is the cost. As always in PH bring the exact amount.
Btw, the sky walkway to T3 (officially called Manila Runway Footbridge) is open again. The unmarked unsigned entrance/exit is behind Belmont Hotel and the side of McDonalds drive up window. If you dont have a lot of luggage to haul around then have your taxi drop you off here. You will bypass the long lines of cars and especially the outside long lines for the entrance security and scanner.
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04-13-22 10:31 #15068
Posts: 1056Pedro SOS
As most of you know, I detest both Americans and America. Imagine my surprise then when my bank contacted me to say someone was having fun with my credit card in the USA. The card is now cancelled and Pedro is being refunded.
Pedro, needless to say, was not at fault. It was, my bank says, a data breach on one of the online stores (or shops) I use; I just got more deliveries this morning. Though I know credit / debit card details are for sale on the dark web, I will never go there as I do not like snake pits.
My advice: ignore the "old hands", many of whom have a crooked hand in the game. In SE Asia, minimize your use of plastic and be very careful where you use plastic.
I seldom use ATMs even at home. I withdraw substantial cash amounts and do most shopping online.
If one practices care with see ash in SE Asia, one should be OK. Those expensive bags, so American, don't appeal to me either, Best to be under the radar.
Travel is stressful and it stretches our logistics as even our own houses do. Burglars know exactly where to look: main bedroom is target number 1. Even in your own house, you have to do the research. The same and more applies when you are in Scam Country.
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04-13-22 04:14 #15067
Posts: 812I guess it depends on what card you use but I have been using a Capital One credit card here for years. I use it for everything I can then go online and pay. In thousands of uses at several stores and Agoda I have never had any transaction that was overcharged or incorrect.
Originally Posted by MrHappyKat [View Original Post]
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04-12-22 23:52 #15066
Posts: 462Originally Posted by MrHappyKat [View Original Post]
In restaurant's and retail stores you are still better to use cash. Tips can be better handled direct to staff. Also many stores have extra layers of security on card use which will slow you down.
Grab you can pre-pay credit every few days.
I am not a fan of "travel" cards which often have a 'loading' fee which you pay when you load your currencies. Plus there is still a foreign exchange margin when you more currency around plus there is usually a fee for inactivity such that the leach away any remaining credit.
'Travel' cards are a big bank old school service. These days they are replaced by a card such as Wise or in Australia we have Citibank Visa Debit, fee free overseas withdrawals and ING debit cards which rebate overseas fees.
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04-12-22 13:45 #15065
Posts: 15925Originally Posted by MrHappyKat [View Original Post]
People giving advice on this forum have been around the block a time or two and give solid advice on places to stay. In Philippines it is very easy to book 1 or 2 days at a place then look for something better or extend once you have boots on the ground and get your bearings.
My first time in Manila people here told me to stay at City State in Ermita. To this day I still stay there sometimes. In Angeles I was told to stay in Central Park (before it was rebuilt) or Pacific Breeze. Those are also 2 places I still check out when looking for a place although now I am more knowledgeable of other places in the vicinity.
I tried to give my brother the same advice of where to stay his first time, but he decided to do his own thing. He ended up booking the entire time at a hotel across town far from everything, not knowing how bad Manila traffic is. Experience is the best teacher.
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04-12-22 10:43 #15064
Posts: 1056Cash Is King
Originally Posted by MrHappyKat [View Original Post]
The really dangerous thing about your post is using plastic all over the place, in SE Asia. That would be total panic stations for me and I would not do it as I would expect to get scammed / skimmed, no matter what you or others might say.
There have also been posts about carrying very large amounts of money. I have carried tens of thousands of $$ but not to blow on hookers. I would be very careful of any of that going through domestic plane checks as I would not trust them to do a number on me.
You have people here and everywhere like to act the big guy. Ignore those losers. Play safe, hedge your bets.
It could be you are some obese American, not used to going down and dirty. In that case, plan accordingly. Fancy, over priced hotels and, even if paying them by plastic, cash is king.
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04-12-22 08:42 #15063
Posts: 3396Originally Posted by MrHappyKat [View Original Post]
Typically I have my flights in and out of country booked and 3 days accommodation to let me relax and gets feel for the area.
The only times when spontaneous decisions have been an issue for me was during peak season (unlikely now) where rooms become scarce. Just remember that some of the booking sites will not allow you to make a new booking for tonight only for tomorrow night onwards even if rooms are available.
Your cash vs card matrix is pretty good. You are correct that you will go through more cash than an equivalent western holiday. One thing I would add is online payments. I pay for all my hotels online via Agoda and all domestic flights via the respective Airlines.
Enjoy. G.