[gringoed]

LOL Chochemonger. I've spent decent time in both countries, and it's a huge difference. I have little desire to return to Argentina.

[Brazilianguy]

I plan to take 2-3 weeks off in the second semester and need all the info I can get about the phils.

When is a good time to go there?

[Enfant_Terrible]

Next Rooshvforum agenda for Enfant_Terrible the resident Filipino:
A post on some Filipino foods I love and grew up with (and how to get them) that none of you have mentioned so far in this forum. Look for it sometime in the Everything Else section within 2 weeks, I have a draft in the works.

Enough with this "Filipino foods are crap" crap.

Every other cultural food, especially American, has crap in them that you don't want in your bodies and produced under crap methods/systems.

You eat you die, you don't eat you die, trying out new/exotic foods is part of the fun of travel...and are you kidding me? Some of you are suggesting that Wizard eat American food in the Philippines!

On street foods:
Yes, there are no sanitation laws enforced with street foods in the Phils. You're taking the risk of eating food that has been around polluted air or surroundings or handled by people who didn't wash their hands. The street foods sold on wheeled carts are the biggest risk. The street foods on established places are safer. As long as you have your shots and medicine taken care of and saw the vendor cook your food and did a good job swatting the flies away, I say man up, take the risk, have fun with it, and get stories to tell your friends, grandkids, or the next chick you're day gaming.

Wizard:
Quick food list from me. You can find them in Filipino restaurants. If not, ask around. You can google some of these if you want more info.

Eat the following with hot, white rice:
Kare-kare (Karrehkarreh, say it fast in one word) peanut-based stew with ox tail, string beans, and tripe

Lechon Baboy (roasted pig on a bamboo rotisserie) - restaurants might give you a smaller pig or parts of it. Best found / eaten during a celebration or special event.

Lechon Manok - it's basically rotisserie chicken, but the Filipino twist is in the sweet bread sauce called "Mang Tomas" (that's popular brand name, roughly translated: Sir / Mr. Thomas). The "Mang Tomas" is also served with Lechon Baboy above. Sold in clean, outdoor areas or restaurants.

Sisig
I hear they serve them on the streets nowadays. Best when it's sizzlin' hot and washed down with ice-cold San Miguel Beer or if you prefer the harder stuff: Tanduay Rum

No need for rice:
Pancit Palabok / Malabon - savory flavored rice noodles with egg and other ingredients. The only difference between palabok and malabon are noodle thickness and region where they originated.

Dessert:
Turon a banana version of a Chinese egg roll

Halo-halo -- mix of shaved ice and other sweets.

Drink:
Taho (glottal stop at the "o") - best drank hot, sold from a man carrying 2 big metal cans roaming the streets at night yelling out "Tahooooo!" (this is one of the simple things I miss about the Philippines)

Don't eat Jollibee-branded traditional Filipino food if available, that's like eating taco from Taco Bell and saying you've tried authentic Mexican food. BTW, Jollibee is the Philippine McDonalds.

[Vacancier Permanent]

Just an update and a tip for anyone going to the Phils:
I opened an account for fun on cherryblossoms on Friday night around 1am and so far, I've been bombarded like never before with emails, smiles and friends request from girls. 90% are from the Phils but I also got quite a few from Ukraine and Russia. Forget DIA which is in comparison a waste of time and a garbage. Go with cherryblossoms. Yes it's a paying membership site but quality is much higher and even overwhelming. In about 2 days, I must have received 250-300 emails. I'd say about 50% are solid 7's and 10% solid 8s.

Have fun.

[Wizard]

(01-30-2012 11:14 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Just an update and a tip for anyone going to the Phils:
I opened an account for fun on cherryblossoms on Friday night around 1am and so far, I've been bombarded like never before with emails, smiles and friends request from girls. 90% are from the Phils but I also got quite a few from Ukraine and Russia. Forget DIA which is in comparison a waste of time and a garbage. Go with cherryblossoms. Yes it's a paying membership site but quality is much higher and even overwhelming. In about 2 days, I must have received 250-300 emails. I'd say about 50% are solid 7's and 10% solid 8s.

Have fun.

I'm curious how long before a trip would you recommend a guy start doing this?

[Spike]

(01-30-2012 05:43 AM)Enfant_Terrible Wrote:  

Next Rooshvforum agenda for Enfant_Terrible the resident Filipino:
A post on some Filipino foods I love and grew up with (and how to get them) that none of you have mentioned so far in this forum. Look for it sometime in the Everything Else section within 2 weeks, I have a draft in the works.

Enough with this "Filipino foods are crap" crap.

Every other cultural food, especially American, has crap in them that you don't want in your bodies and produced under crap methods/systems.

You eat you die, you don't eat you die, trying out new/exotic foods is part of the fun of travel...and are you kidding me? Some of you are suggesting that Wizard eat American food in the Philippines!

On street foods:
Yes, there are no sanitation laws enforced with street foods in the Phils. You're taking the risk of eating food that has been around polluted air or surroundings or handled by people who didn't wash their hands. The street foods sold on wheeled carts are the biggest risk. The street foods on established places are safer. As long as you have your shots and medicine taken care of and saw the vendor cook your food and did a good job swatting the flies away, I say man up, take the risk, have fun with it, and get stories to tell your friends, grandkids, or the next chick you're day gaming.

Wizard:
Quick food list from me. You can find them in Filipino restaurants. If not, ask around. You can google some of these if you want more info.

Eat the following with hot, white rice:
Kare-kare (Karrehkarreh, say it fast in one word) peanut-based stew with ox tail, string beans, and tripe

Lechon Baboy (roasted pig on a bamboo rotisserie) - restaurants might give you a smaller pig or parts of it. Best found / eaten during a celebration or special event.

Lechon Manok - it's basically rotisserie chicken, but the Filipino twist is in the sweet bread sauce called "Mang Tomas" (that's popular brand name, roughly translated: Sir / Mr. Thomas). The "Mang Tomas" is also served with Lechon Baboy above. Sold in clean, outdoor areas or restaurants.

Sisig
I hear they serve them on the streets nowadays. Best when it's sizzlin' hot and washed down with ice-cold San Miguel Beer or if you prefer the harder stuff: Tanduay Rum

No need for rice:
Pancit Palabok / Malabon - savory flavored rice noodles with egg and other ingredients. The only difference between palabok and malabon are noodle thickness and region where they originated.

Dessert:
Turon a banana version of a Chinese egg roll

Halo-halo -- mix of shaved ice and other sweets.

Drink:
Taho (glottal stop at the "o") - best drank hot, sold from a man carrying 2 big metal cans roaming the streets at night yelling out "Tahooooo!" (this is one of the simple things I miss about the Philippines)

Don't eat Jollibee-branded traditional Filipino food if available, that's like eating taco from Taco Bell and saying you've tried authentic Mexican food. BTW, Jollibee is the Philippine McDonalds.

Hmm, you're list makes me hungry for all that delicious food. i stayed 6 months all over the phils and liked the food ( you and me apparently are the only ones here). My favorites: adobo, halo halo and the roasted chicken for 145 pesos only.
San Miguel and Tanduay ice were my standard daily drink.

[thekiller]

(01-29-2012 03:08 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(01-28-2012 09:21 AM)thekiller Wrote:  

I would recommend you go to the burbs in Luzon(main island where Manila is), where you will be an even more rare commodity. I stayed in Lipa City which has 2 malls and decent hotels with AC for cheap.

Great information. Is Lipo City the correct name for the city where those two malls are located? Wikipedia has several entries that list the locations of malls in the Philippines. I did not see any malls listed in Lipo City. A clarification would help. Thanks.

List of shopping malls in the Philippines:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sho...hilippines

List of largest shopping malls in the Philippines:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lar...hilippines

LIPA CITY, not lipo, it's on the main island of Luzon and in the "county" of Batangas (home of the Balisong or "butterfly" knife).
Here's a link on Lipa from Virtual Tourist.

[gringoed]

Oh yeah, while we're on the topic of Filipino food. Here's one food I highly recommend, another I highly DONT recommend.

Lechon (pig roast with amazing crispy skin)
Balut (fertilized chicken egg with fetus, placenta, and shit)

Guess which is which...

[Vacancier Permanent]

I'd say 1-2 months before hand, but if you're bored and want to be bombarded with emails, do it now for the fun of it. Since I opened my account on Friday night, I just did a quick count on my inbox and I received about 600 emails so far, in 5 days. Unreal.

(01-30-2012 04:21 PM)Wizard Wrote:  

(01-30-2012 11:14 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Just an update and a tip for anyone going to the Phils:
I opened an account for fun on cherryblossoms on Friday night around 1am and so far, I've been bombarded like never before with emails, smiles and friends request from girls. 90% are from the Phils but I also got quite a few from Ukraine and Russia. Forget DIA which is in comparison a waste of time and a garbage. Go with cherryblossoms. Yes it's a paying membership site but quality is much higher and even overwhelming. In about 2 days, I must have received 250-300 emails. I'd say about 50% are solid 7's and 10% solid 8s.

Have fun.

I'm curious how long before a trip would you recommend a guy start doing this?

[Antipodean]

I am landing in Manila in 2 days time. Will be my first time in The Philippines.

I have read all the threads I can find here about it.

The loose plan is to spend 2 or 3 days in the Makati area then fly to Davao fo 7 - 10 days. Get an apartment there.
Then on to Bangkok for 3 weeks or so in Thailand (have been before)

Questions ...

Where to stay around Makati for 2-3 nights, that is good value, "guest friendly", etc?

Apartment advice for Davao?

Best/safest airlines for domestic flights?

Getting from Davao to Bangkok. Finding convenient economy flights from The Philippines to Bangkok does not seem straightforward. I would prefer to fly Davao to Bangkok direct, but it seems that I will probly need to transit back through Manila. Even then, I have not found reasonably priced Manila to Bangkok direct flights at civilised hours.
Any suggestions?

[Spike]

(02-02-2012 04:39 PM)gringoed Wrote:  

Oh yeah, while we're on the topic of Filipino food. Here's one food I highly recommend, another I highly DONT recommend.

Lechon (pig roast with amazing crispy skin)
Balut (fertilized chicken egg with fetus, placenta, and shit)

Guess which is which...

I ate balut in Vietnam and the Phils. Both times i had to be drunk and under peer pressure to eat it. The taste is actually not that bad but the idea of eating crunchy chicken embryo makes you sick.

[Cr33pin]

(03-25-2012 02:32 PM)Antipodean Wrote:  

I am landing in Manila in 2 days time. Will be my first time in The Philippines.

I have read all the threads I can find here about it.

The loose plan is to spend 2 or 3 days in the Makati area then fly to Davao fo 7 - 10 days. Get an apartment there.
Then on to Bangkok for 3 weeks or so in Thailand (have been before)

Questions ...

Where to stay around Makati for 2-3 nights, that is good value, "guest friendly", etc?

Apartment advice for Davao?

Best/safest airlines for domestic flights?

Getting from Davao to Bangkok. Finding convenient economy flights from The Philippines to Bangkok does not seem straightforward. I would prefer to fly Davao to Bangkok direct, but it seems that I will probly need to transit back through Manila. Even then, I have not found reasonably priced Manila to Bangkok direct flights at civilised hours.
Any suggestions?

good apartment in Davao is http://junanddellapartment.com/

they do daily, weekly, monthly rates, its safe, they dont mind that you bring girls over everynight, they clean your apartment and wash your dishes everyday. i'll be living here for a few more months atleast.

i think everyflight in the Phils goes thru Manila

[Cr33pin]

(03-25-2012 02:32 PM)Antipodean Wrote:  

I am landing in Manila in 2 days time. Will be my first time in The Philippines.

I have read all the threads I can find here about it.

The loose plan is to spend 2 or 3 days in the Makati area then fly to Davao fo 7 - 10 days. Get an apartment there.
Then on to Bangkok for 3 weeks or so in Thailand (have been before)

Questions ...

Where to stay around Makati for 2-3 nights, that is good value, "guest friendly", etc?

Apartment advice for Davao?

Best/safest airlines for domestic flights?

Getting from Davao to Bangkok. Finding convenient economy flights from The Philippines to Bangkok does not seem straightforward. I would prefer to fly Davao to Bangkok direct, but it seems that I will probly need to transit back through Manila. Even then, I have not found reasonably priced Manila to Bangkok direct flights at civilised hours.
Any suggestions?

good apartment in Davao is http://junanddellapartment.com/

they do monthly leases, its safe, they dont mind that you bring girls over everynight, they clean your apartment and wash your dishes everyday. i'll be living here for a few more months atleast.

i think everyflight in the Phils goes thru Manila

[Vacancier Permanent]

This junanddellapartment.com looks good. How much are you guys who are staying there paying per month? Did you guys sign a long term lease or you guys are on a month to month basis?

[chochemonger1]

(03-27-2012 11:18 AM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

This junanddellapartment.com looks good. How much are you guys who are staying there paying per month? Did you guys sign a long term lease or you guys are on a month to month basis?

You pay month to month, without a lease, at a monthly cost of 18,000 for a studio apartment with kitchen. There are also cheaper options...without kitchen, smaller rooms or no AC. The majority of tenants are filipinos and the place is peacefull. I have two fellow forum members who live upstairs, but i dont hear anything, when they bring girls home. Though, I have a feeling that in 3 or 4 years this place will be full of gringos and will have the feel of a bordelo haha.

[chochemonger1]

By the way 18,000 at the exchange rate of 42 pesos per dollar...comes to about 445 dollars

[clr]

Alright you guys are making me want to go there in the next week. I have been looking at Thailand vs Phil for a while and I'm free the first week in April.... Hmmmm, and forum members to cause trouble with.....

[clr]

[/quote]

good apartment in Davao is http://junanddellapartment.com/

they do daily, weekly, monthly rates, its safe, they dont mind that you bring girls over everynight, they clean your apartment and wash your dishes everyday. i'll be living here for a few more months atleast.

i think everyflight in the Phils goes thru Manila
[/quote]

The place looks really cheesy motel ish from the pictures, it is that bad? I like a comfortable place.

[Cr33pin]

good apartment in Davao is http://junanddellapartment.com/

they do daily, weekly, monthly rates, its safe, they dont mind that you bring girls over everynight, they clean your apartment and wash your dishes everyday. i'll be living here for a few more months atleast.

i think everyflight in the Phils goes thru Manila
[/quote]

The place looks really cheesy motel ish from the pictures, it is that bad? I like a comfortable place.
[/quote]

I dont know what your looking for but the pros far out weigh the cheesy for me. specially with the service an no problem bringing girls over. you got to remember this is a diffrent country just about every apartment/hotel i have seen would fall under cheesy in most peoples book

theres 4 people from the fourms staying here right now

[chochemonger1]

good apartment in Davao is http://junanddellapartment.com/

they do daily, weekly, monthly rates, its safe, they dont mind that you bring girls over everynight, they clean your apartment and wash your dishes everyday. i'll be living here for a few more months atleast.

i think everyflight in the Phils goes thru Manila
[/quote]

The place looks really cheesy motel ish from the pictures, it is that bad? I like a comfortable place.
[/quote]

Im going to Saigon in 4 days and will rent a swanky apartment for 800 dollars a month and a months deposit. After, I will go to Makati in Manila and pay about the same. Davao doesnt have the style and luxury apartments, as those cities, but it doesnt matter. I agree, Jun and Dell looks like a cheesy motel and its relatively cheap, but here it doesnt affect your bang rate. Thats all that matters when you pick a pad.

[Menace]

I did some searching and you can rent a room in a 4 star hotel in the middle of Davao City for about $100/night, which includes a pool and all kinds of luxury amenities (business center, etc.). I guess it all depends on your budget, but for a short stay, like I am considering, a hotel is more attractive to me.

[clr]

Well, I like my money too much to spend 100 a night but for me it's bang for the buck, for example that 800 dollar a month swanky place would definitely be worth the extra few hundred dollars to me. There is more that matters to me when I pick a pad other then my bang rate

[popeyearms76]

(01-24-2012 02:28 PM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  

I would divide my trip : 2 weeks Manila ( visit the Banaue rice terrraces in a two day trip) 2 weeks Cebu and 4 weeks of Davao if you purely go for banging.
Otherwise visit Bohol and Palawan too.

Neil (or anyone else): I am contemplating a trip to the Philippines in two months. I've read Manila is a big cesspool, so let's leave that out of the equation. Sell me an Davao City vs. Cebu City in going purely for the bang. Why spend twice the time (4 weeks) in Davao?

[Spike]

(04-20-2012 10:59 AM)popeyearms76 Wrote:  

(01-24-2012 02:28 PM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  

I would divide my trip : 2 weeks Manila ( visit the Banaue rice terrraces in a two day trip) 2 weeks Cebu and 4 weeks of Davao if you purely go for banging.
Otherwise visit Bohol and Palawan too.

Neil (or anyone else): I am contemplating a trip to the Philippines in two months. I've read Manila is a big cesspool, so let's leave that out of the equation. Sell me an Davao City vs. Cebu City in going purely for the bang. Why spend twice the time (4 weeks) in Davao?

Without typing up a long story. Cebu is bigger and has more options to go out + there are quite a few korean girls there too. Davao is/was a traveling playa paradise when iwas there in january 2011 i don't know about now since it seems that lots of guys go there now. i thin kit doen't matter what city you go to, you will get laid if you have some game.