Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
1) Is it safe (generally) to hang around in LA Cafe, EDSA, P Burgos Bar, AF1 alone?
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you can hang around in LA Cafe, but P Burgos is a street full of bars, don't know what you mean by hang around
AF1 is a KTV, so go, get what you want, do what you like and leave ..
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
2) EDSA seems very near to my hotel, LAC not far away, can anyone advise the exact location of P Burgos Bar and AF1? Is AF1 a KTV or a HC like Poseidon/Emmanuel in Thailand? I was a bit confuse reading some of the earlier post.
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yep, Edsa is just across your hotel.
As for AF1 and the likes, google "thegentlemansclub manila" (Moderator dont' like posting link to AF1)
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
3) Is there any ST hotel to recommend in Pasay and Makati?
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If you are picking in Pasay etc, I wouldn't bother to go check into an ST Hotel
Though you can look up Sogo Hotels - they have everywhere
http://www.hotelsogo.com/
However, if it's your first time to Manila, it can be a bit scary, as the hotels are in some nook and it's common to see street kids and older fellows loitering, and trying to chat you up to suck some money out of you etc. etc.
Safest, unless you are picking up a possible scam artist (i.e. those under age, and such .. ) back to the hotel .... the hotel won't bother, especially Heritage - I know some guys who stayed there, and every day they returned with one or two different girls, the reception, at the minimum, will ask for the girl to be registered, for identity,
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
4) Anyone knows if there is any extra charges (by hotel) to bring the FL back to my hotel?
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Not that I know of, unless you book a twin occupancy and then bring in 3 or 4 girls back
happened to me once .. in a 3 star hotel though .. and I was asked to pay, when I was checking out..
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
5) Any particular taxi company i shld be avoiding?
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The coloured taxis are run by companies and dependable, reasonably, and will on the meter when asked (or most of the time, without asking)
Those pure white ones are owner-operated, so drivers have no qualms insisting meter broken, or asking for 1,000 peso for a 100 peso ride. Or purposely getting you stuck on a jam, for 2 hours, to make you offer the asked price to take a short cut.
http://www.philippinestaxiservice.com/
The first page has some 'company taxis' vs owner-operator taxis
Quote:
Originally Posted by sirkenji
I also hope to explore Makati, Green Belt 3, Havana area if traffic is not too bad, but it seems bad all the time now according to bros here.
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Actually, Manila, being the capital of a country of 100 million, has the worst possible traffic, and on d daily basis
Makati - P Burgos, to Green Belt, on a regular morning and evening, can take 30 minutes to 1 hour- when in reality, if you walk you can reach faster
Other times, it's not more than 10 minutes or so
Another time, from Makati to Mall of Asia took 3 hours plus (not kidding)
return, not even 25 minutes
That's Manila.
It has all the bling bling, high society and next to it, the shanties, street kids, people living on over head bridges, children with dirty clothes sleeping next to ABS-CBN's polished door, and just 100 feet from Posh 5 star hotels, you can see couples living in Tricycles and sleeping on the road itself
If you have been to other third world countries, it wont be a shocker, if not, it maybe a bit scary
As always, you are going on a roaming / local sight seeing mission, troll the malls leave valuables at hotel, carry a cheap local phone with local sim
Snatching of phones etc is very common, most cases don't get reported - don't ask me why.
Most important, have fun, so if carrying a iphone is going to make you jittery, leave it in the hotel
If you are scared of wallet getting snatched, just buy a cheap wallet, carry just enough cash, and leave important stuff behind (seasoned foreigners living in Manila call it 'snatch wallet' - they don't care if the wallet gets snatched.. )
Likewise, a lot of foreigner living in Manila use a 'local' phone - a 30 $ nokia phone with local sim - if it gets snatched, or somebody pulled a knife and took it from you, you don't have to worry about it (other than loss of girl contacts) then again, local thieves are known to be nice and often return the SIM card, if asked nicely
If you believe you can survive, and rough, it out, just do it
