Other Areas

[Nightrider1]

I had planned to go to Alona beach (from Cebu) back in Dec. , but Typhoon Seniang put an end to that. I'm going to try again later this month. I haven't been there in over five years. Any tips / advice?

I will bring my own lady and will likely use Ocean Jet. We plan to stay two nights. Last time I stayed at ISIS bungalows (unfortunate name) and liked it a lot. Seems hard to get a booking now, so any alternative hotel recommendation would be appreciated.

What is a fair price for taxi from Tag to the beach? BTW, I'm a snorkeler rather than a diver. I read somewhere that php2000 is about right for a boat hire. Is that right?

Any info would be appreciated. And here is the link to the Ocean Jet schedule. When I went there last time, there were only three rides a day. I guess business is good.

http://www.oceanjet.net/fare-and-sch...ebu-tagbilaran

X.

I just came back from Bohol and there are 3 different fast craft companies serving the Cebu to Tagbilaran route so many choices and times. Buy a sun star newspaper and they have all the scheduled departure times listed. I stayed at cherry Home two and it was nice with a good pool at about 1200 a night. Its walking distance to Alona beach but not on the beach. I paid 300 pesos for a trike from the Port to alona beach and a taxie would be a bit higher.

[Fat Bruce]

Arrived Friday night and as expected the little princess was waiting in her tight dress and high heels at the airport. Christ she looked good!

Slim and brown with bum that I love to slap.

Rushed back to the house and had my cock in her mouth before the door was closed. This little powerhouse is just amazing. The whole neighborhood must have heard her screams! 3 hours of amazing sex followed before I crashed out!

Next day was much the same. I love the provincial girls! Could not do enough for me, cooking and laundry and massage and sex on tap!

Following day I had a walk round Robinson's on my own. A few girls there but nothing to compare with what I have so declined the offers.

Tuesday I was walking about the square downtown, Montilla street or something. Plenty available there for the guys who want them. Took a couple of numbers, more out of habit than necessity but always good to have emergency back up!

Should have some time to myself later so will do some more hunting!

[X Man]

I had planned to go to Alona beach (from Cebu) back in Dec. , but Typhoon Seniang put an end to that. I'm going to try again later this month. I haven't been there in over five years. Any tips / advice?

I will bring my own lady and will likely use Ocean Jet. We plan to stay two nights. Last time I stayed at ISIS bungalows (unfortunate name) and liked it a lot. Seems hard to get a booking now, so any alternative hotel recommendation would be appreciated.

What is a fair price for taxi from Tag to the beach? BTW, I'm a snorkeler rather than a diver. I read somewhere that php2000 is about right for a boat hire. Is that right?

Any info would be appreciated. And here is the link to the Ocean Jet schedule. When I went there last time, there were only three rides a day. I guess business is good.

http://www.oceanjet.net/fare-and-sch...ebu-tagbilaran

X.

[Soapy Smith]

Skip and Dg. My girl lived in another province, but we visited where her family was staying. Not anywhere near the airport, but way out, around 15 km. There were a couple of these places we passed along the way. It didn't even occur to me to ask if this was the temp housing provided, other things on my mind I suppose. Slightly different than you described, but is this what you guys are talking about? They're also located in just a miserable place. That highway is hell. Dusty and noisy and rough, full of almost nothing but trucks. And ya, they can not even get a jeep out of there during the day, after say 9:00 AM. They load up to the roof in the mornings and head into the city. After that, they're stuck out there. Oh ya, and no electricity.

Looks similar Sam, except that your roofs are thatched nipa, and mine were galvanized, like Dg describes. When I was there in August there were not yet any houses up against the highway, only back about 300 meters off the road. But I suppose they could have backfilled. One of your photos appears to have open sewer ditches, which is what I thought were being dug when I was there. Anyway, here are my photos.

Photo 1 shows the simplest and smallest shelters. Imagine a family sleeping in the one small room that has a wooden floor. Cooking, presumably on a small charcoal grill, gets carried out in the covered area on bare ground.

Photo 2 shows the galvanized roof over the shelter. Imagine the heat in the summer under the galvanized roof.

Photo 3 shows the construction up close: woven bamboo walls on flimsy framing made of coconut palm wood, among the weakest of all lumber. This is not unlike homes throughout rural Philippines, except that those are more likely to have thatched roofs of nipa rather than galvanized metal.

Photo 4: A few larger units have two rooms, one presumably for sleeping and one for everything else. Both rooms have floors, and walls are lined with thin plastic sheeting, probably to keep wind-blown rain from penetrating through the outside walls. But check out the cracks in the floor of rough-sawed planks. The smaller units with no plastic sheeting will be very vulnerable to water being pushed through the exterior walls during windy rain.

Photo 5: A community CR, one in a line of about four shower units and four toilet units. No signs of running water, so perhaps toilets will be flushed and showers administered by hand from a tabo of water scooped out of a large bucket. This means water will be carried in by hand to keep the large bucket filled. Dg reports that the units he saw had CRs attached. What I saw had no attached CRs, only these community CRs and showers at the back of the relocation site.

Photo 6: The alternative; by August 2014, nine months after the typhoon, fisherfolk building back squatter shacks at the waterfront of the former Tacloban port, exactly where thousands drowned in Typhoon Haiyan, November 2013. The government claims it is enforcing the "no build" buffer zone. Sure it is. But at least here these poor families can find minimal livelihoods (informal economy, of course), schools, and public transportation (jeepneys) nearby. Can we blame them for not wanting to move six kilometers (or maybe 15, if Sam is right) out of town at the government's temporary relocation site where livelihood, schools and transportation are not available?

Obviously there could be more than one such relocation sites. Why are they being built way away from Tacloban? According to my sources, the Romauldez family (Imelda Marcos' nephew is Mayor of Tacloban) and their associates have access to other sites in the city, but they are holding onto them because of potential future value. So the riff-raff homeless get relocated to nowhere.

Welcome to the Philippines. As I pointed out in the previous post, as crude as these seem, they are not unlike living conditions for the rural families of many of the Pinays that ISGers chase in AC, Cebu, LA Cafe, and elsewhere.

[Dg8787]

Skip and Dg. My girl lived in another province, but we visited where her family was staying. Not anywhere near the airport, but way out, around 15 km. There were a couple of these places we passed along the way. It didn't even occur to me to ask if this was the temp housing provided, other things on my mind I suppose. Slightly different than you described, but is this what you guys are talking about? They're also located in just a miserable place. That highway is hell. Dusty and noisy and rough, full of almost nothing but trucks. And ya, they can not even get a jeep out of there during the day, after say 9:00 AM. They load up to the roof in the mornings and head into the city. After that, they're stuck out there. Oh ya, and no electricity.

That is pretty much the type of construction except the 1 x 4's are spaced further apart. The ones I saw were way out of town on a dirt road and spaced about 5 feet from each other. The house sits on cement piers like that. What was odd was that the floor for the attached 4' x 5' CR was a rough finish cement slab about 16-18 inches thick! With that much cement they could have poured a 3" thick foundation for the whole 12' x 14' house. The CR looked like an after thought and of course no running water to the house. The insides were unfinished, meaning no kitchen counters, rough sawn wood floors just an empty shell. These houses have sat unfinished and vacant for 6 months or more. It pretty much looked like the builder ran out of money. Now they are slowly letting families move in if they will finish the homes. Not a lot of money for us to finish the homes, 4-5 K but a fortune to them.

[Sam 14]

Skip and Dg. My girl lived in another province, but we visited where her family was staying. Not anywhere near the airport, but way out, around 15 km. There were a couple of these places we passed along the way. It didn't even occur to me to ask if this was the temp housing provided, other things on my mind I suppose. Slightly different than you described, but is this what you guys are talking about? They're also located in just a miserable place. That highway is hell. Dusty and noisy and rough, full of almost nothing but trucks. And ya, they can not even get a jeep out of there during the day, after say 9:00 AM. They load up to the roof in the mornings and head into the city. After that, they're stuck out there. Oh ya, and no electricity.

[Soapy Smith]

If you are not interested in posts with no direct reports or advice for the old in-out, in-out, you should scroll past this post.

This could as easily have gone in the general information thread, but since Dg started this discussion, I offer it as follow-up information. Dg commented on the ridiculously flimsy temporary housing for Tacloban's victims of Typhoon Hiayan, which has yet to be opened by the government. Assuming that Dg recently viewed the same housing I saw in August 2014, I would offer some additional discouraging observations.

First, most of the units are ridiculously small, and much of the living area is on bare ground subject to rain runoff. Second, the framing is of coconut wood, which is among the weakest lumbers anywhere. Third, although some of the units are larger, built entirely up off the ground, and lined with thin plastic sheeting, the smaller units, which are not lined with plastic, will be subject to wind-blown rain penetrating the walls, even if the walls withstand the winds that Dg predicts. Fourth, the only CR facilities are community toilets and showers near the back of the development, and in August they appeared to have no running water. This probably means that toilets will be flushed and showers administered by hand using a tabo to scoop water from a large bucket. If there is no running water, this means water will need to be carried in to keep the buckets full.

Most important, this relocation site, reportedly meant to house the many families in tent cities near the airport, is about six km from town and has no employment, schools, or public transportation (jeepneys) to offer. Is it any wonder that homeless people choose to squat along the shoreline of the port, precisely where thousands drowned in November 2013?

Although this seems far afield of ISG's purpose, I think it illuminates several aspects of life in the Philippines. First, it reflects the total failure of governmental action that is often referenced in posts in the Phils forum. Second, the conditions in these flimsy huts are similar to, and perhaps better than, the conditions in which the families live of many of the poor women that ISGers pursue. Third, it reflects the perpetual dynamics of futility and fatalism—of poverty-stricken masses and political complacency--that pervade the Philippines.

But it's more fun in the Philippines.

I have files containing photos of some of the things Dg and I have described, but ISG is fighting my upload efforts. Maybe files are too big. I will try later.

[Dg8787]

Arrived on CP A319 or A320. I assumed the runway was repaired. The private jet that was blown off the runway January 19 was still there stuck in the mud. Kind of weird on landing as the plane heavily brakes to the end of the runway and 50 more feet and you are into the water. Then the plane turns around to head to the gate. Baggage comes quickly and off to transportation! Many hawkers there. I asked an American if he had been here before. The answer was affirmative so I asked if I could just shadow him. We ended up taking a Jeepney for P50 each to downtown. Jeepney was full and big bags were loaded on the roof. Half way there the jeepney stops. It started to rain lightly so the bags came off the roof and into the jeepney. Everyone was helpful and nice.

Stayed at Hotel XYZ. About $67 a night. Very nice hotel. Brought my own girl. Part 2 coming later.

Sorry for 2 part report. My Manila girl showed early while I was doing the report.

The restaurant at Hotel XYZ is one of the best in Philippines. Kind of surprised as for some reason I was expecting quality in Tacloban. Bad assumption on my part.

I did not see any UN or NGO people around nor any evidence of donor money in any reconstruction. Hard press to see any reconstruction other than ones done by private owners rebuilding on their own. Even the central Aid office was closed. Sad state of affairs for the people.

I went and looked at the temporary housing. 2 x 4 framing on concrete blocks. Corrugated sheet metal for roof. Walls are woven bamboo sheets as thick as wallpaper. 40 mph wind and the walls are over with. 60 mph winds and the roofs are flying off! Theses houses have been almost finished for months but Manila government won't let anybody move in yet.

Amazing how cleaned up the city is. There is a lot of activity downtown. Anyway I did not see any beautiful women around but I did not go to Robinson Mall either. Bring your own if you come here.

[Sam 14]

And the Robinsons way outside of the city proper is civilized and modern.

I should clarify, excuse me. What I meant to say was the song selection and noise level was much more manageable to me, as opposed to the small, old Gaisano downtown. There the jams and unintelligible announcements every minute were blaring so loud through the blown out speakers, you'd have to shout to talk to someone standing next to you. And ya, Skip. I'd be lucky to get a seat in that restaurant I mentioned. Packed house every night. I'd see groups of American accent guys laughin it up with their drinks in one hand and pinay in the other. They won't give you a glass of service water, it was p60 for a bottle of mineral water.

[Soapy Smith]

No reason to go anywhere else, some of the best grub I've had in the PI. But all that wasn't enough to make me want to stay. What a dump. Noisy, smokey, ugly. And many of the merchants, including hotels, sure don't mind taking advantage of a bad situation. Prices on most everything are jacked up and some locals I talked to aren't liking it much either.

When I was there in August I was told there were upwards of five thousand UN, military, and NGO foreign workers in town. This was driving prices up so that locals were even being pinched in grocery stores, let alone being able to afford restaurant prices.

[Sam 14]

I don't have any previous point of comparison, but the city is fully up and running. Spent most of my stay with a black beauty I met off a dating site. 23 years old, never been with a foreigner, only 1 previous BF. Hadn't been kissed in 2 years, never been kissed properly. And definitely hadn't ever seen the back of a guy's head in her lap. Ate most of my other meals at Guiseppe's on Avenida Veteranos. No reason to go anywhere else, some of the best grub I've had in the PI. But all that wasn't enough to make me want to stay. What a dump. Noisy, smokey, ugly. And many of the merchants, including hotels, sure don't mind taking advantage of a bad situation. Prices on most everything are jacked up and some locals I talked to aren't liking it much either. Friendly enough girls though. A few cuties working the retail stores, but you don't see allot roaming around for some reason. And the Robinsons way outside of the city proper is civilized and modern.

[Dg8787]

Arrived on CP A319 or A320. I assumed the runway was repaired. The private jet that was blown off the runway January 19 was still there stuck in the mud. Kind of weird on landing as the plane heavily brakes to the end of the runway and 50 more feet and you are into the water. Then the plane turns around to head to the gate. Baggage comes quickly and off to transportation! Many hawkers there. I asked an American if he had been here before. The answer was affirmative so I asked if I could just shadow him. We ended up taking a Jeepney for P50 each to downtown. Jeepney was full and big bags were loaded on the roof. Half way there the jeepney stops. It started to rain lightly so the bags came off the roof and into the jeepney. Everyone was helpful and nice.

Stayed at Hotel XYZ. About $67 a night. Very nice hotel. Brought my own girl. Part 2 coming later.

[Red Kilt]

. . .<SNIP>

When he was done I handed him more than p30 and walked out the door. I felt, at p30, that I had stolen a haircut; especially since he had given his time in earnest talk with me. He was putting the money in the till as I left. I was about 5 steps out the door, on the street, when I heard him behind me: "Sir. Your money. " I turned to see him holding some coins for me. You keep it lang. "But sir: Your money!" His eyebrows furrowed, his head cocked to one side. Seriously he was not getting the idea that I was tipping him, so I said it out loud: My tip to you lang.

He still didn't smile, he just said "OK. Thank you sir", and stared at me as I turned to walk away towards the Jollibee for lunch.

Haircuts are like taxis; very cheap in the Phils.

Robinsons Galleria and Shangri-la Mall (in Ortigas, for example), have simple barber shops that charge 120 php for haircut that includes all the things Westy mentioned as well as a good hard upper back, shoulder and arm massage as well. Bruno's gives you a more deluxe service for 200 php but still the same haircut. Pinoy barbers also give an excellent shave and facial treatment; again, it's very cheap relative to what I would pay back in Oz.

I cannot see how much profit is made given the number of cutters at work and the sort of rents these places must pay.

I suspect the barbers don't get much salary per customer, so most customers tip them; even the locals tip too.

[WestCoast1]

Not bad. Reyes Haircutters in posh Makati will do the same for p50. :P

Butuan. On Montilla Blvd. Across the street from Karaga hotel, half a block south, is a salon / barbershop. I've stayed at Karaga a number of times, and the place is visible from the room balcony, a whopping 30-40 meters away. In my time there, I see the same young man and woman open the place and close the place daily. I've never seen a customer go in / out of the place. So last year I walk in for a haircut and the price list on the wall said p30. My hair is very short, any barber can use the electric clippers to cut my hair in 3 minutes. The gent barber took his time and chatted me up for about 15 minutes while cutting my hair with electric clippers. He then used a straight-edge blade to trim the hair on my head near my ears, then my sideburns. He put a lotion on those areas. He put a talcum powder on my head. The usual conversation: "Where you from sir?" Like that.

When he was done I handed him more than p30 and walked out the door. I felt, at p30, that I had stolen a haircut; especially since he had given his time in earnest talk with me. He was putting the money in the till as I left. I was about 5 steps out the door, on the street, when I heard him behind me: "Sir. Your money. " I turned to see him holding some coins for me. You keep it lang. "But sir: Your money!" His eyebrows furrowed, his head cocked to one side. Seriously he was not getting the idea that I was tipping him, so I said it out loud: My tip to you lang.

He still didn't smile, he just said "OK. Thank you sir", and stared at me as I turned to walk away towards the Jollibee for lunch.

[Hutsori]

Things are cheap. My girl got her hair cut for 60 p.

Not bad. Reyes Haircutters in posh Makati will do the same for p50. :P