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Guess you never had an exotic car nor klunker in the US. Happened to me and friends all the time.
[QUOTE=MadisonGuy;2325799]Had the police stop me in rental car, I'm not sure you can even call the police here police but lets pretend they are not traffic crossing guards..[/QUOTE]
I'm thinking of heading here for 10 or 12 days over Christmas.
Never having been before I was hoping to base myself somewhere with good mongering but on the coast with beaches.
For my comparison think of Phuket. Does anywhere similar exist here?
I see Manila is coastal but are there quieter coastal areas?
Ideally somewhere with reasonable transport connections for Manila as the gateway in / out.
Can someone offer a quick list of my options?
Thanks for any forthcoming.
P.
[QUOTE=Penguin69;2326874]I'm thinking of heading here for 10 or 12 days over Christmas.
Never having been before I was hoping to base myself somewhere with good mongering but on the coast with beaches.
For my comparison think of Phuket. Does anywhere similar exist here?
I see Manila is coastal but are there quieter coastal areas?
Ideally somewhere with reasonable transport connections for Manila as the gateway in / out.
Can someone offer a quick list of my options?
Thanks for any forthcoming.
P.[/QUOTE]Cebu Island and the Visayas generally have some really nice beaches. They can run from the very quiet (Dumaguette, Moalboal, Malapasqua etc) to the tourist infested (Bohol etc) Cebu City does have some beaches but they aren't that great and can get very busy. It does however have the best mongering in the area (online focused rather than gogos or bars) and can be a great chance to grab your favourite new friend and go to one of the quieter areas for a couple of days.
You can fly direct to all of the above from Manila or Cebu City. Cebu Pacific is typically the cheapest but keep an eye out for Philippine Airline specials. They can be great value once you include baggage etc.
One work of caution is that I've been trapped many times during the week between Christmas and New Year. Typhoons, earthquakes, random Acts of God, you name it. No need to be paranoid but I would be close to a transport hub, rather than an isolated island paradise, at this time if you are on a fixed travel schedule.
Enjoy. G.
[QUOTE=Penguin69;2326874]Never having been before I was hoping to base myself somewhere with good mongering but on the coast with beaches.
For my comparison think of Phuket. Does anywhere similar exist here?[/QUOTE]There is nothing that I have seen in PI that even remotely reminds me of Phuket. 90% of the time, if a place has a good beach then the mongering will be shitty.
[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2327123]There is nothing that I have seen in PI that even remotely reminds me of Phuket. 90% of the time, if a place has a good beach then the mongering will be shitty.[/QUOTE]Depends what you want the beach for. Dive and fuck is doable in sabang, subic and davao. I'd agree that lounge and fuck is much harder without byo.
Enjoy. G.
[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2327123]There is nothing that I have seen in PI that even remotely reminds me of Phuket. 90% of the time, if a place has a good beach then the mongering will be shitty.[/QUOTE]Have always BYO when I go the beach areas Mr E never hope and assume I will find what I like there.
[QUOTE=Penguin69;2326874]I'm thinking of heading here for 10 or 12 days over Christmas.
Never having been before I was hoping to base myself somewhere with good mongering but on the coast with beaches.
For my comparison think of Phuket. Does anywhere similar exist here?
I see Manila is coastal but are there quieter coastal areas?
Ideally somewhere with reasonable transport connections for Manila as the gateway in / out.
Can someone offer a quick list of my options?
Thanks for any forthcoming.
P.[/QUOTE]X mas is big in Philippines. Catholic country. Most will be enjoying with families. Some beach resorts close some days entirely.
Cannot compare with Phuket.
None of the beaches are better than Thai beaches as per infrastructure and maintenance although because of islands nation beaches are everywhere. Philippine girls do not want to get dark and will not be sunbathing. Besides it is really hot.
Just do google search. And of course read the forum to get the info on muff diving.
[QUOTE=Sammon;2327473]X mas is big in Philippines. Catholic country. Most will be enjoying with families. Some beach resorts close some days entirely.
Philippine girls do not want to get dark and will not be sunbathing. Besides it is really hot.[/QUOTE]All valid points. Thank God for aircon. It keeps everyone happy. Just don't go on a dive / beach vacation and return home as white as a ghost. Trust me: very hard to explain.
Enjoy. G.
[QUOTE=Sammon;2327473] Philippine girls do not want to get dark and will not be sunbathing. Besides it is really hot.
[/QUOTE]Around Christmas and into January is the "coolest" part of the year (all relative of course).
Mornings in the north of Luzon bring fog and dew and the need for a jacket it is so fresh up there. Visayas and Mindanao are a bit warmer but still not "really hot" as Samm says.
"Really hot" is now. Late April and May to June before the wet season kicks in.
[QUOTE=RedKilt;2327534]Around Christmas and into January is the "coolest" part of the year (all relative of course).
Mornings in the north of Luzon bring fog and dew and the need for a jacket it is so fresh up there. Visayas and Mindanao are a bit warmer but still not "really hot" as Samm says.
"Really hot" is now. Late April and May to June before the wet season kicks in.[/QUOTE][QUOTE=Goferring;2327485]All valid points. Thank God for aircon. It keeps everyone happy. Just don't go on a dive / beach vacation and return home as white as a ghost. Trust me: very hard to explain.
Enjoy. G.[/QUOTE][QUOTE=Sammon;2327473]X mas is big in Philippines. Catholic country. Most will be enjoying with families. Some beach resorts close some days entirely.
Cannot compare with Phuket.
None of the beaches are better than Thai beaches as per infrastructure and maintenance although because of islands nation beaches are everywhere. Philippine girls do not want to get dark and will not be sunbathing. Besides it is really hot.
Just do google search. And of course read the forum to get the info on muff diving.[/QUOTE]All good stuff. Thanks fellas. I hadn't factored in the religion. Good points.
Essentially I'm looking to get out of European winter cold. I hate it. For a week or two, to somewhere hottish and cheap. Been to LOS and going again in August so I wanted a new place to experience, much as I love LOS.
Any other suggestions welcome which satisfy the climate and price criteria.
An American was arrested in Cebu last week and charged with "child abuse" and "QHT" . I believe that he is being held in a police cell whilst a Preliminary Investigation is conducted to find out whether there is probable cause (in practice not much more than a reasonable suspicion), that he is guilty of the crime. Initially following an arrest the Police / NBI will have some discretion as to what / whether to charge. However, unless they had a warrant, they must quickly (I think within 48 hours) file the case with the City Fiscal or release the person. Once this is done, they have lost their discretion as to how the case will proceed. City Fiscals are highly biased to send foreign defendants to jail, especially in cases of QHT for political and reportedly financial (40 k bonus) type reasons.
The key issue is whether someone is charged with a crime that is bailable or non (automatically) bailable. If it is non bailable such as Qualified HT (involving a minor or 3 or more "victims"/ accused, "are" of a minor (which can include pretty much any touching in "inappropriate areas" and almost anything to do with drugs As far as Filipino law is concerned "child abuse" includes a foreigner being in a wide variety of places with a minor more than 10 years his junior (or a mentally handicapped adult. A foreigner was sentenced to around 10 years for this type of "child abuse" this week). These places include a condo lobby area (where the current guy was arrested), in a private house (where Jesse Pfinney, the American who was arrested in Dec 2017 and supposedly hung himself on the first night in jail. Google for an update on the evidence that this was not what happened), or boarding a bus to the beach (a Singaporean spent 9 months in jail fighting this charge). My strong advise is to only get involved with girls you are SURE are 18+ and remember that many who are not 18 will lie about it, "running 18" = 18 next or a future birthday, being a classic example. You should be aware that trials in the Philippines are typically spread out over a 3-8 year period. Even if the charge is Non-Bailable, you can file a motion for bail if the evidence is weak, but this would normally take 6-18 months to get the right to post bail if approved. Cells are insanely overcrowded with 50-200 inmates per cell (nowadays in many jails they (at least those without cash) are sleeping in shifts as even with people sleeping like sardines in a can, there is not enough floor / shelf space for everyone to lie down at the same time sand extraordinarily "basic" conditions, though prisoners are surprisingly well behaved and you are unlikely to be be physically or sexually abused. Several of those inside or charged have said that they believe their Facebook discussions were monitored so IMHO I would not add people as "friends" unless you are confident they are 18+. If you do find yourself arrested even on a minor crime (which are typically used for fishing expeditions, to try and get a non bailable charge), there is a good chance they will find a way, legal or not to find out what is on your phone / laptop. At this stage any explicit photos and especially video that you may have taken, is likely to be a major liability which you are likely to deeply regret. If there is evidence that you have uploaded such material to an adult site, you are likely to be in even deeper trouble.
Finally those long time members who recall "DS" may note that he has been transferred from Leyte to New Bilibad in Muntinlupa near Manila where he joins 27,000 other prisoners including around 50 Westerners. I think his original sentence was over 100 years so he is likely to be there some time and I'm sure would appreciate a visit if you are in the area.
[QUOTE=OlderAndWiser;2330285]An American was arrested in Cebu last week and charged with "child abuse" and "QHT" . I believe that he is being held in a police cell whilst a Preliminary Investigation is conducted to find out whether there is probable cause (in practice not much more than a reasonable suspicion), that he is guilty of the crime. Initially following an arrest the Police / NBI will have some discretion as to what / whether to charge. However, unless they had a warrant, they must quickly (I think within 48 hours) file the case with the City Fiscal or release the person. Once this is done, they have lost their discretion as to how the case will proceed. City Fiscals are highly biased to send foreign defendants to jail, especially in cases of QHT for political and reportedly financial (40 k bonus) type reasons. [/QUOTE]I never go near anyone I think is 18 years old or near 18 years old, but these kind of stories are scary. I remember picking up a girl in a Nana Plaza gogo years ago thinking I could depend on the bar for age protection only to find on the way back to my hotel she was really 17 at which point of course we parted ways immediately.
I have only been visiting the PI for the last few years, previously Latin America was my playground. I've been going back on the PI vs Indonesia as a home base in SEA and I think the tide (for me) is swinging back to Indonesia. Yes this can happen in Indonesia but seems much less prevalent. Than again many fewer Westerners outside of Bali. So many things push in PIs favor from the ubiquity of English, the availability of Western food and the ease of getting longer term Visas. But none of that will matter if you get caught up on a trumped up charge either because you pissed off the wrong person or are a target of extortion. Though at least based on the news article I read, this does not appear to be turmped up but who knows. On the other hand the well publicized case of Jesse Phinney looks much more suspicious.
[QUOTE=OlderAndWiser;2330285]An American was arrested in Cebu last week and charged with "child abuse" and "QHT" . I believe that he is being held in a police cell whilst a Preliminary Investigation is conducted to find out whether there is probable cause (in practice not much more than a reasonable suspicion), that he is guilty of the crime. Initially following an arrest the Police / NBI will have some discretion as to what / whether to charge. However, unless they had a warrant, they must quickly (I think within 48 hours) file the case with the City Fiscal or release the person. Once this is done, they have lost their discretion as to how the case will proceed. City Fiscals are highly biased to send foreign defendants to jail, especially in cases of QHT for political and reportedly financial (40 k bonus) type reasons.[/QUOTE]It would be prudent to have the name and contact number of a top flight lawyer in your wallet for a "Just in Case" scenario. Anybody willing to share a best of class source?
[QUOTE=ForkTruck;2330604]It would be prudent to have the name and contact number of a top flight lawyer in your wallet for a "Just in Case" scenario. Anybody willing to share a best of class source?[/QUOTE]The longer you are in jail, the more serious the charges against you, the bigger this guy's payday. One reason its such a nightmare situation. Who are you going to trust?
[QUOTE=CharmCityDave;2330607]The longer you are in jail, the more serious the charges against you, the bigger this guy's payday. One reason its such a nightmare situation. Who are you going to trust?[/QUOTE]I'm afraid you are right. It's largely a matter of trust. One reason there are very few wealthy Filipinos in jail but quite a number of at least formerly wealthy foreigners is that well connected Filipinos will usually have some family friend who is a lawyer or at least knows someone that can be trusted. For foreigners it is an absolute nightmare situation. The Embassies are essentially completely useless. All they can do is provide a list of the most prestigious and expensive law firms in the country, most of whom are general practices with little or no interest in representing foreigners on sex or drug related charges. For several years the received wisdom on ISG was that Atty Solima was the guy to go to at least in Cebu. This view emanated principally from DS who was a big fan. Sadly Solima, who had an extremely "pungent" reputation, was gunned down along with his wife shortly before DS's conviction and DS ended up with around a century of sentences. The most effective Atty will depend on the nature of the trouble you get in, the evidence against you, the stage of the proceedings and the people you are dealing with and your location. In terms of location. The highest quality (and 2 x more expensive) lawyers are based in Manila. If you are arrested in Cebu it would probably make sense to get a Cebu lawyer. In smaller places, the quality of criminal lawyers will be generally be so poor that you maybe forced to fly someone in from Manila or Cebu to defend you (which can become very expensive given that hearings are scheduled in 10-20 minutes slots at intervals of 1-3 months) and are usually cancelled / postponed on at least 50% of occasions. The most "professional" attys are also those who tend to "play by the book" , the difficulty with this is that the book can take many years to "play out" as it were which is disastrous if you have been charged with a non bailable offense. Obviously the best solution is to not get into trouble in the first place but the second best is certainly some form of negotiated settlement which is far easier to achieve prior to the police filing charges with the City Prosecutor whilst they still have some discretion over what to charge. For such matters the type of Atty who "works closely with" the Police can be more effective than one who "plays by the book", sadly such Attys are seldom totally trustworthy, especially for a foreigner without strong connections in the country. Having the numbers of one or two credible attys is certainly a very sensible precaution in case disaster strikes. I'm afraid the rules here mean I can't post contact details.
Re Jesse Pfinney the person who described his case as "suspicious" is certainly right, though understating the situation.