Manila

[WestCoast1]

I have to agree with Sammon. Several years ago there was a running blog solely devoted to the topic of taxis. I propose that we should go back to that and keep taxi issues out of the Manila section of the ISG.

Apology gents. I don't see a taxi section, but maybe 'Stupid Sh*t' would have been a better place. Enough of the taxi for now.

[Soapy Smith]

The $1,500/2 k USD hookers are not worth that kind of money. But if you don't mind Asians, they are available in every city in the US at a reasonable price.

I agree with Lefu's point, but in the city where I live, population about 250 K, you can get a massage, table shower and handshake for about $150. If you want the full menu, you need to go to a larger city, a drive of at least two hours for me. And then prices are going to be somewhere between $200 and $300. There are online offerings in my town for that price range, but they're not Asian, and there are significant risks of disease and police entrapment.

[Soapy Smith]

Several years ago there was a running blog solely devoted to the topic of taxis. I propose that we should go back to that and keep taxi issues out of the Manila section of the ISG.

I suspect there's a reason that blog / thread died: it's a topic that ebbs and flows, not one that continues at a steady pace. I have posted taxi stories in the past, but we had an expat in the forum, an Australian I think, long in the tooth like me, who flamed me and others who posted about taxi problems, insisting that if he didn't experience problems, others must be exaggerating. He reported a story from the news about a new LTFRB Director appointed by then President Noynoy Aquino. Some cab driver tried to cheat him on a fare and he had the guy drive him to LFTRB headquarters, walked the guy inside, and pulled his commercial driving license. Our expat insisted that this guy was going to clean up all the presumed taxi problems. Yet here is Westie, eight or ten years later, describing persistent Grab and taxi problems.

Simply stated, one government official is not going to change these taxi driver behaviors. These problems are embedded in systems and in the culture, and they're so taken-for-granted by average Filipinos that they're almost impossible to raise to the surface and reform.

I think Westie's point is to illustrate that these problems are now related to covid, and specifically that taxi and Grab meters are nearly impossible to monitor because of the new plexiglass shields in cabs. I have read about a paragraph into Westie's Grab and taxi posts, get the gist of the problem, and then move to other posts. But I'm not ready to throw in the towel on these posts because, for those of us focused on covid in the Philippines, they are informative. To me, at least.

[Lefeu]

Hahahahahahaha. You are obviously not in USA, a man here over 50 can forget it. Do we have hookers here sure, but what I've seen they would have to pay me. Only hot comparable girls I've seen here was in Vegas and those girls were 1500 to 2000 dollars, they are insane. Younger college types does that happen maybe but if your older and approach them they are likely to call the police. So yes traveling to Asia is money well spent, this country is crap. 18 months now and still waiting. If by some miracle you are in US and there is a place in this country where this is possible, please, please provide location and I will get there.

The $1,500/2 k USD hookers are not worth that kind of money. But if you don't mind Asians, they are available in every city in the US at a reasonable price.

[Soapy Smith]

Younger college types does that happen maybe but if your older and approach them they are likely to call the police.

You might want to strategize a sugar daddy-sugar baby arrangement, but I believe it's not cheap. Rep. Matt Gaetz might have some useful digits, but he's probably holding them very close right now as the investigation scales up.

[Locamotive]

Westie,

Thanks for single handedly keeping the Philippines board alive. Your resilience in staying put there for the past few years is admirable. Not sure mere mortals could have done that. LOL.

I seriously question the sanity of mongers who are planning to visit third world countries at the moment just to chase pussy. All this bureaucratic effort just for a root? Most mongers have excellent options for sex in their own countries, albeit at a higher price. But factoring in the high cost of the airfare, confusing and inconsistent quarantine requirements, loss of income, need to wear all the Covid paraphernalia and loss of tourist atmosphere hardly makes it worthwhile.

Hahahahahahaha. You are obviously not in USA, a man here over 50 can forget it. Do we have hookers here sure, but what I've seen they would have to pay me. Only hot comparable girls I've seen here was in Vegas and those girls were 1500 to 2000 dollars, they are insane. Younger college types does that happen maybe but if your older and approach them they are likely to call the police. So yes traveling to Asia is money well spent, this country is crap. 18 months now and still waiting. If by some miracle you are in US and there is a place in this country where this is possible, please, please provide location and I will get there.

[MamaGuevos]

Hey Westie,

I would rather prefer you fucking and posting pics of your pretty ladies rather than fighting with Grab. LOL.

As you know Philippine mindset is screw the foreigner. They practically never turn on the meter. Always quoting flat fare except very few honest people. I reward the honest with a good tip. Otherwise as a foreign visitor I take the loss and not let it ruin my day.

But of course you live there and need to live like a local.

I have to agree with Sammon. Several years ago there was a running blog solely devoted to the topic of taxis. I propose that we should go back to that and keep taxi issues out of the Manila section of the ISG. It's not that the issues raised aren't important for the average traveler to Manila, nor that the participants in the taxi discussion aren't otherwise excellent contributors, but it dilutes the Manila section and makes the mongering news and advice harder to find. With the lifting of the travel ban, there is so much for us to learn before making plans to return.

[Sammon]

Hey Westie,

I would rather prefer you fucking and posting pics of your pretty ladies rather than fighting with Grab. LOL.

As you know Philippine mindset is screw the foreigner. They practically never turn on the meter. Always quoting flat fare except very few honest people. I reward the honest with a good tip. Otherwise as a foreign visitor I take the loss and not let it ruin my day.

But ofcourse you live there and need to live like a local.

[WestCoast1]

Clearly I've been out of the loop for too long. What happened to: book a grab online nominating pick up and set down points; fare is auto calculated; driver is assigned who messages when he is outside; you drive to the nominated setdown point; fare is paid in cash or via the app; add a tip if you feel it appropriate??

When did the fare become variable or a negotiation?? Even when the car was a regular taxi, my fares have always been precalculated by the app.

Clearly I'm missing something.

First there was Grab Car, which is what you are describing. A regular car driven by a regular Jose (like Uber), for a flat up-front fee.

Grab Taxi is a regular white taxi. It has a green emblem "G" sticker on the rear passenger window. The driver picks up regular cash fares on the street like any taxi driver does. He is also hooked into the Grab app. When I hit my Grab app for a ride, I enter my departure and destination locations. On the bottom of my screen is a choice: Grab Taxi, or Grab Car. The fare for the Car is set in advance (say, p210). The fee for the Taxi is an estimated range, including the Grab fee (usually p35, or more in heavier traffic). The Grab taxi range might appear as: P135-P195 (or such).

If I order the Grab Car, I pay p210. If I order the Grab Taxi, the driver picks me up and turns on his meter, like a normal cash fare. At the end of the ride, I pay the metered fare + Grab Fee (p35). If my metered fare is p140, then I pay 140+35 = p175, in cash or it will go to my credit card on file with Grab. The beauty of the credit card is that you should be able to arrive, step out of the car, and both of you and the driver say "Have a good day" and walk away. It is that way with Grab Car or Uber. But letting taxi drivers into the mix is a bit of a spicy move; they are always on the lookout for ways to make a peso.

There should be no haggling in either system, Grab Car or Taxi. The Car fee is set and agreed to in advance. The Taxi has only one variable: the meter amount, determined at the end of the ride (then add the Grab fee).

Grab Taxi started about a year after Grab Car, maybe 3-4 years ago. I have a running, rant-oriented set of emails going back a full year with Grab customer support. They can be difficult to reach, slow to respond, and say the most non-customer-friendly things in their email (like a lawyer). As an example, I would step out of a Grab taxi, and a moment later I would get a BEEP on my app with this message: "Your fare is p145". Seemed fine to me. An hour later I get a Grab email with the official receipt, showing a charge of p156. Why the difference? I contact Grab in the running email, forwarding back the Grab app p145 and their email of p156. Why the difference? "Because sir the 145 is just an estimate. The email p156 is the actual calculated fare, meter + Grab fee. Thank you". OK, that also seems fine to me, the amount. Next question to Grab: Why bother sending the first message of p145 in the app? "Customers expect it". OK!

If you enter your Grab departure / destination and it shows the route map and calculates your cost, you can see the taxi rates if you click the taxi icon on the bottom of the screen: P40 flagfall, p2 per minute, and p13.5 per KM. Just like a regular taxi. Its right there in your app. But strange things happen. Example: You ride for 7 minutes and 1. 7 km on the meter. That should be p40 (flagfall) + p14 (p2 per minute) + p13.5 (over 1 km and under 2 km = p13.5). That should total should be p67.5. That's exactly what the meter read at the end of the ride. I get a message on my app that my fare is p67.5.

But. . . I get an email receipt, saying the charge is p76.95. Why the discrepancy? I write to Grab to ask, explaining p40 + p14 + p13.5 = 67.5. Reply: "Correct sir its p67.5 charge". Then why did the email say p76? Reply (always the replies take days or longer): "Really sir its p40 + p14 + (p13.5 x 1. 7 minutes) = p76". Wait, wait. The last part, the distance. Its distance times p13.5? Or discrete KM times 13.5? Response: "Yes, distance times 13.5". But in your app it says per each KM. In the meter, it only adds 13.5 when the distance kicks over each new single KM. Which is it?

Wait for it. . . Response: "We don't comment on internal policies and calculations. Sorry po". What! New question to Grab: What is the government department in Philippines that licenses Grab to do business? And which department should I direct a Grab complaint to?

No response. A month later I re-sent that last part. No response. A month later I sent it again. I stopped at the Brgy office and explained, and asked where to file a consumer complaint. "Department of Trade on Gil Puyat sir". Done. I found the DTI website. I emailed DTI and didn't hear back. I called the phone number and nobody answered. One day soon I got to taxi (Grab!) over there.

Pic #1. This is what the grab app looks like after you enter your departure and destination points. A map on top, and the different types of car to choose from on the bottom (blue arrows). Clicking on the red box will get you to pic #2, your different type of vehicles. Notice the blue arrow pointing to the Grab Taxi; you will see the Booking Fee (p35) there. A separate complaint here. If you click the Taxi option you are agreeing to the p35 (which is fine), but later after you are off that screen, should you want to double-check the Grab fee (it might be 35,50, 60,75, etc), you might find it impossible to find in the app for your current ride. It will also not show in the Grab emailed receipt. Its difficult to complain that your receipt or charge is incorrect if you don't know (or can't remember, like me, as I can take half a dozen Grabs or more a week) the Grab fee. Emailing Grab and asking for the Grab fee amount for any previous ride is akin to pulling teeth.

Pic #2. The different types of vehicles you can get from Grab. With a Grab Taxi, you get a range, because the meter amount is different based on traffic patterns and congestion. All the other Grab cars have a set amount, determined beforehand.

[Goferring]

Again yesterday afternoon. See pic. A Grab driver picked me up at my place. Our destination was 2. 4 km away (Grab's estimate). Just 30-40 seconds and 100 m up the road we came to a stop behind other traffic at a red light. The meter read as you see the pic. Upon bringing this to the driver's attention, he was full of BS on why it was that way, how difficult the trip is during heavy traffic, how far away the destination was, and why he didn't want to re-set the meter. While still sitting at the red light he DID offer to subtract p14 (the 7 minutes) from the final fare, but not the p13.5 (1. 4 km) already on the meter....

Clearly I've been out of the loop for too long. What happened to: book a grab online nominating pick up and set down points; fare is auto calculated; driver is assigned who messages when he is outside; you drive to the nominated setdown point; fare is paid in cash or via the app; add a tip if you feel it appropriate??

When did the fare become variable or a negotiation?? Even when the car was a regular taxi, my fares have always been precalculated by the app.

Clearly I'm missing something.

[WestCoast1]

Both of these "golden oldies" have popped up in the past 3 weeks (again).

Again yesterday afternoon. See pic. A Grab driver picked me up at my place. Our destination was 2. 4 km away (Grab's estimate). Just 30-40 seconds and 100 m up the road we came to a stop behind other traffic at a red light. The meter read as you see the pic. Upon bringing this to the driver's attention, he was full of BS on why it was that way, how difficult the trip is during heavy traffic, how far away the destination was, and why he didn't want to re-set the meter. While still sitting at the red light he DID offer to subtract p14 (the 7 minutes) from the final fare, but not the p13.5 (1. 4 km) already on the meter. I stepped out of the taxi, cancelled in the app, reported the driver in the app, and took a regular cash taxi.

As an aside, many drivers are now insisting at your destination that they show you the info they are entering on their phone's Grab app. It requires them to enter on the app the meter setting. The Grab fee is pre-filled in on his app and can't be changed. As an example, if the fare on the meter is p140, then on his app he should enter 140. The Grab fee of p35 will also show, and on the bottom it will say p175 Total Fee. He must then hit SUBMIT, and then a confirmation screen will pop up showing all the details. At that point he must hit the PROCEED button, and he will be rewarded with the amount he will be credited for this ride. Many drivers are now insisting that you watch this process before exiting the car (kudos as it keeps things honest).

Second aside. Grab drivers earn more than the metered fare. Part of the Grab fee goes back to the driver. Using the same example of p140 on the meter, he will enter that in his app at the end of the ride. After hitting SUBMIT, and then confirming by hitting PROCEED, his app will change to a congratulatory screen saying: "You have earned P157", or such.

[WestCoast1]

Grab taxi, more (well, old) shenanigans resurfacing. Now that the drivers are encased in the left-front seat by plexiglass or a thick saran-wrap type of plastic, it is difficult (nearly impossible) to see the meter now. It is difficult many times to even be able to tell if it is powered on, as its hidden inside the plastic, hidden from the back seat and the front passenger seat.

1) The driver fails to switch on the meter when you enter the taxi. When he drops you at your destination, you ask him how much is the metered fare. Alternately, you notice part-way into your ride that the meter is not running and you remind him to turn it on, but he balks at that. At the end of your grab taxi ride you ask for a receipt, but he can not produce one because he did not run the meter. "Just you look in your app sir. Its there". No, its not. You show him your app and ask him to find it, but he can not. He might offer to tell you what he thinks the ride was worth, and it will be exorbitantly large. A p130-160 ranged ride might become "Its 250. OK"? You balk, getting nowhere with him. You must go thru the time-consuming process of reporting him to Grab (the app is time-consuming, and limits your reporting of his bad behavior to just a few pre-made options, with little chance to explain what happened). It might take days to hear back from Grab on your status (reply is by email, but initially you can not complain to them via email, only the app).

2) You order a Grab taxi, to pick you up at Robinson's Malate and drop you at your condo in Makati. Your pickup point is on Pedro Gil, main entrance by Starbucks (across from Eurotel). The Grab driver accepts your fare and the map shows him on Taft. He turns west on P Faura, then he turns left again on Adriatico, then he turns left again on Pedro Gil, then into the semi-circle mall pickup / dropoff area. You get into the car. He confirms "You are sir Westy?" Yes, lets go to Knightsbridge fella. He touches the meter, but you can't really see it very well. There appear to be digital lights running on the meter (but you can't make them out). Curious, just 30 seconds and less than 100 meters away from Robinson's, you pull the plastic aside and look at the meter, it says p48 and 4:22 time, and 0. 4 km. That would be impossible, as you have been in the taxi just 45-50 seconds, and traveled just 100 meters (0. 1 km). The driver, on his way to Robinson's, turned on his meter *before* he got to Robinson's, back around the time he turned left off of Faura, on to Adriatico. It can give him a p6-8 time advantage, and later possibly a p13.5 km advantage. Good news: Every driver whom I caught in this gimick has quickly re-set his meter to flagfall, losing the first minute and 0. 1 km on the final fare (or in one case, 4+ minutes and 0. 8 km). Bad news: I reported every driver that did this.

Both of these "golden oldies" have popped up in the past 3 weeks (again).

[WestCoast1]

The screw loosens a bit. NCR will go from the current Alert Level 4, down to the milder Alert Level 3, tomorrow. Biz will open up a bit more.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2...ing-october-16

From the article:

"MANILA, Philippines Quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila will be relaxed this week as the COVID-19 situation in the capital region continues to improve.bThe government's pandemic task force has approved the recommendation to place Metro Manila under Alert Level 3 from October 16 to 31, presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced on Wednesday.

The capital region, the Philippines' economic center, is under Alert Level 4, the second most stringent classification in the government's new quarantine system. The downgrade in the alert level will increase the permitted operational capacity of businesses, allowing business establishments to serve more clients.

Under the alert status, food businesses may operate in full capacity for take out and delivery while dine-in services will be permitted at 30% capacity. Personal care service establishments can also fill in up to 30% of their venue capacity. The same operational capacities will be implemented in closed and crowded venues and close contact activities. However, the allowed capacities for businesses with safety seals may increase by 10%.

The venue capacities will not apply to areas under granular lockdowns. Under Alert Level 4, the allowed operational capacity for dine-in and personal care services and in-person religious activities is just 20%."

[WestCoast1]

Westie, Thanks for single handedly keeping the Philippines board alive. Your resilience in staying put there for the past few years is admirable. Not sure mere mortals could have done that. LOL.

Thanks for your kind words. Re-naming the Phils forums "WestyVille" or such might be appropriate. Kidding.

I seriously question the sanity of mongers who are planning to visit third world countries at the moment just to chase pussy. All this bureaucratic effort just for a root?

Yes. Indeed, for less than that, I think. For the possibility of a root. Before the Internet, I had friends drive across states to get to a girl they knew remotely, thinking they were about to get laid. Only to find that she was a ghost, she didn't really live there, or was not the girl she pretended to be. Catfished. Or if not for the poon, he went to 'save' the damsel from her poor life situation (even less than a root).

Can you smell it? Touch it? Feel the Grafenberg spot? Will she go a bit further than 'vanila'? Just the thought of it, rolling around in a man's mind, can make the fever set in. Oh, to be locked away from it. Incels understand this I think.

Most mongers have excellent options for sex in their own countries, albeit at a higher price. But factoring in the high cost of the airfare,

There is something to be said for this. There is, I think, a common misconception that we only travel for the poon (somewhat true). But I always had, in my home country, nawty avenues of joy. Some were financial, others just for sport.

Which is better: 1) You spend $3600 USD flying to Phils for 2 weeks, and hammer 12 pinay (great trip). Or 2) You have several college co-ed hotties who are selling it for $300/1-hour session, which you enjoy once a month ($3600 for one year), same, 12 hammers. There are pro / con's for each.

Having said that, I confess that chasing Fiipina is more fun. They drop their panties so much faster. They say and do the craziest sh*t. They are camera crazy. They are better looking. And there's no LAC in my country. Current (and maybe future) reality: There is no LAC here anymore.

confusing and inconsistent quarantine requirements, loss of income, need to wear all the Covid paraphernalia and loss of tourist atmosphere hardly makes it worthwhile.

The NCR has gone to 'granular' lockdowns. As I recently posted, less than 30% of Brgy are causing 80% of new cases. Only those places are being hit with the harsher lockdown situation (good news). However, even though my city is not one of those areas, all hotels in this area continue to allow you to have only 1 registered guest. Also, as opposed to a recent AC forum post indicating hotels allowing additional guests, the residences in this area continue to allow you 1 guest registered in total (unless you are renting a unit for, say, 3 persons, in which case you can register 2 guests). There is no tourist atmosphere here.

And because you have been good fellas during the wait, an extra pic goodie or two. Seems the morsel has discovered the joy of a pulsating shower head.

[DonCarlos1234]

For some, the home country won't entertain the old people in mongering. For them SEA and other third world countries are paradise. Eagerly waiting for the time to begin the reentry.

Looking at those beaches, mountains, rivers, waterfalls. Tropical waters. My lord! And the English speaking nurses that I meet here in the USA are unassuming, beautiful and (most) are sincere. I can't wait. But I will be in Colombia till then. LOL It's closer.