dazedandconfused

You are probably right DC. Time to agree to disagree and move on. Maybe we can revisit the old 'Which is best: Pattaya versus Phuket' debate?

Hello Surin Nix and, as a fellow forum traveler, welcome! Cheers d&c.

Yeah, but that doesn't make it any better does it? There is no disputing that many folks believe that she was a wonderful human being and she certainly enriched (quite literally) many peoples lives. Sadly she also trampeled over millions of others whom, as leader of the Country, she should have had a duty of care to. Instead she inflicted a grevious amount of suffering on those who were not part of the plan. Quite simply that period of time was morally wrong and the compassion compass was lost. I would like to hope Tomcat that you are playing devils advocate with the crack about Pinochet! It would be very hard to make a positive case for the man who tortured, imprisoned and disappeared thousands of his fellow countrymen....

So a sad and confused old lady lost in a closed world of dementia died the other day. I'm certainly not gonna dance on her grave but here's why I think the world would have been a better place without her (and her acolytes / cronies) - In order to rebuild British Industry she first smashed it. Then determined not to rebuild it. - She signalled the death blow for Mining, Steel works, Shipbuilding, Car manufacturing, Railway engineering and other core industries - She wasted the revenue stream from North Sea Oil - She seemingly had a pathological hatred of the Trade Unions and the Working Class - She set workers against workers and communities agains communities - Talking of communities - she reduced vast swathes of the Midlands, the North and Scotland to an industrial wasteland and the once proud communities within were the subject of an economic scorched earth policy. They have NEVER recovered. - She described the Mineworkers as the 'Enemy within'. These were men and families that had fought for their country in WW2, who helped keep the UK running during WW1, who lived and worked in often extreme hardship and incidentally included my Lancashire based Grandfather who had worked at a Colliery and voted Conservative all his life until she described him as the enemy. - In near illegality she used the Police and Judiciary to break industrial disputes - Having taken on the Miners, Steelworkers, Shipbuilders she turned to 'softer' Union targets - Nurses, Teachers and Council Workers - She oversaw the economic and political centrification of the UK to the South East regions - She moved the UK from a post WW2 welfare leaning Social Democratic state to a neo-Liberal one and helped sow the seeds for future economic disasters - She began the sorry sale of every State / Nationalised asset that have engendered profits for big business but manifestly failed to deliver significantly improved services for Consumers. - She made low cost housing available to Council House owners but never replaced the houses that had been sold with a State house building initiative. - If you were 'one of us' you were on side. - She picked on the vulnerable; gays, single mothers and immigrants - She preferred confrontation and destruction to compromise and consolidation - Under her watch the flag was seized by the Nationalists - Against all advice to the contrary she fought for the introduction of the Poll Tax arguably the most unjust and unfair taxation policy in the past 200 years - She was a zealot for whom it was all about ideology. Her economic policies saw unemployment hovering around 3 million for the duration of her term of office but this appeared a small price to pay. - The largest and worst urban rioting in over 100 years were a domestic back drop to her time as PM - She did little to advance the cause of women - certainly she was no feminist - Her record on Human rights support was poor - She supported some of the very worst Dictatorships and State Terrorists of recent times: both publicly (Pinochet and Chile and the Apartheid Regime) and tacitly (the Khmer Rouge (FFS!) and Suharto in Indonesia) - And finally she tried to destroy social cohesion and replaced it with the cult of the individual and the notion that winner takes all is good. I'm glad she's gone but sadly her legacy endures to this day....

Not always so though. Recently I have bought Azithromycin, Doxycycline and Cefixime over the counter in Manila from different pharmacies without a prescription. To be fair, the main chain - Mercury Drug - are unlikley to hand them over without a prescription but many of the others will. Nb The eagle eyed amongst you (rxpharm) may have detected a certain link in my choice of pharmas above. Purely coincidental, your honour, and not all of them connected to certain lb related type activites

Hi azza, if you are looking to buy Condos then there is no end of stuff out there. However, if you are looking to rent for a short time it's something of a nightmare finding accurate info. There's a BM out here at present who spent quite a lot of time wandering round and round various condos in Makati trying to find one to rent for a month. It took him ages and I'm not sure he's recovered yet from the experience! You might find the following websites useful: http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentals-g298450-Reviews-zfs3-Makati_Metro_Manila_Luzon-Makati_Apartment_Rentals.html http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/short+term+rent+condo+makati Cheers.

I'm not sure that I agree with this statement Stealth. To be sure it can't always be easy out in the Provinces being an LB but to say they are not accepted is not wholly true - especially in the bigger cities and particularly in Manila. I have LB friends and friends of friends who hold down regular jobs in call centres, hotels and corporate life. Most of them are fairly well educated, young and moving on steadily towards management. I think they would probably all concur that they come across prejudice but on the whole they feel they are doing just fine. In that environment they are accepted rather than tolerated. Out in mainstream land one of the best known, most popular and well paid TV stars here is ladyboy (of sorts) who advertises all sorts of products including the major cellphone network provider. Another very out gay (who has been known to put on a frock) also dominates day time tv chat shows and is equally popular with advertisers. Of course I know it's not all great out there and many LB's find it quite tough in the PI but hey try living as a 21 year old transvestite / LB in South London! For me the Philippines is probably the least homphobic / most gay positive country I have spent any time in and this in spite of the supposed negative influence of the RC church. It's probably about people just being a bit more relaxed and easy going here... Just my couple of pesos worth.

The Philippines is strange - there are over 7000 islands but not that many have the picture postcard soft white sands, blue seas etc you might expect. Those that do are either very developed (Boracay), small (Malapascua) or very difficult to get to / ridiculously expensive (Amanpulo). On the other hand if you don't mind some grey sand, pebbles and not hugely busy islands then there are quite a few choices. If you do want some great beaches, loads of restaurants and bars and a lively break then take a gulp on the cost and definitely head over to Boracay. As Hefe, Azza and Co say White Beach at Purto Galera is pretty easy to reach, not too expensive and is a fair place to spend time. Your LB friend is not going to look out of place there either... Agree on Mactan Island (Cebu) - lots of fairly expensive Resorts set in their own grounds where you are going to be a bit trapped. Cebu City is a good place to hang out but strictly speaking its not even close to a decent beach. North of Cebu (about 3 and a bit hours) Malapascua island is a nice place to hang out for a few days. Easy to walk round, sandy beach and very relaxing. Not lots to do (aside from diving and watching the world go by) but a few restaurants and bars are dotted around. Check out Ocean Vida Resort – right on the beach. Alona Beach on Panglao Island (adjoining Bohol) is another nice place to head to. I really like the area around Dumaguete on Negros Island. But there aren’t white sandy beaches there. Check out Pura Vida and Mikes Beach resort – both on the beach. Agree, Camiguin is very cool as is Siargao (good surfing if you catch it right) but they are pretty QUIET. Coron in Busuanga Island and El Nido north of Palawan have some of the most beautiful island scenery in the country, simply stunning, but you shouldn’t head there if you don’t appreciate a bit of peace and downtime. Some folks quite like the action around Subic but I'm never really convinced by the place. Think that's just me though... Hefe; Saud Beach is great but Man it’s a long long trip to get there! Its rightly popular with kiteboarders and windsurfers and there are 3 or 4 places to stay there

Not sure it's obscure but seems to be long forgotten / overlooked: I watched 1941 again for the first time in years last night and it's mad, funny, weird and totally overblown. Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Ned Beatty, Warren Oates and John Candy. Hard to go wrong really. It also seems to be the polar opposite of pretty much any other film that Spielberg has made. Last time I saw it I was probably very stoned - seemed even funnier then. Ho Hum. Well worth a re-visit though....

Hi guydesavoy, I've lived here for years and yet to find or hear of a hotel in Manila that does not allow LB's. It's your money, your room etc. You may well have to register any guests at reception but that's pretty standard the world over. Five star hotels here are also generally more relaxed than any others about the number and gender choice of your companions. Hotels such as the Shangri-La, New World, Dusit Thani etc always seem to have a sprinkling of LB joiners heading out in the early morning Staying in a Condo should mean absolutely zero issues with LB guests. You might get a few curious glances in the lift but hey, that's part of the fun right?

Not sure if it has been mentioned anywhere else here but Cebu Pacific are now flying Bangkok - Cebu direct (and vice versa) on Thursdays and Sundays. It's not a friendly arrival time in Cebu - 00.55am - but the flight back out of Cebu is a late afternoon departure which is a bit happier. A quick search indicates that flights are going to be around $300-00 USD for the standard round trip fare but they regularly have on-line promos as well and that will significantly reduce costs. It's prolly worth signing up for their e.mailed 'seat sales alert'. Downside is that booking / purchasing on-line with a non PI credit card can sometimes be a nightmare and can lose you hours of your life....

Hi sasquatch, looks like you are having fun! The tall LB in the grey dress in your first pic; where did you find her? Simply out of curiosity of course........

The whole of the perfect 'A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector' (aka Phil Spector's Xmas Album) is great and is the stand-out festive album for me. This is my favourite track on it:

Not sure this is exact enough but Jomtien Complex?

Mactan Island / Lapu Lapu City has a bunch of Resorts and is an ok-ish place to take your LB with you but there is no night life there to talk of and is definitely not the place to find them if you are out looking. Far far better to stay in Cebu City to start with. I used to be a Diplomat regular but now prefer Premiere Citi Suites for location (walk to Mango and close to Ayala), it's recently opened and is good value. Agree with thaibound and randi, time permitting get out to Malapascua, Bantayaan or Moalboal. Nearly all the beaches on Mactan are artificial and a bit soul less. Thaibound - currently looks like you are more likely to have large amounts of rain dumped on you in Cebu come early Weds morning rather than the stronger typhoon winds. You never can tell though and it's certainly going to be a bumpy weather ride for a day or two so keep your head down and maybe get some company in.... For a change it looks like here in Manila we are going to miss most of it.

I hear that sasquatch! There is a kind of perceived wisdom that the only way to do the Philippines is to set up a network of contacts in advance. For sure it doesn't do any harm and certainly stealth, randiuno and thaibound would support that view - it clearly works well. However, as I've said before, if you are not on a mission to secure 100% certainties then you can just go with the flow. I've always had success hooking up with LB's in Cebu with absolutely no advance planning. This was with mixed results to be honest but is part of the fun of looking around. On a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night the area around Mango Sq and J Ave disco in particular is a shoe-in for LB's. You should also wander over to Pump 2 at the Convention Centre sometime from 01.00am onwards. Earlier nights in the week are less promising - it's quiet out there - so you might then want to look at alternative strategies. Wost case scenario - jump onto Date In Asia, there are a host of Cebu based LB's hanging out there every day. On all the PI dating sites you will see phrases such as 'looking for love', 'love me for who I am', 'God-fearing', etc etc. Don't wish to be overly cynical but these are generally to create the impression that they are charming girls with the long stretch and monogamy firmly in mind. Truth usually is that once you have stressed you are just here on holiday and for a good time (see randi's comments above) the desire for long term romance quickly gets dropped in favour of the short term fun / renumeration option. And who can blame them? Sound advice above as well on e.mail addresses, phone numbers etc. Pick up a SIM card on arrival and use that number exclusively for the LB's. Once they have you they are likely to bombard you with SMS messages day and night - my favourite being 'have you had your lunch / dinner yet?' which must be a default setting on the various cellphones. Have fun.

The first port of call in any Mall or Department Store in SE Asia are the perfume and cosmetics counters where you wander around trying desperately to engage in eye contact with the LB's working there. Second stop are the small cellphone repair shops (If they have them) for same reasons as above....

Hi Mr Cox, I assume from the above that you may well have heard the whispers? I was told on Saturday by one of her mates (albeit at 05.00am and with several drinks inside her so please don't hold me 100% to the reliability / veracity of the info) that Yok was going to have a boob job early this week. If true it's a damn shame.

Hey Randi, I'm (kind of) following your footsteps and wandering around Pattaya at the moment but head back to Manila at the end of the week. Drop me a line if you need any info / advice on Manila, where to stay, what to see etc. Will be more than happy to help - and meet up when you are over. Cheers, d&c.

Technically it's possible that I will move seamlessly from B through to D within the next 7 nights....!

Internet Explorer is not working for me - pages don't load properly and it's a jumble of text, headings etc but I guess that you know this already. Thought it was just me that had the problem so quite relieved to know it's not (though not relieved for you and the IT team - that's a headache). G Chrome works fine though.

Saw Skyfall last week. It's never going to challenge Citizen Kane or Battleship Potemkin in the list of Movie Greats but it generally runs along ok on most levels - lots of action, some nice atmospheric locations, light humour, a bit of pathos at the end and so on. Javier Bardem makes for a good 'Baddie' albeit with more than a passing nod to Hannibal Lecter. Film felt a bit bloated though and whilst Craig plays the Bond character very well it might have worked better still if the whole production was stripped down and a bit leaner. Lots of the film was shot in a gloomy light - a bit more of this and a darker script it could have become very much more 'edgy'. Anyways, I'm just a humble punter and and FWIW enjoyed it, as a Bond film, throughout....

That's Good news. Have always wanted to go to one (fighting LB's not withstanding!) and I get to Pattaya just in time for this one...

Hi Hefe, just a quick amendment re the Philippines. Greenbelt Mall is in Makati not Quezon City. That said it's just a 20 min taxi ride from Greenbelt to QC after the rush hour traffic has gone.. You are right though it's very much prime pick up territory though and it's a shoe-in to meet LBs there. nymphssatyr: Can't imagine that you would have an issue with LB joiners in any decent hotel in Manila - they are all used to it. See if you can transfer your hotel over to Makati as it's easier all round. If not then it's no big deal. Take Hefe's advice and go over to Greenbelt if you have time. If thats difficult / you are time limited then you can also check out Manila Craigs List - lots of LB's advertise on there. Usual disclaimer some of them are good and some of them not so good... Nice business trip you have lined up....

Ken, you have a rare eye for the story and and paint pictures with wonderful words and phrases. Some of the very best stuff here on the forum. Looking forward to this report very much....