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drogon

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Everything posted by drogon

  1. Seems the USA got a new National Insecurity Advisor.... Solution for North Korea? Same as for Muammar Gaddafi
  2. There is a well-known brand of love hotels in the Philippines that specializes in a bit crazy decoration Not my fault if the reviewer is Belgian. http://www.victoriacourt.biz/index.php Review below ------------------------- A love hotel Review of Victoria Court Las Pinas Reviewed 26 November 2011 the Victoria Court hotels are not tourist hotels; it are love hotels, you can book them for a few hours and when you arrive by your own car you can drive into a garage that has a staircase to your room. We didn't know and stayed there for only one night. Eventually our room had no lock. We had to insist to install a lock on our door. The rooms do have only a very small window, that's is only ment to refresh the room. The hotel has no reception, no lobby, no restaurant. There is a menu foor food, but there also is a menu for sextoys. The hotel is just build for SEX, if you have an affair or... Not for normal tourist. ------------------------- https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/ShowUserReviews-g312691-d2032638-r121054968-Victoria_Court_Las_Pinas-Las_Pinas_Metro_Manila_Luzon.html
  3. A pauper driving his own car -> TIT
  4. Yes, like a Thai motorcycle driver and MIB could understand a German tourist spouting insults in English..........Except dysfunctional individuals such as myself I don't often hear Europeans hear in anything else than their native language. Now, knowing all MIB and Thai moto taxi have an incomparable mastery of the English language I am sure they understood all the insults....TIT I guess.
  5. Normal and logical thing to do for any state, just that if it is a Thai company doing the development as a contractor for the government then I can see a lot of bugs that will never get a fix -> because let's not lose face, this is not a bug........ or, the deadline for the Go/No go is on xx date, of course it will be a Go or else we lose face, no matter if there are currently 450 blocking/critical bugs.
  6. You got lucky there, between the Middle East and Vietnam, plus the fact you were given the choice. Hope they extend your contract in Vietnam.
  7. Flashermac, how is retirement? Is it full-time retirement or are you still teaching from time to time?
  8. Leg is busted for life, luckily not too badly busted and most of the time I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. Thanks a lot for the info, as I understand these days you are mostly based in Vietnam?
  9. Anyone knows if it is only a flashy service or does it make you really gain time, especially when immigration queues are very long? Thanks for the help.
  10. While in Bengaluru last year I witnessed an accident involving a car and several pedestrians -> the people from TCS strongly recommended me to do nothing and ordered the TCS driver to continue on his way.... Later I go a full explanation but after Thailand and the Philippines I wasn't suprised.
  11. Not being American I just want to say that all this makes for a very entertaining soap opera with plenty of cliffhangers. This said, I was planning to go visit some relatives in San Francisco and spend a few days in New York but I will pass for now. https://edition.cnn....reat/index.html now a big question for the native English speakers. In a US newspaper article I read this sentence: "and his law associate Catherine Lyster vamoosed from the company website." What the hell is vamoosed, I googled that and understand the meaning but I never heard or read that expression before
  12. Got sandwiched once between 2 chula girls but will not tell how and how much it cost (yes I had to pay since I am not a super handsum man). Who, in his right mind, would dare take a bus in BKK these days.
  13. My 2 cents after several trips and living there for about 1 year so info starting back in 2009 up to 2018 and going back for 2 months in 2019. Went all over the country except for AC, worked in Makati. Airports: I have known NAIA when there was only the old terminal open but finally they have renovated a bit T1 and they opened the other terminals, all in all much better. For travels between plenty of main cities you have Cebu pacific + PAL + air asia, no real hassle and often some pretty good deals. Currency: Great as it is, especially compared to the Thai Baht strength. Cost of living: Excellent, not as cheap as Cambodia but still quite cheap, again compared to Thailand. Accomodation: Condos for rent can be found in all the main cities with plenty of good deals especially since platforms such as airbnb became the trend. Plenty of hotels with a good choice of 5 stars, be it in Manila, Alabang, Cebu, Puerto Princesa and so on. Never got bad service to the contrary since most of the hotel staff I met really tried their best to help. Transportation: Train = almost non-existent (missed the Bicol express). Manila/NCR/Makati = huge traffic jams (Manila skyway is very convenient though, depending where you have to go work). Taxis = meter almost unknown, many taxis in bad mechanical shape (I count at least 5 times when the taxi broke down or was in the process of breaking down, which, once on the skyway, can be no fun at all) Tricycle-habal habal: can be the only mean of transportation in some areas, never had any problem and surprisingly quite regulated and quite honest. Long distance buses: Some more reliable than others from what I heard, some very comfortable (almost like first class beds) but never tried one. As a sidenote, uber is really getting big there. Ferry: Despite the poor reputation of Filipino ferries I gave a try to 2GO ferries and was a bit impressed (Manila to Cebu trip). Banca: Never had a bad experience (of course I never went on a trip on a banca when a storm was supposed to happen) and actually had my best 'desert islands' experience hiring a banca and its crew for the day and going island hopping in Bohol, add to that some gems can be visited only by banca such as in Coron or El nido. Food: Plenty of foreign restaurants everywhere in the main cities, once you go out of the big cities you usually find less of those foreign restaurants, but given the Filipino love of eating I believe bonchon, mcdo, BK, chowking, max, jollibee are pretty much almost everywhere. Spicy: Filipino food is usually not spicy, some Thai restaurants in the main cities, other than that if you go in the Bicol area you can find some spicier food. Drinks: Red horse, san miguel and plenty of local or imported alcohols everywhere.....may I add that drinking (between men) is a Filipino ritual, sisig + red horse deep into the night can be quite an experience. Taglish: One might think English is widely spoken but older people are not all fluent in English especially in the more remote areas. Now, if you happen to spend your time in the northgate area in Alabang, near more than a few big BPO companies you will have no trouble with English with the thousands of predominantly young female college graduates, some who speak better English than myself since they went to de la salle university and UPI. Red light stuff: Big KTV in ermita/malate: catering mainly to wealthy Filipinos but these days more and more to Chinese, Japanse, koreans and more than a few westerners, expensive (if you know a floor manager can be only 6-7k php but usually damage easily )more than 10k php) but can find some real gems, failed entertainers and so on. VIP rooms can be full service. Japanese (and a few Koreans) KTV/karaoke: del pilar/mabini streets in Malate for the biggest concentration: some classic Japanase karaoke where being slightly naughty can be done but they play hard to catch, some others where they are much more readily available, same kind of businesses as soi thaniya and other Japanese places), can find some real gems in some, expensive as it is catering to Japanese but on the other hand can be worth it if you have time and some money. Padre burgos: The classic, most of the 'dancing' bars not worth it, some such as bottoms can be incredible, both with the talent and the high prices. Note, some of the girls offering massage in the street can be real gems. About bottoms and jools: Yes they are expensive, yes the mamasans are pushy and yes they are a nightmare for non-smokers but, from all my travels I remember only 2 times I met real college girls (besides some G clubs in Bangkok), once was at Monet on sukhumvit soi 33, got her to come in her college uniform to my condo once, the other one was at bottoms and I went to pick her at her college another day. Filipino KTV in QC: Quezon city, more than a few, some doubling as MP (Pegasus, kremlin), some really costly, example pegasus, 10k-15k php dmg minimum but then, in a way, you can really find some incredible women there. Other smaller (seedier?) Filipino ktv in the area have really great VIP rooms and are far from being as expensive. A special mention about AF1 (air force one) in parañaque, KTV doubling as MP was worth a visit. EDSA: Was never impressed. Casas: Can be a hit or miss and you better have a taxi driver you can trust, never went there without a close Filipino relation, some casas you find 40yo women, others are full of (real) college students trying to make money to pay their tuition. Night clubs/dance clubs: Not my cup of tea + the table system is absurd and anyway I am not young enough anymore. Freelancer joints: Went once to LA care and never again. AC: Never went, not interested to be with thousands of other foreigners in 'Pattaya in the Phil' Cebu: For another time, can be really great. Davao: For another time but is incredible, sadly too dangerous from time to time.
  14. Strange, never had any problems and did not feel threatened compared to several times in Thailand when things were tense.. No matter if going home drunk at 6am (home = Toclong, an area where few foreigners live outside Manila) or elsewhere I never ran into problems. Yes guns are prevalent, yes the police is corrupt and incompetent, yes some GRO can be dangerous and yes there are plenty of thugs, this said, I went a bit everywhere in the Philippines but never to AC.
  15. Been working on my career, stayed far away from Thailand (and Thai women) and basically focused on climbing the corporate ladder. Now my career is fine and I discovered Philippines is a tad bit better than Thailand for quite a few things (not much so for a few others though).
  16. Anyone with better Thai than mine can explain that scene?
  17. drogon

    Prices 2018

    Which they will modify to be able to charge more for less time...or will not put the meter on and quote you 8k Bht....
  18. Quickly passing by in August, available on the 6-7-8 let's say after 7-8pm at best and will sadly miss the friday meeting.
  19. drogon

    Line?

    Line seems awfully popular in Thailand and the Philippines...I suppose the main reason is it doubles as a social network and it also has a huge number of users. Basically free calls to other line users. About Thailand I can only say (not having been there for quite a few years) that when I downloaded the app to communicate more easily with a Bangkok condo owner I did my reasearch about the app and discovered it was hugely popular in Thailand, especially among younger people. About the Philippines which I can talk more having worked there not too long ago. - Very popular due to being free if calling other line users. - Popular among s** tourists and of course GRO-bargirls. The security is almost nonexistent compared to viber or whatsapp. Edited thanks to updated input from Radioman
  20. Nothing really unusual, just was fed up with Thailand and my dissolute lifestyle and decided to focus on my career. Back now that my career is fully back on track. What about you, how have you been doing?
  21. Hello Flash. Yes the Belgian version.....back.
  22. Just read a newspaper article (https://www.bangkokp...reopen#cxrecs_s) and was badly surprised as in August I was planning on using that to go to phayathai station then from there go to On nut station. Guess I will have to use a taxi. Plus reading stuff like this (if true but TIT so I wouldn't be surprised) 'the ARL cannot afford to import spare parts from Germany. ARL repairmen need to dismantle spare parts from the two decommissioned trains to use on the operational seven.' Am I wrong thinking the BTS-MRT and airport link are usually (at rush hour) overloaded (including with tourists such as myself)?
  23. If I may, I thought the Autobahn had a recommended speed limit of 130km/h but on most Autobahns you could go as fast you wish (except locally enforced speed limits like in Köln as I saw in march). but thanks for the information, I now mayI use the excuse my water buffalo is sick to skip project meetings....
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