Angeles City

[QUOTE=Laylow3]
remember my wife is filipina so I learned both of them from her. I didn’t think I was the only person here who speaks Tagalog. hmm, well maybe I am. Ilocano, yeah I’m probably the only person here who speaks that though.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for clarifying that, no disrespect intended.

[QUOTE=Youngster420]Some questions: If I'm going to Angeles for the first time and alone, which way should I go from the Manila airport? Get a taxi or by bus? Around how much should I expect to pay so I don't get ripped off?

Do I need to reserve a hotel room ahead of time, or can I do a walk-in check in? Which hotel is decent but kinda close to fields?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

I think you've had some good responses, but to support what some are saying. Many hotels are not fully booked, so walking the streets to an experienced visitor is certainly an option. For your first time, you really should book a hotel, then if it does not meet your standards, you can always take a walk to see first hand the other options. I think any hotel will take a walk in if they have rooms available.

I would also agree with others to have your hotel book your pick up. In fact it will be a little more expensive than you might otherwise arrange, but how much negotiation or headaches do you want after coming off a long flight. I am a little dated on the pricing, but someone suggested 2500 to 3000p and that sounds about right. Once more experienced, you can get cheaper, but for the first timer, pay a little extra until you educate yourself. Another possibility is to see if your connections can some how land you at Clark (the Angeles Airport). If you are hubbing out of Hongkong, Bangkok, Singapore and other Asian locations, you might get a direct flight to Clark. Cebu Pacific's website I would recommend for direct points to Clark from overseas. Then your travel to the hotel will be either complimentary by the hotel or a few hundred peso at worst.

Fields and Perimeter road are actually the same road and you may want to be in the center. On the Fields side, Wild Orchid and Pacific Breeze have good reputations. Closer to the middle, ABC Hotel is the top hotel, little more on Perimeter the Lewis Grand is ok. A lot of people like Clarkton as represented in one of the threads.

[QUOTE=Cunning Stunt]Nice take on the issues under discussion Matius, but I had to smile over your reference to Ivana Trump. She is appearing in Celebrity Big Brother UK at the moment. Have a look at the photo and you might be glad that you lost your 'dream of youth':eek:.[/QUOTE]

Yea, and it shows what an old c..t I've become. Still dreams of Barbie Benton, Sandra Bollock, the girls in the Bangles, or how about Stevie Nicks. Thankfully, I've still got the Philippines where I can have some young 18 year old underneath me as I dream of those now grandmothers.

How about the rest of you, are you dreaming of those grandmothers or are you sleeping with them every night. ha ha ha

[quote=patty boy]anyway, you're probably wondering why this post is in the angeles city section, since i've only spoken about thailand so far. well, i have another 2 weeks of paid vacation coming up in march, and am trying to decide what to do. i will definitely spend one of those weeks in pattaya again, but i am considering spending the other week in angeles city. i am interested for several reasons: 1) i have heard of angeles city as a good place for mongering, comparable to thailand, 2) i find phillipino girls very attractive, 3) i heard that they speak better english, which is a huge plus to me. however, i have been slightly deterred due to reading about potential problems regarding safety, violence, corrupt police setting up tourists, theft, etc. are these things avoidable if the proper common sense precautions are taken? i guess what i am wondering is whether these things are considered outlier events, or whether they are considered the norm in angeles city. if they are the norm, i may just consider enjoying the 2 weeks in pattaya, although i am very curious about angeles city. could some of you more experienced travelers give me some feedback on this? i would really appreciate your opinions.

thanks!

[/quote]
the pricing is different in angeles, the barfine is all inclusive and you only have the tip the girl if you decide. in pattaya the bar release did not include what you had to negotiate with the girl. i also remember many of the girls being reluctant to take money or state their price in pattaya, but hear that has changed. i don't know its been a few years. but in angeles, the bar states the price, if you want to give the girl a tip afterward, that is your choice and she will be appreciative.

if someone told me they had been to angeles, but never pattaya, i would recommend they go to thailand. its like golfing on only one course your whole life, you may decide on a favorite, but should try some variety. cebu pacific has very affordable flights between bangkok and clark (airport in angeles) as i've stated in numerous posts, i live in angeles, i've never been vicitimized by crime, assaulted or set up by the police. i walk up and down the streets, both perimeter and fields during the day and at the nights. but at night, particularly late, i would take a trike on all but walking street on fields.

as your primary question relates to security some further detail. the big no no's here in angeles are drugs and **** girls. call it a set up or enforcement filipino style, if caught with either, you are in for a long night or days in jail and going to pay a lot of money, at the very least. very simply to avoid both, don't pick girls up off the street, use the bars and don't go with or engage in conversations or go anywhere with the street vendors or beggars. some will argue they do these things with no problems, but my advice to you is how to ensure you have absolutely no problems.

assuming you don't plan on lying dead drunk in the middle of the street, your biggest threat of crime is pick pockets, its not epidemic, but can be avoided by not carrying your wallet in your back pocket, having your front pants pockets inside the main cloth of your pants (they got a little trick of using a razor blade to slice open those front outside pants pockets with the zipper at the top). and finally don't carry all your cash, only what you need and keep the rest in the safe in the hotel.

similar to thailand, you don't want to go out of your way to engage the local males in a conflict. keep a smile on your face, be respectful and you will have no problems. like the thais and many parts of asia, if you take face away from the local filipino, then you might have problems.

in summary, what you often see on these boards are blown way out of proportion in regards to safety in angeles. in the last couple of years, local officials have taken great efforts to eliminate those few people and officials that were victimizing tourists, they finally got it that if there are no tourists there will be no money for them. incidents of violence are no more numerous than any other city, but often there is a story behind it and which the incident could have been avoided (not always). you may develop a preference on pattaya versus angeles, but suggest you will not regret at least having made a visit here.

.

Thanks for all the great replies. The reason I ask about the reservation is because I'm going on short notice. Like within 5 days or so. Some of you mentioned reserving weeks even months in advance. Hopefully I can get a room. From the earlier posts (before the age arguments) it sounds like Angeles is pretty dead in terms of tourists at the moment?

Interested in a basic room at Pacific Breeze, if not then hopefully one or two steps up, but nothing too expensive.

[quote=matius]the pricing is different in angeles, the barfine is all inclusive and you only have the tip the girl if you decide. in pattaya the bar release did not include what you had to negotiate with the girl. i also remember many of the girls being reluctant to take money or state their price in pattaya, but hear that has changed. i don't know its been a few years. but in angeles, the bar states the price, if you want to give the girl a tip afterward, that is your choice and she will be appreciative.

if someone told me they had been to angeles, but never pattaya, i would recommend they go to thailand. its like golfing on only one course your whole life, you may decide on a favorite, but should try some variety. cebu pacific has very affordable flights between bangkok and clark (airport in angeles) as i've stated in numerous posts, i live in angeles, i've never been vicitimized by crime, assaulted or set up by the police. i walk up and down the streets, both perimeter and fields during the day and at the nights. but at night, particularly late, i would take a trike on all but walking street on fields.

as your primary question relates to security some further detail. the big no no's here in angeles are drugs and **** girls. call it a set up or enforcement filipino style, if caught with either, you are in for a long night or days in jail and going to pay a lot of money, at the very least. very simply to avoid both, don't pick girls up off the street, use the bars and don't go with or engage in conversations or go anywhere with the street vendors or beggars. some will argue they do these things with no problems, but my advice to you is how to ensure you have absolutely no problems.

assuming you don't plan on lying dead drunk in the middle of the street, your biggest threat of crime is pick pockets, its not epidemic, but can be avoided by not carrying your wallet in your back pocket, having your front pants pockets inside the main cloth of your pants (they got a little trick of using a razor blade to slice open those front outside pants pockets with the zipper at the top). and finally don't carry all your cash, only what you need and keep the rest in the safe in the hotel.

similar to thailand, you don't want to go out of your way to engage the local males in a conflict. keep a smile on your face, be respectful and you will have no problems. like the thais and many parts of asia, if you take face away from the local filipino, then you might have problems.

in summary, what you often see on these boards are blown way out of proportion in regards to safety in angeles. in the last couple of years, local officials have taken great efforts to eliminate those few people and officials that were victimizing tourists, they finally got it that if there are no tourists there will be no money for them. incidents of violence are no more numerous than any other city, but often there is a story behind it and which the incident could have been avoided (not always). you may develop a preference on pattaya versus angeles, but suggest you will not regret at least having made a visit here.[/quote]wow, thanks for the great information, and to other posters as well. i think you have hit on all my questions, and i have decided to spend 1 of my 2 weeks in angeles city. i am a fairly cautious, amicable, not a big drinker, and always keep my wallet in my front pocket when traveling, so it sounds like i will hopefully be ok.

[QUOTE=Patty Boy]Wow, thanks for the great information, and to other posters as well. I think you have hit on all my questions, and I have decided to spend 1 of my 2 weeks in Angeles City. I am a fairly cautious, amicable, not a big drinker, and always keep my wallet in my front pocket when traveling, so it sounds like I will hopefully be ok.[/QUOTE]
A guy would have to be a deaf&dumb idiot not to feel someone using a razor blade to cut their pants pocket! They need to be ripped off if they can't stop that crime from happening!

Warbucks,
I never saw the quoted post from JS, and quite frankly, it's not necessary to quote this kind of dirt and drag it into an otherwise peaceful thread. I have yet to see any redeeming quality to the posts from JS and therefore I usually ignore him (assuming it's male of course). You, my antagonistic friend, drive me up a wall, but you have numerous redeeming qualities. After a few beers, I'll think of what they are... :-)

Also, you managed to get the FIGHT CLUB thread deleted by appealing directly to the list master, so please think twice before you initiate animosity on the regular threads. I realize you were just "taking the [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord140][CodeWord140][/url]", but you should know by now that I'm easily excited -- just ask your admirer Cunning stunted...

Lastly, you seem to exagerrate the differences between contributors at ISG: young vs. old / well off vs "rubbing pennies" / black vs non black. Therefore, it seems ingenious for you to suddenly come up with "us 'Americans'".

As for confronting CS, I probably would have ignored him if he had ever agreed to meeting me. Cluck, cluck. I was pretty sure I wouldn't hear from him.

You should know that Warbucks. You've asked to meet me several times. I've always respectfully declined or ignored you. I never said yes, and then did a no show. Right? You remember? You got records of everthing, if I'm not mistaken!!!! Give me a break instead of insulting me!

X

[QUOTE=Warbucks]Let me get this straight JS with all the dust he kicks up around here he chickened out on meeting you in real life. Hmmm I thought us “Americans” were made of tougher stuff.[/QUOTE]

Well, I can only hope someone gives it a try on Mr. Mayntain (nice handle, btw). Maybe he'll learn a bit of humility. If one detects the theft in progress, one might find oneself acquainted with something more than a razor blade.

The fact that this type of theft is fairly common around the world indicates that it is profitable.

Actually the gal who sucked and fkd me like crazy last night and this morning (not in PI) told me the story of getting jostled on a bus in Italy. She thought she was going to be molested and hugged her bag across her chest. Later she found that they had cut out the side of the bag. Nothing too valuable was lost, but it scared the sht out of her. (Don't carry more than you care to lose -- or at least carry it in different places)

I had a wallet disappear on a jeepney in Angeles City. I was on a jeepney from church (downtown) back to the tenderloin. I think I should have donated much, much more. It would have gone to a better cause.

If it's crowded, and you are getting jostled quite a bit, keep your hand on the most important thing. On a jeepney, that would be your money. In the bar, that would be your...



[QUOTE=Mayntain]A guy would have to be a deaf&dumb idiot not to feel someone using a razor blade to cut their pants pocket! They need to be ripped off if they can't stop that crime from happening![/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Mayntain]A guy would have to be a deaf&dumb idiot not to feel someone using a razor blade to cut their pants pocket! They need to be ripped off if they can't stop that crime from happening![/QUOTE]


Actually, for the record, this statement is not true. I've witness this TWICE already in my lifetime (once in HK and another time in my home city). Both times the victims were unaware it was happening until I yelled out and alerted them. Wallets were not yet taken but pockets were slashed. They looked more like regular business men and far from being deaf or dumb.
So, best to take caution as we are dealing with experts that practice this tactic all their lives.

Shark

It was only a sentence in a rather long response, not intending to start a debate on razor blade pickpockets being an urban legend or not. The occurance as the gentleman described it to me occurred in SM Mall, not on the bar's strip. The guy was a local resident and it was in the afternoon as he was shopping. My primary point was that I've had a couple of guys tell me about incidents of being pickpocketed. In most it appears they were in a position of being known to be carrying signficant sums (dollars or thousands of peso, or wearing expensive jewlrey). Even a slightly experienced Monger knows not to flash large sums of money. So the suggestion I thought is good advice whether in Angeles, or in Italy for that matter.

The point is from a crime standpoint, good common sense and some basic rules when travelling in a foreign country, can help in avoiding any trouble.

Harry the Horse (web site) has also warned people about pickpockets at the mall. If anyone bumps you or drops something near you, you best pay attention to your wallet.

X

[QUOTE=Matius]It was only a sentence in a rather long response, not intending to start a debate on razor blade pickpockets being an urban legend or not. The occurance as the gentleman described it to me occurred in SM Mall, not on the bar's strip. The guy was a local resident and it was in the afternoon as he was shopping. My primary point was that I've had a couple of guys tell me about incidents of being pickpocketed. In most it appears they were in a position of being known to be carrying signficant sums (dollars or thousands of peso, or wearing expensive jewlrey). Even a slightly experienced Monger knows not to flash large sums of money. So the suggestion I thought is good advice whether in Angeles, or in Italy for that matter.

The point is from a crime standpoint, good common sense and some basic rules when travelling in a foreign country, can help in avoiding any trouble.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Matius]It was only a sentence in a rather long response, not intending to start a debate on razor blade pickpockets being an urban legend or not. The occurance as the gentleman described it to me occurred in SM Mall, not on the bar's strip. The guy was a local resident and it was in the afternoon as he was shopping. My primary point was that I've had a couple of guys tell me about incidents of being pickpocketed. In most it appears they were in a position of being known to be carrying signficant sums (dollars or thousands of peso, or wearing expensive jewlrey). Even a slightly experienced Monger knows not to flash large sums of money. So the suggestion I thought is good advice whether in Angeles, or in Italy for that matter.

The point is from a crime standpoint, good common sense and some basic rules when travelling in a foreign country, can help in avoiding any trouble.[/QUOTE]And beware, if you're on a Jeepney it could be the guy 2 up from you doing the job. I was on a jeepney in Olongapo, the one next to me had a briefcase on his knees and made sure I could see both his hands in the open. His mate 2 up slipped his hand behind him and tried my pocket. When I reacted both jumped off quickly.

[QUOTE=Youngster420]Thanks for all the great replies. The reason I ask about the reservation is because I'm going on short notice. Like within 5 days or so. Some of you mentioned reserving weeks even months in advance. Hopefully I can get a room. From the earlier posts (before the age arguments) it sounds like Angeles is pretty dead in terms of tourists at the moment?

Dead?.seems pretty lively to me. Took me 30 minutes on a trike at 8 pm Sat night to get from Fields down perimeter and to the clarkton. Made the best of it though as my girl was quite amorous in the trike amid the chaos.

Stayed 12 hours.3 rounds. Damage 1500 p plus 500 p tip-43. 50 USD

1st trip to angeles after 30 days in Thailand. Upon arrival and perusal of the scene here I was thinking about leaving immediately. After last night and it's positive events I've decided to stay another few days. Getting acclimated

BTW-made my reso at the clarkton 1 day in advance.

Best,

Five10

Bought a box of same on the street in angeles yesterday for 1000 p...10 pills

Seemed to work...result not stronfer than the 20 mg I buy in the states.

Anyone else try this stuff?

Did a on line search-I don't see it advertised anywhere.

Best

Five10