Makati

[WestCoast1]

My PAL experience was truly awful and with Cebu Pac so far I have never been let down (unlike others I admit).

I have not been on a CP domestic flight in more than 2 years that was less than 1 hour late on its departure. In December, my domestic CP flight from NAIA to CDO was supposed to depart mid-afternoon, but that flight (and almost every other PAL and CP flight that afternoon) was delayed by well over 4 hours (it wasn't raining).

I would like to blame this on it being December 23/24/25, but it was mid-December.

Contrast the following situation. I flew domestically in the US yesterday (737 equipment, similar to the A319/20 flown often by CP). I paid about $25 extra for early boarding + wifi (seemed a good value for a 5-hour flight). Boarding starts 40 minutes prior to departure. After first-class boarded, the rest of us early-birds (about 10 of us) got to board before coach. In fact, I had time to board early, unpack a few things from my carryon, then hit the CR and return to my seat, when I noticed that other than a full first class, there was almost nobody in the coach section (an very relaxed situation). I read for about 2 minutes on my Kindle before they let the coach passengers start boarding. The plane took off exactly to the minute that it was scheduled. Yes, it takes a few minutes longer to board the planes here in the States, but my last 4 flights here took off within a minute of stated departure time. They also tend to land very close to the scheduled arrival time. On CP, they typically board 30 minutes early, but they board and depart late.

Given CP's tendency to charge for extras online at the time of ticket booking (ie, baggage weight), why not offer early boarding? I'm crazy enough to pay a bit extra for exit row seating (more legroom), I'll pay for extra creature comfort (including not standing in the full line at general boarding).

[Hitman2]

She was surprised by the long sex as the usual Japanese job is no foreplay and a few minutes sex: all over in 10 minutes. No wonder they like Japanese customers.

The EDSA girls have this running gag about Japanese customers:

3-3-3 / 3 inches, 3 minutes, 3 thousand.

[Sxxxx]

I had a similar problem getting a PAL ticket refunded. It took about 7-8 months to get the money back...............................................................................

Cebu Pacific is also hard to get a refund from. Intermediaries are important in Phils, incl. Even in air ticket refunds I found out recently. Lady I have known for years, working in travel agency, got a full refund for me within hours of applying. Involved P17,000. She had an intimate knowledge of refund rules and quoted them back to them. Once they understood she understood 'rights's, they refunded immediately. Contacts / termediaries in Phils important even with air ticket refunds.

[Hutzesq]

I had a similar problem getting a PAL ticket refunded. It took about 7-8 months to get the money back. Not sure if this had any impact but I found a customer service email on their website. I forwarded that email address copies of the many requests I made to the online refund email account for my refund. A few weeks later I got a message that my refund was approved and a few weeks after that I saw a credit to my credit card. Note that this was not for a fully refundable ticket, but the ticket still had some value after PAL deducted the US $150 or so they charge as a cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets. Given that you paid extra for a refundable ticket its pretty sad that its taking you 8 months for the refund. Good luck and I hope you found this a little useful. I always appreciate your reports and wisdom.

[Wicked Roger]

I prefer Terminal 2 to the others. True, it's further from Makati, but the ground services are better, the PAL Mabuhay lounge has been substantially upgraded and isn't bad at all, and the business class service in PAL is infinitely better then anything CP has to offer.

GE.

I would not disagree with those points GE.

I have been to T2 Centennial before and it is OK.

I judge the carrier by the coach class and service. My PAL experience was truly awful and with Cebu Pac so far I have never been let down (unlike others I admit).

But as I use T3 a lot more I know what to expect (IE not much) and whatever our preference the terminals etc are not 'international' class and have a log way to go to get to anything I would consider as world class (despite the government's claims that they are).

[GoodEnough]

PAL is on my list also after a terrible time traveling from KL to Manila and onto Cebu (no flights to Cebu in the day I had to travel so no choice) and never again unless am dragged onto PAL screaming or a very cute host and her female friends are waiting to ease the 'fear' of my PAL flight LOL.

T3 is OK and I prefer GE to T1 as I use it all the time, and yes it sucks and the walking escalators don't work and maintenance is never done, the lounges are rubbish (but way better than years ago with the rats and mice as companions).

I am sure it is what we are all used to and as I don't use T1 much if at all I the last 18 months T3 is OK but is nowhere near the standards of a real international that the government seems to aspire to. And likely never will be. But am thankful it is better and cleaner than what went before which was a disgrace IMHO.

I prefer Terminal 2 to the others. True, it's further from Makati, but the ground services are better, the PAL Mabuhay lounge has been substantially upgraded and isn't bad at all, and the business class service in PAL is infinitely better then anything CP has to offer.

GE.

[BrainDrain]

Hi guys,

Back in Makati and wanted to give you some on the ground intel and analysis. FYI this is for newbies only. Vets can skip this.

Thanks for taking the time to write this report. You are certainly in a different game to the game I play.

I'm over 50 too and I just accept that for the hotties I have to pay. I just have a feeling from your article that you are trying too hard. There are articles on this board about the upper echelon hottie, the educated Filipina with career. She's going to work it and then marry a pinoy for a good life in Phils. These are not my target.

I miss Manila.

BD.

[Shining Wit]

Just out of curiosity, and just to be clear the whole NAIA and its terminals stinks from many reasons, what makes you detest T3 from T2? And what makes you prefer PAL over CP? I myself prefer T3 mostly bcs its located closest to Makati (where I usualy stay). Don't get me wrong its not a great terminal. With its sometimes long walkingdistances (depends where your plane is docking) and the peoplemovers constantly not working you can have quite a workout before reaching immigration.

I never had any issues with CP or PAL as they historicaly brought me where I wanted to go and never have I experienced any delays worth mentioning either. Approx 8 months ago I was booking a full fare / full flex biz return ticket with PAL on the PEK to MNL leg. The reasons for buying the most flexed and expensive tickets is ofcourse the given flexibility and not bcs PALs biz class is of any great standard and by far worth the US1300 I had to pay. I had to cancell and now 8 months later I am still struggeling getting the money refunded. It seems extremely hard to get any refund and I occationaly get some e mails my refund process is pending but there are no limits when it comes to excuses for not tansferring back my cash Standard of an airline is mostly shown when you have any issues like mine. Most airlines gets you to your destination and you even in most cases get your checked in bags. That beeing said PAL and Turkish Airlines are put on my hate list.

Depending on how you paid for your ticket, have you considered taking the matter up with the card issuing bank, assuming you used plastic. Certainly, the you K and probably many European countries, have Consumer Protection laws that cover this sort of thing.

Regarding the NAIA Terminal debate, I have had few problems with T1 - I think my best performance was 35 minutes from wheels on runway to backside in taxi. Admittedly, my recent flights have arrived at 1405 from Kuala Lumpur {Malaysian} which has been the only flight using it. On my last trip, KLM deposited me at T3 {note to self: read small print} and the queue for taxis was horrendous. I agreed to, I think, php700 to Ermita to simply jump the queue.

So, see what Kayak offers for next month.

[Kaywhy]

PAL is on my list also after a terrible time traveling from KL to Manila and onto Cebu (no flights to Cebu in the day I had to travel so no choice) and never again unless am dragged onto PAL screaming or a very cute host and her female friends are waiting to ease the 'fear' of my PAL flight LOL.

T3 is OK and I prefer GE to T1 as I use it all the time, and yes it sucks and the walking escalators don't work and maintenance is never done, the lounges are rubbish (but way better than years ago with the rats and mice as companions).

I am sure it is what we are all used to and as I don't use T1 much if at all I the last 18 months T3 is OK but is nowhere near the standards of a real international that the government seems to aspire to. And likely never will be. But am thankful it is better and cleaner than what went before which was a disgrace IMHO.

Amen. T1 has been improved quite a bit from the old days (except they can't keep the diplomat / APEC line clear of wannabes), T2 a little bit better but the PAL planes much improved and T3 just closer to the skyway. Overall, despite all the traffic, I like all the terminals from what they used to be 2 years ago. Yes, can be improved, but this is the Phils where you got to take what they give you.

[Wicked Roger]

That beeing said PAL and Turkish Airlines are put on my hate list.

PAL is on my list also after a terrible time traveling from KL to Manila and onto Cebu (no flights to Cebu in the day I had to travel so no choice) and never again unless am dragged onto PAL screaming or a very cute host and her female friends are waiting to ease the 'fear' of my PAL flight LOL.

T3 is OK and I prefer GE to T1 as I use it all the time, and yes it sucks and the walking escalators don't work and maintenance is never done, the lounges are rubbish (but way better than years ago with the rats and mice as companions).

I am sure it is what we are all used to and as I don't use T1 much if at all I the last 18 months T3 is OK but is nowhere near the standards of a real international that the government seems to aspire to. And likely never will be. But am thankful it is better and cleaner than what went before which was a disgrace IMHO.

[Member #4387]

For anyone who might be interested, I broke personal protocol today and used Cebu Pacific to travel from Davao to Manila. I detest Terminal 3 and don't much like CP so I usually take PAL. As I had no prior transportation arrangements, I summoned an Uber car before the plane doors opened. By the time I got downstairs it was there and the total price, including the Php20 Skyway toll was Php135 to Makati.

GE.

Just out of curiosity, and just to be clear the whole NAIA and its terminals stinks from many reasons, what makes you detest T3 from T2? And what makes you prefer PAL over CP? I myself prefer T3 mostly bcs its located closest to Makati (where I usualy stay). Don't get me wrong its not a great terminal. With its sometimes long walkingdistances (depends where your plane is docking) and the peoplemovers constantly not working you can have quite a workout before reaching immigration.

I never had any issues with CP or PAL as they historicaly brought me where I wanted to go and never have I experienced any delays worth mentioning either. Approx 8 months ago I was booking a full fare / full flex biz return ticket with PAL on the PEK to MNL leg. The reasons for buying the most flexed and expensive tickets is ofcourse the given flexibility and not bcs PALs biz class is of any great standard and by far worth the US1300 I had to pay. I had to cancell and now 8 months later I am still struggeling getting the money refunded. It seems extremely hard to get any refund and I occationaly get some e mails my refund process is pending but there are no limits when it comes to excuses for not tansferring back my cash Standard of an airline is mostly shown when you have any issues like mine. Most airlines gets you to your destination and you even in most cases get your checked in bags. That beeing said PAL and Turkish Airlines are put on my hate list.

[GoodEnough]

For anyone who might be interested, I broke personal protocol today and used Cebu Pacific to travel from Davao to Manila. I detest Terminal 3 and don't much like CP so I usually take PAL. As I had no prior transportation arrangements, I summoned an Uber car before the plane doors opened. By the time I got downstairs it was there and the total price, including the Php20 Skyway toll was Php135 to Makati.

GE.

[Aimless]

Hi guys,

Back in Makati and wanted to give you some on the ground intel and analysis. FYI this is for newbies only. Vets can skip this.

Context: I'm mid 50's, only fair shape but have the gift of gab to a certain extent. I limit my targets to age 21-30 but end up with a few out of this range. I dress well all the time in long pants and button down shirts. I'm a licensed professional and let the girls know this. I am always VERY polite, never talk sex or ask for photos. I know a few words in Tagalog and Visayan, so use them to my advantage, always adding "po". The girls always remark how polite I am and giggle. I like it this way as I feel like I can get more "real" girls and it softens them up. I get a LOT of interest on FC. I get a fair number of replies on DIA. I get very few replies on Tinder and what replies I do get lose interest in me quickly.

I just got out of a very long relationship with a really hot pinay that lived with me. She kept cheating so I dumped her. She keeps blowing up my phone with texts to get back together but I'm over it. I'm seeking a replacement, but I'm super picky. I like intelligent, ambitious, educated girls that I can develop a connection with. They need to be reasonably pretty too. I rarely find what I'm looking for, but when I do, I want to hang on to her as its just too much work to keep looking. My interest in smashing a girl is totally dependent on this connection. I'm not averse to paying for this, so am prepared to hit Burgos / Edsa.

So I get into Makati about a week ago. I had done some prep in lining up girls on FC and Seeking Arrangement. (Tip: don't start chatting more than 4 days before you depart or you'll spend your life chatting girls! 4 days is plenty. If you start earlier and don't pay attention to the girls, they will evaporate.) The girls on Seeking Arrangement are def higher caliber, but much more the gold-digger, but that would be expected from the nature of the site. I also subscribed to Tinder which allows you to place your location anywhere in the world. This is really fun as it is easy to check availability and attractiveness everywhere. (Tip: read profiles carefully as there are many ladyboys that label themselves as TS or TG or TGirl). Cebu seems to be 50% ladyboys. Watch your back. Literally.

So I line up about 40 girls. They are all added on Viber and FB. FB so that you can see if they are fatties, but many girls would not allow me to see their FBs, probably because they are fat. I stay at Gramercy in Makati. Its nice, next to a mall and close to Burgos. It has a fantastic lap pool (and 2 other pools) on the 35th floor and gym. Its 24 hours so I can swim laps at 4 am after partying. I also dream of taking my next girl in the pools and playing around, just haven't found her yet. Check AirBnB for Gramercy Residences. I think I pay about $50/ night. 50 yards away is a great Korean resto and Pasha, a great Turkish resto.

First thing, I connect with a girl I've been chatting with for over a year but never met. She's from Davao but now in Manila. By some freak of fate, she's working at Tribu Diwata, a girl drink bar right near Gramercy. It cost me 1 kPHP / HR to sit with the girl. I can't remember the breakdown but much of it is consumable. I think it cost me 1.2 k PHP by the time I left. You sit with the girls and talk. You can't go home with them. It seems a total waste to me, but if you're religious, want to have fun but have a clean conscience, this place is for you. They have KTV rooms too. You could def spend a lot of money here and have nothing to show for it. I met my girl. It was cool after all this time chatting and that we never expected to meet. I could see that she thought of me as a wallet though so I lost interest quickly. The bar experience was interesting. You could probably find a girl or two that you think is cute. If you're young and hot, you could probably get her number easily.

Long story short: I met about 2-3 girls per day from my viber list. Manila traffic and distance impacted my meet rate and, I'm sure, my success rate. Many girls wanted taxi fare as they came long distances. I often used Uber to pick them up with the remote pick up option. I didn't want to go anywhere, so I brought them to me for coffee to see if there was a connection. Except for one, there was no connection, and many girls were fat. I ended up spending about 1 to 1.5 k PHP per girl between Starbucks and taxi fare.

Uber tip: nice to be able to send a car to get a girl. Surge pricing was always in affect. I found that I could compare Uber to Grab and Grab was often much less, like 50% less. I'm not a big fan of Uber anymore because of this. Uber now has a cash option too.

Between traffic, waiting around and expenses, this all got real old real quick. I met about 10-15 girls and was very disappointed. One stood out. She's a solid 9. Educated, coy, well spoken, ambitious, gold digger. I took her out many times and she could tell I liked her. Big Mistake. Hard to not show it though even though I did my best. I took her and her mom out to dinner which was interesting. I also took her and her girl friend to Club Valkyrie. I have never been to a real club before. It is huge and wall-to-wall hotties. If you're young and hot, go here. Cover to enter was 1 k PHP per person and you get two drinks included. There are standing tables available for 10 kPHP and couches available for 20 K PHP all consumable. Do this and everyone knows you're a baller. I had to do it as I never would in the USA. Fun to be a medium sized fish in a tiny pond. I got a bottle of spiced rum for 2800 PHP and some sushi, pizza and French fries. I couldn't keep track but I think I wasted 15 kPHP of the consumable. A shame but a good time. The couch is huge. I could have grabbed 8 other hotties and would have room to spare, but I'm too shy at my age to approach real 21 year olds. If you're young, hot and have game, go here, spend the money on a table, look like a movie star, and you'll pull massive amounts of hot real girls. I'm sure we were surrounded by celebrities as there was solid walls of security around some of the table / couches. The food was actually really good. I used to commercial fish, so take it from me when I tell you the fish was fresh and tasty. Anyway, we danced at our couch. It was fun. My girl paid more attention to her cute friend, who I was not interested in, than me, so I could see where this was going to go (nowhere). My hottie dropped hints that for the right price I could smash her, mentioning she had taken 16 kPHP from one guy for FS. I really liked this girl so doing straight P4P just didn't feel right. I'd rather just move on. At this point we're still talking but I'm tired of putting the cash and energy into a girl that I know is just using me.

Many of the girls I met but didn't like are still texting me asking if they can see me again. A few have asked me why I won't date them and smash them. One that I met a few months ago (educated, 25, ugly) keeps declaring her undying love and begs to come over to "make love". Many have refused offers of cash for taxi, to the point that I need to open their purse and put it in. At this point I'm super disappointed that I can't find a girl that I like that feels the same. Pretty typical for me as I like girls that could get almost anyone.

Last night I decided I'd try to find a girl to smash P4P. I've been prowling Burgos and wanted to see Edsa. I exclusively go to PlanB and Kojaks on Burgos. They are not pushy. The lady drinks are 300 php. Barfine is like 2900. Girls want 3 k for take out. I assume this is ST, not sure. The problem is the bars are dark so I can't see what is really available. I also went early to Dimples. I forgot what the drinks and barfine were, but they were less. The bar is better lit but smaller and less girls. They were a little pushy, but not bad. Wasn't too impressed with the talent at Dimples. They open about an hour earlier than the others. PlanB often gets packed with guys as the night goes on. Kojaks is a nice alternative as its on a side street and doesn't seem to get so crowded.

Interesting aside: I was talking with the bouncer outside of PlanB. A dark skinned guy that could have passed for an Arab came up and started to walk into the bar. The bouncer grabbed him and said "No! Private Party! No go in!" I had planned on going in, so I asked who the party was for. After the dark skinned gentelman moved on, the bouncer said "No party. Go ahead. We just don't let Arabs in. They grab the girls, are not polite and spend no money". I was shocked as I'm from the USA so have never seen this type of blatant discrimination. I also disagree as some of my best friends are Syrian and real gems of humanity.

I went to Edsa for the first time. The bars are much better lit than PlanB and Kojaks. If you really want to scope out girls, this is the place. Girls are walking around in the foyer between bars too and its really lit up even more. You can talk to the girls here too. There are cutes here and its not crowded with guys. I picked several girls off the stage and had drinks with them. It was 315 or 385 for the lady drink. I just told the mamasan "I want to buy #39 a 315 lady drink". Barfine was 1900. Girls wanted 3 k ST and 5 K LT. I didn't partake but will go back. I was told that about 75% of the girls have kids. Many smoke cigs which I find disgusting. Luckily, all this can be determined in advance as they are wearing bikinis for you guys that can't handle baby bulges. An interesting aside: all the girls wear large dark contact lenses. This makes them look hotter. Large pupil size has been shown to increase attractiveness in clinical studies, so they are capitalizing on this. Smart folks here. Also, there is food. It may not be what you're used to, but I found fish and veggies. Its probably fried in pig fat, but hey, its a start.

Anyway, here I sit with a few days to go. Holy Week is coming up so I'm not sure what affect this will have. I've been told the bars are dead as everyone heads to the provinces. I've also been told this opens up the streets so that we can actually get around manila. Just hoping I'll get lucky and find one sweet hot girl. My expectations are low. Here's hoping you guys have your expectations met more than mine.

Cheers!

Aimless

[Kaywhy]

This is all seemingly minor stuff, but still gross, and aggressive. There should be a TS area where they hang out, and non-interested guys can stay away.

Perhaps unrelated, but my Filipino hairdresser for the past six years is gay and because he is gay, he has a ton of really beautiful lady friends who trust him fully, and he's offered to set me up if I was ever in need. Some of the stories are unreal, like because he's gay, the ladies have no problem showering with him or sleeping naked during sleepovers as the ladies feel very comfortable. There is little of this shyness or lights off stuff we hear.

I once paid a LB just to listen to his story. Of course not thousands, but for 1000, three hours of Q&A. These guys are much more mature and can hold a conversation vs the ladies. I'm muscular and not bad looking so I might attract my fair share of LBs. But have no issues with that.

[Terwagne]

Bottoms was in general not up to the usual standard. Suspenders are unfortunately gone. A little spinner was fun and very active when seating with me. 20 yo and in the bar since 4 months.

A quick learner or a natural. She did not want to come to my hotel in Quezon.

Moved to Kojax where a younger group was dancing on the stage. Hardly any 8-9, but a few OK. Quality surroundings. Found another 21 yo spinner that made the grade who lived in Quezon.

Back at the hotel: she was ticklish. I told her she was in the wrong business: touching everywhere was the main point. Only liked short DATY. Anyway a great body and sex was good, she was a very willing participant. Handling a 40 kg bod is fun.

She was surprised by the long sex as the usual Japanese job is no foreplay and a few minutes sex: all over in 10 minutes. No wonder they like Japanese customers.

She later told me she goes to Kojax 3 times a week and gets one customer each time. I guess this made her was keen. She earned 500 pesos in her previous job. She now feeds the whole family.

Burgos a bit overpriced for the quality on offer. But thanks to the quantity one will always finds decent girls.