Three Months in Cebu - Part 1 of 2
I've been living in Cebu on and off for three months. Thought I'd try to share some of my learning and observations here. Many ISG members have spent years here, and have much more knowledge than I do about Cebu. These are just my observations.
Overall: I like Cebu and am strongly considering living here or, at least making it my base. It is much nicer than Manila, which is a cesspool in my opinion. Cebu is not a world-class city by any means, but it's OK in many ways, and great for girls. Cebu has flights to most places in PH, and a decent amount of international flights to CN, VN, JP, SG, HK, etc.
Beaches: There are no beaches around Cebu City. There are beaches in Mactan, but not very good ones. Bohol has some nice beaches, but it takes two hours to get to them by ferry boat and taxi. The good beaches take 4 hours to get to overland, or you can fly to many major resort areas from Cebu.
Hotels: I've tried the Waterfront and Parklane. Waterfront wins hands down. Please refer to the response I wrote to a member on the Waterfront 1. 2 days ago. I have several friends staying in other, cheaper places, and they have been satisfied. Many places have 15-day rates and 30-day rates, which can save you a lot of money. Some hotels have apartelles, I. E., rooms with kitchenettes and monthly rates. If you're going to stay here a month or more, look into these options.
Restaurants: Please refer to my response written 1-2 days ago to another ISG member re: Cebu restauarants.
Short-term Condos: This has been a disappointment for me and other ISG members. In Manila you can find good condos with expatriate executive amenities (gym, Internet, etc.), available weekly, monthly, etc. Such places essentially don't exsit in Cebu City. There are some in Mactan, which you can find via Web search. You can find condos around Cebu City for six months minimum.
Shopping / Malls: I've been impressed with the shopping malls here. Like most guys, I have zero interest in malls that feature fashion and cosmetics for women or expensive brand name stuff I'm never going to buy. Ayala Mall and SM Mall have every day goods that one really wants / needs to buy. I go to Ayala Mall a few times a week and buy food and drinks to keep in my hotel room, as well as toiletries, etc. The Metro Supermarket is good, and if you need computer peripherals, CD-R King is good. There are dozens of places to eat in Ayala Mall from 50 Pesos. 50 Dollars per person. Western Union in Ayala Mall is great: It costs $15 to send $1, 000 from the US. Citibank now charges 3% on international ATM transactions ($30 on $1, 000). At SM Mall, I could buy 3. 4 items unavailable at Ayala, but I prefer the supermarket at Ayala.
Girls. Ayala Mall: Two years ago, in Robinsons Mall in Malate, Manila, I had girls following me, yelling out to me, and grabbing my arm. Many were ladyboys, but some were actual girls. My first few weeks in Cebu, I was surprised how little obvious pickup action there was in Ayala Mall. I'm not saying it isn't there; I'm saying it isn't always obvious. I rarely even got any favorable eye contact. (I'm 50ish, look 40ish, Filipinas guess I'm in my 30's, I'm fit, decent body, and considered decent-looking by most people, and "gwapo" by Filipinas, so I don't think looks was a negative factor.) Finally, one night, while walking around the Terraces area of Ayala, and waiting to meet my then-GF, I had many girls blatantly yelling out to me, walking next to me, asking if I wanted company or a massage, etc. Over three months, I've seen this pattern repeatedly: no obvious action for a few days or weeks, then quite a few girls on the prowl one or two particular nights. The Terraces seems to be the main place for pickup action in Ayala Mall. Note: many of the most obvious girls on the hunt in Ayala Mall appear to me to be under 18.
There are many good-looking shop girls in Ayala Mall. Many ISG members say these girls can be had. The economics of what these girls earn and what their boarding house rooms and food cost dictate that they almost have to do some compensated dating to get by, not to mention sending some funds home their families in the provinces. After three months and a few weak, half-assed, unsuccessful attempts at picking up store girls, I finally picked up a great one in Ayala Mall. I've had a few very fun, no-sex dates with her and expect / hope to consummate this week. The poor girl works 6. 7 days / week in poor conditions and for low pay. Yet is one of the luck ones who has actually found work. I don' think she's ever dated a foreigner before.
Three Months in Cebu - Part 2 of 2
girls. dia: i started using dia late march, 2010. by now, mid-october, 10, 000 girls have contacted me, of which maybe 75% are in ph, and 25% of the 75% are in the cebu area. i've spent way too much time in dia, and most dia girls don't meet my strict quality standards, but there are definitely nuggets of gold to be found in dia. i "fell in love" with one of the first dia girls i ever met: a career professional from a solid middle class family; not a hooker or semi-pro by any means. i pretty much spent my first month fairly exclusively with her. i dabbled a little on the side in cebu, and when i traveled to other parts of ph. another dia girl i met early on and started having sex with later would probably be a model in the us or eu, and i think most isg guys would rate her a 9. 10. she also loves anal, which is a big plus in my book. a great find. but i guess she wasn't happy with my once per week dates for 1, 000p per night compensation, so she suddenly told me she's moving back to the provinces. perhaps her primary sponsor came back to ph.
my #1 recommendation for using dia is to ask girls to provide additional pics to the one dia profile pic, be it via email, friendster, tagged, or facebook. if they balk, then don't waste you are time. #2) there are many girls under-18 in dia. i can tell by their pic or when they send me their fs or fb account info, and their real age is stated in that account. i've confronted hundreds of girls in dia about appearing to be under-age, and they casually respond, "yea, i had to say i'm 18 to join dia. so what's wrong with it? aren't you interested in me?! " well, i'm not a ****, and i don't want to go to a ph jail or pay 1 million pesos in a scam. #3) if a girl is from deep in the provinces, 18. 19, and has no / little experience meeting a foreign guy, then maybe i can agree to bringing a friend or family member to a first meeting. as long as they ask you upfront, and as long as they clear the expense with you. what i don't accept is a girl who is in her 20's, living in / near the heart of the city, claiming to be a modern, worldly career girl or college graduate capable of living abroad. yet claiming to need a friend to accompany her to meet you. i reject such requests. in some cases, the friend / sister / cousin could be hotter than the one you've met in dia, and in some cases a 3-way could happen, so i might be losing some potential opportunities, but i just prefer one on one meetings.
i've only had one semi-scam expeience with dia. a girl who calls herself amanda blair (her dia user name is different) showed up at ayala mall with her mother, nicole, even though amanda had said it would be only her. they milked me for as much as they could at lunch, insisting on one of the best restaurants in ayala mall. and me being fresh off the boat and stupidly agreeing. they ate about two days worth of food. the mother would not shut up for two hours, admitting to me she was monetizing three "boyfriends" in dia. amanda has the iq and social skills of a squid, being virtually speechless throughout the lunch. i realized i'd been had by these professional scammers. i subsequently ran into them in ayala mall on other occasions. this is their fulltime business. the mother pimps the daughter on dia, with the mother actually doing all the correspondence. amanda's pics are the bait. i doubt any foriegner ever gets sex with amanda. avoid these two like the plague.
girls. isg member intros: i appreciate a few generous isg members having given me some excellent chick intros. most of these have worked out very well. one has been a major disappointment. jade in cebu has been promoted by one isg member as a high-quality girl, suitable for marriage to a high-level foreigner, etc. i disagree with this. jade is a seasoned semi-pro. pro hooker. in our first encounter, this "high-quality" girl gave me a std. she knew she was infected and knew any sexual act would put me at risk. yet, jade can never resist a payday, so she infected me. jade will weasle as much cash from a guy as possible until either he figures out he's being used and turns off the cash flow, or until she finds a new, better cash source. her dia profile reads well and all her responses to dia members sound great. because it's all written by a well-meaning isg member who does her marketing. he's a great, wonderful, super-nice, generous guy, whose opinions i respect and agree with on almost everything. i just have a very different perspective from him on jade. jade acts like a schoolgirl needing a few pesos for school. in reality, she's a hardcore hustler and gold digger. she's also a mediocre fuck, and rarely orgasms with any guy. if you date jade, i recommend only paying her the "standard" 500p st / 1,000p lt fee, and not fall for her acting as a gf or her endless cash requests. and be safe.
girls.compensation: i've been paying semi-pro's 500p plus taxi expenses for st, which is usually one pop for me, and 1, 000p plus taxi fare for overnight, which is usually two pops. i often treat girls to either a good dinner or the excellent breakfast buffet in my hotel. i eat very well; no fast food places. i also treat girls nicely, and do my best to make them orgasm. and i think girls value that i'm staying in a very nice hotel, with a comfortable bed, etc. i've asked every girl if the compensation was satisfactory to them, and all have said yes; none have made a face, or let me know in any way that it wasn't satisfacory compensation. and all have been willing to come back another time. in fact, they usually contact me asking to see me again. for some girls, i surprise them by sending them 100p phone loads. for two girls who were semi-regular, i helped them with some relatively small medical expenses. i would not pay less than 500p/1, 000p plus taxis, nor do i feel compelled to pay more.
cell phone: i don't see how one could do anything here without a cell phone. you can buy cheap phones to use with prepaid plans for about 1, 500 pesos and up. most girls use smart or sun. i bought globe initially, and all girls hate that i have globe because it costs them much more to communicate with me. i'll probably change to a phone that can handle two sim cards, i. e., can work with two networks at once. there are two-sim phones for under 2,000 pesos. i've seen a three-sim phone for about 3,500 pesos made by a philippine company, but the phone looked tacky and was large and heavy. i've often sent 30p. 100p loads to girls to cover their cost of communicating with me. this is greatly appreciated by the girls.