General Info

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2211735]Concur. Hanging around WR might mean lots of late morning or early afternoon jaunts to his 'office', a coffee shop in Ayala. He might even toss a girl or two your way. If a man MUST die, having caffeine and poon thrown at him MIGHT be the way to go?[/QUOTE]I too would like to show my appreciation for guys like WR (not many) but not where it doesn't belong, in the AC Forum. It belongs here, the General Forum.

Why am I one of the very few to know this? Who the fuck knows? Nevertheless here goes.

Cebu used to be in my rotation and before my first trip I had been PMing w / WR about the city. He was very giving of his time and insights. I never hooked up w / any of his friends mainly because I like the early 20 somethings and his friends are a little older. They are more fun of course (skilled) so there is a part of me that regrets my plan making but I am what I am. I like the road less traveled.

Regardless of that he is one hell of a dude. He gave me a lot of confidence in a new big city and he didn't have to, he's just a super nice guy. I'm glad he's getting his kudos and hope he has a long horny future. Cheers WR.

So apparently a Xiamen Airways flight skidded off the runway at midnight last night. Even some 13 hours later they haven't been able to move it. Therefore MNL's one and only runway that can handle widebody aircraft is shut down until they figure out a way to move the thing. I'm on a Philippine Airlines flight that was diverted to BKK. That might sound ok but the thing is they have trapped us in a gate area of the airport with no option to leave or even go out to the main departure area to order a drink or something. So far in 3+ hours they only gave us a small bottle of water and this small box of sweets and junk food.

This has always been my fear flying into MNL. Just one little thing can shut everything down indefinitely. Apparently Clark and Cebu and so on are already full with diverted flights and can't take more.

And what's really awesome is there seems to be no real plan in the works to improve things. Lots of talk about different plans but nothing's even close to starting construction. So it's going to be like this for years and years to come.

[QUOTE=Mahku;2213322]....

This has always been my fear flying into MNL. Just one little thing can shut everything down indefinitely. Apparently Clark and Cebu and so on are already full with diverted flights and can't take more.

.....[/QUOTE]This is not a little thing. It was a potential disaster and could have resulted in massive loss of life.

Shit happens, this happens all over the world and when it does no major airport can handle losing one of its major runways for a period of time without ripple effects throughout the entire system.

Other airports are not equipped to deal with passengers originally destined for a different country. There will be people on your flight that cannot be admitted and the easiest way for the airport to deal with it is to keep everyone in a quarantine situation. Since they are not equipped to deal with several hundred passangers in a situation where food and drink is normally available, you don't get much for a while.

[QUOTE=KabulGuy;2213619]This is not a little thing. It was a potential disaster and could have resulted in massive loss of life.

Shit happens, this happens all over the world and when it does no major airport can handle losing one of its major runways for a period of time without ripple effects throughout the entire system.

Other airports are not equipped to deal with passengers originally destined for a different country. There will be people on your flight that cannot be admitted and the easiest way for the airport to deal with it is to keep everyone in a quarantine situation. Since they are not equipped to deal with several hundred passangers in a situation where food and drink is normally available, you don't get much for a while.[/QUOTE]Finally arrived at the hotel in Makati around 1 am, a good 37 hours after schedule. After touching down at NAIA last night we had to wait 3 hours for an open gate or parking place. Later at night they apparaently closed the airport again because it was full and I guess flights once again had to be diverted. Mercifully, by the time we were bused to the terminal immigration had mostly cleared out, and taxi lines weren't too bad. Also the fact that it had gotten so late meant that there was none of the usual Manila traffic to deal with. My lady friend was kind enough to wait for me in Greenbelt and we still made an evening of it at Club Royal and early in the morning back at the hotel.

It's true that this wasn't a small thing and thank God nobody got hurt. But I would put it to you that because this runway is vital for an area that contains 10's of millions of people they should have a plan for this kind of thing. As it was they stood around and scratched their balls for a day and a half before they finally brought a crane. And this is before we even get into the idea that they should have had a new airport years ago like pretty much every other city in the region does by now.

Yes, BKK and PAL took the easy way out and quarantined us. God knows why they couldn't let us into the departure area of the airport, which is outside of immigration and wouldn't involve visa issues. Just run everyone through security and it should be fine. If you've ever been in that airport you know there's food galore. It shouldn't have been hard to arrange something more than a bottle of water and a couple of buns. Or just let us the hell out of the gate so we can hit the overpriced restaurants. I would've had access to a lounge with my credit card.

The follies continued in the afternoon and evening. They bused us back out to the plane. We sat for another 5 hours. It turned out that the plane hadn't been moved and there was never any hope of flying. God knows why they sent us back to the plane. After even more hours of fiddling with the Thai authorities we were finally bused back to the terminal a second time and allowed out of immigration. PAL had a hotel arranged but it involved waiting in line with hundreds of people for a shuttle bus and checking. I just made my own arrangements. It sounds good to have an unexpected night in Bangkok. But by this time it was getting close to midnight. After all that had happened I wasn't much in the mood for hitting Sukhumvuit bars or anything like that.

So if you want to be an apologist for all this nonsense then good for you. I'm not having it. This is my 3rd time in the last year and a half to lose more than one day of a vacation because of Philippine airports or airline ridiculousness. As much as I love this country I'm wondering how much more I'm willing to put up with.

[QUOTE=Mahku;2214179]It's true that this wasn't a small thing and thank God nobody got hurt. But I would put it to you that because this runway is vital for an area that contains 10's of millions of people they should have a plan for this kind of thing. As it was they stood around and scratched their balls for a day and a half before they finally brought a crane. And this is before we even get into the idea that they should have had a new airport years ago like pretty much every other city in the region does by now.

So if you want to be an apologist for all this nonsense then good for you. I'm not having it. This is my 3rd time in the last year and a half to lose more than one day of a vacation because of Philippine airports or airline ridiculousness. As much as I love this country I'm wondering how much more I'm willing to put up with.[/QUOTE]Previous governments have done nothing about this as we both know. Having a Senate inquiry will achieve nothing. One blogger said all it does is expose the lack of will of earlier senators to resolve a known problem.

But being stuck in BKK is better then JED / RUH Makhu as I have experienced (and I think you have).

[QUOTE=Socker;2213314]Cebu used to be in my rotation and before my first trip I had been PMing w / WR about the city. He was very giving of his time and insights. .[/QUOTE]Ditto to WR. Met at Ayala, then a few months later he helped me with a couple of girls with a foursome. Crazy days.

Plenty to not know when trying to get a cellphone to work here. After 2 weeks I am getting a little smarter. At the airport I loaded Smart sim and enough time and internet to cover my 3 weeks. Twice now I have been texted by smart that I am expired and the darn thing quit working. When I go to a 7/11 or similar and ask why this is happening I get blank stares and a "I don't know sir". One hotel CP "expert" told me I should have gotten Globe instead of Smart because Smart will randomly take load away from your phone. I don't really know the truth and it seems no one else that I have found does either. Just a caution to new arrivals, be prepared for a steep learning curve if your experience is like mine.

I'm planning some travels soon and don't seem to find much of anything about Cebu? Is there a special location here for a Cebu thread? Recommendations for hotels there are also appreciated, to too fancy, not sleezy. Thanks, Daz.

[QUOTE=Dazhiba;2215073]I'm planning some travels soon and don't seem to find much of anything about Cebu? Is there a special location here for a Cebu thread? Recommendations for hotels there are also appreciated, to too fancy, not sleezy. Thanks, Daz.[/QUOTE]Here's the link dude- [URL]http://www.internationalsexguide.nl/forum/forumdisplay.php?773-The-Philippines-Cebu[/URL].

[QUOTE=ForkTruck;2214935]When I go to a 7/11 or similar and ask why this is happening I get blank stares and a "I don't know sir". One hotel CP "expert" told me I should have gotten Globe instead of Smart because Smart will randomly take load away from your phone. I don't really know the truth and it seems no one else that I have found does either. Just a caution to new arrivals, be prepared for a steep learning curve if your experience is like mine.[/QUOTE]Walk yourself into the nearest mall that has a Smart location (ask the locals). They will help you. Regarding calls, is your 3-week plan Unlimited (locals call it Unli)? Regarding your data (internet), the plans have limits (called 'Fair Use' limits). For example, your plan might have a 10 GB limit: once reached, it slows you down to 2 g speed (which is barely passable for web browsing). Hit the Smart store, not a convenience store.

[QUOTE=Dazhiba;2215073]I'm planning some travels soon and don't seem to find much of anything about Cebu? Is there a special location here for a Cebu thread? Recommendations for hotels there are also appreciated, to too fancy, not sleezy. Thanks, Daz.[/QUOTE]If you has RTFF you can see the Cebu section. Well is so simple is in the Asian section.

But you ask a lot a questions and were in Gen San based on an earlier questions so we don't see anything on that visit in 2017? See the link in the relevant section and RTFF as it is all there if you have 15-30 minutes.

And have Data wherever I go. I have used it in 9 countries without a problem. Instead of describing the service here is a link. If you activate through the link you get a $20 discount.

[URL]https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT[/URL]

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2215216]Walk yourself into the nearest mall that has a Smart location (ask the locals). They will help you. Regarding calls, is your 3-week plan Unlimited (locals call it Unli)? Regarding your data (internet), the plans have limits (called 'Fair Use' limits). For example, your plan might have a 10 GB limit: once reached, it slows you down to 2 g speed (which is barely passable for web browsing). Hit the Smart store, not a convenience store.[/QUOTE]

A perfect summary of PI, SS. Cheers.

[QUOTE=SoapySmith;2211225]I've never been to Australia, but I confess I go though withdrawal each time I leave Manila for the states. The principal things I like about the Philippines are:

1. Slower pace of life, easier to take things less seriously; there's a lot less scurrying around and anxiety over things that are actually quite trivial;.

2. Filipinos' sense of humor. If Westy were to tease those Pinays over some of those inanities, they'd probably be the first to laugh. My experience is that Filipinos are as willing to laugh at themselves as at others;.

3. People, or at least middle aged women, singing along with the radio in the workplace (if radios are allowed);.

4. Acceptance of us long-in-the-tooth men with younger Pinays; the equivalent in the states would quickly start the tongues wagging;..[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=CharmCityDave;2215229]And have Data wherever I go. I have used it in 9 countries without a problem. Instead of describing the service here is a link. If you activate through the link you get a $20 discount.

[URL]https://g.co/fi/r/AV50AT[/URL][/QUOTE]Thanks the info CCD. But looking at the website, it appears to run on only a handful of their phones? Or, does it run on any android / iPhone? Also see the pics. ON the website you can enter any city or address and see a map of their coverage (none, 2 g, 3 g, 4 g LTE). I entered Chicago in the search bar and the entire map is dark green (4 g LTE, you can see from the pic). But for Manila and Cebu, the map is white (no coverage, see pic). Did I miss something?

WC.

In PH SIM cards are pretty easy to use.

1. Buy enough load for package.

2. Register for unli texting package, data and / or calls.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 again when package expires.