General Info

[Surfer]

perhaps this seems useful to those who have never been to to the pi, but i find much of it utter nonsense. i've been there way more than 25 times and am way older than 21 (lol!) yet never got held up at knifepoint, pickpocketed or otherwise scammed. use big city common sense, of course, and odds are you will be fine. yes the lrt is famous for pickpockets but what foreigner takes the lrt anyway?

he says it is "illegal" to give money to the poor; please cite the statute (as this is pure bollocks as they say in england). most times your wallet should be locked in your hotel safe anyway, and having coins and small notes in a pocket with no wad of 1000piso notes is a good idea. of course you never flash loads of cash (but that obvious piece of common sense hardly justifies report of distinction treatment imho!)

travelers checks are way less convenient than an atm card or cash.

as for his aversion to tipping, he can go f himself as i will tip whomever i want and if he does not like it too bad. that said, i would not tip a taxi 500piso but this mantra of "you tippers are ruining it for us koriput [cheapskates]" gets so old.

i hate guns, but i have half a mind to gun find his gun range and give bigger tips (so next time they charge foreigners 100 piso per bullet lol!)
the prevalence of guns is one of the biggest problems facing the pi (along with overpopulation for which the church is largely to blame, but i digress).
girls hanging outside hotels will accuse you of [CodeWord123]? never had a problem but of course it is possible. but bar girls, streetwalkers from away from your hotel and la cafe indies will never make such accusations? give me a break.

while taking blue bird taxis in jakarta makes sense as they are both reliable and prevalent, i have never seen this taxi company the guy is shilling for. there is no equivalent of blue bird group in manila.

as anybody who has ever been in manila knows, getting a driver to accept the meter without negotiation can be a challenge at times, but i have flagged taxis off the street thousands of times and the worst that happened was he whined about traffic and wanted a few extra piso at the end. while there may be isolated anecdotes of robbery by taxi drivers, like anywhere, this is not a persistent problem for foreigners imho.

yes kidnappers have targeted chinese businessman but that has nothing to do with foreigner sex tourists. ditto pirate boats in the sulu sea. i bet dollars to donuts this guy has never been outside luzon (where there are no "pirates"

)

[Asheron]

dangers & safety advice philippines

i have been to the philippines 5 times. i am 21 years old.

i would like to share my knowledge with u.

whenever i went out i would carry money in 3 different places on my body, i prepared my wallet every day as though it was going to be stolen. keep your debit card in a separate pocket. not in your wallet.

my second visit to manila i had a knife pulled on me, broad daylight! loads of people around me! it happens so quickly, you have to make your choice, do you give? or do you fight?

giving money to the poor

never! never! never! give money to the poor it’s illegal! and you put yourself in big danger! you also put other tourists in danger! don’t be small minded, think about the bigger picture, its hard yes, but its bad news. you get your wallet out to give some money and you’re asking for trouble, you also show that tourists are rich and have money on them. bad news!

tips

giving tips can get you killed, sounds crazy but it’s true, you give a taxi man a big tip say p500 he might tell his friend who is a gangster ‘hey this white guy gave me p500 i think he’s rich and he’s staying at this address’ you could get kidnapped! extreme example but it can happen!

maximum tip you should give is 25php – 50php maximum 100php!

i am a member of a gun range in the philippines, because these stupid americans would keep giving tips, they now have a foreigners price which is 20php a bullet! when the filipino pays 3php a bullet!

your not mr. big man giving out tips, stop it.

scams

a few scams. .

• you leave your friend jerwyn to do some shopping on your own, a person comes up to you and says "hello,, john, your friend jerwyn told me he wants you to buy this picture for him" how does he know your name? how does he know your friends name? because he has been following you!

• you exchange your money on the street, they count it out, your happy, you walk away, you count your money, there’s money missing! magic!

pick-pockets

the world’s best pickpockets live in manila, i stayed with a filipino who makes a minimum of 3000php a day by targeting mobile phones, and he cuts peoples pockets with a razor! he targets the mrt day and night.

girls hanging around near hotels

don’t pick up girls directly outside your hotel, you will take them to your room, they will cry [CodeWord123], the police will come, you will have a case put against you, will take 4 months to process, you need to get home for work, so you pay $4000 to have the case dropped. another reason to wear condoms.

boats

pirates are active in the southern islands, and over crowed boats in the peak season can make it dangerous.

kidnappers

10 years ago there were about 40 active groups, now only 3, they target rich chinese business man. there operations are planned.

they can target foreigners because they want to blackmail there government for money.

change your routine frequently, the risk is very low, but if you flash the cash you’re asking for trouble.

check your receipts

don’t be surprised to find the odd extra item placed on your bill.

taxis

stick with mge, your insured, there a big company; they have a green stripe down the side with mge in big black letters.

can anyone eles add to this?

editor's note: i certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the reports of distinction thread. please click here for more information.

[Asheron]

Travelers Cheques. (SM MEGA MALL TAKE AMERICAN EXPRESS)

If you’re planning on taking Travel Cheques to Manila, make sure they are American Express.

If you take Visa Travel Cheques your holiday will be ruined!

I had 2 weeks of stress and grief with Visa Travel Cheques I even swapped banks because of them.

If your unlucky and have Visa Travel Cheques I think there are only 2 places in the whole of Manila which take them, so check out the website of the Visa Travel Cheques!

Take your American Express travel Cheques to Sm Mega Mall, use the MRT, or ride a Taxi. Once inside Sm Mega Mall go to the Top floor, there is a travel agency who take them, near Globe Cell Phone Shop!

Tip!!!!! Only ride in MGE Taxi’s for your safety and insurance. They are marked with a Big Green Stripe! Also the Yellow Striped Taxi’s but I forgot the company name.

[Asheron]

Travelers Cheques (SM MEGA MALL TAKE AMERICAN EXPRESS)

If you’re planning on taking Travel Cheques to Manila, make sure they are American Express.

If you take Visa Travel Cheques your holiday will be ruined!

I had 2 weeks of stress and grief with Visa Travel Cheques I even swapped banks because of them.

If your unlucky and have Visa Travel Cheques I think there are only 2 places in the whole of Manila which take them, so check out the website of the Visa Travel Cheques!

Take your American Express travel Cheques to Sm Mega Mall, use the MRT, or ride a Taxi. Once inside Sm Mega Mall go to the Top floor, there is a travel agency who take them, near Globe Cell Phone Shop!

Tip!!!!! Only ride in MGE Taxi’s for your safety and insurance. They are marked with a Big Green Stripe! Also the Yellow Striped Taxi’s but I forgot the company name.

[Bill Buxton]

I had another guy ask where he could cash in travelers checks here.I for one had no idea and told him to try other banks and a local moneychanger. I am well aware that most or all hotels and other places here do not want them and they are considered almost worthless.

CASH IS KING, and debit and credit cards number two and three on the best leagal tender list here.Do any other members here have any experence with t-checks.I know this has been asked before but who wants to see a guy on vacation not having access to his money.

B.B.

[GoodTimes2]

Even though 1 in 100 seems like a rather low number, we all have to think about the number of women we have sex with when we do get there.

When I go, I have sex with as many ladies as I can in the time I have. One time I had sex with over 25 women in a 10 day period. The more women you have sex with the more the odds increase...

The New York Times report I referred to in my previous post is actually 2003 and the mass screening in Angeles happened in 2002.

However, according to the latest United Nations report of December 2006 the number of reported HIV cases are still low.

Here is the section that deals with the Philippines:



http://www.unaids.org/en/HIV_data/epi2006/default.asp

[Bill Buxton]

Anyone here staying here longer than 6 months in the P. I. Will need to get an exit clearence fron the M. B. I. In manils. You can get the one page paperwork at local immigration and also bring two photos passport style with you also. The pics will have to be two inch by two inch color and also the charge is 500-p for the transaction at the office. this should be done two weeks before you flight home and you will be good to go. I am not sure if this is a requirement of all foreigners or just the U. S. I would say all staying over six months.

They also want thumb prints of each hand to have on file. The processing time is not more than 3-4 days in most cases.

B. B.

[Henderson]

The New York Times report I referred to in my previous post is actually 2003 and the mass screening in Angeles happened in 2002.

However, according to the latest United Nations report of December 2006 the number of reported HIV cases are still low.

Here is the section that deals with the Philippines:

In the Philippines, where HIV is being transmitted primarily during unprotected sex (National Epidemiology Center, 2006), national adult HIV prevalence remains well under 0.1% (UNAIDS, 2006).

About one third of HIV infections diagnosed since 1984 have been in returning overseas Filipino workers (mostly in seafarers and domestic workers) (National Epidemiology Center, 2006).

Efforts to screen and treat sex workers for sexually transmitted infections, along with other prevention efforts initiated since the early 1990s have possibly helped contain the spread of the virus during paid sex (Mateo et al., 2003). Less than 1% of sex workers are infected with HIV, according to successive sentinel surveillance rounds since 2002 (Department of Health Philippines, 2005).

HIV prevalence higher than 1% has not yet been detected among men who have sex with men, either (Department of Health, 2005). There is no guarantee this situation will continue.

Condom use is not the norm during paid sex (when surveyed in 2002, just 6% of sex workers said they used condoms with all their clients in the previous week) (MAP, 2005b), and the use of non-sterile injecting equipment among injecting drug users is a common practice in some areas (such as Cebu City) (Wi et al., 2002; Mateo et al., 2003; Department of Health Philippines, 2003). In such light, the apparent complacency among young Filipinos about the epidemic (three in five 14–20-year-olds believe they cannot contract HIV) gives cause for concern.

UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2006 .

http://www.unaids.org/en/HIV_data/epi2006/default.asp

[Henderson]

The good news is that there really does seem to be a very low incidence of AIDS in The Philippines and also a fairly low rate of other STDs.

This is despite the PI having all the ingredients for an AIDS explosion- low condom use, migrant workers coming home and bringing back diseases, low health care budget, etc.

The unusual situation is referred to as the Philippines Paradox and has got the experts at a loss to explain it. They tend to support the belief that the PI is just going through a lucky phase and that an epidemic could still happen.

The amazing thing to me is that during a mass screening in Angeles last year only five girls showed up positive for HIV. That to me just sounds TOO good to be true and makes me wonder whether the clinics are carrying out the tests properly.

The bad news is that if a girl has been found to be HIV positive then she is officially (by the clinic/hospital that diagnosed it) encouraged to carry on plying her trade and working as a prostitute, even though some/most of her clients will request not to use condoms! In Europe this would be illegal and she would probably end up in jail. In the Philippines she is advised to carry on working whilst being "encouraged" to use condoms!

Here is today’s New York Times report;

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...0Topics%2fAIDS

EDITOR'S SUGGESTION: This is interesting, but you might consider re-posting it under the Safe Sex topic in the Special Interests section of the Forum where it will benefit the Forum Members who are specifically looking for this type of information. Thanks!

[Spam Hog]

Hey Guys,

What would be the best resort in Boracay to stay. Not for mongering or to impress someone. Just want a first class place by the beach.

Check out Cocomangas if you like a short walk to the shooters bar and all its freelancers (which you can walk back to your room in 2 minutes). It gets a little noisy though. If you want something a little more traditional check out Red coconut hotel. Somebody also said good things about a place called "hey Joe" small rooms but god food.

All these places are across the street(100 meters) from the beach.

Good Luck

Spamhog

[Giannibella]

Hey Guys,

What would be the best resort in Boracay to stay. Not for mongering or to impress someone. Just want a first class place by the beach.

Friday's is one of the best in Boracay, it's also the best for the beach. It's located to north of the beach, if I remember well it's the last one.

[X Man]

Well, if mongering is "more challenging", then that could explain SH's comments. But I have to agree with Surfer. Some of the photos I've seen at ISG Indonesia seem to indicate that very attractive women can be found.

And as for Thai women, what I miss most is finding adult women who naturally have little or no pubic hair. What a treasure!

X

in this case, about Indonesian women whom I adore. They are BY FAR the most honest of the three, and scams are much less prevalent than in the PI & LOS. Way less foreign sex tourists too, meaning much less HIV and other STDs (PI being much lower than LOS but Indo being the lowest of all). Homosexuality is very rare so virtually zero katoeys/baklas either, so those who wish to avoid gender benders may prefer Indonesia for that reason.

Indonesian mongering is more challenging, as it is more subtle, but I vehemently disagree about the girls being any less attractive but taste is a personal thing.

[Hobby Knob]

Hey Guys,

What would be the best resort in Boracay to stay. Not for mongering or to impress someone. Just want a first class place by the beach.

[Surfer]

in this case, about Indonesian women whom I adore. They are BY FAR the most honest of the three, and scams are much less prevalent than in the PI & LOS. Way less foreign sex tourists too, meaning much less HIV and other STDs (PI being much lower than LOS but Indo being the lowest of all). Homosexuality is very rare so virtually zero katoeys/baklas either, so those who wish to avoid gender benders may prefer Indonesia for that reason.

Indonesian mongering is more challenging, as it is more subtle, but I vehemently disagree about the girls being any less attractive but taste is a personal thing.

[Spam Hog]

I'm not sure where to post this question, so I will post it here and also on the Thai and Phils threads as well so I can get the maximum answers/viewpoints. I hope the moderator will allow this.

My scenario and question is this. .

I have not been to either Indonesia or Thailand (only to the Phils), but have read many threads on this and other message boards. From what I have read, Thailand seems the best all around place. The Thai women seem more fit (generally) and it appears they are more willing to do threesomes and other such episodes then their Filipina counterparts. The Filipinas seem to be generally less fit with small bellies and do not seem eager to engage in threesomes or any other out of the ordinary episode if you know what I mean. The Indonesian women's looks are not the most appealing to me and it appears mongering there might be a little more challenging then either the Phils or Thailand, but I have noticed in the trip reports and pictures that the the Indonesian women seem a lot wilder. I have seen more toys and threesomes in the Indonesia photo galleries then in any of the others. More anal and other such episodes in the Indonesia area.

The looks of the women is important to me, however, the willingness and general sexual energy of the women is most important.

So my question is, which destination offers the wildest and most sexually willing women?

I also have one more question on Indonesia. The pictures of the Jakarta women show unshaved women where as the Batam women seem shaved. What are the general differences in the women from Batam and Jakarta? What can I expect if I go to either location?

The main reason why I pose this question is I do not get to go on these trips often. When I do go, I spend valuable vacation time and more then a few grand of my cash. I don't want to waste any time and want to maximize my experience. Hopefully, I will receive some insightful information so I can make my decision.

I have lived in Thailand, been to indonesia and now dwell in phils, having experienced an appropriate amount of mongering et al from those women I suppose I have some sort of qualification to say this. Thai women are the ultimate SEX TOYS, if what you want is simply sexual adventure, diversity and willingness to engage in 3 somes, 3 holing or experimentation etc. Not just the prostitutes either. I suppose the key to this is the religion of the respective countries. Thai's are strick Bhuddists, a religion which acknowledges no "sin' but only karma for good deeds or bad. Sexual pleasure gratification is like eating when you are hungry, drinking when thristy, no big deal. Thai women do 'cheat' more often, our concept of cheating not theirs. So two things one is NEVER trust a Thai woman for anything other than sex, second: THAI WOMEN HAVE MUCH MORE INCIDENCE OF AIDES than do Phils or Indonesia or most other Asian countries, beware.

Indonesia I flat out don't like,back a few years ago I just missed the big "purges" by the extremist Muslim idiots in Yogyakarta when they burned bars and went after westerners for promoting "vice" etc. Every once in awhile they blow up a bar or throw a molotov cocktail in Jakarta as well, same shit. To some extent, this was their reason for blowing up Bali, ie westerners are turning their country into a ***** house. A WORD OF CAUTION AGAIN, one of these days they are going to do the same with Batam and a few other "resort" islands off Singapore where westerners and Singa's go to hump Indo girls. I found Indo girls so-so, some of them are hairy, depends what tribe they are from. I recall some pretty ones in Jakarta among mixed chinese, they do NOT compare to Thais sexually IMHO. You can find Indo girls in Singapore (Maids) and in Kuala Lumphur Malaysia, a much less hostile place than Indo.

As far a Filipinas go you can find different atttitudes among them, some will do 3 somes, 3 holing and other off the wall things. Sometimes they will experiment sexually. I've found that women from the Bukidnon region and other parts of Mindanao to be more sexually diverse. Once again not just prostitutes. ALSO I've found a lot of Filipinas to be hairy, which I dont like, kind of a joke here among expats but you see lots of lovely ladies and then look at their legs...aggghh she forgot the razor.


Good Luck


Spamhog