Hi All. I am new to this site and I would like to say hello and thank you for all of your wisdom The postings & photo's are truely informative and entertaining, congrats on all your hard work. I am a 33yo Aussie from "Down Under". I arrive in the Philippines on the 6th June for 11 days. This will be my 1st journey abroad. I cannot wait. I will be travelling with 3 friends - all like minded. 1 of which has visited twice previously & 2 of whom are interested in some scuba diving also. We arrive in Manila and are heading straight to AC staying at the Wild Orchid - that is the only firmly planned part of the journey so far. We were hoping to visit Olongapo & Mindoro - PG also.

Any advice would be welcome and muchly appreciated. We are mid range spenders not on a shoe string but don't like to throw the $$$ around wastefully either.
- Keen on knowing how much to pay, some good places to stay and visit around these parts. Keeping in mind I don't scuba so I will be looking for alot of girly action & drinking.
- I am not a beer drinker, vodka is my drop and would like tips on the mixed drinks vs bottle drinks? Pricing?
- Action enhancement biscuits - buy in PH or BYO? What types, how much to pay?
- Getting from AC to Olongapo and then to Mindoro. What are our travelling options?
- Scams to look out for?
- Money handling - best to use ATM's, travellers checks, VISA, cash?
- Security of our belongings in Motel rooms, etc.
- Correct tipping, how much and when?
- Good places to eat - steak, seafood, pizza, pasta..What and where not to eat..
- Pool parties??
- Scuba diving - are they best to bring some of their gear? Is hire gear ok? How do they keep their gear safe?
- Sickness & stomach bugs - precautions and what to expect and be careful of?

I can't tell you how excited I am about this trip. My moral standards are fair to low, I love small girls, very partial to Asians, single 33yo male, travelling with 3 great mates - this should be a rip snorter of a trip.
I'm taking my camcorder and digital cam so I hope to have a great tales to tell later in the month.

1st step: Read Blazers guide to Angeles City

2nd step: Read it again. Excellent information there.

Angeles City is my favorite place, and I can't imagine a better place to go for one's first mongering trip. If you can afford to stay at the Wild Orchid you can afford to have one HELLUVA time in that town.

Some answers to your questions: If you order "vodka" you will get cheap local swill (50-85 pesos depending on the time of day and location/bar). It WILL get you drunk, but I assume you're used to better stuff than furniture polish. Absolut-Red Bull will run 125-150 pesos usually. Still pretty cheap compared to non-3rd world bars.

Scams? Stay away from overly friendly locals you meet on the street. Stay away from cherry girls (virgins) wherever you may find them. If a girl orders a San Miguel Light beer in many of the bars on Fields Ave. they will try and charge you 250-300 pesos for that ladies' drink. Best to ask the girl her order before she tells the waitress. Keep an eye on the drink tickets they put in your cup and make sure you're not getting overcharged or having your cup crammed with bogus drinks you never ordered.

Some girls like to suck down ladies' drinks and then say they won't barfine. Some girls will promise they'll stay all night and then run away (they're called runners) with some excuse the first chance they get, and good luck trying to get your money back on the pre-paid long-time barfine.

Good places to eat: Hole in the Wall for steak (back entrance is directly in front of Wild Orchid), Cottage Kitchen for Cajun style dishes (Perimeter Rd.), Kokomos has a huge menu, Margarita Station (also a huge menu), Sub Delicious (GIANT hamburgers), Molly Malone's (carved meats buffet) (next to Misty's bar), Shawarmas (aka a gyro) (next to Champagne) make a good snack. If you and your buddies want a gourmet meal, C's Italian (on Perimeter Rd.) is excellent for ALL of the dishes you mention, but think p1000+ per person -- probably not a good place to take your barfine. Wild Orchid's food ain't bad itself.

Money logistics: Bring cash and keep it in the room safe and exchange it for pesos, the rates are very competitive in Angeles. Have an ATM and/or credit card and keep them in the room safe too. ATM's in AC aren't very reliable and most have low per-transaction limits.

Tipping: For a waitress in a bar bringing your rounds of drinks: 20 pesos per hour when you settle your bill. For a restaurant waitress 25-40 pesos per person. For the hotel maid 40-50 pesos a day. For your barfine, trike fare (50 pesos) if she was bitchy but stayed all night, p2-300 if she was a quality date and you might like to see her again, p500 if she rocked your world and want her to move in!

Pool parties: Ask your barfine to invite her friends to come swimming with you both, or get your buddies together and barfine a couple girls each. Wild Orchid would be a great place to hold such a party. You're paying through the nose for the nice pool they have there, so might as well use it.

Re: getting to Subic, there are at least a couple van services that charge p500 per person and will pick you up at your hotel. Private car service can be booked through your hotel or any travel related business in AC. Price will be similar in cost to a ride to/from the Manila airport, surely more than 2000 pesos.

Your belongings will be fairly safe in your hotel room, the maids are very honest at the major hotels. I wouldn't leave a fancy cellphone or a Rolex lying around the room while your barfine's there. Again, the room safes are very handy. I wouldn't put my life's savings in there (BOTH nickels! HAHAHA!), but chances of anything happening to your stuff inside is very remote.

Have fun, man!

Thanks Porker. Your a real inspiration. I'm sure with your advise it will be a truely amazing experience. Us Aussies will do our best to show the girls how to do the down under move properly.