General Info

[AsianPursuits]

Just thinking about a few ideas for my Philippines bucket list for my next visit:

Shortest / smallest girl. Pinalove maybe.

Two sisters. I had the older sister last trip 18½ years. She says her (lesbian) Sister turns 18 in October. Might be a chance.

Two for two. I've had a few threesomes, maybe have the same two girls for two days hanging around the apartment for two days / nights.

Provincial live in. Try a provincial city and have a live in for a week. What's it like to settle for a few days.

Church pickup. Attend a provincial church by myself a few times in a row. See what happens.

Heavily Pregnant. A perennial favourite.

40+ - older and maybe bolder.

I'm thinking I'll have time in Makati, AC, Subic and Dumagette to pull these together.

Thoughts?

[Steve Nash]

It's a good conversation to be had. If I decide to work part time in PH I will definitely need good internet. Anecdotally, I always stay at Central Park in AC. Pre covid the internet was abysmal. Like the worst. You could barely watch Youtube. After returning in March, it was excellent. I streamed NBA games flawlessly. Hopefully the country is modernizing.

I had PLDT Home 2 years ago for like 5 months, it costed me: 1,699 php / month, with speed of 15 Mbps.

Then this year for 4 months, they had a deal for: 1,299 php / month, with the same speed of 15 Mbps.

For me 15 Mbps is enough, and I worked alot online, some months Full time (5 days a week / 8 hours per day), BUT most of the time because of COVID only 3 days a week / 8 hours per day.

I also watched alot of NBA games with NBA League Pass. And I never had any problems with my work or watching the game, only the few times that there was a blackout while I was working.

Not sure about online video games, I never played any video games online when I was in Philippines (I haven't played video games since I was a teenager with Super Mario and Super Nintendo, LOL).

About Netflix and YouTube I never had speed problems either with 15 Mbps.

These info is in the province of Negros, so not sure about Manila and Cebu. I usually stayed 1 to 2 weeks max in an airbnb condo (the last 2. 5 years) in Manila and Cebu, and for short stays they always have the internet included.

[Buhuiba]

I just posted this on the Subic thread but it seems relevant here. I just spent a week in the Pub hotel in Barretto. A consistent 150 mbs. I spent 3 hours last night on Zoom with no problems. I'm trying to work as I travel and it's pretty difficult to get info on internet speeds on, say, Agoda.

[FuriousGeorge]

It's a good conversation to be had. If I decide to work part time in PH I will definitely need good internet. Anecdotally, I always stay at Central Park in AC. Pre covid the internet was abysmal. Like the worst. You could barely watch Youtube. After returning in March, it was excellent. I streamed NBA games flawlessly. Hopefully the country is modernizing.

[WestCoast1]

As this topic was raised a few times in other Philippines threads, I will share my thoughts and experiences on the topic of Internet Access.

Would be interested to hear from others about their experiences as well.

Coverage has improved considerably in the past 3 or so years. Not so much for the TV cable providers, Sky and such, you have the same crappy lineup of mostly pinoy channels in low-def. Even the HD channels I tend to call 'HD-light'.

On the topic of speed. A number of improvements. First lets start with outages, there are fewer. Previously, it was not at all abnormal for even high-end hotels to have crappy speeds (at times falling below 1 mbps, or out completely for a few seconds). Hotels who previously had 2-5 mbps would sometimes say, at the front desk when asking why the Internet was spotty, "Sorry po we have intermittent Internet only". Then, explain why you say you have wifi on your Agoda? Fortunately even those places now have 10-30-ish mbps, which is fine for simple streaming of youtube vids for my girls to listen to love songs or watch Halik (yuck).

Many airbnb condos (the newer ones from the last 5-10 years) have PLDT Fiber or Globe Fiber, offering as much as 150 mbps. This is not to be confused with PLDT Smart / Home or Globe At Home modems, which are not connected to coax or fiber, they have only an electric power plug for the wall, and a SIM card, and are dependent on the same cell towers that your phone uses for its Internet access. These modems are typically crap, using 4 g SIM cards, and inside a condo building, surrounded by other large buildings in the area. Last month I was looking to change condo, so I airbnb several in my current building, and 4 more in nearby residential buildings. I asked to view all of them before agreeing to rent. Key here is to run a phone speed test while hooked to their wifi. In my building, 2 owners had the At Home modems that utilize a SIM card. I got 10-15 mbps and 12-15 mbps at their units. This is crappy considering most units in the building use PLDT Fiber and draw 20-60 on their wifi (and 500+ mbps using a network cat-6 cable). I passed on these. Of the other buildings in the area, I got similar low speeds (5-15 mbps) on all 4 units (SIM cards). The units are in older buildings that don't have any form of fiber run into the building. I passed on these.

I live on the Internet. I avoid any place to stay (for more than 1 night) that might have spotty Internet. No effed zoom or vid or voice calls. Streaming services must work fine, all the time. I saw a sign on a hotel recently that said: "Inquire inside of monthly rates". The front desk said p20 k per month. That's p666 per day, great compared to their daily prices of 2800 (or more). The desk clerk said the 20 k doesn't include an additional 3 k for electric and 1500 for Internet. I asked about Internet speed. "Um. 10 to 30. Like that". I see, seemed ok. But reliable? No outages? "Oh. Yes sir. Customers complain most nights that the system is busy and can't stream or FB". Yuck, anathema to what I need.

Even in the province, early last year, I was able to get Globe to install fiber at my home for 150 mbps. Five years ago nothing like that existed.

[AsianPursuits]

My Airbnb in Angeles had cable internet with good stable coverage. Speedtest says provider was Converge.

38 MB down / 41 mb up.

[Muttley81]

Would be interested to hear from others about their experiences as well.

Exact opposite. Lived in two properties in Philippines, one with Sky for 4 years and one with PLDT for 2 years. Had 10 x as many outages in PLDT as I did with Sky, equipment provided by them is also rubbish. Have to restart router frequently which gets in way of work calls due to lack of connectivity. TV channels on PLDT are also poor, even channels labelled as HD are significantly lower quality than those on Sky. When I move next time, definitely going back to Sky.

[Ghost D]

As this topic was raised a few times in other Philippines threads, I will share my thoughts and experiences on the topic of Internet Access.

Mobile Internet Access. This has actually improved a lot over the last few years so much so that you could almost consider working remotely with a good phone (4 or 5 G and dual sim). The main drawbacks here is that coverage can become spotty once you are out of major population areas, also due to bad weather, crime, quakes etc. ; outages can be frequent, hence the need for a dual sim then get a Smart and Globe sim card so you can flip between the major networks as needed. Average cost is around 4-500 Paseos for a couple of weeks high cap data.

For fixed line Access there is the two major telecom companies that I would recommend, either PLDT (Smart) or Globe, the other big access providers are TV / Internet companies such as Sky and Converge, I have stayed both in hotels and Airbnb's with both Sky and Converge and if I need to do any remote work, I refuse to stay where these are the Internet providers, they are OK, but if you need to make Zoom calls or have a good connection to work then these are simply not good enough in my experience (reliability and small outages where the issues I experienced).

If anyone is planning to do some remote work while travelling, my advice would be to stay in Airbnb's and check upfront who the Internet provider is (Hotel's will also tell you, but they tend to be more interested in providing TV channels first and then Internet, rather than the other way round, hence the package deals from Sky and Converge), if they have PLDT or Globe then for me this would be the golden choice, you might be able to get by on just a mobile data connection, but personally for work, I would need both fixed line connection in addition to the mobile data to reduce the risk of disappointment.

Would be interested to hear from others about their experiences as well.

[Member #4794]

6. After she tries to sue you for child support.

If you don't sign the birth certificate and your name is not on it they cannot do this in the Philippines take a guess why the Pinoy boyfriends take off the second they test positive? They may be able to try and prove its yours if they have a very good lawyer if you were cohabitating. So I would only breach this conversation if and when you move into a longer term relationship more than a few months of co-habituation. Without that signature they will have to go through an extra step and prove filiation. You giving money for the kid may also be used to prove filiation I guess they can get a judgement to compel a DNA test but they wouldn't be able to even start the child support proceedings without that signature. Among Japanese mongers it is customary to give these girls a pregnancy test if you watch some Japanese porn they will sometimes do this as they can use this to prove that they were already pregnant at the time as hookers get pregnant and need to find a way to pay for it so they rush around trying to find a surrogate father.

[Expat American]

Simple question:

When do you tell her you've had a vasectomy?

1. At the bar, before you pay the bar fine / while you are still messaging through an app.

2. On the way to your hotel.

3. When you bring her into your room.

4. Before you penetrate.

5. Before she leaves.

6. After she tries to sue you for child support.

7. Never tell.

Tell whom? A bar girl? Its irrelevant. People lie all the time and say they have a vasectomy to get her to allow the BBFSCIP. They probably shouldn't believe you anyway. An internet girl? Same thing but maybe it may make her feel a bit better. But seriously how would you know if you had knocked someone up anyway? Only if you keep coming back to the same girl over and over again which in mind defeats the entire purpose of coming to the land of the LBFMs! But I'm just an old fashioned pump and dump guy, not looking for love in the wrong places. LOL.

[RacShack]

Yes, I think that's right. Without the booster, you will need a negative covid test within 24 hours prior to departure to board the plane. Regardless of the effectiveness of your shots over time, Phils doesn't care how long ago you had your original shots, nor your booster (only that you had them for the sake of determining if you must get a negative covid test before flying).

And speaking of booster. Anyone interested in a booster in the NCR can get one anytime at the Circuit Mall in Makati City (Hippodromo St corner South Ave, a few short blocks from the Manila South Cemetery along South Ave), on floor 2. They have a massive 2-story room set up for it. You can walk in and get one if you have your original shots card.

And what about people that got the j-j one shot and done? They don't recognize that as being vaccinated?

[Pute Nut]

Good travel insurance in the US was very easy to find online.

So I did notice, but since I was travelling from Thailand most of those would not be viable.

[Sammon]

For me it is never. Except one case a chick in Dominican Republic kept pestering me to send money even before the child was born. Funny thing is that the dates lined up and this chick was 25 with no kids. I went and bought a test just to be sure I was shooting blanks. If I did not have a vasectomy then I would have been pretty sure it was mine. I still talk to her every couple of years and have been with her since the baby was born. I showed her my paperwork but she still swears it is mine.

Long time ago a bargirl claimed me as the father. I had barfined her a year ago. When I went back to the same bar I enquired if the girl still worked there. Lo and behold the mamasan called her phone although she was not working there anymore and in the province. Girl talked to me and said I am the father, I said mine is cut and after that she hung up. I guess she was telling everyone in the bar I am the father because I was with her for three days. We had a great time together.

I would advice not to say anything if you are a two week warrior and circumstances does not require it. At the moment I am chatting with a virgin supposedly who wants to give it up. I told her because she does not want to get pregnant and if sex happens I do not want her to be afraid.

[GDreams]

Good travel insurance in the US was very easy to find online. To drop the price I only used <$1000 for my travel expenses. I was only interested in the $50,000 medical coverage for Covid. I got medical coverage for my last trip even though it wasn't required.

I know of a person who was involved in a serious motorbike accident years ago and the hospital bill was pretty expensive. Luckily he had the travel medical insurance to cover a 2 week hospital stay and the medical flight home to wear his US medical insurance kicked in.

$150 for 30 day coverage is something I gladly pay for.

PAL has a 1 month policy for $87.

[Dg8787]

Simple question:

When do you tell her you've had a vasectomy?

1. At the bar, before you pay the bar fine / while you are still messaging through an app.

2. On the way to your hotel.

3. When you bring her into your room.

4. Before you penetrate.

5. Before she leaves.

6. After she tries to sue you for child support.

7. Never tell.

When she tells you no bb and you need to close the deal.