Quite frankly, some of them want to bring their friends with them to show you off as well. They do it so they can boast.

I recently visited Cebu for three weeks and got two notches--one from online game, and one I picked up on a street corner. Both quite cute. Better than I do in America, but not good by Fisto standards. Part of the reason I only got two notches is because I spent about seven days with the two girls I did get, but part of it is that I found it very hard to get girls to meet me, even though I had an apartment in a central location. Here I'm posting some random observations about Cebu dating for your edification. I would be also interested in your thoughts about how I could have gotten more girls to meet. For reference, I'm white, middle-aged, and average looking, though in Cebu some women called me handsome.


I definitely got a lot more unsolicited attention from women than I do in the US (where I get none). There was lots of eye-fucking, sometimes from really pretty women, and quite a few of the mall clerks asked lots of questions about me, inevitably including "Are you married?" Some female clerks were just extra-nice in the obsequious way I normally only see in beta guys sucking up to cute girls. There was also an interesting episode in Robinson's department store where a male clerk learned I was single and tried to hook me up with four of his fellow female clerks.

The eye-fucking seemed to increase as I got further from the center of Cebu. I probably got the least attention at Mango Square and Ayala Mall (except from ladyboys, whom you can always count on for attention). But when I went to places where you don't see white guys at all, like the malls in nearby Mandaue City and Consolacion, I was really getting serious stares from very pretty clerks. And comments about my handsome nose.

A plus of daygaming clerks and salesgirls in malls and nice hotels is that they hire a lot of cute young women. Labor is cheap in the Philippines; in department stores, it seems like there's a clerk for every aisle, most of them pretty unmarried young women. A minus is that store clerks always seem to be in pairs; it's almost impossible to get privacy to ask a clerk out. I need to figure out a way to daygame a clerk while her coworker is standing two feet away.

Previous posts on this forum about Cebu didn't clue me in to how much I would like IT Park. It's jam-packed with businesses and call centers, and the call centers run all hours to cater to foreign markets, so IT Park is like a 24-hour outdoor mall with lots of pretty girls. There are long strips of restaurants and cafes, many of them open very late or even 24 hours, with tables outside like a cafe street in Europe. There are people there all times of day and night, and it always feels safe. I took a girl for a date here after she got off work at midnight. Although I didn't try it, the 24-hour karaoke bar here adds another dating option. Some of the restaurants, like Irie Gastropub, have some of the best food in Cebu. Lots of the waitresses flirted with me; IT Park seems like a place where you can daygame even at night. An advantage of IT Park over the Ayala Mall and Mango Square is that I saw no ladyboys, prostitutes, or expats; I was the only white guy there. I ended up moving to an apartment an 8 minute walk from IT Park (also walking distance from Ayala Mall and the "Waterfront" Casino--nowhere near the waterfront, of course) and hanging out there almost every night after the malls closed.

Bring lube with you to the Philippines. The girls have short vaginas and it's easy to hurt their cervixes. The pharmacies seem to carry only KY Jelly, which does the job okay but is no Astroglide.

Filipinas have a characteristic facial movement where they raise their eyebrows quickly. It's sexy and feminine and it looks very flirty, though it doesn't always mean they're flirting.

My statistics for FilipinaCupid (online dating): I sent 60 openers. Of these, 42 replied at least once, 20 gave their number (including one scammer who asked for money). I met 4 and laid 1. (I am leaving out women who messaged me first, few of whom were attractive.) There were 4 others who were eager to meet but couldn't arrange it. Getting from number to meet is clearly a bottleneck for me, which I don't know how to solve. There were many girls with logistical problems: many were in the metropolitan Cebu area but would need to travel for an hour or two to reach me at the center; many worked 6 days a week for up to 12 hours a day. The hottest girls tended to stop responding to me before discussing a meeting, often before giving their number. Three of the four girls I met brought a relative to the first meeting. (I have no idea how Fisto manages to line up 2-3 new meetings a day.) I think I should have spent less effort on online dating and more on daygame, because a girl you daygame at Ayala Mall can probably meet you at Ayala Mall regularly, unlike an online girl.

For online, I think I should have used Cherry Blossoms instead of FilipinaCupid. Cherry Blossoms allows more and better pictures, so it's a lot easier to distinguish thin girls from fat. There also seem to be more pretty Cebu girls there. Leave a Blossoms page up in your browser at all times so it appears that you're logged in; I got lots of unsolicited attention from girls on the site when I did this.

If you do online, list your location as the Philippine city you're going to visit; not the foreign city you're currently in. The girls don't need to know that you're not there yet. Guys who they imagine they might meet tomorrow will get a different response than guys on the other side of the world.

Feedback is welcome. Can't wait to go back.

(08-11-2014 02:04 AM)Johnny Caustic Wrote:  I recently visited Cebu for three weeks and got two notches--one from online game, and one I picked up on a street corner. Both quite cute. Better than I do in America, but not good by Fisto standards. Part of the reason I only got two notches is because I spent about seven days with the two girls I did get, but part of it is that I found it very hard to get girls to meet me, even though I had an apartment in a central location. Here I'm posting some random observations about Cebu dating for your edification. I would be also interested in your thoughts about how I could have gotten more girls to meet. For reference, I'm white, middle-aged, and average looking, though in Cebu some women called me handsome.

I definitely got a lot more unsolicited attention from women than I do in the US (where I get none). There was lots of eye-fucking, sometimes from really pretty women, and quite a few of the mall clerks asked lots of questions about me, inevitably including "Are you married?" Some female clerks were just extra-nice in the obsequious way I normally only see in beta guys sucking up to cute girls. There was also an interesting episode in Robinson's department store where a male clerk learned I was single and tried to hook me up with four of his fellow female clerks.

The eye-fucking seemed to increase as I got further from the center of Cebu. I probably got the least attention at Mango Square and Ayala Mall (except from ladyboys, whom you can always count on for attention). But when I went to places where you don't see white guys at all, like the malls in nearby Mandaue City and Consolacion, I was really getting serious stares from very pretty clerks. And comments about my handsome nose.

A plus of daygaming clerks and salesgirls in malls and nice hotels is that they hire a lot of cute young women. Labor is cheap in the Philippines; in department stores, it seems like there's a clerk for every aisle, most of them pretty unmarried young women. A minus is that store clerks always seem to be in pairs; it's almost impossible to get privacy to ask a clerk out. I need to figure out a way to daygame a clerk while her coworker is standing two feet away.

All right.

Well, right off the bat, that's a huge issue, man.

You weren't in the Philippines long enough to realize your value. You don't need privacy to ask a store clerk out. I asked girls out in front of their co-workers, in front of their friends, and even in front of their parents.

Your value in the Philippines is through the roof, man.

Let's run the numbers here. If you make 5k a month, that puts you in the top .01% of the filipino population (this is from a filipino news article I read when I lived in Manila). Now, imagine that when a Filipino girl sees you, in her mind, there is a line of 10,000 men, starting with you, and you are the one with the highest income.

That's the first thing. Filipino girls are attracted to guys that have their act together, and they have the impression that Americans have their act together, and that we're fun guys.

Also, the Philippines, of all the countries in the world, has the highest favorable views of Americans of any country, including Americans themselves.

Filipinos Have Favorable Views of America

That's right, Filipinos like Americans more than Americans like Americans.

But let's say for whatever reason, she doesn't care (or doesn't realize) about the money thing, which is more common than you might think.

Even then, on top of that, you can add height, good looks, higher education, foreign language ability (if you speak a language other than English), a sense of adventurism, and any of many other attractive qualities that American guys who visit the Philippines possess, which basically make Filipina girls predisposed to be attracted to us.

I got two or three girls flirting with me pretty much every time I entered any place with girls in the below 26 age range. That said, don't be passive and just expect the prettiest girls to show blatant interest 100% of the time, they may be preoccupied with their job or whatnot, so if you want them, you've got to make it clear to them that you have sexual intent towards them.

If you tell a girl that you want her, in front of other people, this shows balls, and Filipino girls are attracted to that, so it's a great way to begin a relationship, it sets the tone of you taking the active role, which is great.

I am telling you, it is 100% okay to be completely direct in expressing your desire for a Filipina woman, in public. Just go up to her, introduce yourself, and either get her number, or give her yours. You'll make her day. Her coworkers will all look up to her for her having caught your attention.

It's a HUGE compliment.

So now you know!

I'm glad you went, I'm glad you shared your thoughts on here, and best of luck with the girls you met. You didn't state your aims in that post, but if your aims are to eventually find something serious, I would recommend day game 100% for meeting a solid Filipina girl. Online is not the way to go for a serious thing, it can work, and it's fine for a casual thing, but if you want something serious, daygame is the better bet, by far.

(08-11-2014 03:17 AM)Spaniard88 Wrote:  Your value in the Philippines is through the roof, man.

Let's run the numbers here. If you make 5k a month, that puts you in the top .01% of the filipino population (this is from a filipino news article I read when I lived in Manila). Now, imagine that when a Filipino girl sees you, in her mind, there is a line of 10,000 men, starting with you, and you are the one with the highest income.

That's the first thing. Filipino girls are attracted to guys that have their act together, and they have the impression that Americans have their act together, and that we're fun guys.

Also, the Philippines, of all the countries in the world, has the highest favorable views of Americans of any country, including Americans themselves.

Filipinos Have Favorable Views of America

That's right, Filipinos like Americans more than Americans like Americans.

But let's say for whatever reason, she doesn't care (or doesn't realize) about the money thing, which is more common than you might think.

Even then, on top of that, you can add height, good looks, higher education, foreign language ability (if you speak a language other than English), a sense of adventurism, and any of many other attractive qualities that American guys who visit the Philippines possess, which basically make Filipina girls predisposed to be attracted to us.

I got two or three girls flirting with me pretty much every time I entered any place with girls in the below 26 age range. That said, don't be passive and just expect the prettiest girls to show blatant interest 100% of the time, they may be preoccupied with their job or whatnot, so if you want them, you've got to make it clear to them that you have sexual intent towards them.

If you tell a girl that you want her, in front of other people, this shows balls, and Filipino girls are attracted to that, so it's a great way to begin a relationship, it sets the tone of you taking the active role, which is great.

I am telling you, it is 100% okay to be completely direct in expressing your desire for a Filipina woman, in public. Just go up to her, introduce yourself, and either get her number, or give her yours. You'll make her day. Her coworkers will all look up to her for her having caught your attention.

It's a HUGE compliment.

So now you know!

I'm glad you went, I'm glad you shared your thoughts on here, and best of luck with the girls you met. You didn't state your aims in that post, but if your aims are to eventually find something serious, I would recommend day game 100% for meeting a solid Filipina girl. Online is not the way to go for a serious thing, it can work, and it's fine for a casual thing, but if you want something serious, daygame is the better bet, by far.

   
http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/6...over-taxed
Here is the income bracket breakdown of the Philippines

(08-11-2014 04:40 AM)calwinston Wrote:  http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/6...over-taxed
Here is the income bracket breakdown of the Philippines

Nice.

For the new guys, 1 Filipino Peso equals 0.023 U.S. Dollars right now. So, to be in the top .1% (not the top .01%) of families, according to the information above, you've got to make 702,000 pesos a year. That's $15,991 a year, or $1,332 a month. The article I read showed the even higher bracket (.01%) at $5,000 a month.

So, yeah...if you're American, and you make two to five grand a month, you occupy a very privileged position in Filipino society.

The income range is actually even more absurd than what the chart depicts. They are being real generous for what they describe as the "middle class" range. The reality is the true middle class in the Philippines is better determined through purchasing power. For example a "middle class" person in Manila does not have the same income range as a middle class person in let's say Bicol.

Also at the top end of the income spectrum you'll see some insanely rich Filipino families who basically just loot the system like crazy and buy manhattan condos and french villas with their stolen cash. The GDP is very very top heavy which is to say a tiny % hold all the wealth.

(08-11-2014 01:30 AM)username Wrote:  Enigma had two great post above, the 3-category types of girls is solid and the friends advice is huge. Now I will be subconsciously labeling each girl a C1, C2, or C3 based on Enigma's system along with the standard 1 to 10 looks rating. "Jenifer is a solid girl, she is an 8 C1" or "Maria is a 5 C2 lite C3, not really worth seeing again."

One thing I want to make clear is that the categories are more applicable to online game. Girls often see online as the best way to find a white guy, and many of them consider it the only reason to use online game period.

Meanwhile a girl you meet at the mall or wherever may not actively be looking for a white guy, so even though your status/money will obviously be a factor in your value, she doesn't so much have the clear cut motivation of a girl who makes an account and logs in everyday "looking" for something.

There's also a difference in the categories outside of Davao. I avoid talking with girls from Manila for the most part, but the hotter girls are WAY more responsive to me there. It's not just a numbers thing either, they seem to skew more towards C1.

Quote:The second post about bringing friends is one of the most important post in this thread. About 1 week ago I was a little of pissed when a girl I was pipelining wanted to bring her friends along when we meet up. But now I see that she (or her friends) can serve as virtual wing(wo)man and help seal the deal. Great advice about going along with it and using it to your advantage.

Keep in mind that there's plenty of times where I didn't let her bring a friend just so I could get a quick, easy bang. I'm just saying it shouldn't be a deal breaker, especially if you don't mind going out drinking with a group of cute girls.

(08-11-2014 01:38 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  Quite frankly, some of them want to bring their friends with them to show you off as well. They do it so they can boast.

Good point. But in order for the boast to be effective, you have to be something the second girl wants and you have to be of a certain value. Meaning you can still have either girl and neither will cockblock you.

There's another funny story I just thought about. I text this chick in the late evening and she's going to come over, but she's already out with a friend and asks if she can bring her. I asked if the friend was cute, actually thinking I could set up a threesome. Suddenly she's sending a pic of the friend and giving her my number. Just like that the girls trade places and I'm talking with (the cuter) girl #2 instead.

The friend thing has happened so many times at this point that I find it to be pretty much a given. I'm glad I posted this stuff too because it's making me reflect and realize where I've went wrong in pulling threesomes.

Enigma

Can you explain why you avoid talking to girls from Manila. Also just to
Clarify, hotter girls from Manila have been more receptive than other cities ?

Because I'm not in Manila.

More receptive than Davao, by far.

Just to add to Enigmas great insightful post as usual I might add, chatting to girls online on FC, I've also noticed that:
A) there are a lot more hotter girls in MNL. Not surprisingly as it's a huge metropolis.
B) they have been way more open and friendlier to me than hotties of the same level elsewhere in the country.

Right now I'm talking to a certified 9 From MNL (not just by Phil's standards but international standards), who has a good and stable high paying career. She's by far the hottest and sweetest Pinay I've seen and chatted with online. She's so fine and so sweet that I'm toying with the idea of locking her down as my main girl when I get there this fall.

To be honest, and after chatting with so many girls online from the Phil's, I noticed that I enjoy much more chatting and talking with MNL girls than provincial ones. I get tired if them very easy and very fast as my ideal type if girl is a sweet, feminine and smart and brainy and MNL has the highest concentration of them.

I want to spend some time in MNL this fall as this where the highest concentration of hotties are. Plus from there it's easy to hop on a flight to pretty much anywhere.

Johnny C,
Great insightful post! Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts here!

I've been on both CB and FC and I can say without hesitation that the calibre of girls is higher on FC than CB. CB has good talent too but IMO not as much as in FC.

(08-11-2014 05:03 AM)Spaniard88 Wrote:  

(08-11-2014 04:40 AM)calwinston Wrote:  http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/6...over-taxed
Here is the income bracket breakdown of the Philippines

Nice.

For the new guys, 1 Filipino Peso equals 0.023 U.S. Dollars right now. So, to be in the top .1% (not the top .01%) of families, according to the information above, you've got to make 702,000 pesos a year. That's $15,991 a year, or $1,332 a month. The article I read showed the even higher bracket (.01%) at $5,000 a month.

So, yeah...if you're American, and you make two to five grand a month, you occupy a very privileged position in Filipino society.

Good observation that the pyramid shows 0.1% rather than 0.01%. One more step toward the truth is to notice that it speaks to PER CAPITA income. Rich people rarely have many children so let's assume that the rich pinoy in the top 0.1% has a family of four (himself, partner and two children). He would have to make about $6300 a month for his family to be one in a thousand. That's already above the American average salary. If he has a family of just three, $5K would be enough to make the cut. Note that this happens to be the amount necessary to reach 0.01, but again on a per capita basis. So a family man needs at least $15K a month to be 1/10000 over there, and he needs $20000 per month if he wants that second child. Of course, all that does not take into account other assets. Personally, I was once in the privileged position of making 30K pre-"dubya" dollars a year in an ex-Soviet republic where the average salary did not pay the subsidized transportation costs to work. I felt filthy rich and it translated to ease of pickups as well but there were much richer people around me, the ones who basically control the country and rob the people.

(08-11-2014 04:27 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  Johnny C,
Great insightful post! Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts here!

I've been on both CB and FC and I can say without hesitation that the calibre of girls is higher on FC than CB. CB has good talent too but IMO not as much as in FC.

I am doing some pipelining for my planned visit to Manila on DIA, LoveAwake and CB. I only do the latter two because at first I did not know about DIA, and I find myself visiting them less and less. IMO, DIA is far better than CB and quite a bit better than LoveAwake. How does DIA compare with FC?

I just received an email from SkyScanner showing that tickets to the Philippines just dropped by $40 to $60, depending on your departure location (for tickets for March of next year). I am not yet ready to pull the trigger, but other forum members might find that information useful.

That is the largest drop that I have witnessed in the past few months. For example, the cheapest is $745 from LAX to MNL for next March on All Nippon Airways (ANA) or for a much better 18-hour flight each way, $759. Another example, for this October $762 on Air China.

(08-11-2014 09:43 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  I just received an email from SkyScanner showing that tickets to the Philippines just dropped by $40 to $60, depending on your departure location (for tickets for March of next year). I am not yet ready to pull the trigger, but other forum members might find that information useful.

That is the largest drop that I have witnessed in the past few months. For example, the cheapest is $745 from LAX to MNL for next March on All Nippon Airways (ANA) or for a much better 18-hour flight each way, $759. Another example, for this October $762 on Air China.

That's extremely inexpensive. Might be an unadvertised sale.

(08-11-2014 09:53 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  

(08-11-2014 09:43 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  ..... All Nippon Airways (ANA) or for a much better 18-hour flight each way, $759. Another example, for this October $762 on Air China.

That's extremely inexpensive. Might be an unadvertised sale.

Air China is ...well.. Chinese. I believe All Nippon is Japanese.

The online reviews I've found of Chinese Airlines have been withering.

I try to fly Japanese Airlines if I can, the last (only actually) two times I've Flown Japan Airlines I got a free hotel room for an overnight in Tokyo waiting for the Tokyo-Manila flight. Also, how many broken down Toyotas have you seen by the side of the road? ;-)

The ticket is about $300 more I think, but I really like that Japanese service and this time I'm going SFO-TKYO on the 787 Dreamliner.

I had a flight on Lufthansa Airbus 380 and it was a quiet, much more fresh-aired, low vibration game-changer. Real different from the 747 generation.

ANA is a first class, five star airline, considered by some to be top ten in the world. Air China is a middling experience, they'll get you there, but its more akin to US service. Not all Chinese airlines are created equal to be sure, but many suffer from some of the same maladies (bad booze, people bribing their way into biz class, non-English speaking FAs). Many of them have brand new planes though, and I'd check out reviews of the specific route. Is it on Air China metal, or is it a codeshare. If its on Air China metal then its a fifth freedom flight, as airlines typically do not fly between two countries neither of which is their flag. The exception is fifth freedom flights, and J (Biz) and F (first) class seats might be very reasonable on that flight.

Several other airlines did announce discount flights to MNL recently, and it was advertised or at least prominent on web blogs, as were the trips to HKG on Delta and UA.

(08-11-2014 10:35 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  The ticket is about $300 more I think, but I really like that Japanese service and this time I'm going SFO-TKYO on the 787 Dreamliner.

I hope that you have short shin bones, my friend. I flew from Europe to the U.S. a few months ago. My carrier had their Airbus sidelined for maintenance and temporarily leased a 787 Dreamliner from LOT. I thought to myself: "Great, I get to fly on the new Boeing flagship." Wishful thinking.

The retractable footrest (suitable only for children and little people) stays painfully pressed against your shins. I was astounded at the stupidity of that major, and completely avoidable, engineering flaw. I am 6'1" and I normally remove all the junk from the magazine pocket to provide some more knee room. That does you no good on this airliner, because the footrest provides a very HARD stop.

Good luck on an 18-hour flight, if you have long legs. I will never again knowingly fly coach on a Dreamliner. The Dreamliner was my nightmare.

This is a photograph from a blog, not from me. I was much more cramped. The chair legs in front of you prevent your feet from moving far enough to the side to allow you to place your knees on either side of the footrest. Does Boeing employ a band of midget engineers? Unbelievable stupidity.

   

(08-11-2014 09:53 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  

(08-11-2014 09:43 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  I just received an email from SkyScanner showing that tickets to the Philippines just dropped by $40 to $60, depending on your departure location (for tickets for March of next year). I am not yet ready to pull the trigger, but other forum members might find that information useful.

That is the largest drop that I have witnessed in the past few months. For example, the cheapest is $745 from LAX to MNL for next March on All Nippon Airways (ANA) or for a much better 18-hour flight each way, $759. Another example, for this October $762 on Air China.

That's extremely inexpensive. Might be an unadvertised sale.

Airfare must have taken a huge jump in the past six months because I booked SFO to MNL this past February for less than $500 on EVA Air. That was less than a month in advance.

My domestic flight to SFO got cancelled and I rebooked through Singapore for $650 from SFO to Davao. That flight had 3 stops though, including a decent layover in Singapore, but it was the best deal I could find on a flight like 3 days in advance.

That sounds like a thirty hour trip, Enigma. Was that a roundtrip price - I think what's being quoted is roundtrip, not one way.

FYI the configuration of seats on the plane are largely upto the carrier, and not based upon Boeing or Airbus design. Some airlines cram more seats into a space of a given size, some less. Look at all the Airbus 300 configurations and A380's as well, all over the map. It becomes a selling point with certain airlines that you're sharing your row (or a premium class) with fewer passengers. In fact, there's big activity on forums for which seat to pick on these types of flights, at least in premium classes.

(08-11-2014 11:21 PM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  I hope that you have short shin bones, my friend. ....... Does Boeing employ a band of midget engineers? Unbelievable stupidity.

Yikes. Thanks for the warning. I'll report back on my poor shinbones lol.

I can attest that an aisle seat on Lufthansa 380 was really one of the best experiences I've had. Especially the more humid air, it isn't so stuffy like older planes.

I also liked the Airbuses that Philippines Air Lines runs inter-city in Philippines. 320s?

(08-11-2014 11:49 PM)Global Entry Wrote:  That sounds like a thirty hour trip, Enigma. Was that a roundtrip price - I think what's being quoted is roundtrip, not one way.

FYI the configuration of seats on the plane are largely upto the carrier, and not based upon Boeing or Airbus design. Some airlines cram more seats into a space of a given size, some less. Look at all the Airbus 300 configurations and A380's as well, all over the map. It becomes a selling point with certain airlines that you're sharing your row (or a premium class) with fewer passengers. In fact, there's big activity on forums for which seat to pick on these types of flights, at least in premium classes.

Oh yeah duh roundtrip. Nevermind

It was a doozy but I actually enjoyed the stops since I'd never been to Asia. I'm sure the older guys could care less but just chilling in an airport in Korea was a cool experience for me. And since I work from my laptop anyways, the extra time spent was worth the couple hundred bucks I saved.

I flew in a 787 (ANA) from Changi to Narita. It was nothing special. I'm a pretty tall guy as well (6'2, 210) and I didn't find the seat especially uncomfortable.

I wasn't all that impressed with the plane to be honest.

Of course 7 hours isn't 15.

My flight was originally on United but they cancelled the flight for "maintenance" and rebooked me. It was like a week later that their other plane had to land at midway.

I think I am done with United. Their planes are so old they don't have outlets, or tv's in the seat back. A 15 hour flight without your own TV is pretty freaking long.

First world problems...I know.

I can't sit still that long. I walk to the back and go to the bathroom like 15 times on a long flight like that. I don't know how some people can sleep through everything, or just sit and not move for that long.

For all the great things about the Philppines or Asia in general, the flight over there is a real bitch.

Guys, I never planned on sharing this with the forum...I wrote it almost half a year ago, it's an entry in my travel journal...it's somewhat private, but I decided tonight I'd share it with you all, since I've definitely obtained some value out of the forum, both regarding my time living abroad, and now that I'm back in America, regarding other subjects. Also, Roosh always puts himself out there in a raw fashion, he shows us the humdrum, the exciting, the successes, and the failures, and I think, in that respect, it's an admirable example he sets. Since I've joined the forum, I've tried to contribute value back to it, and I appreciate the rep. points some of you guys have given me regarding some of my other posts, especially the comments regarding those points. Thank you. I do try to keep in mind the value that we all look for in this forum whenever I make a post...I hope you guys feel this piece brings some value to the thread/forum.

Here goes...

Davao.

I haven't set aside the time to sit down and write about my experiences thus far in Davao because the city's nooks and crannies, friendly people, and the blatant juxtapositions between its poverty and its wealth have enthralled me. I arrived Monday morning on Cebu airlines from Iloilo City to Davao with no delay and no issues. We encountered some turbulence on the flight, and I couldn't help but think of the Malaysian airliner that went down over the ocean several days ago, a couple of hours away from here, taking the lives of 239 people. The newspapers are still unsure what happened, but next of kin have been notified. There's the possibility that there was a hijacking, but a high altitude disintegration is the most likely culprit at this point, according to the newspapers here. My father has updated me on this, informing me that two of the passengers on the plane, Iranians, used fraudulent passports. As in, the people who those passports belong to are alive and in their respective countries and were not aboard that flight. Those two people reported that their passports had been stolen about a year ago. This could be part of the rumor mill, but if true, is an interesting development.

My father was somewhat worried with my being abroad, considering the revolution going on in Ukraine, and now with this airliner going down, but I explained to him that Ukraine is quite far from here. He knew this, but was mentioning the events as part of an "it's a dangerous world" theme. He doesn't know that a force of about 100 NPA (New People's Army, the armed faction of the Communist Party of the Philippines) rebels attacked a police station about 40 minutes away on Monday, the day I arrived. The shootout ended with the deaths of 2 rebels and the capture of several, who are now undergoing tactical interrogation, according to local newspapers. However, as the government soldiers pursued the rebel force, a landmine exploded, causing 9 soldiers to lose their lives, and a similar amount to sustain injuries. The rebel force was able to get away, and they did acquire seven M-16 rifles and two 9 mm pistols from the police station.

In any case, the taxi ride from the airport to my intended lodging, the Jun N Dell Appartelle, was fairly short. The taxi driver turned on the meter without me asking him to, and like in Iloilo City, his English was almost non-existent, but it was good enough to get me from point A to point B. A cool breeze flowed through the island, creating perfect weather, which, it turns out, is fixed year round. There is no winter here, it is continuously about 80 degrees, very nice and cool in the morning, and fairly hot midday, but it doesn't go over 90 degrees, as this isn't Texas, so you won't see mirages on the roads here. I was initially concerned the humidity, hovering at about 89% while I've been in this country, might be stifling, but it actually feels amazing. It's very comfortable, even as I've been walking five to ten miles a day. The pleasant breeze continuously dries out my clothes as I move about.

My immediate concern upon arrival was finding long term lodging. As I arrived in the Appartelle, a blonde-ish guy in his 30's with a bald spot in the back of his head was walking out of his apartment with a Filipina in her 20's accompanying him. I greeted them both, my new neighbors. It looks like this path I walk on has been tread before...and the ruts run deep. There were two rooms available at the Appartelle, a studio for 13,000 pesos a month and a 1 bedroom apartment for 20,000 pesos a month. I took the 1 bedroom apartment, as the 20,000 pesos a month comes out to 450 dollars a month, all bills paid, which is half what I was paying in Iloilo City. Also, my new place has not one, but three internet connections, so if one goes down, I simply switch to the other one and all is well. This is fantastic and has contributed greatly to my peace of mind. I'm now able to plot my explorations beforehand, to ensure I don't get lost, and to increase my day's efficiency. As of yet, the I have never been unable to get online. The electricity here is not rationed like it was at the luxury hotel in Iloilo City. I can leave my electronics charging while I'm out exploring without any issues.

My neighborhood has two armed guards protecting the only entrance to it, and if you don't live here, you can't get in. If you are a taxi driver coming in, you have to hand over your identification when you enter the neighborhood, and you get it back when you leave. Safety is fantastic. I haven't mentioned this, but in the Philippines, there are armed guard everywhere with an amalgam of weapons, M-16's, shotguns, pistols, etc. Every establishment that's somewhat respectable-looking has armed guards. They're all very friendly, they open the door for you at the establishments and you can ask them for things, like wifi passwords and where the restrooms are.

As soon as I arrived, I paid for the room for a month, then headed out to the mall to access more cash for the deposit (one month's rent plus deposit, for a total of 900 dollars). The owner of the place is an older lady whose kids live in America. She's managed the place so well that she is now building a third Appartelle (there are currently two locations, each with about 18 units). She can understand most of what I say, as long as I keep it simple. That's not to say that the people here are not good with languages. They all speak Tagalog, fluently, English, ranging in fluency from basic to fair, and many speak a third language, such as Hiligaynon, or some other local language. The lower you go on the social scale, the more basic the English is, though, with it being non-existent at the very bottom of society.

At the exit to Rivera Villa, my new neighborhood, I decided to take a left, heading over to Ayala Abreeza Mall. There was construction going on en route, but unlike in Iloilo City, the construction area was surrounded by 15 ft. high tin sheets, painted a nice blue color, so they weren't an eye-sore. The sheets blocked out most of the dust from reaching the street, which meant I could breathe air much cleaner than in Iloilo City. Still, the air is much, much dirtier than in Austin, TX. I had noticed that people wore rags on their backs, stuffed into their shirt collars, and I wasn't sure why they did this, but now I know it is because they carry these rags to cover their mouth and nostrils when the air gets particularly bad, especially for the children.

On the way to the mall, I looked for some kind of chain restaurant that sells entire chickens, like the one in Iloilo City, which I enjoyed, but I saw none. There were chain restaurants, but they all sold junk food, high carb, low meat, like typical American fare, not what you want to eat if you want to look like a man, not a eunuch. The chain restaurants here are outnumbered by mom and pop eateries with small portions of chicken, pork, and rice cooked in a hundred different ways.

When I entered the mall, a security guard inspected my backpack and patted me down, which is standard protocol on the Philippines. What greeted me as I walked in, though, was unexpected. It was a mall unlike anything I'd ever seen before. 3 floors, each extremely large. The storefronts were mainly glass, all in a peak state of cleanliness. Glass, glass, and more glass. Amazing lighting. Not only did this place have trash cans on every floor, unlike in Iloilo City, but it had two at each spot, a recycling bin and a trash bin. This mall puts Barton Creek mall in Austin to shame. It makes Barton Creek look like a cold, dark cave with gnawed up cave-bear bones strewn about. I ate some sushi, and it was amazing. Not very filling, but it was amazing. It was about 6 dollars, which was reasonable enough for the presentation/ambiance.

The food court in the mall was quite a sight. It's on the third level of the mall, but the outer wall is open to the outside, with a section protruding from the rest of the mall covered by a very strong tarp of some kind, similar to that used in the "balloon" stadium in Austin off of I-35. Think of it as a giant terrace overlooking the city. Most of the restaurants sold typical mall food, the kind which you might see in any American mall, but there were several nicer restaurants as well. I grabbed some cash from the ATM, went back to the appartelle to pay off my bill, and took an inventory of the things I needed, then headed back out, going left again at the entrance to Rivera Village. I walked quite a while, past the first mall I had gone to (Ayala-Abreeza Mall), all the way until I reached a mall called Victoria Mall, which is the equivalent of the "not as cool" mall in an American town. This older mall was far more populated than the newer mall, so I got to see what the people of Davao look like.

The people of Iloilo City were Visayan, of that there was no doubt. Davao, however, is very different. The Visayan blood is dominant here as well, but there is a strong Japanese and Chinese strain in Davao's veins. It is very common here to see light skinned girls without the Visayan nose, something extremely rare in Iloilo City. I like the look of the women here better than the women of Iloilo City. An important factor is that this city is noticeably wealthier than Iloilo City, which means the people here get better nutrition than the people in Iloilo City. That doesn't mean their nutrition is adequate, however, it is still sub-par, and many of the people here look like they have lived a calorie-deficient life, their bodies tell a story of going without. The middle class girls here are noticeably healthier than the lower class girls. I have seen some girls here who, had they had proper nutrition growing up, could have been very beautiful, but perhaps their hips did not develop properly, or their height did not reach its full extent. You will see people here with minor deformities which, in America, you would not see because, as a last resort, a charity or the government would have treated/dealt with the issue, for example hairy moles the circumference of a quarter, and protruding almost an inch, on someone's face. It's terribly sad.

I ate junk food all day, because of the flight and my lack of knowledge as to where the good restaurants are, and at this point, while traversing Victoria Mall, I needed to go to the restroom. This was the first time I had to take a dump in a public restroom. I'd urinated in public restrooms here before, but had never taken a dump. So, I get to the food court restroom and go in a stall, but I notice it has neither toilet paper or a seat cushion (you can sit on the piss-covered rim), so I check the next stall. Same thing. At this point, I'm ready to explode, and I'm thinking it's going to be a wet one. I check the other four stalls, and none has toilet paper, and none has a seat cover, and I'm ready to pop. I go up to the bathroom attendant and say, "toilet paper?" He goes, "no, no paper." I go, "how can I use the toilet, then?" He goes, "you buy." Okay, okay, no worries, I have cash on me. "Where? Where can I buy?" He motions to a shelf on the wall with a glass cover, where you put coins in, kind of like a cheap condom dispenser at an American gasoline station, except it has no sheets of toilet paper in it, it's supposed to, but it's empty. No toilet paper. "There's none!" I tell him. He looks at me and goes to the ladies' restroom, knocks, and yells out, "toilet paper!" This girl comes out holding a rectangular box in her hands, with seven bundles of toilet paper in it. Each bundle has three sheets. I tell her, "I'll take them all!" and I try to give her all the change in my pocket, 31 pesos, but she refuses to take it and says, "only 1 peso each." I go, "just give me all of them!" I'm laughing at this point, which makes holding the upcoming eruption in that much harder. I motion for her to keep the cash and to just give me all of them. She goes, "only one peso," not wanting me to take her entire stash. I play along, I don't want to be rude, so I adopt a serious, inquisitive expression and say, "Okay, well, how much does a normal person use to take a shit? What would you suggest?" She looks at me -- at this point, I'm alternating between standing on my left leg and standing on my right leg -- thinks for a moment, pondering the matter seriously, then counts out 5 small bundles, takes some of my pesos, and gives me change.

Trusting in her judgment, I take the bundles and head over to the final stall. I figure shit's about to get real, and I may need some privacy. I pull my shorts down, attempting to avoid them touching the piss-covered floor (it's slippery). There's no way I'm sitting on the wet, shit-stained rim, so I squat over the toilet bowl. I forgot to take the small toilet paper sheets out of my pocket before I went into my bare-bottom squat, so now I have to reach down while maintaining the squat, to find my short's right pocket, while not moving my shorts around too much, lest they touch the liquid floor and soak up the contents. My legs are aching. I grab the toilet paper and decide the time has come. My legs are too long, so half the shit explodes into the bowl, while the other half explodes onto the back rim. Perhaps I'm just making excuses, I might just have lousy aim.

At this point, I would normally just start wiping away, but the problem is I only have 5 bundles, one wipe per bundle, unless you're ok with the liquid seeping through the paper onto your fingers. The issue is, what if there's more shit? I mean, what if this was just the beginning of a continuous eruption? If that's the case, then if I wipe, I'll have to go again immediately, and I'll be out of paper. There's no faucet nearby, so I can't use the water method either (handy in a residential situation where the toilet paper has run out). If I wipe, and the pressure returns, I'll be in deep shit. So I hold the squat, but for how long can I hold it? I'm in pretty fantastic shape, but I have a limit as to how long I can hold a squat. I can walk all day, but I can't squat all day. I decide after a couple of dribbles that this is going to be a one-eruption kind of shit, and start wiping, taking my chances. The first bundle disintegrates in my hand almost immediately as I wipe. The second bundle fares no better. The third bundle is more resilient, and I'm relieved. Now I've got two bundles left. Do I wipe down the rim? Or do I focus on myself and leave the rim to the mall workers? I'd be a jerk if I did that. I ponder this for a moment as I maintain my squat. I decide to attempt to do both, so I use the fourth bundle to wipe, but I wipe as if my life depended on it, I mean, I got all up into every nook and crevice, it was really an exemplary wipe.

Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough, and I needed the final bundle for some after-action work, but luckily, after achieving a satisfactory level of cleanliness, I did have enough left to wipe the rim down (mostly), so I did. I did this while still maintaining my squat, reaching in between my legs, because I had no place to set the toilet paper aside, since if I put it on the floor, it would get soaked in piss and become useless. I finished and put my pants back on, but then I felt a rumbling in my stomach, and I had to erupt once more, fudge! Just kidding, that would have been a disaster, but, luckily, the situation didn't escalate beyond the above-described events (and if it had, I would keep it to myself). Note to self, in the Philippines, carry toilet paper everywhere you go.

After that incident, I washed my hands thoroughly and headed over to a plaza, where I walked into a seafood restaurant. I picked out a live eel, which the cook killed and prepared for me. It was amazing. I'll have to go back to that restaurant, the quality was fantastic. In general, though, the food here is more expensive than in America, while at the same time being of poorer quality. For example, I bought some pistachios, and they were about the same price as pistachios in America, but the quality was far lower. You cannot find walnuts or pecans here. They are simply not for sale. Forget about filet mignon. I bought a frying pan when I first arrived, thinking I would cook my own food, in order to eat healthy, but this was a mistake. The food in the supermarkets here simply does not attract me. It is of poor quality. I bought some dried pineapples (the sugary treat), and it tastes almost fermented. It's of far lower quality than in the U.S. I ordered a plate that feeds "4 or 5 people," because I figured that might be enough for a meal for me, and it was 8 small shrimp, some battered onion rings (like 8 of them), about a half pound of fish, and two large scoops of rice. Basically, not enough food for me for one sitting. It was 16 bucks (with the glass of water), which is more than it would have cost in the U.S. The Philippines are an archipelago, so goods that have to be imported from abroad are going to be more expensive than back in America, where economies of scale keep things relatively cheap. Some food items, like chicken, pork, and rice, are cheap here, though, and they make up the majority of the Filipino diet.

I did find one place I liked, where meals can be had for 6 dollars, spaghetti with some veggies and about 1/3 of a pound of fish. It even comes with a complimentary ice cold coffee of some kind. It takes them about 20 minutes to prepare the meal, but it's delicious. I was curious about the economy of the Philippines, so I asked the cashier at that place how much she makes a day. She says she makes 300 pesos a day, which is about 7 dollars. That means that my meal, at 250 pesos, plus a 50 peso tip that I leave, but most diners would not, is her entire wage for a day. I eat there because the food is as close as I can get to what i would normally eat at home (minus the spaghetti). I also asked a lady at a retail store how much she made, and her answer was 300 pesos as well, but she does not make tips, like the cashier does (the cashier splits tips with the waiter and cook). 300 pesos for 8 hours is the minimum wage in Davao, or close to it. 300 pesos. 300 pesos is about 7 dollars. About all you can buy with that, if you want to have money left over for some underwear, is rice. So minimum wage workers here do make at least enough for underwear and rice. These minimum wage workers work 6 days a week, then have one day off, unlike most Americans, who work 5 days a week, and then have two days off. These folks work very, very, very hard for the little that they have.

The houses are constructed in a haphazard manner, with no building codes, in some cases resulting in a reality approximating an Escher painting, with doors opening up to a staircase (no hall), and a shower spraying water onto the toilet, which is right under the shower-head, for example. I have been to bathrooms which are not fully enclosed, with the upper half wall of the bathroom missing (deliberately), opening to the kitchen of the restaurant. The reasoning behind this, I don't know, but I am thinking it's for ventilation, as there are no vents in most restrooms here like we have in America. The apartment where I live at the moment, while more than satisfactory (I would highly recommend it if visiting Davao), has small structural cracks (stress fractures from the foundation settling in unevenly) everywhere. There is one in the archway between my bedroom and kitchen. There is one starting in the corner of my bedroom window. There are several coming down from the ceiling of my bedroom down to the floor of the bedroom. There is one coming up from the floor of the living room to the living room window. They are everywhere. I am on the second floor of the building. I imagine the small cracks run through the entire building.

Whenever you shop at a large department store, let's say you want to buy a towel, and then you want to buy an umbrella as well. These two are in different sections of the same department store. So, you grab the umbrella, then, an employee will come up to you, grab the umbrella, write a receipt for it, pack the umbrella in a plastic bag, seal the plastic bag with a heat-machine, charge you for the umbrella, then staple the receipt onto the plastic bag. You can then continue to the other area of the department store, to keep shopping, and repeat the procedure with each purchase. This is some kind of theft-deterrent mechanism, from what I can gather.

If you go to a bookstore, every book, every single book, is wrapped in plastic. You cannot peruse books here like you can in the U.S. The price of books here is equal to the price of books in America, except it really isn't, because in America, we have Half-Price books, my favorite bookstore, which the Philippines doesn't have, so books are, effectively, more expensive here. I did not see a public library in this city of 1.36 million or so. In America, one of our greatest authors, Ray Bradbury, was self-taught. This is a partial quote from Wikipedia's Ray Bradbury page:

"He did not attend college. Instead, he sold newspapers at the corner of South Norton Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. In regard to his education, Bradbury said: "Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years." He told The Paris Review, "You can't learn to write in college. It's a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t.""

There will never be a Filipino Ray Bradbury. Or if there will be, he won't come from Davao.

Hey guys,

Will be staying in Manila for a few weeks next month. Do any of you have any recommendations for apartments (I'm not that fussy, just don't want to be in a shit area) and a decent gym with free weights?

Have checked out AirBnB and hotel sites but accommodation is much more expensive than I expected...