Philippine Update Visit

On my two stays in Pasay City, I have found breakfast is usually crawling up the wall in my bedroom.

Great update, Lotus, glad you enjoyed Casablanca. As to the expat groups - I've seen them there at GZ and other places, and it's not my thing.. to my benefit I now suspect, haha. Yes, Dumaguete is a *very* small town in those ways. I have occasionally met up with other chaps one on one though, especially when I was in Cebu.

Enjoy the rest of your trip, and especially Indonesia

On my two stays in Pasay City, I have found breakfast is usually crawling up the wall in my bedroom.
-@Cherryann01

Ha ha. But they’re usually faster than you..

@pnwcyclist

Tks. Jakarta is on a different level to Manila. Has (apart from the traffic lol ) everything that Manila lacks. Stylish malls, taxi drivers that won’t try and rip you off, European restaurants, consistently good service ,regular non girly bars where you can mingle with the after work office crowd that will invite you into their group, and frankly ,generally speaking no hidden agenda.

Cherryann01 said . . . . On my two stays in Pasay City, I have found breakfast is usually crawling up the wall in my bedroom.

  *************************************************

Did that interrupt your aerobic session?

Some time back (in the Philippines) my wife had to visit the emergency in a hospital. She ended up being  admitted as a patient. While in discussion with a Doctor we both saw a roach climbing up the wall in her room. Then we then moved her over to St. Lukes.

Prior to that on my first visit to an SM Mall we ate at a Yellow Cab Pizzeria. I saw a roach climbing the wall, it's been four years now and never had a Yellow Cab pizza again. Over the years I have seen roaches at S&R, Lander's and Robinson's.

@Lotus Eater What is the web site of Alex?

Lotus Eater writes, "Jakarta is on a different level to Manila. Has (apart from the traffic lol ) everything that Manila lacks. Stylish malls, taxi drivers that won’t try and rip you off, European restaurants, consistently good service ,regular non girly bars where you can mingle with the after work office crowd that will invite you into their group, and frankly ,generally speaking no hidden agenda.   -@Lotus Eater

`

You're doing the right thing then .. waiting for a plane out of Manila.

Tell us, why would anyone post that on the Philippines Expat Forum.

Also, are you the one with some hidden-agenda or something, Lotus?

This seems so completely different to your first post back in the Phils.

So enquiring minds wish to understand what your thinking was here?

Tell us, why would anyone post that on the Philippines Expat Forum.

Also, are you the one with some hidden-agenda or something, Lotus?

This seems so completely different to your first post back in the Phils.

So enquiring minds wish to understand what your thinking was here?


-@PalawOne

Why not post it? Nothing offensive there, and many of us here are regular travelers. Some of us have also experienced the Manila taxi situation in days past.

I saw it as part of his update and an informed response to my reply to him, in fact his comment made me more curious about Jakarta, such that I might make a visit, having only been to Bali previously.

@PalawOne

pnwcyclist answered your question better than I could have done.

Thanks for this to both of you gents, Pnwcyclist and Lotus.

Appreciate your thoughts. Must just say, my feelings and experiences regarding Manila are different from yours though Lotus.

And some of these things you say about the city are may be true, but these observations are not limited only to Manila.

For example, in my experience, stylish malls, taxi drivers that won't try and rip you off, European restaurants and consistently good service can indeed be difficult to find anywhere in this poor country? Sad, but true.

Maybe partly because it must be sooo difficult being nice to whiteys whom always seem to have heaps of money when your whole family are hungry, and perhaps so often out in the rain?

And, perhaps these pleasant experiences are difficult to find in most capital cities of the world, to some extent? It just seems to me Lotus that maybe you're being too hard on Manila, and romanticising over Jakarta, possibly?

And this seems very different when one pleasantly recalls your happy exuberance of your last post regards your first evening or so in Manila from a few days ago when you had just arrived back there. So one can't help feeling that something not-so-good might have happened to you since then, and which may be, indeed should be, a bit of a worry to all of us expats.

That's all I meant by my posting gents. Anyway, and again if one can say, welcome back Lotus

@pnwcyclist Jakarta is as modern as any big city in SE and Pacific Asia (excluding Japan, Korea, Singapore, HK, Taipei).  It is equally unique that the city is truly sinking.  Sadly.  I love their sky train system and dedicated bus lanes.  My first visit (other than the entire Bali island) surprised me. People are friendly.  Accidental experience: in my 1st year of college is US, I shared a room with an Indonesian student in 1980.  He bought a Porsche in the first semester.  For Christmas, I bought a big-ass Cadillac (the old model that can float like a boat) to send to his father for Christmas.  Three years ago I looked him up in Jakarta and found that he occupies a high-floor office in the tallest office building in the city.  I am not rich or powerful but always wonder how these families grab so much money and so fast. 

Manila is the only major city that I cannot really walk (other than neighborhoods like BGC) when compared to all major ones in SE/Pacific Asia. I like going there from Baguio and enjoy my time there.  All of us here in the forum are experienced travelers. I suppose Bangkok, Tokyo, or Singapore has all the amenities that expats like -- more so than Manila.  But I cannot stand visiting Singapore and feel so lost (and costly) in Tokyo.

I like Manila.

@Daniel Reed

As far as I'm aware he does not have one Daniel. He has Facebook but does not use it for business. He will answer your messages though on his business email : ********

Cheers

Hello Lotus Eater,

Could you kindly share the email address in private with Daniel Reed? As you know, for security reasons, we ask members to share phone numbers or email addresses through the private messaging system

Cheers,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

Thank you Lotus Eater for bringing this subject up and sharing your experiences. I have found reading this thread most interesting and although my experience of life in Manila is limited to staying in a couple of hotels (dumps) in Pasay, a one night stay at the City Garden Hotel (I think but the one you mentioned in another post), a stay in another 4 star hotel due to flight problems while leaving Manila, I have obviously experienced the wait for a taxi at the airport and the rip off charges. I was also propositioned by a lady of the night at about 7am while walking over to make a purchase at the 7/11 opposite the City Garden Hotel.

I like to stop over for a few days on my way to the Philippines or on my way home and Jakarta does now interest me after your comments. So far I have stayed over in HCMC and Seoul. Both of which I had not trouble getting from the airport into the city either by taxi in HCM or by train from Incheon. In both cities I was able to enjoy my time without being harassed by ladies of the night. Most of the action, massage parlours, hookers and other shady places in HCMC were restricted to the area of Bui Vien Walking Street with the odd massage parlour and Hot Toc spread around the city. Seoul was a delight and in both cities I could find regular bars with no Bar Girls just to chill, enjoy the beer and maybe have a bite to eat. I have thought about stopping off in Bangkok but so far I have resisted because there seems to be a lot of hookers around the hotels and in the bars.

I need to see Manila for myself but might stick to some recommendations Kristopher Watson gave me and leave the bars alone at night, maybe just stick to the hotel bar.

Here in the Uk, unless your in a pub near a red light district, there is no problem and you will not find the hookers even in the City Centre unless you frequent the Gentlemen's Clubs which are easy to spot. We have a lot of family friendly pubs with children's play areas, ball pits, plastic tubes to squeeze through, slides, etc and a lot of the pubs show live sports. I wish Manila would had both of these or at least more of them but then again I guess the money made from bar fines and ladies drinks will be more than they could make from families paying a small fee to enjoy the kids play area. Sports bars seem a bad idea in general to me in the Philippines if all they watch is basketball.

On a personal note - I consider any sport where it is easier to score than defend a bit of a waste of time and never liked Basketball much, football (Soccer, NFL, Ice Hockey, Rugby, I can watch but sadly not Basketball.

@duonguhm you bought a Cadillac and sent it to Indonesia?

@Yoginee

Yes understood. The email address is in the public domain already via Alex’ s blog. Will forward it accordingly

I have just found some short vids of Alex, seems like a very sensible chap and even has made short vids on how to quit smoking and how to wake up early without an alarm.

@sekmet sorry, *he

@Cherryann01 In Bangkok you stay away from Nana area, and similarly Malate in Manila. Manila is pretty big, Cherryann.

NIAA (Manila) airport, to me, is like being an ant dropping in an ant hill then to find a way out.

Bangkok  airports probably have the best taaxi system in the world.

@PalawOne

Forgive my tardy reply PalawOne but I am here on business in Jakarta and was not ignoring your observations.

My impression is that perhaps you are over sensitive to adverse comments regarding the Philippines.

The beauty about this site is that in the main you get authentic experienced based contributions regarding the country both positive and negative from resident expats like yourself and regular visitors like moi.

Its not a travelogue or a glossy tourist information site. Its the real deal warts and all.

I would correct your statement “One pleasantly recalls your happy exuberance” on my first evening in Manila. Really? I referred to some new restaurants opening in Greenbelt and a colourful street parade in Burgos. My positive comments were Province based.

This is the Philippine Forum but since you feel as though I am on a mission to be negative about the capital city I would like to embellish my earlier comment responding to pnwcyclist appreciated well wishes on my visit to Jakarta.

The two cities of Manila & Jakarta do warrant comparison as they are both emerging market cities with common cultural heritage, similar size, similar climate, similar traffic congestion. Of course, as alluded to by Duonguhm (did he have to choose such a incongruous difficult to pronounce forgettable handle) you cannot compare chalk with cheese i.e the advanced ,wealthy, robotic sterile one party city state of Singapore. I would not dare do a thing like that.

Have you visited Jakarta? Thats’ a reflexive question. No you haven’t because you would have responded otherwise if that was the case

Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport Terminal 3 is a delight to arrive at. Plenty of amenities with courteous airport personnel and a ‘Je ne sais quoi ‘ sense of ambience. On exiting the terminal or any terminal in S/H there are always a plentiful supply of taxis to whisk you on your way - no need to remind them to turn the meter on

On exiting the airport arrivals hall you will sadly feel homesick PalawOne. No blasting of horns, minimal noise and an abundance of greenery: pink & orange Bougainvillea gracing the highway reservations all the way into the city. Indeed on that drive into the capital the taxi drivers (by and large, a few exceptions lol) will NOT tailgate the driver in front, lane switch every 100 metres and drive ON the white line - one thing that really pisses me off. OH and they drive on the left (a disappointment to our American friends ) The taxi radio station will be playing a soft melodic tuneful sound, not the eardrum breaking’ ‘WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN’ monotony of 91.5FM Win Radio that 50% of Manila taxi drivers listen to. The greenery and luscious floral environment prevail within the city itself, under flyovers with manicured flowerbeds unlike the slab of concrete called Manila.

If you think Filipinos are friendly and yes they are friendly you will find Indonesians warmer still, albeit their English is a little less fluent. Just stay away though from that shithole of Kuta in south Bali where British & Australian tarts (sorry girls) like to hang out doing their obligatory 1 year Uni break with the arm and ankle braded bracelets - sorry I digress.

Last night I ventured out into the city and visited one of my favourite watering holes, Loewy in Mega Kunningan, where a client joined me later on. I went early as I wanted to catch the afterwork crowd and atmospheric vibe - something as alluded to in my earlier post. Sit at one of the comfortable bar chairs and chill. The Indonesian lady next to me was in conversation with a Belgian gentleman (my paternal grandmother was Belgian) - sorry but I could not help but overhear snippets of what was a very drole, risque but not inappropriate exchange. They were business people and I thought colleagues. It turned out they had met in the bar and shared a bottle of vin rouge - how civilised. She had to leave and they said their goodbyes. Nothing tacky. A meeting of cultures in the wonderful ambience of a 40’s inspired bar restaurant one of many such bars and eateries in the city. Jakarta is one of the few cities in S/E Asia that has not been ruined by loud mouthed vulgar foreigners mostly seeking sex. Its a throw back to the 60’s where men wore linen jackets, slats and panama hats and flew in on the B.O.A.C VC10 flight from London.  I’m old fashioned. I like it. Guilty as charged. Where can you find that in Manila?

Enough said. I defer to the expat.com Police if I have been out of line by talking too much about a non Filipino city. I occasionally do refer to the Indonesian Forum which is bluntly no where near as much fun ( Fred excepted ) as this one.

Well said Lotus and I certainly appreciate what you say but the topic/thread is "Philippines update visit" you are the OP. Now it appears to be leaning towards another country?

Perhaps you are single and matters little a destination, If I was single I would now be living in the south of France or southern Italy, Spain is good also but not Australia. Here  because I have a decent man. Most here are the same (ph) have a partner and for better or worse became the destination.

Visiting different countries and their cities/surrounds is always a buzz whether east or western Europe, south or north America and great for a holiday but home is where you make it, pick well as we all know the fallacies of the Philippines, same as many other destinations. I suppose it all depends on wants and needs.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Lotus beautifully writes, "Enough said. I defer to the expat.com Police if I have been out of line by talking too much about a non Filipino city. I occasionally do refer to the Indonesian Forum which is bluntly no where near as much fun ( Fred excepted ) as this one." -@Lotus Eater

`

And you're right, will readily admit being one-sided pinoy and hence happily yield to you and bigpearl.

Also thanks to you Lotus and everyone for this fascinating Asian city expert-tour by Asian-expat-experts

And thank you expat.com in creating world understanding

Thank you LotusEater, for a great response to this very thread.

I've been to Jakarta once myself a few years ago. Lovely place, and in some ways, even more hospitable than Manila not unlike in similarity to the points you mentioned here.

I'm now counting the days where this thread may even face removal, the mods might see this as going in a different direction than what was initially intended. for discussion by this thread.

@Lotus Eater I do enjoy reading your comments and insights among cities/countries.  Btw, the uhm in 'duonguhm' refers to the acronym of a university that is part of my hotmail.com. 

@PalawOne
Forgive my tardy reply PalawOne but I am here on business in Jakarta and was not ignoring your observations.
My impression is that perhaps you are over sensitive to adverse comments regarding the Philippines.
The beauty about this site is that in the main you get authentic experienced based contributions regarding the country both positive and negative from resident expats like yourself and regular visitors like moi.

Its not a travelogue or a glossy tourist information site. Its the real deal warts and all.

I would correct your statement “One pleasantly recalls your happy exuberance” on my first evening in Manila. Really? I referred to some new restaurants opening in Greenbelt and a colourful street parade in Burgos. My positive comments were Province based.

This is the Philippine Forum but since you feel as though I am on a mission to be negative about the capital city I would like to embellish my earlier comment responding to pnwcyclist appreciated well wishes on my visit to Jakarta.

The two cities of Manila & Jakarta do warrant comparison as they are both emerging market cities with common cultural heritage, similar size, similar climate, similar traffic congestion. Of course, as alluded to by Duonguhm (did he have to choose such a incongruous difficult to pronounce forgettable handle) you cannot compare chalk with cheese i.e the advanced ,wealthy, robotic sterile one party city state of Singapore. I would not dare do a thing like that.

Have you visited Jakarta? Thats’ a reflexive question. No you haven’t because you would have responded otherwise if that was the case

Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport Terminal 3 is a delight to arrive at. Plenty of amenities with courteous airport personnel and a ‘Je ne sais quoi ‘ sense of ambience. On exiting the terminal or any terminal in S/H there are always a plentiful supply of taxis to whisk you on your way - no need to remind them to turn the meter on

On exiting the airport arrivals hall you will sadly feel homesick PalawOne. No blasting of horns, minimal noise and an abundance of greenery: pink & orange Bougainvillea gracing the highway reservations all the way into the city. Indeed on that drive into the capital the taxi drivers (by and large, a few exceptions lol) will NOT tailgate the driver in front, lane switch every 100 metres and drive ON the white line - one thing that really pisses me off. OH and they drive on the left (a disappointment to our American friends ) The taxi radio station will be playing a soft melodic tuneful sound, not the eardrum breaking’ ‘WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN’ monotony of 91.5FM Win Radio that 50% of Manila taxi drivers listen to. The greenery and luscious floral environment prevail within the city itself, under flyovers with manicured flowerbeds unlike the slab of concrete called Manila.

If you think Filipinos are friendly and yes they are friendly you will find Indonesians warmer still, albeit their English is a little less fluent. Just stay away though from that shithole of Kuta in south Bali where British & Australian tarts (sorry girls) like to hang out doing their obligatory 1 year Uni break with the arm and ankle braded bracelets - sorry I digress.

Last night I ventured out into the city and visited one of my favourite watering holes, Loewy in Mega Kunningan, where a client joined me later on. I went early as I wanted to catch the afterwork crowd and atmospheric vibe - something as alluded to in my earlier post. Sit at one of the comfortable bar chairs and chill. The Indonesian lady next to me was in conversation with a Belgian gentleman (my paternal grandmother was Belgian) - sorry but I could not help but overhear snippets of what was a very drole, risque but not inappropriate exchange. They were business people and I thought colleagues. It turned out they had met in the bar and shared a bottle of vin rouge - how civilised. She had to leave and they said their goodbyes. Nothing tacky. A meeting of cultures in the wonderful ambience of a 40’s inspired bar restaurant one of many such bars and eateries in the city. Jakarta is one of the few cities in S/E Asia that has not been ruined by loud mouthed vulgar foreigners mostly seeking sex. Its a throw back to the 60’s where men wore linen jackets, slats and panama hats and flew in on the B.O.A.C VC10 flight from London. I’m old fashioned. I like it. Guilty as charged. Where can you find that in Manila?



Enough said. I defer to the expat.com Police if I have been out of line by talking too much about a non Filipino city. I occasionally do refer to the Indonesian Forum which is bluntly no where near as much fun ( Fred excepted ) as this one.
-@Lotus Eater

I heard that!!!!.....chalk and cheese you say????

that my friend is an acquired taste & it's gotten to

taste quite pleasant for most of us.