General Info

[Kabul Guy]

3rd world countries have 3rd world problems. There is no 911 or Calvary coming to help. Immediate response might be days away at the earliest.

....

I saw the pictures of the crane used to lift the aircraft. While Manila would be big enough to have one around this size crane is not all that common, add in all the slings and rigging plus someone experienced enough to actually do the rigging and I would bet that 36 hours would be about the best any airport in the world could do. This is not your normal run of the mill pick that occurs on construction sites on a daily basis. I also imagine that a crane pad had to be constructed to support the crane and the load without damaging the runway structure.

My home city population about 700 k is a 10 hour highway drive from the nearest crane that size and it would only travel about half the speed of a normal car or truck on the highway due to its size. (I am a construction engineer, I actually still have the company that owns it in my contacts.) Even in an emergency when the people realized immediately that it was needed, it would be 24 hours to get it on site and another several hours to get it set up, assuming it was available and not several hours on the other side of its home city and that the rigging and riggers were also available. I would also guess that this crane could only travel on Manila streets after dark or it would get gridlocked in traffic and not be able to move, nor would anyone else for many hours.

I would guess that just about any city that is not an industrial economy would have very similar problems.

[Dg8787]

3rd world countries have 3rd world problems. There is no 911 or Calvary coming to help. Immediate response might be days away at the earliest.

I am actually surprised that NAIA was back up running in 36 hours!

The private jet that was completely blown off the runway in Tacloban took about a year to get hauled off. Good thing it was far enough off the runway to not hinder landings and takeoffs.

Bottom line: Does 3rd world benefits out weight 3rd world issues?

[Goferring]

I am over 70 years old so my adventures are plain vanilla by comparison. I am amazed at the beautiful women I see everyday walking down the street, It is awesome. At my age I have more money than time left so each day in the Philippines is beautiful.

FL, good to read that you enjoyed your visit and yes, your posts did contribute to the board. Its always good to read of others experience from different view points.

I actually get jealous of old guys in Asia. In many ways they are the girls' ideal market. They are carefree and just out to have as much fun as possible as soon as possible. Contrast this to middle aged divorsees who are still bitter and twisted and hate the world.

Trading waiting to die in a nursing home for snuggling up to a nice brown bossom sounds like a good deal to me. Just be careful. I hope it's a long way off for you but I know a few oldies that have met their maker in Asia, a few were even mid stroke at the time 😁 🤤.

Then again, it's hard to imagine a better way to go.

All the best, G.

[Dg8787]

After 3 weeks here I am leaving Cebu for Manila before returning to USA And wanted to thank each of you for being informative and making my stay so much fun. Although I don't post titillating adventures as Mr DG likes to read it is because I don't have such wild adventures. I am over 70 years old so my adventures are plain vanilla by comparison. I am amazed at the beautiful women I see everyday walking down the street, It is awesome. At my age I have more money than time left so each day in the Philippines is beautiful. I hope to have a condo here by the end of next year to enjoy part time although I don't know where yet. I do hope my posts have in some small way helped a new or pending arrival.

Thanks for your report. I wasn't looking for any titillaing reports. I have my own memories to flash back on.

I am only looking for feedback on the information given and maybe some advice for everyone else. I am close to your age and am not looking for adventure other than a variety of bed partners. I too have more money than time. Personally I like to travel to different places and like daily room service so I won't be buying a condo. I have owned real estate and really don't want to add anymore real estate responsibility.

The women are beautiful!

[Goferring]

3rd world countries have 3rd world problems. There is no 911 or Calvary coming to help.

I am not being an apologist for anyone, just pointing out that shit happens and crying over it does not do any good.

If you really feel that way, perhaps you can find the perfect place where everything goes your way all the time.

Let us know when and if you find it.

It looks like Mahku may have found his Asia threashhold. Trivial things that appear quaint or laughable when we first arrive can become major trigger points after a thousand times. Brown outs, sketchy phone systems and pina logic are just a few.

I know I've totally lost my shit before when my mobile failed one too many times.

[ForkTruck]

After 3 weeks here I am leaving Cebu for Manila before returning to USA And wanted to thank each of you for being informative and making my stay so much fun. Although I don't post titillating adventures as Mr DG likes to read it is because I don't have such wild adventures. I am over 70 years old so my adventures are plain vanilla by comparison. I am amazed at the beautiful women I see everyday walking down the street, It is awesome. At my age I have more money than time left so each day in the Philippines is beautiful. I hope to have a condo here by the end of next year to enjoy part time although I don't know where yet. I do hope my posts have in some small way helped a new or pending arrival.

[Dg8787]

3rd world countries have 3rd world problems. There is no 911 or Calvary coming to help. Immediate response might be days away at the earliest.

I am actually surprised that NAIA was back up running in 36 hours!

The private jet that was completely blown off the runway in Tacloban took about a year to get hauled off. Good thing it was far enough off the runway to not hinder landings and takeoffs.

[Kabul Guy]

.....

So if you want to be an apologist for all this nonsense then good for you. I'm not having it. This is my 3rd time in the last year and a half to lose more than one day of a vacation because of Philippine airports or airline ridiculousness. As much as I love this country I'm wondering how much more I'm willing to put up with.

I am not being an apologist for anyone, just pointing out that shit happens and crying over it does not do any good.

If you really feel that way, perhaps you can find the perfect place where everything goes your way all the time.

Let us know when and if you find it.

[Dg8787]

You forgot the earlier stage DG if Korean.

Go to the Globe Express lane in Ayala (Cebu) for example and ask a team member to show you how to insert the SIM and activate it.

LOL.

You think am joking. I have seen that more times than I care to remember and many get totally pissed off they take so much time when it is supposed to Express.

I am sure it isn't just Koreans that don't know how. Many others don't know what a SIM card is.

BTW, one other important aspect. If your cp has dual sim? Yes duo as in 2 sims, then put your primary SIM in SIM 1 slot. SIM 1 will get the better connection like 4 g or LTE. SIM 2 will only get 3 g or 2 g in most cp.

[Bushes]

The first thing I suspect is your phone. Or one of its settings. I am not sure if you got a new one or if you got the right bands.

Secondly, as other have said, it is simple. Most stores will be able to sort out the obvious. I suspect you should do a factory reset as you might have an used phone.

Third. Turn off sync on mobile data and sync only on wifi.

Four. I saw some ads for unlimited plans specials. Still pretty cheap if I recall.

Five. IMHO, a roaming SIM just ties you over when you land. A local prepaid gives you anonymity and the caller can call and text you locally. Cheaper for some of the gals who cannot afford data.

They are also less inclined to help you since you did not get the phone from them. As I mentioned before, the right phone makes your life easier and keeps those Kodak moments. The great thing about iPhones is that support is great if you walk into their store. They really do try to help you. It is nice. But you pay the price.

Plenty to not know when trying to get a cellphone to work here. After 2 weeks I am getting a little smarter. At the airport I loaded Smart sim and enough time and internet to cover my 3 weeks. Twice now I have been texted by smart that I am expired and the darn thing quit working. When I go to a 7/11 or similar and ask why this is happening I get blank stares and a "I don't know sir". One hotel CP "expert" told me I should have gotten Globe instead of Smart because Smart will randomly take load away from your phone. I don't really know the truth and it seems no one else that I have found does either. Just a caution to new arrivals, be prepared for a steep learning curve if your experience is like mine.

.

[Breadman]

And have Data wherever I go. I have used it in 9 countries without a problem. Instead of describing the service here is a link. If you activate through the link you get a $20 discount.

https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT

I'm going out a a limb and saying they are paying T'mobile's a fee to access their worldwide coverage plan and spin it as their own. T'mobile has coverage all over the world except for one country where they couldn't get a data plan agreement on prices from the mobile providers servicing that country: Vietnam. Click on that link and Vietnam is also missing from coverage from their list. Billing looks the same somewhat but with some tweaks here and there. My T'mobile plan is the old 'one plan' that gave me free data and texts worldwide for my basic $50 rate although I added on $10 per month to get more data and have that data roll over each month. Only downside of the free data worldwide is the throttled back 2 G speed but that actual speed does vary a bit in some countries. Some give you the regular speed without holding anything back, other places such as Germany make pages load pretty slowly.

[Wicked Roger]

In PH SIM cards are pretty easy to use.

1. Buy enough load for package.

2. Register for unli texting package, data and / or calls.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 again when package expires.

You forgot the earlier stage DG if Korean.

Go to the Globe Express lane in Ayala (Cebu) for example and ask a team member to show you how to insert the SIM and activate it.

LOL.

You think am joking. I have seen that more times than I care to remember and many get totally pissed off they take so much time when it is supposed to Express.

[Dg8787]

In PH SIM cards are pretty easy to use.

1. Buy enough load for package.

2. Register for unli texting package, data and / or calls.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 again when package expires.

[WestCoast1]

And have Data wherever I go. I have used it in 9 countries without a problem. Instead of describing the service here is a link. If you activate through the link you get a $20 discount.

https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT

Thanks the info CCD. But looking at the website, it appears to run on only a handful of their phones? Or, does it run on any android / iPhone? Also see the pics. ON the website you can enter any city or address and see a map of their coverage (none, 2 g, 3 g, 4 g LTE). I entered Chicago in the search bar and the entire map is dark green (4 g LTE, you can see from the pic). But for Manila and Cebu, the map is white (no coverage, see pic). Did I miss something?

WC.

[D Cups]

A perfect summary of PI, SS. Cheers.

I've never been to Australia, but I confess I go though withdrawal each time I leave Manila for the states. The principal things I like about the Philippines are:

1. Slower pace of life, easier to take things less seriously; there's a lot less scurrying around and anxiety over things that are actually quite trivial;.

2. Filipinos' sense of humor. If Westy were to tease those Pinays over some of those inanities, they'd probably be the first to laugh. My experience is that Filipinos are as willing to laugh at themselves as at others;.

3. People, or at least middle aged women, singing along with the radio in the workplace (if radios are allowed);.

4. Acceptance of us long-in-the-tooth men with younger Pinays; the equivalent in the states would quickly start the tongues wagging;..