General Info

[QUOTE=GregLondon;1690934]Anyone an expert on Canadian citizenship rules for the babies of Canadian guys with Filipinas?

One of my pinay friends had a baby about a year ago to a young Canadian father. Right now he doesn't seem interested in marrying her. Assuming that he will be cooperative can she apply for dual Canadian citizenship for the baby and if so how long will that take? Once the baby gets dual citizenship will she be able to get some sort of visa to visit Canada with the baby so he can see his grandparents etc?

Thanks for any advice.[/QUOTE][URL]http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/children/birth-abroad[/URL]

90% sure that I'll head to Manila at the end of March for at least a year. Have visited Manila many times in the past 2 years on shorter trips.

Anyone else have experience in moving to Makati? No real limits on the housing budget, but I'll probably try to stay around $2,500-$3,500 USD / month. Feel free to PM me if that's easier for you.

(Wasn't sure to post here in General Info or in the Makati section.).

Has anyone tried Arginine L or Maca root or Zinc to enhance your libido. I use Levitra meds, but I have been told that the former enhances the experience and produce a larger output. Any feedback on the subject? I will touchdown again in AC within 60 days.

[QUOTE=RumBuddy;1692619]Has anyone tried Arginine L or Maca root or Zinc to enhance your libido. I use Levitra meds, but I have been told that the former enhances the experience and produce a larger output. Any feedback on the subject? I will touchdown again in AC within 60 days.[/QUOTE]I've always heard that drinking a lot of water and pineapple juice was good for copious amounts of love lotion.

[QUOTE=RumBuddy;1692619]Has anyone tried Arginine L or Maca root or Zinc to enhance your libido. [/QUOTE]Maca comes from Peru where I am living. Works for me. I take two tablets of Macandina twice a day with breakfast and lunch.

[QUOTE=RumBuddy;1692619]Has anyone tried Arginine L or Maca root or Zinc to enhance your libido. I use Levitra meds, but I have been told that the former enhances the experience and produce a larger output. Any feedback on the subject? I will touchdown again in AC within 60 days.[/QUOTE]They're often in herbal "sex medicines". I tried some Robust Extreme from SM Hypermarket, a little pricey, but was more like Cialis in the length of time it lasted.

[QUOTE=Random99;1692330]90% sure that I'll head to Manila at the end of March for at least a year. Have visited Manila many times in the past 2 years on shorter trips.

Anyone else have experience in moving to Makati? No real limits on the housing budget, but I'll probably try to stay around $2,500-$3,500 USD / month. Feel free to PM me if that's easier for you.[/QUOTE]Good luck with finding accommodation in Makati for $3500 usd / month. Especially if you require a good standard of living.

Prices in Makati are in general 20% higher than anywhere else in the metro. Barangay (Municipal) rates (payable monthly) are much higher in Makati than elsewhere.

If you wish to stay in Makati to be close to an office, then that's a good reason.

If you want to stay in Makati because you like its vibe and ambience, then be prepared to pay for it.

Do you want to stay in a condo or a house? That's an important consideration. The cost variation in terms of overheads is considerable.

I checked out all relevant areas in Metro Manila before I bought a condo in Ortigas Centre. Ortigas is also expensive relative to Makati but 20% cheaper in most sectors (although there are some condos at the high end that are as expensive as in Makati).

As your budget is not really limited then you should find something to suit but it might not be in the places you visit when you have stayed here previously on short trips.

Let us know how you get on; many people are interested in the costs of living in Manila (if PMs to me are a guide).

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1692668]Good luck with finding accommodation in Makati for $3500 usd / month. Especially if you require a good standard of living.

Prices in Makati are in general 20% higher than anywhere else in the metro. Barangay (Municipal) rates (payable monthly) are much higher in Makati than elsewhere.
[/QUOTE]Taguig is much cheaper and close to Makati.

Monthly rental on a decent 2 bed condo in a nice development would be in the region of 25-40 k plus utilities.

On TripAdvisor the Gramercy is at US915 per week, and another place as low as US350 per week. I thought the Gramercy looked pretty nice from the pictures I've seen. RK, you and I may have different definitions of "good standard of living".

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1692668]Good luck with finding accommodation in Makati for $3500 usd / month. Especially if you require a good standard of living.
SNIP

Let us know how you get on; many people are interested in the costs of living in Manila (if PMs to me are a guide).[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CunningStunt;1692721]Taguig is much cheaper and close to Makati.

Monthly rental on a decent 2 bed condo in a nice development would be in the region of 25-40 k plus utilities.[/QUOTE]Sorry if my post #8976 appeared as though I was telling Random99 he wouldn't find anything in Makati.

I simply indicated that it was the most expensive place because of the name.

Wasn't going to go through all the options around Metro Manila; I just used Ortigas as an example because I know about it from personal experience.

I agree with CS that Taguig is cheaper but remember; there are parts of Taguig that are squatter camps, and of course BGC is there too, although it's ownership is still disputed between Taguig and Makati.

A quick bit of research tells me that you will be looking at the bottom of the available range at 25-40 k / month for a condo, and not all of them are "fully-furnished". There are also condo association monthly dues to be paid so be sure to check if the monthly rental rate quoted includes them. As CS said, electric and water (utilities) are also added costs, and not all condos come with a parking space either if you have a car.

Anyway, as I said, I hope he tells us what he ends up doing re accommodation as economics here changes all the time. Given the plethora of condo dwellings going up all over the metro I am sure there must be some owners desperate to get some turnover and cash flow going.

XMan. I think my "good standard" is higher than yours (smiley here) but for sure I agree with you that the Gramercy is a very nice option at that price. Personally I doubt I could live in a hotel suite for a year but I guess others could.

[QUOTE=RedKilt;1692668]Good luck with finding accommodation in Makati for $3500 usd / month. Especially if you require a good standard of living.

[/QUOTE]I was living in a 35 sqm furnished 1 BR condo near the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo in Makati for p25,000 inclusive of association dues, cable TV and Internet. Building has a nice pool (actually 3 of them), a so-so gym, and very good security. Obviously "good standard of living" is subjective, but I'd say that place was comparable to any recently built middle-class residence in the West. The fittings, fixtures, and furnishings weren't the best, but for a single guy they were completely acceptable; I would have bought nicer stuff if it was my money. I'm in a place now near the airport that's approx 50 sqm and it's nice to have more space, especially in the kitchen, and a balcony.

[QUOTE=Random99;1692330]90% sure that I'll head to Manila at the end of March for at least a year. Have visited Manila many times in the past 2 years on shorter trips.

Anyone else have experience in moving to Makati? No real limits on the housing budget, but I'll probably try to stay around $2,500-$3,500 USD / month. Feel free to PM me if that's easier for you.

(Wasn't sure to post here in General Info or in the Makati section.).[/QUOTE]I found my first place, in Makati, on Craigslist and the second place, in Pasay, on OLX (used to be Sulit). I loved my first place because of its central location and many methods of public transport, making it easy for the girls to travel to and find. Moreover I was close to Cash & Carry supermarket, Santis and Earle's delis, and wine shops; it's nice to be able to pick up the foreign goodies. Plenty of good quality dining options in Makati. If your budget is just for housing and utilities you'll have no problem finding plenty of furnished places. However, sometimes the furnishings aren't the nicest; if you intend to be a very long-term visitor it may be best to rent unfurnished and then decorate to your taste. You say a year so perhaps furnished is best. If you are kind of particular and money isn't an object then furnish to your taste and sell them at the end of your stay. An often overlooked item for hapenis is a laundry machine. I've had one in both my places and it makes life a lot easier.

[QUOTE=XMan;1692797]On TripAdvisor the Gramercy is at US915 per week, and another place as low as US350 per week. I thought the Gramercy looked pretty nice from the pictures I've seen. RK, you and I may have different definitions of "good standard of living".[/QUOTE]Tripadvisor, like airbnb, aims at the short-term visitors and thus the prices are quite high. I'd say daily rents are 2x-3x more than a long term rental, though that high rent includes all utilities such a pricey electricity. Here's a furnished 2 BR Gramercy place for p55,000, [URL]http://www.olx.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/69291915/For+Rent+2BR+Condo+in+Gramercy+in+Makati+Avenue%2C+Buendia+and+Ayala?ReferralKeywords=gramercy+apartment&event=Search+Ranking,Position,1-1,1#advertisementDetails[/URL], and a furnished 1 BR loft there is p40,000. These places are looking for a 1-year tenant, but I do know some landlords are willing to shorten the lease for a slight upcharge.

Huts mentioned the Mega 250. But that don't include enough call minutes or Internet to last me a month. If you're using a Smart prepaid SIM, you can text LAKAS30 and send to 2644. You get 2 days unli texts to all networks, 60 minutes calls to Smart, and about 100 mb net. That's more than enough to run my Google Maps, and whatever else I need to do. So any other Internet plan isn't needed. Also it seems to be accumulating. Because even when the promo expires, and even with zero load, the net still works. And the unused mb is added to balance next time I register.

And here's the bonus. With an iPhone at least, you can turn on Personal Hotspot and run your laptop off it. So when the WiFi in your hotel don't work, or every time your Sky Cable or PLDT in your apartment goes down, you're set.

[QUOTE=Sam14;1692984]Huts mentioned the Mega 250. But that don't include enough call minutes or Internet to last me a month. If you're using a Smart prepaid SIM, you can text LAKAS30 and send to 2644. You get 2 days unli texts to all networks, 60 minutes calls to Smart, and about 100 mb net. That's more than enough to run my Google Maps, and whatever else I need to do. So any other Internet plan isn't needed. Also it seems to be accumulating. Because even when the promo expires, and even with zero load, the net still works. And the unused mb is added to balance next time I register.

[/QUOTE]At p30 per 2-day period (p450 per month) that's a good deal. I just don't use voice all that much mainly because I find voice calls drop frequently and the sound quality is poor. "What??? Say again. I can't hear you. What? What???" (Use that to your advantage by telling the girl to come over to your place to continue the conversation face-to-face.) But 45 MB of data is nice and that the unused bytes carry over to the next period represents a good value. BTW, Smart is adding on an additional 30MB per day for free: "Smart Prepaid is giving you ADDITIONAL 30 MB per day when you load your favorite Smart Prepaid promos! Just register to any participating Smart promos and automatically get 30 MB per day on top of your Smart Prepaid promo." Smart's website says, "Text LAKAS30 to 9999", so if 2644 doesn't work try 9999.

If you don't need that much voice and data and want to save a whopping p150 per month use the Sakto20 promo.

Unli SMS to All Networks
40 mins of calls to Smart/ Sun/ Talk 'N Text
20MB Data (plus free extra 30MB per day, for a total of 80MB)
Valid for 2 days
Text SAKTO20 to 9999

I see only one catch for both those plans: "*only available in select areas." And does Smart define what those "select areas" are on its website? Of course not. :P

Fear not. Though not as generous as lakas20 and sakto20 there are a few other promos that appear unrestricted to "select areas", see here [url]http://smart.com.ph/prepaid/freeinternet#close[/url]

Thanks for the heads up, Sam.