Post: #2126

A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

Post: #2127

(11-18-2015 04:37 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

http://www.rappler.com/nation/113235-dav...-explosion

Post: #2128

(11-18-2015 04:37 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

WTF!!! After reading that report, I am curious to hear the authorities conclusion once they uncover the people behind this and the motive.

Post: #2129

But hey, look at the bright side, the chicks are easy.

Post: #2130

If you will be in Philippines more than one year note this:

On my way out of the Phils at Cebu Airport I was surprised to get stopped for another fee required of foreigners.

So to summarize:

1) If you've been in country more than six months, you need a "criminal clearance" from an Immigration Office (You can't get it at the airport) it cost me 500 p. DON'T FORGET TO BRING CRIMINAL CLEARANCE SHEET TO THE AIRPORT.

2) There's a "Terminal Fee" at Cebu airport of 750 P

3) If you've been in the country more than a year there's a ~1700p "Travel Tax" which I was not informed of until I was heading for the departure gate an hour before airline's scheduled take-off. It was 1600-something pesos (about 35$) and I was blindsided and had already changed my money into Dollars and I didn't have enough to pay inside the secure departure area.

The ATM inside the departure area wouldn't work with one of my debit cards and now it was 45 minutes to departure and I was starting to get a little panicky.

So I went back OUT through security, exchanged $40 for some pesos for the Travel Tax, and went back through security ( scanners etc) to go pay the tax.

I was very stressed out. If you arrived at the airport without the (750 + 1700) P I think you would not be allowed out of the country and miss your flight. In addition, the ATMs inside the security area-- none that I saw was from the more established banks that reliably work. One was unplugged and obviously out of order.

If you didn't have cash you'd be screwed as far as I could see.

At the last stop before going to the uncontrolled departure area, passport control, i ran into a final possible hurdle I didn't foresee.
A chubby immigration woman asked me "Why were you here so long?" as she looked at my papers.

I didn't really understand what she might be looking for, I believed I had been legally in-country, my one-year visa from the San Francisco Filipino consulate showed I had planned a fairly long stay.

I sort of half assed the question and just said "Tourism."

She persisted with asking something about whether I had family in the country, I said "no" which I think placed me in her mind in "sex tourist" category.

Then she asked what I had been doing. I started to think then , and I think now, she was fishing for me to say something like "I've been working" which of course would be a violation as I did not have a work visa.

I responded with some information about a hobby I'd been pursuing, never using the word "work" .

MY guess is if I had said "Working" I might have encountered a whole other level of interrogation and maybe even had to pay some kind of fine before leaving the country. The passport control is a large open multi-worker booth and it seemed a poor place to accept bribes so I don't think it's that, I think some bitter female government workers might enjoy tripping up a presumed "sex tourist" and wrecking his travel plans.

There's a fine line between being uncooperative and foolishly volunteering information. At borders presume officials are NOT socializing or genuinely curious about you except to the degree they can catch you in some violation.

Post: #2131

Sorry to hear that man! Are you alright? Be careful out there!

(11-18-2015 04:37 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

Post: #2132

(11-18-2015 06:26 AM)rcraig33hb Wrote:  

(11-18-2015 04:37 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

WTF!!! After reading that report, I am curious to hear the authorities conclusion once they uncover the people behind this and the motive.

My guess would be Abu sayaff/NPA/MILF/revenge. Wouldn't stop me from going to Davao though. Statistically you'd be much worse off taking a ferry in Phil than living in Davao.

Post: #2133

(11-18-2015 04:37 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  A car bomb went off in front of my condo today here in Davao

Not the type of bang you were hoping for in the Philippines I guess.

Post: #2134

Hope there weren't any casaulties. On the bright side, that will keep many foreigners from going to Davao next year.
I think I will go back to Davao, instead of Cebu.

Post: #2135

^^^^

The above linked article says two slightly injured.

Post: #2136

(11-18-2015 07:30 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  At the last stop before going to the uncontrolled departure area, passport control, i ran into a final possible hurdle I didn't foresee.
A chubby immigration woman asked me "Why were you here so long?" as she looked at my papers.

I didn't really understand what she might be looking for, I believed I had been legally in-country, my one-year visa from the San Francisco Filipino consulate showed I had planned a fairly long stay.

I sort of half assed the question and just said "Tourism."

She persisted with asking something about whether I had family in the country, I said "no" which I think placed me in her mind in "sex tourist" category.

Don't be too concerned with this question it's SOP for them to ask questions if you've been in the Philippines a certain amount of time. Just say that you are "courting" a girlfriend there.. which is of course true i'm just leaving out the numbers involved.

I notice when i'm there for short jaunts <1 month they don't ask anything. Longer stays of 3+ they almost always ask.

The clearance form is one of the more asinine/shady things though. I don't know many countries that do this and the ones that do are all located in the middle east. This is why you don't want to get into any sort of legal drama in the Philippines. If someone serious really wanted to fuck with you they could legally bind you in the country indefinitely with this even if it's frivolous.

Post: #2137

Flight from PPS to Manila was cancelled last night, and had to rebook for a later flight causing me to miss my return flight to the US. Had to rebook that as well.

Two extra days in the Philippines...

Post: #2138

(11-21-2015 08:35 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Flight from PPS to Manila was cancelled last night, and had to rebook for a later flight causing me to miss my return flight to the US. Had to rebook that as well.

Two extra days in the Philippines...

How has your second trip been? It hasn't been too long since your first trip, but I'm curious if the experience was different in any way?

Post: #2139

That's unfortunate damn.

(11-21-2015 08:35 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Flight from PPS to Manila was cancelled last night, and had to rebook for a later flight causing me to miss my return flight to the US. Had to rebook that as well.

Two extra days in the Philippines...

Post: #2140

CS,
Sorry to hear about your plight of being stuck two more days in the desert of the PIs.
Be strong, it'll pass before you know it!

Looking forward to reading your trip's report! I hope it's at least 1/4 as good as the first one, which was epic!

Post: #2141

CS, have you tried calling the bank who issued the credit card you used to buy the tickets? Some credit cards offer travel insurance which may cover unexpected flight changes. It's a long shot, but worth asking.

Post: #2142

I'll be back in Makati / Manila later this week.

Anyone about?

Post: #2143

What are you day game guys opening with? I relied pretty heavy on online game when I first got here and I'm finally getting around to going out and running some mall game.. even though I hate mall game its really the only place to game during the day here. I have had some success with silly openers about something a girl is wearing or carrying... but I have missed out on a few to. Seems like sometimes the girls get so nervous when you approach.. it throws my vibe off a little. So I feel like you need a non threatening an non agressive opener to do the most damage here.

Post: #2144

(11-23-2015 06:01 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  What are you day game guys opening with?

I totally crashed with direct game here, in this context directly asking for a phone number seemed pretty rude.

Filipinos are very subtle communicators. You can totally Elderly Chat and her subcommunication will make it obvious if she likes you.

Post: #2145

Reporting from Cebu.

Bitches be crazy.

Bitches be fucking.

Post: #2146

(11-23-2015 06:07 AM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

(11-23-2015 06:01 AM)Cr33pin Wrote:  What are you day game guys opening with?

I totally crashed with direct game here, in this context directly asking for a phone number seemed pretty rude.

Filipinos are very subtle communicators. You can totally Elderly Chat and her subcommunication will make it obvious if she likes you.

Yes elderly chat is the way to go. They will ask these questions within five minutes: "So, are you married? Oh.", "Are you here with your girlfriend?".

Post: #2147

Elderly chat?

Post: #2148

(11-24-2015 02:08 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  Elderly chat?

Yeah, Roosh coined that term in Day Bang. It means to create conversation like an elderly person. "Is that a good book your reading? Who's the author? What's it about?"

Innocuous conversation.

Post: #2149

Nice, some Cebuana poon.

(11-24-2015 11:38 AM)Brodiaga Wrote:  Reporting from Cebu.

Bitches be crazy.

Bitches be fucking.

Post: #2150

(11-24-2015 11:38 AM)Brodiaga Wrote:  Reporting from Cebu.

Bitches be crazy.

Bitches be fucking.

Bitches be....

...not afraid to live.

A high commendation.


+1 if I hadn't already.