Angeles City

Wow I had no idea. If Beeway doesn't open I'll try them. My usual is Grab from the airport to Makati. A couple of days trolling Burgos, then Beeway Travel private car to AC. Couple of weeks there, then a private car around noon from AC to MNL airport. Lotta sitting around at the airport but this method always worked well for me.

[QUOTE=MontanaMonger;2659128]If you are looking for a meet and greet style experience, When in doubt call Kokomo's (+63 (45) 892-0509) they have / had a travel agency in the small room next to the restaurant, they have never failed me, their rates are always reasonable.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CrowExplorer;2658432]This sounds dystopian as fuck. Covid is about as bad as a seasonal cold now, why are things still like this? I guess too many rational people are afraid to speak up for fear of being called "anti-vaxx". SMH. We only have a handful of years left on this planet, we need to quit wasting them obsessing over germs.[/QUOTE]It gets increasingly hard to put this Covid business in perspective. Yup, for many who get it the case will be mild; those who are young and have a robust immune system. Sure, a few of those sturdy individuals may lose their sense of smell but that can be easily rationalized away as the luck of the draw.

However for a significant segment of the population Covid represents a virulent virus, forgive the redundancy; an existential threat.

Who are these people? Well they have risk factors which makes them especially vulnerable. They are tobacco hounds. And other folks who can't control their weight being inundated with food messages on TV and elsewhere to eat. Then they are advertised the paradoxical lie that if only they eat diet food their weight problem will be solved.

Then, too, daily and chronic consumption of San Mig & Tanduay won't help through a about of Covid either.

Perhaps the biggest at risk group are the oldies whose age has compromised their immune system.

Now these at risk groups probably don't generate a lot of sympathy. Why should we turn our planet upside to take care of people who don't take care of themselves and the elderly who are on their way out anyway? Yeah, it's a tempting argument but we human beings look after each other. It is what separates us from just about every other species. It is just the way we are. Right now we have the urge to run down to the PI and fuck and fuck, and I hope you all do, but just put it in perspective.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2659104]Agreed. Best to pick your time and day. Avoid Friday after work at all costs. Even mid week peak hour can add hours to the trip. Most of that time is just getting out of Manila. If my flight must be at a bad time I will stay a night / leave the day before and travel early morning.[/QUOTE]Good advice. In addition I try to schedule my flights on Sunday, as traffic to / from the airport is light.

Have taken my AC hotel's private car from NAIA to my AC hotel half a dozen times. Prices were 2500-3000 each way. Took the same hotel car back from the hotel to my Manila hotel once (flying the next day out of NAIA). All of this for convenience.

Regarding Fridays and afternoons. Arrived at NAIA one Friday afternoon and found my AC private car driver at 2 pm. Heavy rain, flooding in the streets, grabe traffic. Tossed my ass into the back seat, told the driver to kill the radio, and went to sleep (tired from 24 hours of travel). Woke up around 5:30 pm, still crawling thru heavy traffic on the north side of Manila. 20 minutes later we finally hit lighter traffic and movement was good. Had to have the driver stop at the McDo strip mall area halfway up the highway to pee. Bought him and me some burgers and we continued the trip. Arrival at my hotel was 7:30 pm, more than 5 hours. I missed most of the traffic nightmare while asleep. For this "Never know how traffic and rain will be" reason, I don't travel from my AC digs to NAIA, I always spend a night in Manila near the airport. This also gives me a chance to have a planned last evening and morning hammer with one of my known hornies in Manila.

Another time I arrived at NAIA at 11 pm. Quickly passed thru Immigration and found my private car driver. Was at my AC hotel around 1:30 am. About 2 hours driving, almost no traffic.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2659259] Another time I arrived at NAIA at 11 pm. Quickly passed thru Immigration and found my private car driver. Was at my AC hotel around 1:30 am. About 2 hours driving, almost no traffic.[/QUOTE]After exiting the arrivals area of the airport I climb upstairs to the departures and find a cab which has just left off a passenger. I offer the driver 2,000 p to take me to my hotel in AC. The driver pays tolls and gas. No taxi driver has ever refused. There was a time when I offered less. I take an iPhone photo of the driver and the vehicle, making sure the driver sees me doing this, so as to discourage the driver from any funny business. During the ride I float the idea that on his return trip the driver should stop by the Dau bus terminal and see if he can find a group of riders waiting to take a bus who may be willing to pay a little extra for door to door service to Manila.

I visited the city during my last trip in 2017 and really had a nice time in pub and girls. Wanted to know the situation now, is places are open and back to normal and good to travel now?

I finally made it up to Angeles and I am happy to report that the place is not that far off normal in terms of venues being open.

I was there last October and December and back then I would say that about 50% of the bars / clubs on Walking Street were closed, a rough estimate I would say that its now back to about 70% open, the exception being any type of night club obviously can't open and some of the venues are still closed. There has been a fair bit of name changing, I am guessing this is down to somewhere going bust and new ownership. But overall there are enough bars open on Walking street to keep most of this forms readers happy if you want to do some drinking while looking at beautiful ladies and have the option to take them home.

Some bars have even upped their game with the likes of Lollypop now having a "interesting" show that attracts a good crowd about 7 pm.

Bar fines are around 3.5 K, and there is no shortage of ladies.

There is a group of bars which includes Lollipop, that are part of a "wolfpack" which means you can buy a "wolfpack" card and you get a 20% discount on drinks when you show the card, the card will cost about 1-2 K (sorry I can't remember exactly how much it is), and then you need to work out for yourself, if it is worth it or not.

COVID Stuff. I had no problem driving up from Manila to Angeles (no checkpoints), so anyone taking that route should be fine. You will be asked to show vaccine proof when going to the Malls, and you should be asked to do the same for going to bars, but I wasn't asked for any proof while going to the bars in walking street. If you are in Manila they seem to be a lot more strict on this. It's safer to have this with you to avoid disappointment.

I did not have any issues taking a lady guest back to my hotel, but it might be worth asking up front as different hotels have different policies.

The liquor ban, wasn't super enforced so I did get tipsy. And some waitress did say on my last night there that they wouldn't have to serve "juices" or "tea" in cups any more. , so I expect this will be dropped by the time tourists are allowed back in on the 10th Feb.

Overall I had a great time in Angeles, it's currently in a lot better shape than Manila, highly recommended and hope those returning with a bad dose of blue balls find an appropriate helping hand to take care of that.

Here is a couple of photos from Walking street, one looking up and the other looking down the street. Obviously the street is quitter than pre-COVID times due to lack of tourists, but it's looking better than last year, you can also see that many folks bar hopping forget to put their face mask on on that street.

As most of you know inbound tourists "just" need a PCR test, vaccination proof and travel insurance to enter the Philippines. This is what most sources say. However, when searching flights at Skyscanner I randomly found out that you need 2 more documents: E-Health declaration card and Case investigation Form (both done online). Skyscanner also says you need to download a special app for tracking. If this is true, then travelling to the Philippines would be at least as hard as to Thailand.

So Gentlemen, let me ask you a question: Do we really need those documents? There are hardly any information about this, so I hope some experienced guys here can clarify.

The vax cards and Temperature checks seem to be backing off, last night no questions asked on the Perimieter bars but I would still maintain a copy of vax documentation just to avoid conflict. It seems that they want to relax a lot but remember where you are. Especially as a tourist. They might be a little more relaxed on the rules but remember the cops need their shakedown money. Make sure you have a facemask, otherwise have 1000 pesos to avoid going to the barangay hall.

[QUOTE=CrazyPenguin;2660330]As most of you know inbound tourists "just" need a PCR test, vaccination proof and travel insurance to enter the Philippines. This is what most sources say. However, when searching flights at Skyscanner I randomly found out that you need 2 more documents: E-Health declaration card and Case investigation Form (both done online). Skyscanner also says you need to download a special app for tracking. If this is true, then travelling to the Philippines would be at least as hard as to Thailand.

So Gentlemen, let me ask you a question: Do we really need those documents? There are hardly any information about this, so I hope some experienced guys here can clarify.[/QUOTE]You will have to wait until February 10th for first hand tourist experience report.

Otherwise you can search online for actual Philippines tourist requirements. Be sure to check with country is yours.

Thank you! It's not easy to get a report like that on the different forums. I'm getting excited and looking forward to hearing the first arrivals how it goes with immigration.

[QUOTE=GhostD;2660224]I finally made it up to Angeles and I am happy to report that the place is not that far off normal in terms of venues being open.

I was there last October and December and back then I would say that about 50% of the bars / clubs on Walking Street were closed, a rough estimate I would say that its now back to about 70% open, the exception being any type of night club obviously can't open and some of the venues are still closed. There has been a fair bit of name changing, I am guessing this is down to somewhere going bust and new ownership. But overall there are enough bars open on Walking street to keep most of this forms readers happy if you want to do some drinking while looking at beautiful ladies and have the option to take them home.

Some bars have even upped their game with the likes of Lollypop now having a "interesting" show that attracts a good crowd about 7 pm.

Bar fines are around 3.5 K, and there is no shortage of ladies.

There is a group of bars which includes Lollipop, that are part of a "wolfpack" which means you can buy a "wolfpack" card and you get a 20% discount on drinks when you show the card, the card will cost about 1-2 K (sorry I can't remember exactly how much it is), and then you need to work out for yourself, if it is worth it or not.

COVID Stuff. I had no problem driving up from Manila to Angeles (no checkpoints), so anyone taking that route should be fine. You will be asked to show vaccine proof when going to the Malls, and you should be asked to do the same for going to bars, but I wasn't asked for any proof while going to the bars in walking street. If you are in Manila they seem to be a lot more strict on this. It's safer to have this with you to avoid disappointment.

I did not have any issues taking a lady guest back to my hotel, but it might be worth asking up front as different hotels have different policies.

The liquor ban, wasn't super enforced so I did get tipsy. And some waitress did say on my last night there that they wouldn't have to serve "juices" or "tea" in cups any more. , so I expect this will be dropped by the time tourists are allowed back in on the 10th Feb.

Overall I had a great time in Angeles, it's currently in a lot better shape than Manila, highly recommended and hope those returning with a bad dose of blue balls find an appropriate helping hand to take care of that.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2659259]Good advice. In addition I try to schedule my flights on Sunday, as traffic to / from the airport is light.
[/QUOTE]When I was going regularly I would book my flights home for early evening on Sundays when going back. I did have some nerve racking rides as sometimes I actually did hit traffic as the Filipinos coming back home from weekend away or leaving town and all going back home. Probably a bit easier if the flight was morning or early afternoon.

I liked coming in on a Wednesday or Thursday pre-Covid as Mondays and Tuesdays were getting so bad on who was showing up to work. Wednesdays weren't great but still better. Liked to see what is somewhat available in the bars.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2659259]Good advice. In addition I try to schedule my flights on Sunday, as traffic to / from the airport is light.

Regarding Fridays and afternoons. Arrived at NAIA one Friday afternoon and found my AC private car driver at 2 pm. Heavy rain, flooding in the streets, grabe traffic. Tossed my ass into the back seat, told the driver to kill the radio, and went to sleep (tired from 24 hours of travel). Woke up around 5:30 pm, still crawling thru heavy traffic on the north side of Manila. 20 minutes later we finally hit lighter traffic and movement was good. Had to have the driver stop at the McDo strip mall area halfway up the highway to pee. Bought him and me some burgers and we continued the trip. Arrival at my hotel was 7:30 pm, more than 5 hours. I missed most of the traffic nightmare while asleep. For this "Never know how traffic and rain will be" reason, I don't travel from my AC digs to NAIA, I always spend a night in Manila near the airport. This also gives me a chance to have a planned last evening and morning hammer with one of my known hornies in Manila.[/QUOTE]
Decided to take a side trip from Saigon to Philippines four years ago. Since I was traveling light made the mistake to have the arrival in the afternoon without scheduling a driver. Big mistake. I queued in the taxi line that had about six or seven persons in front of me. Long story short it took about four hours to get a taxi. There were few across the street in the taxi parking lot but no one was coming to pick us up. I asked why and found out that they prefer to rest rather than get into the afternoon traffic. That was a very bad experience that made me question my decision.

Previous times, going from US to Manila I would arrive in late evening via Korean Air or EVA. Next time if there's one I'll plan it better.

Any tourist mongers planning to hit AC February 10th or shortly thereafter?

[QUOTE=Dg8787;2660901]Any tourist mongers planning to hit AC February 10th or shortly thereafter?[/QUOTE]Some good luck on ticket prices would have me land there the end of this month, looking forward to it. I still haven't booked a hotel as they all are still in quarantine mode.