General Info

[D Cups]

Keep your wallet in your front pants pocket or buttoned in somewhere. I use a money belt and only carry the amount I want to spend in that outing. Dress down but respectable: jeans, Tshirt or hawaiin shirt, sneakers ok. I wear shorts when its hot but some ISG members despise them maybe they have ugly legs I dunno. I use a cheap phone and be prepared to do a lot of texting because the Pinays have trouble maintaining sufficient call load. I had a car when I lived in AC but you don't really need one unless you live there. Lots of guys have motorbikes but I wouldn't ride one in Manila.

Thanks everyone who has replied re: insects. I'll contribute later. So, no one's seen any 10" spiders or 7" centipedes?

How common are robberies? I'm guessing I should dress down? Buy a crappy phone? Fake wallet? Or is that going overboard? I mean, I've been in some real seedy areas in China and HK and never had an issue, but reading reports here.

Lastly, anyone here own a car in PH? Was thinking about picking up a used one for about 300 k or so. Lived in China for 5 years without a car and am itching to drive again. Am I going to have to worry about it getting stolen / stripped?

Holy crap that's a lot of questions. Please don't ban this noob.

.

[Dg8787]

Thanks everyone who has replied re: insects. I'll contribute later. So, no one's seen any 10" spiders or 7" centipedes?

How common are robberies? I'm guessing I should dress down? Buy a crappy phone? Fake wallet? Or is that going overboard? I mean, I've been in some real seedy areas in China and HK and never had an issue, but reading reports here.

Lastly, anyone here own a car in PH? Was thinking about picking up a used one for about 300 k or so. Lived in China for 5 years without a car and am itching to drive again. Am I going to have to worry about it getting stolen / stripped?

Holy crap that's a lot of questions. Please don't ban this noob.

Yes dress up and buy a flashy car, get a gold iPhone 6+ along with a fat wallet full of us $100 bills. You will fit in right away without any problems. Drench yourself with Old Spice cologne and the bugs and spiders will leave you alone.

P.S. Forgot to tell you to wear the thick gold chain necklace. The thicker the better so you don't lose it. Have a gold medallion on the chain with "ImAGuy" for easy identification, in case it is lost.

[ImAGuy]

Thanks everyone who has replied re: insects. I'll contribute later. So, no one's seen any 10" spiders or 7" centipedes?

How common are robberies? I'm guessing I should dress down? Buy a crappy phone? Fake wallet? Or is that going overboard? I mean, I've been in some real seedy areas in China and HK and never had an issue, but reading reports here.

Lastly, anyone here own a car in PH? Was thinking about picking up a used one for about 300 k or so. Lived in China for 5 years without a car and am itching to drive again. Am I going to have to worry about it getting stolen / stripped?

Holy crap that's a lot of questions. Please don't ban this noob.

[Pip Jaeger]

There are cockroaches of course, but you can add to global warming by using lots of Baygon etc.

And then there are fire ants. And you really don't want to get any near those little guys. A few of those on your leg and you would know about it very quickly. !

Also those tiny sugar ants are very very common here. Products like Baygon only provide a temporary solution. Terro Liquid Ant Killer (basically Borax and sugar water) is the best to use; available at True Value for p200. Like the roach baits, ants take the Borax back to their colony and it wipes out the entire colony. I place a few baits with a drop or two of the solution on them around my condo and refresh it monthly. No issues with ants for last 5 months I've been here.

As a preventative measure I also use an insect repellant whenever I'm out for a jaunt in the provinces. From the USA I brought along a few small spay bottle's of "Coleman Max 100"; the active ingredient is 98% DEET. As long I remember to use it before going out I've haven't had any issues with insect bites. Can't help where to find it here, but have seen other products like "OFF" on the shelves. Suggest picking the one with the highest concentration of DEET possible.

As to the weather for the time of the year the OP plans to visit, my forecast is: Crowdy with a strong chance of vaginal downpours and monthly blood slides; daily orgasmic eruptions are also likely.

[Roll Aides]

I think that's a wrong interpretation Mogs (with all due respect).

My major concern about HIV is the huge number of Filipino seamen who work as OFWs and who visit ports in PNG and West Africa (to mention just 2) and then return home to dispense unwanted pasalubong to their wives, girlfriends, mistresses and assorted bar girls and masseuses.

The preference for unprotected sex with girls about whom one does not have a detailed history is fraught with risk. I suspect that many women in the population have no idea they are infected with any STD, especially those for whom there are no symptoms as yet.

I would add that call center workers are another transmission vector / high risk group. There were some studies done recently that got on the news here, if you read up on them (the studies, not the bullshit scare articles,) it's apparent that there is a lot of promiscuity and a lot of men that have sex with men within that demographic.

[Gus69]

Thanks for the info guys, I may give Subic and Angeles a try in late January, Qatar fly LHR to CRK via Doha, reasonable times and fares good at the moment but I won't be booking this early.

[GoodEnough]

Its a tropical country with a normal range of insects that you would find in any tropical country. Dengue generally comes from mosquitoes that gather around stagnant water (and only one type of mosquito carries dengue) so don't leave water lying around ie in plant pots.

There are geckos that happily eat many of the smaller insects. Geckos interestingly eat other geckos.

There are cockroaches of course, but you can add to global warming by using lots of Baygon etc.

And then there are fire ants. And you really don't want to get any near those little guys. A few of those on your leg and you would know about it very quickly. !

Its a normal tropical country with the normal array of flora and fauna. Of course there are bloodsuckers too but we all know where to find those. LOL.

It is indeed a typical tropical country, and the range of fauna in particular is huge. One particular flaura exemplar, the gecko, resides all over our house, or I should say several of them do, happily keeping the internal mosquito population in check. I tend to see theM, placidly sitting high on the walls, and I've even run into a couple of babies in he shower. They're welcome in our house, cause no damage and pose no threat save to the flying insect population. Even my enormous dog lets he, live in peace.

GE.

[Mogwai]

I think that's a wrong interpretation Mogs (with all due respect).

The article is very careful to point out that the rather large INCREASE in the incidence of HIV identified in the Philippines has come predominantly from male-to-male contact but there are also residual data that refers to an increase in women with HIV too. The data is not only about male-to-male transmission.

I've read the article again and I think you are right. Thanks for the clarification RK.

[D Cups]

Years ago I witnessed the world's smartest gecko in the Carmenville subdivsion of Angeles City. This giant gecko camped out underneath one of those electronic bug zappers and would eat the french fried mosquitoes and other bugs that fell from it. It was a big fat gecko that I never forgot.

There are geckos that happily eat many of the smaller insects. Geckos interestingly eat other geckos.

.

.

[FreebieFan]

I'm sorry to clog up this thread with questions about insects. But I've read about Huntsman spiders with 10" legspans and 7" centipedes. I plan on renting a villa and staying in PH for a long time. Will these kinds of insects wander into the house? Are they found in cities? How about a colder area like Baguio or Tagaytay? I can't find much info about this online, but I seriously don't want to wake up with a giant centipede in my bed. And what about cockroaches? Screen every window and caulk every door, they'll still get in, huh? I must sound like a pansy but I really hate bugs LOL. Also I'll contribute more later on, again, sorry for so many noob questions.

Its a tropical country with a normal range of insects that you would find in any tropical country. Dengue generally comes from mosquitoes that gather around stagnant water (and only one type of mosquito carries dengue) so don't leave water lying around ie in plant pots.

There are geckos that happily eat many of the smaller insects. Geckos interestingly eat other geckos.

There are cockroaches of course, but you can add to global warming by using lots of Baygon etc.

And then there are fire ants. And you really don't want to get any near those little guys. A few of those on your leg and you would know about it very quickly. !

Its a normal tropical country with the normal array of flora and fauna. Of course there are bloodsuckers too but we all know where to find those. LOL.

[ImAGuy]

You know Godzilla, right? Like that but not fire breathing

I'm sorry to clog up this thread with questions about insects. But I've read about Huntsman spiders with 10" legspans and 7" centipedes. I plan on renting a villa and staying in PH for a long time. Will these kinds of insects wander into the house? Are they found in cities? How about a colder area like Baguio or Tagaytay? I can't find much info about this online, but I seriously don't want to wake up with a giant centipede in my bed. And what about cockroaches? Screen every window and caulk every door, they'll still get in, huh? I must sound like a pansy but I really hate bugs LOL. Also I'll contribute more later on, again, sorry for so many noob questions.

[Hutsori]

K,

I googled for this and didn't get much info, so I'll post here. Just how bad are the bugs in PH? How common is dengue? Giant spiders / centipedes? Cockroaches? If I rent a nice place (50 k+/ month) in a cool city like Tagaytay, will that help? Or is all that stuff in the. Provinces only?

You know Godzilla, right? Like that but not fire breathing, which is a relief.

Condos spray common areas every month. A problem area is the rubbish chutes. Monster cockroaches climb their way up from the dumpsters and seize small pets and infants.

The good news is dengue is down, http://outbreaknewstoday.com/dengue-down-60-in-the-philippines-this-year-84443/. Keep in mind TB is not uncommon and many are carriers. ISIS isn't here... yet.

... or buy a can of insecticide for <400php.

When you're in hunter-killer mode spray is okay. The most effective insecticide I've used is the baited roach traps, the one in which roaches ingest the poison and take it back to their demonic dens. A few in the kitchen (beside fridge and under sink), one in the bathroom, and you'll be pretty clean for a couple of months. If you have filthy neighbours put one near your front door as a welcome mat to take care of those migrating.

[Soapy Smith]

The article is very careful to point out that the rather large INCREASE in the incidence of HIV identified in the Philippines has come predominantly from male-to-male contact but there are also residual data that refers to an increase in women with HIV too. The data is not only about male-to-male transmission.

Many men who have sex with other men also have sex with women, and their social networks often include women who engage in commercial sex.

[Red Kilt]

It seems to me the article is only about males who have sex with males.

I think that's a wrong interpretation Mogs (with all due respect).

The article is very careful to point out that the rather large INCREASE in the incidence of HIV identified in the Philippines has come predominantly from male-to-male contact but there are also residual data that refers to an increase in women with HIV too. The data is not only about male-to-male transmission.

My major concern about HIV is the huge number of Filipino seamen who work as OFWs and who visit ports in PNG and West Africa (to mention just 2) and then return home to dispense unwanted pasalubong to their wives, girlfriends, mistresses and assorted bar girls and masseuses.

The preference for unprotected sex with girls about whom one does not have a detailed history is fraught with risk. I suspect that many women in the population have no idea they are infected with any STD, especially those for whom there are no symptoms as yet.

The preparedness to go bareback is reinforced by the weird attitude held by girls who consider that only prostitutes carry and use condoms and they don't wish to be categorized as such. Anyway, why use them if they are simply having sex with guys met in dating sites? Illogical for sure.

But then again I have just had a discussion with a group of 3 girls who collectively did not realize that a virgin could get pregnant in her first sexual experience. One of them learned the hard way. Another tick for the wonderful sex education programs provided here.

[Mogwai]

Shockingly AC is not in the list.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/89412-...rollable-rates

AC is in the list as 'other high prevalance city' (see the table further down in the article).

The top 6 only lists the cities that are exceeding the national HIV prevalence rate of 3. 5% among males who have sex with males.

It's not clear to me (based on this article) if Angeles is a high prevalance city as well with regard to males who have sex with females. It seems to me the article is only about males who have sex with males.