Davao

[GoodEnough]

Thanks for the responses to my post on perpetual adolescence. I guess I struck a responsive chord in some of the guys who live here or who come here frequently.

The inefficiency, or perhaps the lack of rationality in consumer services here may stem from an inability, on the part of those developing these systems, to think things through. I was reflecting on this during the approximately 90 minutes it took me during the long weekend past, to purchase a simple television. Buying and leaving with the TV set took longer, far longer, than selecting the TV. There was so much paperwork, so many rules to follow, such incredible inefficiency built into what should have been a simple transaction, that I almost said "the hell with it" and walked out. I was almost vibrating with frustration toward the end of the deal before it occurred to me-and not for the first time during my stay here-that the 5 or 6 people involved with the transaction had no idea of why they were doing whatever they were doing. They were just following the rules, without question and without understanding. It also occurred to me that while in the US and Europe, due to a market orientation and competition, retailers try to make it as easy as possible for consumers to spend their money lest they leave and take their business to any one of numerous competitors. Here, the transactional framework is designed (assuming there's any forethought) to prevent anyone from stealing; this explains why shopping is such a wretched experience here and to be avoided whenever possible.

GE

[Robbaf]

I have heard two statements this week, on two separate occasions, that I think-if not perfect metaphors for the country-are at the very least insightful, and lend some understanding to this place.

Her response?"Sir, what do you expect? This is a third world country." In other words one shouldn't have high expectations, and should accept inferior work products. It occurred to me that most Filipinos probably accept the lowered expectations that are concomitant with third world country status, thus dooming the place forever to third world country status in a self-perpetuating, self-justifying cycle.

So, there you go, a third world country inhabited by perpetual adolescents: two rather good metaphors for the state of the Philippines that might help explain to all of us why it is how it is.

GE

This is from yesterday's Philippine Daily Inquirer's columnist: "As I See It":

"Last September, I wrote about a drowning incident at a resort in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. A group of vacationists staying at the resort went swimming but was carried away by a strong undertow. One of them, a mother, Ma. Cecily de Guzman, drowned. She is a member of a family of doctors. On the way to the hospital 80 kilometers away, three of her doctor-relatives tried to revive her, but she was declared dead in the hospital.

The family sued the resort for negligence—not having a lifeguard on duty, not having life-saving equipment in the ambulance, and not having warning signs about the undertow in the resort.

Recently, I received a letter from the owners of the resort, Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa, explaining their side and disowning responsibility."

His reply in the column: "Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism and local government units, and especially the owners of beach resorts, should take special pains to see to it that vacationists are properly warned about, and understand, the dangers. They should have lifeguards and boatmen on standby at all times. When the undertow is strong, beaches should be closed.

We can't expect beach resort owners to do this faithfully at all times because it costs money, So the DOT and the LGUs should see to it that the rules are followed.

We can avoid many tragedies and save many lives, as well as many families from grief, by being more vigilant, more careful and more caring."

http://opinion.inquirer.net/16413/dr...ent-in-palawan

(complete column)

Robb

[Member #4491]

As promised after all the talks about what to pay and what to tip, I reduced the tipping and payment itself as well. Guess what, the girls still look happy and come back for seconds. They even bring friends. And some of the teens just come and hang out and fuck me for fun and not a penny change owner. Still I see happiness. In fact it seems like I sort out a certain type of girls by not accepting anything more than 1000 PHP for a meeting. The type I see less of is the money hungry "I want more"-personalities, and they are always just a waste of precious cum anyway. 500-1000 PHP is just fine, and then taxi money that actually reflects the level of the fare and a meal.

The gf:s are still overpaid in one occasion and then not paid at all for a while, but this is a different category of girls. Al the guys who never meet a girl that are not available "on the market" for some cash, need to rethink how and where they recruit babes. With some self control, some standards, some kindness and a smile, you will for sure have one of the prettiest teenage girls in the neighborhood at your table and on your face later. Only a bitter cynic will think that money is the only reward in life, even for a poor teenage pinay.

With regards to Davao, I think it is even more of a non pro or semi pro scene today than 2010, or at least there are less pros visible on the streets, and the quality in the bars seem lower. I met two decent looking American guys in Marco who where not prepared and they complained that they could not "get lucky". Even the girls at Hot Legs had slipped them fake phone numbers. Poor guys swimming alone in the pool of their ivory tower. .

Claiming that luck is needed in Davao is a bit far fetched in my opinion, but if you are going and like young and pretty girls, you should make sure you have a list and plan your sexual encounters. Day time fun for the more innocent schoolgirls and night time fun for the more experienced girls. Be prepared to go home from the bar at 1 AM or 2 AM at the best. See my previous posts for where to go, but expect to be quite alone except for Fridays and Saturdays. The malls are still packed with sales girls and these are quite often poor or semi poor and open for dating, that is if you can find someone that you consider pretty enough. Single mothers are, as most of us realized by now, always a safe bet if you can live with the physical downside. I will of course not back away from a super tight cherry, but there is something to be said for mothers bending their back in a deep inviting doggy-style arch.

Every time I leave Davao I feel slightly dissatisfied over those mornings that I did not manage to text someone in to cure me from standing on my head to take a morning [CodeWord140]. These mornings I want to be in Cebu, Pattaya or somewhere more commercialized. And then when I pick up little miss Calinan and head out on Samal on the bike, I realize that the two worlds never can meet in one place. If you get the chance, make the ride / drive to your female friends provincial home. It is a great experience and you will get to try sun ripe, sweet fruit that perhaps is the best you will ever taste.

Beam me up, Scotty.

B.

[Bloomberg]

funny you write about this now ge. i have had this theory for some time about different mental stages of (the philippino) people i have had the fortune to interact with. me and my friend (you know who) spent a great deal of time discussing this during our last visit to davao. it is not so politically correct to do research on, or even talk about, differences in physical development between various groups of humans and i have no clue or guess about nature versus nurture in this particular question, but would be highly interested in reference studies if anyone knows where to find it.

take it for what it is, partly joke and partly an initial observations of a pattern i seem to have noticed, but the three mental stages i believe to have observed i choose to call those of a child, an adolescent and an adult. what a surprise, isn't it? these definitions are separated from the physical development, and even if i hope that it is totally obvious i still want to state that we are talking about individuals of age 18 year or more. one can apply this to anyone in society, but it can be fruitful to think about chasing punani to understand the idea.

the adult.

adults are not that many, at least in davao. these individuals are responsive, responsible and realistic. you will feel like you could have been talking to this person anywhere in the world. most often these individuals will be a pleasant surprise for mongers that learned to expect little and be happy for the simplest of conversations while indulging in yet another carbohydrate bomb. being a realist with a certain amount of life experience, the adult will actively choose to oversee certain flaws in you, and let you please her in ways she needs to be pleased. sex will most often be slightly inhibited, but pleasurable and free from transactions, guilt and shallow qualifiers.

the adolescent.

the adolescent individual can make you feel young and alive, but she is unpredictable. most people i meet in the philippines, both in private and in the line of my work, belong to this group. qualifications, symbolism and a somewhat prideful ego are normally a part of the adolescent individuals world, but the effects of these are random. one could for example see a continuous flow of a rather predictable behavior or performance, only to be struck by what seems to be an unpredictable change or error. the same pattern goes for mood and changes in this. the adolescent individual will never question the group, no matter how irrational or stupid it behaves. this is likely the largest group of individuals in the adult part of the philippines, so you will meet them frequently in clubs, parks, eateries, etc. it can be a challenge to qualify if the girl is pretty and / or financially stable, but she is normally both material and vain, and will spread her legs for consumption. a standard answer, cunningly used to probe your intentions in any situation will be "it is up to you".

a key for me to understand these adolescent individuals is to think about the "as if-world". when used correctly this way of thinking will in fact be a very powerful tool. a simple practical example of an "as if" would be to meet the the adolescent individual for a ice cream on your way back from work. after a brief meeting you go home alone and pick up your andros, and then you meet her again. you have now erased the imaginative threshold that stipulates that there can be no sex on the first date. it is important for her image to follow rules like this, so we pretend as if we are observing protocol. another example is to answer a question by simply just asking another question in the returning text message. we pretend as if we answer, but we are in fact voiding all responsibility to answer the first question by asking a second.

the adolescent individual will normally always be looking for a (better) job and will normally never manage to answer to more than one question in any context. she will always have a somewhat plausible excuse for being late, but you will both know that she is just using a standard template excuse, pretending as if it was impossible for her to affect the parameters that caused her delay.

the child.

the child individual is lively, random and can be quite funny to hang out with, at least the first minutes. she makes errors that seems unsystematic at best. her ability to extrapolate and avoid similar errors are close to zero. she will reply to 90% of your questions with a "huh". her excuses for coming late are most often to absurd to even have an opinion about. her status is normally "in school" or "i don't know, oi". she will find it hilarious if you say "pagsureoi" and her immediate comment to seeing your wad of 1000 php bills will be "you are handsome". setting out for any form of intelligent conversation with this group of individuals is bound for disaster. sex is as dramatic as eating an egg and she will most often enjoy it in a natural and unpretentious way. after the act she will immediately start to brush her hair and she will say "look i am peeing" when she [CodeWord133] in the shower over barba's feet.

b.

great post!

after being in the philippines for about 6 weeks now, i am still surprised about the number of girls i meet who seem to live in a completely different world. answering a simple question, following some easy instructions about where to meet etc, with some of them it just seems to be impossible.

coming weeks i plan to visit davao and cagayan de oro, so far i was in manila, cebu, ormoc, dumaguete and iloilo. so far so good, every day is a new adventure here. my favorites are the smaller places, i just love the girls from the provinces. but i learned to check the weather forecast before traveling. from experience i can tell now that even if you can see the other side of the water, spending an hour on a ferry here with heavy winds is not for office nerds like me.

[Member #4491]

so, there you go, a third world country inhabited by perpetual adolescents: two rather good metaphors for the state of the philippines that might help explain to all of us why it is how it is.

ge

funny you write about this now ge. i have had this theory for some time about different mental stages of (the philippino) people i have had the fortune to interact with. me and my friend (you know who) spent a great deal of time discussing this during our last visit to davao. it is not so politically correct to do research on, or even talk about, differences in physical development between various groups of humans and i have no clue or guess about nature versus nurture in this particular question, but would be highly interested in reference studies if anyone knows where to find it.

take it for what it is, partly joke and partly an initial observations of a pattern i seem to have noticed, but the three mental stages i believe to have observed i choose to call those of a child, an adolescent and an adult. what a surprise, isn't it? these definitions are separated from the physical development, and even if i hope that it is totally obvious i still want to state that we are talking about individuals of age 18 year or more. one can apply this to anyone in society, but it can be fruitful to think about chasing punani to understand the idea.

the adult.

adults are not that many, at least in davao. these individuals are responsive, responsible and realistic. you will feel like you could have been talking to this person anywhere in the world. most often these individuals will be a pleasant surprise for mongers that learned to expect little and be happy for the simplest of conversations while indulging in yet another carbohydrate bomb. being a realist with a certain amount of life experience, the adult will actively choose to oversee certain flaws in you, and let you please her in ways she needs to be pleased. sex will most often be slightly inhibited, but pleasurable and free from transactions, guilt and shallow qualifiers.

the adolescent.

the adolescent individual can make you feel young and alive, but she is unpredictable. most people i meet in the philippines, both in private and in the line of my work, belong to this group. qualifications, symbolism and a somewhat prideful ego are normally a part of the adolescent individuals world, but the effects of these are random. one could for example see a continuous flow of a rather predictable behavior or performance, only to be struck by what seems to be an unpredictable change or error. the same pattern goes for mood and changes in this. the adolescent individual will never question the group, no matter how irrational or stupid it behaves. this is likely the largest group of individuals in the adult part of the philippines, so you will meet them frequently in clubs, parks, eateries, etc. it can be a challenge to qualify if the girl is pretty and / or financially stable, but she is normally both material and vain, and will spread her legs for consumption. a standard answer, cunningly used to probe your intentions in any situation will be "it is up to you".

a key for me to understand these adolescent individuals is to think about the "as if-world". when used correctly this way of thinking will in fact be a very powerful tool. a simple practical example of an "as if" would be to meet the the adolescent individual for a ice cream on your way back from work. after a brief meeting you go home alone and pick up your andros, and then you meet her again. you have now erased the imaginative threshold that stipulates that there can be no sex on the first date. it is important for her image to follow rules like this, so we pretend as if we are observing protocol. another example is to answer a question by simply just asking another question in the returning text message. we pretend as if we answer, but we are in fact voiding all responsibility to answer the first question by asking a second.

the adolescent individual will normally always be looking for a (better) job and will normally never manage to answer to more than one question in any context. she will always have a somewhat plausible excuse for being late, but you will both know that she is just using a standard template excuse, pretending as if it was impossible for her to affect the parameters that caused her delay.

the child.

the child individual is lively, random and can be quite funny to hang out with, at least the first minutes. she makes errors that seems unsystematic at best. her ability to extrapolate and avoid similar errors are close to zero. she will reply to 90% of your questions with a "huh". her excuses for coming late are most often to absurd to even have an opinion about. her status is normally "in school" or "i don't know, oi". she will find it hilarious if you say "pagsureoi" and her immediate comment to seeing your wad of 1000 php bills will be "you are handsome". setting out for any form of intelligent conversation with this group of individuals is bound for disaster. sex is as dramatic as eating an egg and she will most often enjoy it in a natural and unpretentious way. after the act she will immediately start to brush her hair and she will say "look i am peeing" when she [CodeWord133] in the shower over barba's feet.

b.

[Bloomberg]

Lowered expectations. Right on the money. The first time I took a PAL flight from the US west coast to Manila, I was the only kano on a full 747. From the long line of pilipinos checking in with boxes (I was the only human being in line at the time with real luggage) , witnessing the slow / underperforming check-in counter clerks, the slow / underperforming flight attendants ("What's that sir? This is the fourth time you asked for some water? Oh yes, I remember now.") , I remember thinking: Am I the only one who notices how slow / inept the employees are? Little did I know that the following two items are part of many people's lives:

1. Slow / poor service (if at all) , and.

2. An acceptance of this slow / poor service by everyone else.

Another airline example: If you have ever been in the old Cebu-Pacific office at the Manila domestic side, where they have the chairs in the waiting area with the call-slip numbers. Watching the 6-8 counter clerks walking around, doing what appears to be nothing, while 50 customers sit idly by for an hour or two, with narry a handful of numbers being called, can be a nightmare, especially if you had to catch a flight and were making a change in itinerary or paying for the change. Yet, nobody complains, and the employees walk about like everything is hunky-dory great day. I'm not quite sure what the employees are doing (maybe 15 of them) , but they are not serving the customers.

GE's tailor's quote of "What do you expect? This is a third world country," was echoed back to me by a hotel manager. She said it this way: "You foreigner expect all things now. Its just not our way." There are many hard-working pilipino: cabbies, factory workers, farmers, etc. But I find that many people in the service industry, which caters to both pilipino and foreigners, are woefully lacking in the "customer-comes-first" ethic.

Lack of service is something you have to get used to if you want to enjoy your time in the Philippines. Airports, immigration offices, and also quite a few of the hotels I used so far are definitely worse when it comes to service compared to for instance Thailand. The abundance of young hot willing girls who also speak English compensates for this which makes Philippines the best country I visited yet. After being here for 6 weeks now I am getting used to the pace and start to actually enjoy it when I see some other foreigner getting pissed when it doesn't go his way. Just relax and enjoy this country, and make sure you don't get yourself in real trouble. After that you can go back to the "first-world" and enjoy the benefits there.

If native people keep their expectations low here, we can enjoy some nice time here for a very reasonable price.

[WestCoast1]

Then I asked her why, since her cutters and sewers made so many mistakes that, in my case at least, cost her a lot of money, she didn't just fire them after the 6th or 7th costly error. Her response?"Sir, what do you expect? This is a third world country." In other words one shouldn't have high expectations, and should accept inferior work products. It occurred to me that most Filipinos probably accept the lowered expectations that are concomitant with third world country status, thus dooming the place forever to third world country status in a self-perpetuating, self-justifying cycle.

GE

Lowered expectations. Right on the money. The first time I took a PAL flight from the US west coast to Manila, I was the only kano on a full 747. From the long line of pilipinos checking in with boxes (I was the only human being in line at the time with real luggage) , witnessing the slow / underperforming check-in counter clerks, the slow / underperforming flight attendants ("What's that sir? This is the fourth time you asked for some water? Oh yes, I remember now.") , I remember thinking: Am I the only one who notices how slow / inept the employees are? Little did I know that the following two items are part of many people's lives:

1. Slow / poor service (if at all) , and.

2. An acceptance of this slow / poor service by everyone else.

Another airline example: If you have ever been in the old Cebu-Pacific office at the Manila domestic side, where they have the chairs in the waiting area with the call-slip numbers. Watching the 6-8 counter clerks walking around, doing what appears to be nothing, while 50 customers sit idly by for an hour or two, with narry a handful of numbers being called, can be a nightmare, especially if you had to catch a flight and were making a change in itinerary or paying for the change. Yet, nobody complains, and the employees walk about like everything is hunky-dory great day. I'm not quite sure what the employees are doing (maybe 15 of them) , but they are not serving the customers.

GE's tailor's quote of "What do you expect? This is a third world country," was echoed back to me by a hotel manager. She said it this way: "You foreigner expect all things now. Its just not our way." There are many hard-working pilipino: cabbies, factory workers, farmers, etc. But I find that many people in the service industry, which caters to both pilipino and foreigners, are woefully lacking in the "customer-comes-first" ethic.

[X Man]

I didn't know this, truly frightening. WHere is this incompleted reactor?

I understand there are / were safer ways of generating nuclear power. Molten salt something or other. Apparently rejected because they didn't provide fuel for those little nuke bombs that used to be so important. But this is the world we live in. X.

LIttle danger of nuclear fallout here X. The only reactor in the country was built more than 20 years ago at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, and has never generated a single kilowatt of electricity, though the government spent years paying off the loans used to finance the project. Just as well, since relying on the government here to maintain nuclear generating facilities would be a sure recipe for disaster. Remember, that this is the country that can't figure out how to build and operate a new airport terminal, so something like a reactor would be well beyond its capabilities.

I used to have a Chinese copy Harley, which meant if you looked at it from 50 meters and squinted a little it slightly resembled a Harley. I gave it up a couple of years ago, figuring I was just too old to risk the insanity of the other drivers here and opted instead for the protection of a larger vehicle. I'm not sorry I made the decision.

GE

[Lustforthrust]

.and under-developed ability to think reflectively or, some may argue, to think much at all.

Mind is a terrible thing.

[GoodEnough]

I have heard two statements this week, on two separate occasions, that I think-if not perfect metaphors for the country-are at the very least insightful, and lend some understanding to this place.

The first occurred while I was eating lunch with some colleagues: the same colleagues with whom I eat lunch almost every day, at Spirale, in Damosa Gate. The four of us were trying to engage in some conversation with each other, but were largely prevented from doing so by three women, none of them particularly young, sitting at an adjacent table, and literally shreiking with laughter throughout their-and our-meal. They were so loud, and so oblivious to the discomfort they were causing to all other diners, that it was a wonder to behold. At some point during our abortive attempts to be heard, my friend who was sitting next to me remarked: "I'm so tired of living in a country of fifteen year olds," and I thought that the characterization of large portions of the population as eternally adolescent was accurate and perfect for its assumption of lack of impulse control, emotional immaturity and under-developed ability to think reflectively or, some may argue, to think much at all.

The second event occurred today. I was at Chardin tailors, to pick up a sports jacket and some slacks. It's the third time I've been back for these items. The last time I finally made them realize that the jacket was so small, there was no way to alter it and it would have to be remade. When I got there, the jacket needed some minor adjustments, but overall it was fine (having been re-made once.) The pants, made of a lovely cashmere blend, were so badly tailored, with the pleats misplaced, that I told the owner I wouldn't take them, and wouldn't return. Then I asked her why, since her cutters and sewers made so many mistakes that, in my case at least, cost her a lot of money, she didn't just fire them after the 6th or 7th costly error. Her response?"Sir, what do you expect? This is a third world country." In other words one shouldn't have high expectations, and should accept inferior work products. It occurred to me that most Filipinos probably accept the lowered expectations that are concomitant with third world country status, thus dooming the place forever to third world country status in a self-perpetuating, self-justifying cycle.

So, there you go, a third world country inhabited by perpetual adolescents: two rather good metaphors for the state of the Philippines that might help explain to all of us why it is how it is.

GE

[GoodEnough]

LIttle danger of nuclear fallout here X. The only reactor in the country was built more than 20 years ago at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, and has never generated a single kilowatt of electricity, though the government spent years paying off the loans used to finance the project. Just as well, since relying on the government here to maintain nuclear generating facilities would be a sure recipe for disaster. Remember, that this is the country that can't figure out how to build and operate a new airport terminal, so something like a reactor would be well beyond its capabilities.

I used to have a Chinese copy Harley, which meant if you looked at it from 50 meters and squinted a little it slightly resembled a Harley. I gave it up a couple of years ago, figuring I was just too old to risk the insanity of the other drivers here and opted instead for the protection of a larger vehicle. I'm not sorry I made the decision.

GE

[X Man]

Oh, stop complaining. At least you didn't have a few nuclear reactors fart out radiation just 200km from your home. Living in the first world also has it's complications. GE, shouldn't you be riding a Harley? They need less space, and you are certainly cool enough.

X

At about 5 o'clock this afternoon the sky over Davao turned black, warning everyone who lives here of the imminence of a severe storm. Undaunted, I got into my car and girded myself for the short ride to my house, a mere 4 or 5 kilometers distant. During that short ride, which took about 25 minutes, I witnessed more insane driving behavior than I could possibly see over a five or six year period in the West. The topper was a truck coming out of a small side street, managing to cut off two lanes of traffic while trying to turn, but blocked from doing so by the smaller cars, that clustered around the behemoth like gnats around an elephant. Not intimidated at all, a guy in a small Toyota decided he simply had to turn onto the small side street at the same time that the truck was trying to exit, with the result that nothing moved at all, until finally a few cars in the opposing lanes gave way to allow the truck some room. I've noticed that Filipino drivers are quite capable of creating a traffic jam with fewer than five cars.

Naturally, as soon as it started to rain heavily, both the electricity and the cell phone service went out, leaving me sweltering in the 100% humidity, and unable to make a call to the electric company to determine if there's enough masking tape and glue left in inventory to make repairs that will last until the next wind blows or the next heavy rain begins.

The ready availability of young, responsive ladies-the favorite subject of most who write herein-is about the only upside of living here.

GE

[Bob Bowie]

I was in Samal at the time and the power was knocked out by a fallen tree. What did surprise me was how good the Smart Internet was working on my phone. It is my old iPhone 3G that I had jail broken in Manila for 500 peso.

[GoodEnough]

At about 5 o'clock this afternoon the sky over Davao turned black, warning everyone who lives here of the imminence of a severe storm. Undaunted, I got into my car and girded myself for the short ride to my house, a mere 4 or 5 kilometers distant. During that short ride, which took about 25 minutes, I witnessed more insane driving behavior than I could possibly see over a five or six year period in the West. The topper was a truck coming out of a small side street, managing to cut off two lanes of traffic while trying to turn, but blocked from doing so by the smaller cars, that clustered around the behemoth like gnats around an elephant. Not intimidated at all, a guy in a small Toyota decided he simply had to turn onto the small side street at the same time that the truck was trying to exit, with the result that nothing moved at all, until finally a few cars in the opposing lanes gave way to allow the truck some room. I've noticed that Filipino drivers are quite capable of creating a traffic jam with fewer than five cars.

Naturally, as soon as it started to rain heavily, both the electricity and the cell phone service went out, leaving me sweltering in the 100% humidity, and unable to make a call to the electric company to determine if there's enough masking tape and glue left in inventory to make repairs that will last until the next wind blows or the next heavy rain begins.

The ready availability of young, responsive ladies-the favorite subject of most who write herein-is about the only upside of living here.

GE

[Finrod]

I do enjoy reading yours and Slayer's posts on fine dining in the provinces. I will certainly try some of those places next time I get to Davao. The thing that gives me pause is, do I want to spend the $ on a girl who won't appreciate it. Perhaps they have, like in the states they have a "children's menu". Perhaps they might have a "My Pinay GF's Menu" with rice and a bit of lechon or chicken? (sorry in advance!)

You're very highly unlikely to meet a girl who will appreciate it so you would be better off taking her to a local BBQ place where the menu will be familiar to her. Or go for the Filipino food courts in the local malls. Or if you can stomach it, there's always Jollibee's, KFC and Chow King. This is a mistake I've made several times. Shame on me. Heck, even did it again in Cebu on my last trip.

If you still want the fine dining experience and don't want to dine alone, try finding other expats of similar tastes and bankrolls.