General Info

[QUOTE=Skip Kost] ..But what invariably happens is that some new customer, often as not a woman (not because they're less courteous than men, but because they do the family shopping), will belly up to the counter in between two of the clerks...[/QUOTE]

I think that you are being charitable. It always amuses or annoys me (depending on in how much of a hurry I am in or which side of the bed I arose from that morning), how it always seem to be unattractive menopausal or post menopausal women who assume that queues does not apply to them and try and jump in front of the feckless foreigner as he is being served. Never men or young hotties, which I would not mind in the slightest:D.

Another thing that winds me up is when you are being served and someone distracts the attention of the salesperson with a question, and instead of being asked to wait until they have finished serving you, are immediately answered, all the time ignoring you as if you have suddenly disappeared. Once again matronly types are the worst culprits. I’ve largely given up on the snappish remarks, either to the saleperson or the intruder, as neither are particularly effective, and usually restrict myself to staring fixedly at the pushy old bag, until they invariably feel uncomfortable and hurry their query. Works every time :D.

[QUOTE=X Man]
I moved here because this seems more appropriate than the AC thread.[/QUOTE]

Agreed that the AC thread is probably not appropriate to discuss the cultural merits of The Philippines:eek:.

Why not the 'Living in The Philippine' thread?

I imagine anybody traveling thousands of miles purely to enjoy the cultural life of The Philippine would, within 10 minutes of landing, wish they had rerouted to Benidorm or Las Vegas!!

[QUOTE=Timber Tree]It's basically ODDS and EVENS of the cars license plate. If your license plate ends in an ODD number, you get to drive your car MWF and vise-versa on EVENs.[/QUOTE]Not quite. I believe it is plates ending in 1 or 2 don't drive Mondays, 3 or 4 don't drive Tuesdays, all the way to 9 or 0 not driving on Fridays. Not the whole day, just during certain times of the day.

I just turn to the person doing the interrupting, and say something like: "Excuse me, but I'm being waited on now and you will have to wait your turn like everyone else." It always works.

GE

[QUOTE=X Man]
Do you mean you had a reservation on a discontinued flight and they didn't tell you?

X[/QUOTE]Yes, this is an important point to understand, if you have a reservation on a flight that no longer exists they will not contact you!

I'll be going to the philippines in July for the first time in 32 years. Last time I was there the exchange rate was 7 peso to the US dollar. What I would like to know is what is the going prices to tip the girl for special attention. By what I can tell the barfines are 1000 peso to 1500 peso which seems a little high and does the girls get a cut of the fine.

[QUOTE=Azmodeus Fl]I'll be going to the philippines in July for the first time in 32 years. Last time I was there the exchange rate was 7 peso to the US dollar. What I would like to know is what is the going prices to tip the girl for special attention. By what I can tell the barfines are 1000 peso to 1500 peso which seems a little high and does the girls get a cut of the fine.[/QUOTE]My god, if I don't go there for 3 months I start going crazy. All I can say is you might see some changes. But then again, maybe not that many LOL.

[QUOTE=Azmodeus Fl]I'll be going to the philippines in July for the first time in 32 years. Last time I was there the exchange rate was 7 peso to the US dollar. What I would like to know is what is the going prices to tip the girl for special attention. By what I can tell the barfines are 1000 peso to 1500 peso which seems a little high and does the girls get a cut of the fine.[/QUOTE]




Check on the daily price converter, the Peso is something like 47.30 to the dollar as we speak, just a reminder, bring 100 Bills to be exchanged, make sure they are unfolded, unblemished and new right out of the bank, these command a higher exchange rate premium than smaller, soiled and well used bills. Better to go in the malls than use the "govt" or bank exchanges, better rate....

I used to tip the girls based on performance,(Usually P1000) some of the bars do it differently, most give her a cut (albeit a small one) some do not. Depends on where you are.


Spamhog

[QUOTE=Azmodeus Fl]I'll be going to the philippines in July for the first time in 32 years. Last time I was there the exchange rate was 7 peso to the US dollar. What I would like to know is what is the going prices to tip the girl for special attention. By what I can tell the barfines are 1000 peso to 1500 peso which seems a little high and does the girls get a cut of the fine.[/QUOTE]

Be sure to send me a PM if you get to Angeles City. I'm moving there permanently in a week or so. We'll have a beer.

This is one of the articles in the latest MARGARITA STATION NEWS for June 2009.

[url]http://www.margarita-station.com/newsletters/june09/index.html[/url]

Thought it was of interest.

"The Philippines is not a *****house for US soldiers

By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:58:00 04/02/2009

MANILA, Philippines Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday called for an investigation into reports US soldiers joining the Balikatan military exercises in the Bicol Region are being given sex workers every night. This needs to be investigated and exposed. This is condemnable, said Pangilinan, who initiated a resolution in the Senate calling for a review of the US-RP Visiting Force Agreement.

During his recent visit in the region, Pangilinan said he was approached by concerned citizens, claiming that at least two batches of eight to 10 women were being sent nightly to US soldiers, checking in at 10 p.m. and are out by 4 a.m. the following morning. Every time a owners/manager brings in 10 women, all will be taken. Then they’ll bring another batch of 10, Pangilinan, quoting the locals, said. The service US servicemen were also allegedly seen by the residents in hotels and bars with very young women.

We worked so hard to get rid of prostitution and cleaning our reputation when the US military bases finally left our shores, Pangilinan said. The Philippines is not a *****house for US soldiers."

Damn, I don't remember delivery service when I was in the US military in the 80s.

Slim

Slim, US Navy put me into a port in Luzon (not the usual places) and at some point in the evening I found myself in a bar with some cute ladies. I assumed it was the same program as Subic. I asked about bar fine, but no one knew what I was talking about. I asked the girl if she would like to go and she said "yes, but, my friend..." I took the both of them and there was no bar fine.

My "friend" gave me whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted for the next two days. The other one I introduced to a friend and he got what he wanted too.

It wasn't exactly delivery service, but the girls didn't work at the bar. They were just there because the ship was there. Whether someone organized this or the ladies just used their own ingenuity, I don't know.

X

[QUOTE=Nvslim]

SNIP OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Damn, I don't remember delivery service when I was in the US military in the 80s.

Slim[/QUOTE]

there's a discussion on the photo gallery now about taking pics through customs, particularly in the us. rather than continuing the discussion there (which x-man points out is for photos only), i thought i would post here.

in addition to taking your digital pics through your home country customs, another thing to be careful of is buying a heap of pirate dvds. i once had half a suitcase full and i got caught when the philippines customs (at the pal international terminal) x-rayed my case on the way into the airport.

i was polite and innocent to them and they just took all the porn ones.

when they asked me if the non-porn ones were pirate, i said i didn't know but i had bought them from a good shop. they were nice enough to let me keep those.

however they also took my passport details down. so since then i haven't bought too many dvds there (max 10) and, tempting as they are, i haven't bought any porn ones.

the philippines has laws against porn and i can imagine the penalties for getting caught could be worse than the us.

so if you have some "private" pics on your memory stick, be sure to be careful at philippines customs too.

i also got "caught" once on the way into jakarta airport. the customs guy at the x-ray machine there took me into a small room next to the x-ray machine and asked me directly for a bribe or he would confirep001e the lot.

sometimes i wonder if i had nicely asked when i was stopped in the philippines if there was a fine i could pay, i could have kept all the dvds.

does anyone have a view on the philippines' customs guys? do they also angle for bribes, or is it best to only bribe if requested. some aussies in bangkok recently got into trouble partly because they aggressively offered bribes to some police there. definitely it's better not to bribe at all than bribe the wrong person or in the wrong way.

[QUOTE=Victorian]Does anyone have a view on the Philippines' customs guys? Do they also angle for bribes, or is it best to only bribe if requested. Some Aussies in Bangkok recently got into trouble partly because they aggressively offered bribes to some police there. Definitely it's better not to bribe at all than bribe the wrong person or in the wrong way.[/QUOTE] It depends on the customs agent. The younger ones are less likely to angle for one. Try to pick a agent who is alone if you want to try a bribe. Be discrete. Put a bill folded neatly in your passport where the visa stamps are located. If the agent has a problem, just say you forgot you had money there. There are cameras all over the airport so pulling out your wallet is just plain stupid.

Thanks. Good point about the cameras and it being better if the agent is by themself. As I mentioned, the customs guy in Jakarta told me to come into a small office right next to the x-ray machine where he asked for a bribe. I guess away from other people and cameras. :) It pissed me off, but at least I got to keep all the DVDs.

I've heard before about putting money into your passport, but I would have thought that's a clear bribe and could be used against you (offering a bribe is I'm sure an offense that could be used againt you).

The tactic I was thinking I should have used is being innocent and quietly asking if there was any fine I could pay that would allow me to keep the DVDs. That would avoid getting me into further trouble and avoid potentially upsetting the customs guy.


[QUOTE=Darth Sushi]It depends on the customs agent. The younger ones are less likely to angle for one. Try to pick a agent who is alone if you want to try a bribe. Be discrete. Put a bill folded neatly in your passport where the visa stamps are located. If the agent has a problem, just say you forgot you had money there. There are cameras all over the airport so pulling out your wallet is just plain stupid.[/QUOTE]

I have been told that Karaoke bars have girls that you can pay to have sex with. Is this true? Is it at most of the bigger karaoke bars? Is it take out or in the VIP room? If this is true, what experiences have any of you had with girls from these bars?