A. Packing-
Philippines has weather similar in temperature to Thailand but not the humidity of Thailand, which makes the heat bearable. You want to pack jeans, slacks and cotton shorts along with t-shirts, polo shirts and Hawaiian-type shirts. Starting in March, it gets damn hot and you wont be wearing anything but shorts and short sleave shirts.

Bring a digital camera if you have one as Filipinas do not photograph well with regular cameras. Also bring extra memory, batteries and some blank CD’s to burn copies of the pics if you run out of memory...and you will. Might be a good idea to bring a portable DVD player for your plane ride and to watch movies with your honeyko in bed...they love this. I would advise against bringing a laptop as there are no safety deposit boxes I have seen that accomodate them and you really don’t need them as many hotels have computers in the room and there are internet cafes everywhere. Bring some chocolates, lotions and perfumes to give to the girls. A little generosity goes a long with the girls. Also smart to bring plenty of your prescription medicine as the pharmacies suck in the PI and are overpriced and ran by the Chinese Mafia...what a shock. All over the counter medicine is easy to find in Angeles and affordable.

B. Money- The money issue is the biggest drawback to the PI. I would suggest bringing a mix of different types of financing, in case of mishap. The following are different ways to manage your money.

Cash: Cash is King here. The best rates are with cash and exchange booths give you the best rates. The best rates are found at Norma’s just off of Fields Ave. Normas is also the only place that will cash 1996 or older 100 dollar bills. Best way to carry cash is place it in a money belt or cache around your neck on your flight. As soon as you check in to your hotel, put all of your money in your room deposit box or at the front desk. Keep some of your cash hidden somewhere in your suitcase for emergencies. Never heard of anyone getting their safety deposit robbed. Always remember that you empty your pockets when you return with your honeyko and put all of your money in your safe while she is taking a shower so she doesn’t memorize the code. I left 3,000 pisos inside a closet on my last trip and girl took a thousand and left in a hurry. Another guy I know, had two girls take 6,000 pisos from his room and the girl left the bar thereafter. Filipinas are genuinely sweet and honest but just be on the cautious side.

ATM: ATM’s are not convenient in Angeles like they are in Manila. You have to take a 100 piso round trip to the ATM which is about 10-15 minutes away or more, depending on traffic. Remember to check with your bank as they may charge you as much as $4 per transaction for international withdrawals. Another problem with ATM’s is that they limit the amount of money you take (10,000 pisos or less), they run out of money(especially on weekends) and they go offline or out of order continually. I would still bring your ATM card and credit cards but just know the hassles involved.

Traveler’s Checks: Due to the problem with theft and fraud in the PI, travelers checks are a pain in the ass and give you much lower rates with extra fees. You can cash them at banks on Macarthur Blvd, Filipino Travel on Fields and at Margarita Station. They will give you much lower rates and charge fees. Remember the banks are open 9-3:30 and they give better rates. It’s good to keep some traveler’s checks just in case the ATM’s are out of money and someone stole your cash.

Opening a Bank Account: If you are going to the PI often, it is a good idea to open up an account with BPI or Equitable PCI. The extreme paranoia people will frown upon this but your money is safe. It’s safer than carrying around all your money in cash. You will need a copy of your passport and drivers license, two one inch photos, and keep a copy of your hotel receipt for residency purposes. They let me use the Apartelle Royale as a residence because it was an apartment. Every bank has different requirements for residency but they are usually very flexible here. They will give you an ATM card in 5 days or less which you can use at any of the ATM’s in the Philippines without extra charge. The recommend Equitable PCI which has a branch near Savers Mall on Macarthur and the ATM card uses the Plus system and you can use it in the US and make deposits at some of their US Branches. Same goes for Bank of the Philippines (BPI).

An added comment about ATM machines: The Equitable PCI Bank machines seem to be the friendliest with regards to accepting non-Philippine Bank or ATM cards, however, there are none in Balibago. There is a machine near Saver’s mall but it has always given me fits. You will most likely have to go all the way to downtown Angeles - near the two malls. Even then it's a crap shoot on whether you'll be able to withdraw money. If it works the machine will only allow you to take 5000p out at a time. You can, however, put your card in again and take an additional 5000p. I believe the limit is about 15,000p or 20,000p a day.

...(prog)

I found BPI (Bank of PI) ATMs to be the most reliable ATMs in PI. In Makati, BPI ATMs allowed 20,000p+ per withdrawal; however, in AC the limit was 10,000p. You can withdrawal at least 20,000p per day in AC but I'm not sure what the daily limit is.

Just an update. There is now an ATM located in front of Kokomos which can be used with a Cirrus or Plus System. You can retrieve 10,000 at a time and daily maximum's according to your bank. Unbelievable that we can now retrieve cash right in the heart of AC instead of taking a trike every time to Dau or downtown AC. This must have pissed off trike drivers big time ATM runs make a bulk of their work. Cheers to Dave for bringing this luxury to the shithole we all love.

how much $ do you carry going in ... how much on the street

You don't need to take a lot of cash with you. Maybe a couple hundred. You can change it at the airport for Pesos.

There are atms you can use when you need money.

I usually carry about 5000 peso on me which is about 100 dollars. That is enough for me to eat, drink, barhop and get a couple ladies.

Don't carry your atm or credit cards on you all the time. Leave them locked up in your safe. Take one out to get some cash and then put it back in the safe.

I don't ever carry more then one on me at any time. That way if I get ripped off, I have cards in reserve. I usually take two credit cards and my debit card on my trip.

As I said before I usually try to budget myself to 100 a day or less. Usually less.

Have fun
Trek