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[QUOTE=Tally Wacker; 1100809]Regarding money exchange in Manila airport.
I will fly into Manila airport then fly right out 3 hours later to Palawan.
Should I exchange my money at the airport or wait til I get to puerto Princessa?
TW[/QUOTE]Better to change in PP, as, from my experience, the money changer at the mall there opens a bit late.
And if it is your first time to PP, you will know life there is on a pretty slow lane. Sloooww lane.
Those of you familiar with the Phils cell phone system will be aware that most locals inc most of the girls sign up to various daily / weekly or monthly promos which give them either a fixed number of calls / texts for a certain charge or unlimited calls / texting for a higher charge. If you end up doing alot of texting / calling which is likely if you are dating girls from the dating sites these can save a few dollars a day compared with the normal charges.
Most of the plans are for intra network calls Smart / Talk and Text (smarts budget conscious brand) is the most popular network though a little more expensive. Sun is the up and coming network and is especially popular amongst young city girls as its the cheapest and most of their mates will probably be sun users. Globe / TM is now the third largest network. For newbies if you have a single SIM phone I would go for a talk N Text SIM, if you have dual SIM phone (Samsung and Nokia now offer budget dual sim models which the China phones have offered for some time, but China phones have notoriously bad build quality and battery life) , I would suggest TNT and SUN.
The promos work by texting various codes to specific network numbers. The because change their promos with monotonous regularity so keeping up with the latest deals can be tricky.
Help is at hand though from this site.
[url]http://www.symbianize.com/showthread.php?t=185230[/url]
Which is well worth book marking.
It also explains what you need to do to passload, ie transfer some of your load to your honey so she has load to contact you.
[QUOTE=Econo Tech; 1100833]As for Chivas, no- it is not about packing. You can only carry 1 Liter of Liquor. End of story. Nothing to do with how it is packed.
[/QUOTE]Yeah, It could be that. Thanks for the info.
[QUOTE=Econo Tech;1100834]PSSST. The guy who does that is not immigration. He is a private security police. Next time look at his badge. It will say CISCO Auxiliary police. No sir, not immigration.[/QUOTE]Wasn't particularly interested to look at his badge. He was an officious prat like character, regardless of whether he is actually Immigration or not. I couldn't imagine more nauseous obnoxious officious "I'm in charge and your not " want to be soldier type who represented his country in a very bad way. He probably wonders why the world laughs at Singaporeans.
What commodities do you guys like to take back to your country from Phil either because its cheaper or you can't find it where you live. Other than sexy filipinas.
On my last trip to Phil I brought back a few bags of coffee but the prices seemed about the same as in the states for imported coffee.
When I used to travel to Venezuela I would bring back Coffee, Rum, Olive Oil and Cuban Cigars for a few friends.
[QUOTE=Tally Wacker; 1101249]What commodities do you guys like to take back to your country from Phil either because its cheaper or you can't find it where you live. Other than sexy filipinas.
On my last trip to Phil I brought back a few bags of coffee but the prices seemed about the same as in the states for imported coffee.
When I used to travel to Venezuela I would bring back Coffee, Rum, Olive Oil and Cuban Cigars for a few friends. [/QUOTE]Dreid mangoes, but them in Cebu loats of apcks to last until my next trip.
One thing I would never bring back is danggit. Or any other form of dried smelly fish. GF of a mate took 3kgs on the plane at Cebu airport and Cebu Pacific made her buy a sealed container before she could carry it on board despite it being vacuum packed and well wrapped.
Also never want to bring back the clap and STDs either.
[QUOTE=FreebieFan;1101242]Wasn't particularly interested to look at his badge. He was an officious prat like character, regardless of whether he is actually Immigration or not. I couldn't imagine more nauseous obnoxious officious "I'm in charge and your not " want to be soldier type who represented his country in a very bad way. He probably wonders why the world laughs at Singaporeans.[/QUOTE]Am just curious. I am not a Singaporean, and just residing between Singapore and Malaysia. Why does the world laugh at Singapore? :confused: :confused:
Sorry if this sounds off-thread.
Then again, if you say anybody in the airport is an immigration officer. No comments sir.
[QUOTE=Econo Tech; 1101454]Am just curious. I am not a Singaporean, and just residing between Singapore and Malaysia. Why does the world laugh at Singapore? :confused: :confused:
Sorry if this sounds off-thread.
Then again, if you say anybody in the airport is an immigration officer. No comments sir. [/QUOTE]I wasn't aware that they did? Certainly they are fools if they do, given that Singapore blessed with zero natural resources has transformed itself from a strategic swamp to richer than all European countries (except maybe Lichtenstein)
[QUOTE=GregLondon;1101534]I wasn't aware that they did? Certainly they are fools if they do, given that Singapore blessed with zero natural resources has transformed itself from a strategic swamp to richer than all European countries (except maybe Lichtenstein)[/QUOTE]Well, I was wondering about FF's comment that the world is laughing about Singapore. Was a bit confused as to why anybody would laugh at a country which is damn rich with no natural resouces, and has one of the lowest crime rates to boot.
If people are mad that you can riot and get drunk and beat up people in Singapore, and so and so.
No comments. I am still confused about FF :confused: :confused: :confused:
I first passed through Singapore in '73, on my way to the USA. Stayed there for a few days looking for a cheap flight.
It was the wild town Singapore of old.
Not long before, the last crocodile had been shot in the pool room in Raffles Hotel.
If a pickpocket got your wallet in the evening, you go to the thieves market the next day and buy it back, complete except for the money. It was dirty, dangerous, wild.
I next passed ther on my way back in '75. Lee Kwan Yew had been elected as prime minister.
The place was so clean that you could eat your breakfast off the street.
The people that I spoke to were so excited at the turn around. They love the it.
And it has never looked back.
For me, it has become a too clean, a bit strile, but the Indian quarter is still interesting, and the food is just stunning.
G
[QUOTE=Econo Tech; 1101681]Well, I was wondering about FF's comment that the world is laughing about Singapore. Was a bit confused as to why anybody would laugh at a country which is damn rich with no natural resouces, and has one of the lowest crime rates to boot.
If people are mad that you can riot and get drunk and beat up people in Singapore, and so and so.
No comments. I am still confused about FF :confused: :confused: :confused:[/QUOTE]No need to be confused about the comment. To clarify, maybe you have never worked with Singaporeans and their endless " in Singapore we do this better that better everything better ". Try it, you will hate it.
Next, try talking to a Singaporean about his / her food. For them its the best in the entire world. Talk to the Chinese about Singaporean food (from which it mainly derived) and they will laugh in your face. They will tell you its overcooked and relies on unnatural flavours.
Go visit Singapore on Independance Day when you would be tempted to think Singapore is indeed the true centre of the World, such is the chest beating that goes on. Instead its a decent financial centre is all.
Then try and use your undoubted charms on the Singaporean princesses who roam the streets looking like slutty jailbait with a LV bag etc. They will laugh in your face for having the temerity to even dare to talk to them. They will take a bit of "white rough" now and again but will settle for Chinese as partner. Lew Kuan Yew told them to do that, their parents told them to do that and one thing Singaporeans are, is obedient.
Then finally talk to the Singaporeans who have emigrated. Theres plenty of them in Melbourne Sydney and most Aussie cities. They will tell you how hard it is for a non Chinese Singaporean to pass the bar exam. They will tell you how the system is set up on racial lines and that only Chinese can succeed. They will tell you one email offering the slightest of criticisms about the current government will result in your boss having to have a private word with you about not being a true Singaporean.
And of course talk to a Singaporean politician about the system of the courts actively bankrupting a member of the opposition who says anything slightly derogatory about the perfect ordered world of Singapore.
Oh and then talk to taxi drivers in Singapore. They will openly laugh about Singapore. They will even tell you that Orchard Towers is tolerated as it means all the hookers are in one place instead of roaming everywhere so that government ministers and their wives don't need to see them.
Yes its a successful place thats achieved success at the expense of freedom of press, freedom of individuality, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, freedom of promotion, and maybe even freedom of thought. Personally I like my countries to believe in the freedoms they express. Lastly Singaporeans are laughed at because when they are in Singapore they behave as slaves of the government beating their chest for Singapore etc. But get them overseas and they whinge all night about lack of freedoms. They just darent oppose the government in their home.
Maybe that will provide some food for the confusions you are enduring.
Great Post / Rant FF.
They remnid me of the Swiss in Europe. Same mentality. And same lack of understanding of who bankrolls their cosy existence
I need to buy a cell phone in the USA for use in the Philippines.
This will be my first cell phone, so am rather ignorant in this subject.
I plan on using it mostly for calls within the Phil. , with occasional voice calls and rest either texting or email.
I need to keep costs down and I want something simple, so prepaid is preferred, if possible. I don't want to worry about monthly bill checking etc. My Filipna friends tell me Nokia is best?
I want have a cell in my hand the day I arrive, one less thing to go shopping for when I get there.
Main thing is to keep it simple, easy and something that WORKS all over the islands and low cost.
It does not have to have all the bells an whistles, but something that works well.
Can anyone advise? Thanks for any useful information. BTW, what is locked and unlocked and how do you unlock them?
[QUOTE=Turdycurdyone; 1102159]I need to buy a cell phone in the USA for use in the Philippines.
This will be my first cell phone, so am rather ignorant in this subject.
I plan on using it mostly for calls within the Phil. , with occasional voice calls and rest either texting or email.
I need to keep costs down and I want something simple, so prepaid is preferred, if possible. I don't want to worry about monthly bill checking etc. My Filipna friends tell me Nokia is best?
I want have a cell in my hand the day I arrive, one less thing to go shopping for when I get there.
Main thing is to keep it simple, easy and something that WORKS all over the islands and low cost.
It does not have to have all the bells an whistles, but something that works well.
Can anyone advise? Thanks for any useful information. BTW, what is locked and unlocked and how do you unlock them? [/QUOTE]Locked simply refers to the phone will only work on the carrier that it is branded to
Unlocked means that the phone will work on ANY carrier as long as they have the same.
Network tech. That tech being either GSM or CDMA.
GSM carriers use a sims card and CDMA does not.
Most of Asia uses GSM.
Your own phone should work just fine if it is a quad band phone and is on the GSM.
Network. Just have your carrier unlock the phone before your trip so that all you have
To do is get a sims card from the local carrier (they should be readily available at the airport)
However buying your sim card there you are likely to pay a premium.
If you buy one make sure that it is quad band, on the GSM network (sim card) and is unlocked.
Quite frankly thou you can buy a phone complete with minutes and sims in Philippines very.
Inexpensively.
[QUOTE=J Europe; 1102183]To do is get a sims card from the local carrier (they should be readily available at the airport)
However buying your sim card there you are likely to pay a premium.
[/QUOTE]Just by your SIM card at a 7-11. I did that last week (used SMART as the carrier) and it cost 40 pesos for the SIM, which you can then load according to your needs (I usually do a 500 peso load, which is probably overkill).