On my first trip to Angeles, I couldn’t help but think that I was going to be absolutely bored on the down time of the trip when you’re just plain tired of fucking. Most of these girls speak a lot less English than your average local Filipina because they are from the deepest parts of rural provinces. As a result, they are fun to play with and fuck but not much on the way of conversation. So what do you do during the day or downtime of your trip.

A. SHOPPING: There are some good shopping values on a few specific items that you might not normally find in other countries. If you are a pool player, there are several shops on Fields Ave. that will make you custom pool sticks with a carry case for about 2,000 pisos. The sticks might be more expensive if you get it laced with mother of pearl or other elaborate designs. Milos is a shop that is extremely popular but there are several others and they’re probably owned by the same guy. Another good buy are knock off jerseys from every major sport. They even have old school jerseys now and all jerseys look very authentic and are 800 pisos. If you give them a color picture front/back of what jersey you want, they can design it and ship it to you for an additional 800 pisos. Most shops already have jerseys available but they might not be your size or team. One shop had several New Orleans Jazz Maravich Jerseys and Harlem Globetrotters Curly Neil and Medowlark Lemon. There are two shops on Fields Ave. that do this service. The best overall value is buying custom made shoes and boots at the leather shop next to Cambodia Club. They have some unreal boots with several styles and they are custom made to fit your feet. I bought low-cut motorcycle boots and slip on leather bottom sandals for 2,000 pisos total. You can buy leather or cobra skin. They also sell custom leather jackets, belts and dress shoes. The designs on the dress shoes are not to my liking but the boots are excellent.

There are several malls you can take your date to during the day if you like. Any jeepney that has “Centre Point’” will take you by the new Robinson’s Mall on MacCarthur or to Nepo Mall. Robinsons is a small plaza but a great place for getting a facial on the top floor. They have extensive facials for 199 pisos. They have a Robinsons department store and grocery store which is much better than the other grocery stores near Fields. This is especially important if you are staying at an Apartelle and need supplies. Nepo Mall is also quite small but the best place to buy cell phones, go to the movies or buy clothes for your honeyko. Another option is to take the Jeepney near the Dau Jollibee for 15 pisos which takes you directly to San Fernando SM Mall. That mall is huge and has pretty much everything you need.
B. MASSAGE: This is an area that has improved exponentially in recent days. The Halla Hotel Spa has a massage venue owned by Koreans that caters to Koreans but is an overall good value. You can pay 450 for a massage only or 650 to use their facilities which includes a shower, hot/cold bath, and sauna. You will be given a robe and a locker. Go upstairs to a room with massage tables lined up and be prepared to get worked over. These masseuse’ are well trained and you will be in some pain. If you have back problems from a long flight, you will be healed after this. The massage involves deep pressure point thats very precise and lots of stretching. These girls are strong and you can have your massage as strong as you like. You can have the massage with scented or unscented oil, dry or with lotion. Try not to get a massage during late Friday, Sat or Sun afternoon as the place gets overrun with rude, drunk Koreans coming back from golf. They like to fart, burp and tell at each other during the massage...not my idea of peace.
C. POOL PARTY: Good idea to round a couple of girls up and txt them for a pool party. The Clarkton and Hana Hotel are ideal places for pool parties because the pools are big and the atmosphere quiet. These girls live in confined places with no a/c and will jump at the thought of swimming for the day with their friends. This will usually lead to some hanky panky in the bedroom later but sometimes its fun just to hang out with a bunch of hotties and drink some cocktails for the afternoon. It’s better to find a girl who also has hot friends as many of the hot girls like to have a group of fuglies to support and have around for ego reasons.

D. GROOMING: You can get a shave for about 50 pisos. I recommend the barber on Santos street near Blow Row or the Barber on the corner of MacCarthur and Fields. It’s also a good idea to get a facial cleanse after getting a shave for the first time as the shaves are very close and will open your pores up which can lead to acne or other maladies due to the impurities in the air and sweat. Don’t pay more than 200 pisos for a facial(not the billyboy kind). It’s also a good idea to get a manicure and pedicure....you can get them both for about 100 pisos total. It’s also fun to get spoiled with some spa treatment because many of the bargirls will be there and I have had short time sessions with girls that I met at the beauty salon.

E. GYM: Good idea to get your body back in tune while on your trip as exercise will usually put your body clock back on course and you will have longer sessions with your honeyko. The problem is that outdoor exercise is impossible because there are no good places to run. The gyms in AC are of low grade quality and don’t expect any modern eliptical machines, stationary bikes or stairmaster. The do have a decent gym on Perimeter Road near the Friendship Bridge called Ironworks Gym. The gym does not have AC but they have some Nautilus machines and good sets of weights. It’s 50 pisos a day to work out and you get discounts for longer stays. You get there by taking a jeepney towards the perimeter bars until the jeepney makes a left turn at the friendship bridge area.. Get out there and you will see the gym about 200 feet away. The better gym is also located near Halla Hotel and is called AC2. It is air conditioned, has a sauna and daily price includes locker and towel. They have aerobic and Thai Bo classes for free if you are into that. The price is 150 pisos a day or 900 for the week.

My experience with the leather shop next to Cambodia Club was less than satisfactory. The shoes I had made did not fit properly (they were too big), and two adjustments by adding pads just made them tight and uncomfortable. The sandals I had made were also too big; the straps could not be tightened enough to fit properly, they could only be made bigger. These fit OK (but not great) after they adjusted them, they just didn't have very comfortable bottoms.

And I took in a pair of sandals I bought in Thailand that were too big, and asked them to shorten the straps. They appeared to be measuring incorrectly, and I tried to suggest to them they needed to take more off--they didn't, and the straps were still too long. I didn't have the heart to go back again and tell them they screwed up.

I did buy a pretty nice money belt, also made to order--correctly.

I appreciate your level of detail. Man...the PI is so inexpensive it's almost hard to believe. I will have to visit soon. Do you have any idea what kind of downstream speeds are available at the various hotels? I just got the Slingbox ( awesome technology that does what it promises & much better than I expected. Read about it here http://www.slingmedia.com/slingbox/) The faster the speed the better the picture. Ideally, you want a downstream speed that's at least as fast as your upstream speed at home. Didn't mean to go off topic, just some info for anyone interested.

Please no spam here.

Wow. I didn't think it was spam at all. I've seen numerous people mention the Slingbox on CH. I actually have one up and running and was trying to share useful info. I have absolutely no relation to the company. I guess this wasn't the place to mention it.

Thanks for the Halla Spa tip Blazers. I am headed over there right now to check it out. Can you recommend a good place for just a foot massage (a la Thailand) as well?

One bad/creepy thing about the Halla Spa is that after you finish showering, you walk back into the lockerroom and the male attendants start drying you off with towels. I assume that they usually use normal sized towels, but I guess they had temporarily run out when it was "my turn." So instead they tried to use these little towels on me.

I think I kindly begged off and muttered something to the effect that "I can do this myself." Fortunately, a group of Korean guys were coming out right behind me so I was able to dry myself.

One other Daytime activity for gamblers is the Filipino Casino off Mcarther Hwy (a few blcks South of Fields). Huge casino w/ hundreds of slots and a good number of table games -- Baccarat, Blackjack, Casino War, Craps, Pai Gow Poker, Stud Poker. Fairly good w/ comps and some mini-shows every so often. 3rd and 4th floors have some decent restaurants of all sorts.
The casino has a dress code, no shorts and thongs but often waive it.

Barber. Another good barber shop is the one operated by Cris on Teodoro St. between Norma's (opposite side) and Field Ave. Open 9am-7pm. I got a shampoo, cut AND coloring for P400. The 4 workers are very friendly. The 50-year-old+ barber on the right has the hair of a teenager.

Daytime activity. The 4 movie theaters at Robinson's are new, and on a quality with the best in LA. Much nicer than those at Nepo, which is a pain to get to. After the movie, have a seat at one of the coffee or other shops outside the movie entrance to enjoy some great people-watching. Saver's has a Bingo parlor with a SPECTACULAR view of Mt Arayat.

An AC resident's review of Halla massage:

http://www.pjsinnam.com/bio/Halla/index.htm

Also, something Blazers has no interest in (nor do I, really), but golf in the AC area is supposedly super cheap and there are a few courses to choose from.

Halla Spa gets a BIG thumbs up from me.