Stupid Shit in the Philippines

[QUOTE=OldAndUgly;2981047]My antivirus is blocking again the forum pages, anybody having the same problem?[/QUOTE]Different kind of problem this morning. See pix. In the General Info thread (and only there), the webpage had text from the various member's posts go off the screen to the right. There was suddenly a scroll bar on the bottom, forcing me to scroll right to see the entirety of what the members posted. This only showed in the Gen Info. I tried turning on / off the VPN and re-trying. Also I tried 2 different browsers, and tried while logged in and also off. Nothing worked to stop this. Now a few hours later it seems fine.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2981049]Different kind of problem this morning. See pix. In the General Info thread (and only there), the webpage had text from the various member's posts go off the screen to the right. There was suddenly a scroll bar on the bottom, forcing me to scroll right to see the entirety of what the members posted. This only showed in the Gen Info. I tried turning on / off the VPN and re-trying. Also I tried 2 different browsers, and tried while logged in and also off. Nothing worked to stop this. Now a few hours later it seems fine.[/QUOTE]Yes, that too, but I didn't mention it: the formatting of the text is off also.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2981049]In the General Info thread (and only there), the webpage had text from the various member's posts go off the screen to the right. There was suddenly a scroll bar on the bottom, forcing me to scroll right to see the entirety of what the members posted.[/QUOTE]Same happening here Westie and only the General Info thread _ Phil.

The problem with the webpages seems to be fixed, probably just hackers, trying to do their thing, until they realized that there is nothing of value for them here, since there is no personal info shared.

[QUOTE=PhilJoy;2981843]When in Rome I suppose.

I generally make a point of conversing in whatever Tagalog I can and try and keep the conversation local and referring to simple terms like "I'm just going to the CR".

It's surprising how many girls appreciate you've made the effort, as opposed to many fly-in fly-out tourists who just land in The Phils and expect sex on tap without having to take in any local references during their time there.

It's not too hard to learn your general pleasantries and it goes a long way, and from vast experience, it's been an amazing conversation starter, even in stores.

Yes, the Australian terms for a CR could be difficult for anyone to comprehend: Shitter, Crapper, Thunder Box, and then, if one's had too much to drink, they're 'Riding the Porcelain Bus'.

Quite often in a store I've offered a simple Salamat / Thank you.

And the girls have said, 'Do you speak Tagalog?

Naturally I say, "Kaunti" (a little) but it breaks the ice and has worked out well to gain some really good contacts.

To the newer members, my advice is, to learn a few Tagalog lines before you arrive and it will make a big difference with the locals from my experience. And don't be afraid if your pronunciation is crap. They'll like the fact you're making an effort _ Phil.[/QUOTE]Pretty much all Asian countries have their own slang and abbreviations. We can add that people often interweave several languages into the same sentence: maybe a combination of the national language, a local dialect or two and even some fucked up anglo styled Spanglish words. Then we complicate things even further by adding in our foreign accents. I've had many times where I've technically said the correct words but still been totally mis understood because of my thick accent.

It's not uncommon for girls to choose a language based upon who they want to understand or not. Speak Tagalog?? The girls will magically decide to use Bisaya etc.

Despite all this, you are right that learning a few words can make all the difference in breaking down barriers and being accepted

Enjoy. G

[QUOTE=OldAndUgly;2981395]The problem with the webpages seems to be fixed, probably just hackers, trying to do their thing, until they realized that there is nothing of value for them here, since there is no personal info shared.[/QUOTE]Seems its back again. Its all good, until its not. See pics, the General Info thread is acting up again.

The first story is not your usual Filipinos doing stupid shit but a foreigner doing stupid shit.

I am a regular at a local restaurant, perhaps a couple times a week for the last couple of years. As is common there is a tip jar. About half the time I see a US $2 bill in the jar. Not the same pristine bill but in various stages if wear, different every time.

No I don't know if a $2 bill is common anywhere in the US, I have never seen one there and have been in about half the states.

This guy has tipped the local staff with an uncommon bill in his home country, foreign bill in small denomination, used, some were in bad condition all were at least folded, I have not noticed one pristine enough for money changers.

He must have gone out of his way to have a supply of them here, not realizing that will be just about useless here. I would be surprised if any bank or money changer will accept them.

Now back to our regular theme, locals doing stupid shit.

My local community put up sign saying a 200 peso fine for public urination. I first noticed them when a guy was pissing against the sign post.

[QUOTE=KabulGuy;2982709]The first story is not your usual Filipinos doing stupid shit but a foreigner doing stupid shit.

I am a regular at a local restaurant, perhaps a couple times a week for the last couple of years. As is common there is a tip jar. About half the time I see a US $2 bill in the jar. Not the same pristine bill but in various stages if wear, different every time.

No I don't know if a $2 bill is common anywhere in the US, I have never seen one there and have been in about half the states.

This guy has tipped the local staff with an uncommon bill in his home country, foreign bill in small denomination, used, some were in bad condition all were at least folded, I have not noticed one pristine enough for money changers.

He must have gone out of his way to have a supply of them here, not realizing that will be just about useless here. I would be surprised if any bank or money changer will accept them.

Now back to our regular theme, locals doing stupid shit.

My local community put up sign saying a 200 peso fine for public urination. I first noticed them when a guy was pissing against the sign post.[/QUOTE]Used to be married to an asian, they are crazy about the 2 $ bills, she always got a fresh supply from the bank when going home to asia (not PH). I think because they are rare are considered lucky. I never heard of the practice in PH, so maybe is useless to them as you mentioned.

[QUOTE=OldAndUgly;2983310]Used to be married to an asian, they are crazy about the 2 $ bills, she always got a fresh supply from the bank when going home to asia (not PH). I think because they are rare are considered lucky. I never heard of the practice in PH, so maybe is useless to them as you mentioned.[/QUOTE]I order them from the bank as well and give them out to chicks when I travel. Not in order to tip anyone. You said it. Lucky because they never see them. In Latin America chicks put a $1 bill in the back of their clear phone cases. You know if the chick knows me because it will be a $2 bill.

My absolute congratulations to anyone who's spent more than the two hours I have tonight trying to navigate and get some answers to a fairly simple question regarding a Cebu Pacific flight.

I'd booked back in September last year to take my Sabang contact with me to Boracay next month for a five days out of the scene.

She now can't make it due to serious family commitments.

So I have another Cavitie contact who'd love to go. And she's still got a little bit of hair on it, which seems to be rare these days.

Anyway, the f*cking around with some online chat agent after being 140th in the queue initially, was almost infuriating.

I realize that the initial seat I purchased for the Sabang girl couldn't be transferred into another name, but I just wanted to know, that if I bought a second ticket for the substitute girl, if she could sit next to me in the now vacant seat I'd already previously purchased. (The girl's never flown before and is shit-scared at the thought of sitting with strangers or on her own).

I also have to be a little careful that she doesn't know she's the back-up plan.

Well, what a shit-fight. Not possible it seems. I had to cancel the original 'guest' then book a seat for the new 'guest' and then choose the seat, which was unavailable as I'd already booked it.

I know it's just not the Phils, but surely these big companies must soon realize that a simple phone call could have resolved things in ten minutes max by just saying yes or no, as opposed to a girl probably dealing with multiple chat sessions at once and taking ages to respond and sending through copy and pasted company policies in all her replies.

And I know CP is a budget airline, but not in this instance, and not when they hit you up for baggage charges, seat allocation, and try to slip in travel insurance fees and all the rest before payment.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?

Help? _ No Thanks _ Phil.

[QUOTE=PhilJoy;2985753]

Help? _ No Thanks _ Phil.[/QUOTE]It is a cheap airline and your service is one of the reaosns it can be cheap.

Assuming the first tcket is not refundable, check in fro both and put babe 2 in beside you.

Your actual comlaint is a comon one with budget airlines, splititng up families and so on. It is part of their model to get folk to sit in particular seats. If it is any consolation to you, I once got a Ryanair window seat and had an oversize black woman (at least 200 kgs) take them iddle seat, which I thought was very unfair on me as I looked like a squashed tomato out of a cartoon.

[QUOTE=PhilJoy;2985753]My absolute congratulations to anyone who's spent more than the two hours I have tonight trying to navigate and get some answers to a fairly simple question regarding a Cebu Pacific flight.


Help? _ No Thanks _ Phil.[/QUOTE]I pretty much exclusively fly discount airlines 1/ because I'm a cheap ass and 2/ because they give much better direct flights from where I live and where I want to go.

I quickly learnt that if I can't get a problem sorted in a couple of clicks, then it's just not worth it. Simply walk away and amortised the lost $100 over the last few flights where I did save $$.

Have you tried moving your seat to a totally new area and then booking friend2 next to you. Obviously pick an area with no other pre-booked seats nearby.

ID agree with on costs. I use to travel with mountains of dive gear and would routinely pay multiples of the flight cost for excess baggage, sports goods etc. Want some fun at check-in?? Turn up with baby cylinders labeled 'OXYGEN' and await the chaos.

Good luck with your friend.

G.

[QUOTE=PhilJoy;2985753]My absolute congratulations to anyone who's spent more than the two hours I have tonight trying to navigate and get some answers to a fairly simple question regarding a Cebu Pacific flight.

I'd booked back in September last year to take my Sabang contact with me to Boracay next month for a five days out of the scene.

She now can't make it due to serious family commitments.

So I have another Cavitie contact who'd love to go. And she's still got a little bit of hair on it, which seems to be rare these days.

Anyway, the f*cking around with some online chat agent after being 140th in the queue initially, was almost infuriating.

I realize that the initial seat I purchased for the Sabang girl couldn't be transferred into another name, but I just wanted to know, that if I bought a second ticket for the substitute girl, if she could sit next to me in the now vacant seat I'd already previously purchased. (The girl's never flown before and is shit-scared at the thought of sitting with strangers or on her own).

I also have to be a little careful that she doesn't know she's the back-up plan.

Well, what a shit-fight. Not possible it seems. I had to cancel the original 'guest' then book a seat for the new 'guest' and then choose the seat, which was unavailable as I'd already booked it.

I know it's just not the Phils, but surely these big companies must soon realize that a simple phone call could have resolved things in ten minutes max by just saying yes or no, as opposed to a girl probably dealing with multiple chat sessions at once and taking ages to respond and sending through copy and pasted company policies in all her replies.

And I know CP is a budget airline, but not in this instance, and not when they hit you up for baggage charges, seat allocation, and try to slip in travel insurance fees and all the rest before payment.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?

Help? _ No Thanks _ Phil.[/QUOTE]If you think there may be a need to change ANYTHING on the flight, it is a good idea to pay the extra for a refundable ticket. Otherwise, cancel the ticket and buy new ones. In all honesty, that is probably only slightly more expensive than the refundable tickets.

[QUOTE=Jarango;2985755]Assuming the first tcket is not refundable, check in fro both and put babe 2 in beside you.[/QUOTE]Unfortunately it does not work like that. When she does not show at the plane, the seat will be cancelled and given to someone else. Best to just cancel it now himself and buy the same seat for the other girl.

Thanks guys and I really appreciate your advice and input which I'd already put to them, but, yes, it was all about the procedure of trying to ask a simple question in the first place, followed by endless questions starting with. "Now let's get this straight. Do you want to. Blah, blah, blah.

Which I'd already told them.

A simple phone call would have given me an answer in under ten minutes and I would have known where I stood.

All the new AI stuff may be great in some respects, but when you get angry with a bot they finally transfer you someone punching a keyboard as opposed to chatting to you. As mentioned, this isn't purely a Phils thing.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2985770]I pretty much exclusively fly discount airlines 1/ because I'm a cheap ass and 2/ because they give much better direct flights from where I live and where I want to go.

I quickly learnt that if I can't get a problem sorted in a couple of clicks, then it's just not worth it. Simply walk away and amortised the lost $100 over the last few flights where I did save $$.

Good luck with your friend. G.[/QUOTE]And I'm much the same G.

Just trying to work out a way of using up a now empty seat I'd already paid for in September for a back-up girl.

If we'd tried to re-book in different seats it would have cost me close to $800.00 as it's only a few weeks away.

Good news is, the Cavite girl is now lined up for my remaining few nights in Manila before I fly home from the latest business trip.

Phil.