General Info

[Member #4698]

Regardless the direction (now), the first week of my arrival there is no movement on the daily schedule towards normalizing -- for about 6 days running, I will go to sleep around noon-2 pm, and awake fresh around 9-11 pm (wide awake at night, no relief without ambien). I always try to plan my arrival back in the States to allow me one extra week of vacation before returning for trabajo.

The Jet Lag you describe is really uncomfortable. I hate those sleepless nights and being tired in the afternoons. I discovered a natural painless solution one trip to SEA when I arrived without my medication in Hong Kong. I transferred that afternoon to Macau. Later that same night I could not sleep. It was horrible. So after a couple of hours of tossing and turning, I put on my clothes and went out. It was after 3 am. First I hit my favorite Sauna and had a neck massage, then thigh massage (HJ), and later full service. I left the Sauna around 5 am tired, but feeling pretty good. Next, I wandered over to the Wynn Casino Hotel. The place was still busy with inveterate Chinese gamblers. I walked around the casino and eventually I went to the Wynn's Red 8 Restaurant where I ate a mouth watering BBQ Duck with spicy wonton soup. I left the Wynn around 6 am as the sun was coming up and took it relatively easy until I passed out in my hotel room around 2 pm. The next night it was the same thing. I couldn't fall asleep at an appropriate time, but rather than toss and turn I went out again at 3:30 am and hit a different Sauna. Later around 5 am I had an amazing noodle soup with spicy pork belly on the side at the Grand Lisboa noodle restaurant. I left the Grand Lisboa again as the sun was coming up. There is something about the sun that awakens one and I wandered around Macau until noon. This time I took a nap around 4 pm, woke up at 8 pm and repeated the 2 previous nights activities more or less.

My point is that slowly over time I noticed my body was acclimating to the new time zone and I could fall asleep naturally at an appropriate hour so I no longer felt tired and prone to falling asleep in the late afternoons. I believe the reason I felt no jet lag pain or discomfort on that trip was because I went with the flow and did not try to force a time change on my body. And significantly because I was in Macau, a city that does not sleep and where there is always something interesting to do at any hour so psychologically I didn't care if I was up at 4 or 5am and could not sleep. I spent 5 nights in Macau that trip. By the time I flew on to BKK, I was pretty much over the jet lag. When I arrived in BKK I was falling asleep without any medication at around 2:30 am and I was no longer walking around in the afternoon like a zombie. Getting over jet lag, naturally, takes time. Not trying to force myself to sleep when sleep was not possible and finding something worthwhile to do late at night and in the early predawn hours was very important and it made the jet lag tolerable and even a minor thing. I hope this helps.

[WestCoast1]

Jet lag is a medical condition. So I have my doctor in the USA prescribe 10 MG Ambien for my long transpacific flights to ensure I get 4 or 5 hours sleep en route before arrival in SEA. Once in Manila or BKK I pre schedule a nice little reunion with one of my favorite girls. After she leaves I try to stay up to 1 am. Then to avoid a night of tossing and turning and no sleep, I take another 10 MG Ambien. Result: I am out like a light and I wake up early in the morning the next day around 7 am feeling good, raring to go. NO JET LAG! I can then sleep normally without pharmaceutical aid the rest of the trip. I repeat the process on the return flight with the same level of success. By the way GE is correct, the effects of Jet Lag can be far worse on the return flight if not treated.

I have tried this method, of trying to ambien-ing myself to sleep around midnight (both when arriving in phils, and then arriving back again at home), for several nights running. It works per-se, in that in knocks me out for about 5-6 hours, and I awake relatively refreshed at 7 am. But by noon-2 pm I am wiped out, can't keep my eyes open, and I go right back to sleep. My sleep rhythm has been thrown off completely by adjusting to the previous time zone.

A decade ago, GE's suggested 1 day per time zone difference was about spot on. Hence a 15 (or 16, depending Daylight Savings Time) hours difference from phils to the US west coast, took me about 10 days to adjust when going to phils, and 14 or 15 days to adjust when going to the US. Older now, and that's now 14 or 15 days to adjust when arriving in phils, and 20 days to adjust when arriving back in the US. Regardless the direction (now), the first week of my arrival there is no movement on the daily schedule towards normalizing -- for about 6 days running, I will go to sleep around noon-2 pm, and awake fresh around 9-11 pm (wide awake at night, no relief without ambien). I always try to plan my arrival back in the States to allow me one extra week of vacation before returning for trabajo.

[Member #4698]

Jet lag is a medical condition. So I have my doctor in the USA prescribe 10 MG Ambien for my long transpacific flights to ensure I get 4 or 5 hours sleep en route before arrival in SEA. Once in Manila or BKK I pre schedule a nice little reunion with one of my favorite girls. After she leaves I try to stay up to 1 am. Then to avoid a night of tossing and turning and no sleep, I take another 10 MG Ambien. Result: I am out like a light and I wake up early in the morning the next day around 7 am feeling good, raring to go. NO JET LAG! I can then sleep normally without pharmaceutical aid the rest of the trip. I repeat the process on the return flight with the same level of success. By the way GE is correct, the effects of Jet Lag can be far worse on the return flight if not treated.

[Slippery]

Yet another reason why I have not been back there in over 2 years.

[GoodEnough]

No routine. The older I get, the worse my jetlag is. When I travel from America to phils, it takes 2 full weeks to get off American time and onto Phils time. When I return, it takes 3 weeks to re-adjust. If I'm only in phils a few days, I just stay on American time, sleeping during the day and staying up all night (I awake about 10 pm and go back to sleep about 2 pm). That way I'm still on American time when I return home. However, when I'm there for a month or more, I fully adjust to Asian time, then re-adjust when I return home. I have tried everything when I return home, including trying to force myself to stay awake during the daytime, and ambien-ing myself in the night to sleep; however none of this works. It takes a full week upon my return before my sleep time starts to shift towards night time (after 1 week home, about 30 minutes per day my sleep time starts to shift, first from going to sleep around 2 pm, then the next day about 2:30 pm, and so on).

I have friends who have never experienced jetlag. Amazing.

I read an article a few years ago on the bio-mechanics of Circadian Rhythms. It claimed that human bodies require approximately one day per time zone crossed to re-adjust completely. The time difference between here and the East Coast of the US is 13 hours now, which would mean a 13 day period of adjustment. I find, then when I do fly back to the States, it's much worse the older I become.

GE.

[WestCoast1]

A while back in the BKK forum a west coast American had posted it took him 2 weeks to adjust back to PST. Meanwhile there was no jet lag going to BKK.

I have the same problem. Going to PH requires no adjustment. First few nights in Ph I get a 2 hour in the room massages and sleep well. Prior to the massages I unload on a few girls. Maybe this routine helps a bit.

On the the return trip I find myself needling a mid afternoon 2-3 hour nap for a couple of weeks. Of course no massages and poon.

Does anyone have a routine that lessens the jet lag?

No routine. The older I get, the worse my jetlag is. When I travel from America to phils, it takes 2 full weeks to get off American time and onto Phils time. When I return, it takes 3 weeks to re-adjust. If I'm only in phils a few days, I just stay on American time, sleeping during the day and staying up all night (I awake about 10 pm and go back to sleep about 2 pm). That way I'm still on American time when I return home. However, when I'm there for a month or more, I fully adjust to Asian time, then re-adjust when I return home. I have tried everything when I return home, including trying to force myself to stay awake during the daytime, and ambien-ing myself in the night to sleep; however none of this works. It takes a full week upon my return before my sleep time starts to shift towards night time (after 1 week home, about 30 minutes per day my sleep time starts to shift, first from going to sleep around 2 pm, then the next day about 2:30 pm, and so on).

I have friends who have never experienced jetlag. Amazing.

[Worf1972]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies?

Thanks, Daz.

a guy on youtube goes to General Santos or gensan alot. His YouTube blog is called the Philippine experience. He has a lot of informative information.

[Dg8787]

A while back in the BKK forum a west coast American had posted it took him 2 weeks to adjust back to PST. Meanwhile there was no jet lag going to BKK.

I have the same problem. Going to PH requires no adjustment. First few nights in Ph I get a 2 hour in the room massages and sleep well. Prior to the massages I unload on a few girls. Maybe this routine helps a bit.

On the the return trip I find myself needling a mid afternoon 2-3 hour nap for a couple of weeks. Of course no massages and poon.

Does anyone have a routine that lessens the jet lag?

[BrainDrain]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies?

Thanks, Daz.

Don't confuse the main aim of travel in Philippines is to maximise YOUR excitement, adventure and womanising, not to be sweet to provincial girls. Any Philippines city or regional town has a plethora of punting and dating options.

A visit to GenSan or any town will require you to lose a day in transit, getting frustrated with taxi drivers, pilots, check-in staff etc etc. Let the girls be the ones to deal with this.

I myself do regularly visit provincial Philippines but it is for my purposes and the girls are secondary. There are millions of girls whom want to meet you.

BD.

[Sam 14]

As WC said, don't bother going there unless you are interested I seeing a large tuna fishing port.

A large tuna port with not much tuna, incidentally. I hope that's changed by now.

[MrWoolyBooly]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies?

Thanks, Daz.

I agree with the recommendations not to go there. But if you're stuck with going there, I recommend working the online dating sites about a week or two in advance and double booking your prospects. Good luck.

[Sam 14]

I'd echo what WC and RK wrote, and just add you could probably find a 'nice girl' or two in GenSan if you lived there. Problem with that is, I've never seen any apartments. You might be able to find a house to rent but it's pretty much a Philippine city for Filipinos. You would be the only one of your kind in the neighborhood. Allot of eyes will be on you where ever you go. Restaurants are few, except for some standard chains in the malls. The malls are the center of the universe there, not much else to do. And night time is absolutely dead. In the short term, you could probably get some text mates by handing out your number. But before you get anyone to your place, you'd probably first have to convince her you're not a sex maniak. If you're not, fine, but I wouldn't suggest lying to try to get your way. They tend to be curious about foreigners but scared to actually go out. You could try the sites for a quick shag but you don't need to travel all the way to the southern most city to do that. For what it's worth, I heard it's under real tight security now, allot of men with rifles around the malls. Lake Sebu has a nice waterfall but it's far away and may not be a good idea to go there now. Hope that helps.

[Red Kilt]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies.

If you must go to Southern Philippines to meet someone, stay in Davao City and request her to come to you.

As WC said, don't bother going there unless you are interested I seeing a large tuna fishing port.

Too much random lawlessness potential in areas all around there, and if you are not familiar with the area you are taking a risk. You should be OK if you stay in the confines of Davao City, and in a reasonable hotel.

[WestCoast1]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies?

Thanks, Daz.

Small potatos. Don't bother if mongering is your choice. What kind of 'nice ladies' are you looking for?

[Member #4558]

Traveling soon and don't see anything on the boards here for the area called General Santos? I found a few things online but mostly restaurant and hotel info. What is the area generally like and is there much opportunity for finding nice ladies?

Thanks, Daz.

General Santos (GES) is considered the Tuna capital. Its Tuna, Tuna and not much mongering going on down there. If you absolutely have to go there I would most def use dating sites in the hunt for girls. I am sure there are establishments with girls in GES as well but I don't visit them anyway so didn't look for any. GES isn't prepped for us horny western guys (at least not hordes of us). Girls from GES tends to be quite attractive and tend to be more high-rise than normal Phil standards (based on a very sparse and subjective survey).