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Angeles City 1st time trip report....


RR007

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20 minutes ago, RR007 said:

It was originally my intention to do an extensive trip report but I acknowledge many here have already been so will instead precis with a few photos included later.....

Despite an extensive trip count to Thailand that would have the Inland Revenue eyes watering I have never been to Angeles City or indeed even the Philippines...an absolute virgin trip. My friend had been twice in the late 1990s with originally Brian Kelly and Nick Hurn with 25 odd others on 2 group tours with that "Thai Adventures" group (later to became Asean Explorer) am sure some here will remember them pre the internet taking off. Wonder what happened to them....

He had wanted me to come back then but I had met a Thai girl and was lubbed up lol in 1998 and aborted and subsequently married her instead....... Always regretted not going and the 2 times he went he had really enjoyed it as a young 32 year old with some great memories and photos.....but roll forward to November 2019 and I said how about Angeles lol. He looked at me as if to say are you serious to which I said lets get it booked time for some action.....Game on

Will tell the story warts and all for hopefully benefit of others who havent been previously....it was 22 years since my mate went. Times had changed clearly

I had asked elsewhere about Hotels and Flights and Larry had responded elsewhere over the Hotels which will come to later....  The issue though on flights is an extensive roundabout route to get to Clark International close to AC or fly into Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila with the associated traffic...

Cebu Pacific had great departure times from Bangkok but the return timings were not good so we booked one way on Cebu out for £81 and will mention Air Asia on return sector later back into Don Maung (right minger of an aircraft lol)

Checked in at Survanabhumbi (didnt bother with online check in) and having already sussed supposedly that the aircraft was an A320 the seat allocation is clearly indicating a wide body instead...... Bit bizarre but in fact it was an A330 with an all economy configuration at nine abreast with the motor being about 40% full at best and In the all economy set up most have been 400 odd seats plus....Flight attendants had Denim skirts on lol most delightful...... We had paid for 20kg of checked bags and they included 7kg of cabin bags....we were nowhere near the limit but had decided not to purchase in advance onboard any food. It was absolutely dirt cheap anyway if you fancied a snack. Literally £2 or so so unless you're desperate for a meal booked in advance I'd not bother.....just grab something onboard

Pushed back early with a 2 hour 45 flight time. As it was  daytime great to see the islands as we're starting to get nearer to Manila.....both toilets were inoperative on centre section of aircraft and one out as well at the front.....good job motor was not full. I'm 6 foot 2 and leg room was fine (even if had been a full flight) so no sweat. No onboard entertainment but no surpise obviously

Landing was heavy to say the least and we docked right at the far end of T3 and filtered off pretty quickly....as we were sat right beside the exit door we were off promptly thinking that immigration likely to be busy so we'll at least keep in front of all the people on this flight but there was no need..... As we walked along a Qatar widebody drew up on an airbridge.......approached immigration and theres literally no sod there....... Am not joking.......Mate went to front of one desk and myself to another and literally 60 seconds later we're on the carousel....I (and he) had been anticipating big queues but couldn't have been further from the truth in reality

On each of the carousels they have CCTV of the baggage handlers lol. Lets just say clearly they dont give a shit as the tossers were lobbing the bags in specatacular fashion on to the rollers.....thank christ ours came off intact am sure others may not have...

Came into T3 area and now its heaving.....girls am guessing waiting for their teeraks everywhere and I'm smiling at all and sundry in usual fashion and not only are they smiling back keenly but saying hello. I'm thinking shit we're only at the exchange booths and we're underway.....

Unlike the arrivals exchange Cartel at Suvarnabhumbi the exchange rates at the airport at Manila are only marginally below what they were at Angeles as it turned out...... At T3 they were around 64.30 for Sterling and Interbank on the day we landed was 65.43 so very fair rate no question so we lobbed over a ton each just needing enough for first night and got 6430 Peso each back......the Hotel had pre booked a taxi for us at 3000 Peso to be charged to the hotel bill and they had given very clear instructions as to his location with our names on a board outside the entrance to the Burger King and clearly all was going swimmingly well.....

The tosser aint there............................lol

Shit....

 

I haven't been there since 1994 but watching youtube it looks like it's changed.

look forward to the future TRs

regards

grayray

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1 hour ago, RR007 said:

.........For christ sake lol wheres the Taxi Driver.....On the the flight over I had jokingly said to my wingman if the pick up aint there we're slightly in the shit here. First visit with no sim cards the only solution would have been go and buy a sim at airport buy some airtime and ring the Hotel...it was our intention to just use hotel wifi in general and ditch phones for nights out

Alternatively I'd have to use roaming charges on UK phone or use my True Sim which was on roaming automatically......bollacks

Waited about 20 minutes thinking maybe traffic for the driver and spot an Airport Police booth and a female officer returning. Thinking might as well ask her christ she couldnt have been more helpful so I get the booking print off out she gets out her mobile and calls the hotel. Passes phone to me but I cant understand a word the reception is babbling partly because area was noisy.

Hand the phone back to Plod who speaks in tagalog. Reception now give mobile number to her of taxi driver who she now calls from the landline and all sorted.....he's stuck in traffic lol

Anyway eventually he turns up and I thank the officer profusely now thinking do I give her a bung or will it be taken the wrong way lol....decide on caution and rethank her to which she responds we're here to serve you have a nice day......I beginning to like this place

Taxi driver had been 4 hours from Angeles coming. Now for illustration distance from Angeles to Manila and Pattaya to Survanabhumbi are almost same distance at 100km give or take. The difference .....traffic

Off we go and we've all seen shanty towns in Bangkok and elsewhere but this place is something else entirely...... Its like Beirut just desperation poverty begging and the simply biggest cacophony of air horns on lorries, car horns and motorbike hooters all competing for the same stretch of road all desperately avoiding collision. Have never seen anything like it simply unreal

Kids playing football at the side of "roads" as lorries metres away thunder by.....people running across traffic in all directions narrowly avoiding vehicles

Eventually after about 1 hour 45 minutes driver says (great English) here we go about to get on the highway and the mad sod accelerates to at least 100mph with my mate telling the bugger to slow down which he did......for 5 minutes. Theres no seat belts in minivan at all lol and am hunkered down across rear seats thinking its only a matter of time before we take an unscheduled air trip.

Arrive outskirts of Angeles after about 2 hours 45 minutes all up and I resurface from the seats thinking how the hell did I get persuaded to come to this madhouse......Now Larry had answered elsewhere our query about Pacific Breeze hotel because someone else had recommended to us and Larry said he had stayed at PB about 50 times but had stopped because of dirty linen poor internet etc and a few other issues and instead was using Scorebirds Hotel literally about 50 metres away instead

We stuck with Pacific Breeze however....Now firstly in general Hotels are more expensive in Angeles than Pattaya not excessively so but in general they are. I'll convert Peso into Baht from here on to give a direct comparision....PB have 6 types of rooms (apparently) and we had the Executive rooms which was only one above the standard rooms....It was fine for me and came to 1660 Baht (2700 Peso)

We pull up outside hotel and theres two geezers in some sort of security uniform with what looked like pump action shotguns on a sling around their shoulders lol....(jump in anyone if you know what the shooters actually are as we saw them outside plenty of hotels)

I'm thinking WTF have I come to here.....a 123 Baht tip to driver (200 Peso) which he was clearly more than happy with

Get checked in reception staff lovely to say the least......Now the rooms are "ok" (and fine for me) but it is a 1660 Baht room at the end of the day. You decide.

Get showered and here we go...... Angeles "Walking St" is literally 70 metres away and its time for action and its starts off in spectacular fashion at "Envy".......

To be continued.....

 

 

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mate the rooms are a lot better than some of the rooms I stayed in back in the 1980s,

but then I was paying between 16-18aud a night for a room,and 200-400Peso LT for a lady.

what ever has happen over the last 40years Angeles looks like it is still a shit dump.

regards

grayray

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I AM reading this with a big smile as during my first trip to the PI in 07 I had very similar thoughts. Been back many times and have stayed in the Pacific Breeze a few times. I was there with Larry a couple of months ago and enjoyed my stay at Scorebirds too! 

Not being able to fly direct into Clarke is a proper pain and I tend to pick my flight times into Manilla to minimise trafic. 

Can't wait to see what you thought of the bar setup with the girls.

 

Edited by boydeste
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4 hours ago, boydeste said:

Not being able to fly direct into Clarke is a proper pain and I tend to pick my flight times into Manilla to minimise trafic. 

Can't wait to see what you thought of the bar setup with the girls.

 

Was just looking at Google Maps, damn those first 10-15 miles is what can take 2+ hours, depending on where you leave from in Manila.

But they have a new Skyway that, apparently, might be open this July. That would cut the travel time down drastically 

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1 hour ago, Golfingboy said:

Was just looking at Google Maps, damn those first 10-15 miles is what can take 2+ hours, depending on where you leave from in Manila.

But they have a new Skyway that, apparently, might be open this July. That would cut the travel time down drastically 

Yes, getting out of Manilla is what kills you, the rest is a breeze. I usually try to fly in around 8pm and leave on a Sunday. Journey time usually around 2 hours or so then! 

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Stayed in the PB for a week over Christmas, always stay there if I can, staff lovely and maids always helpful if needing extras like ironing boards etc. Pool area not much use for me but the adjacent restaurant also serve me up a great chicken curry which always hits the spot.

Rooms are fine and the location for getting to the bars is excellent.  Great laundry right opposite the entrance as well which will turn around your dirty clothes in 24 hours.

Looking forward to the bar report.

 

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Stop in to Centro located close to dollhouse same side there on walking Street. Ask for the manager Gabriel tell him you know Larry from secrets and baby dolls he's a really good friend. He almost married Apple from Secrets years ago good thing he didn't we still laugh about that to this day. If you love it there now you absolutely would have never wanted to leave 5 to 10 years ago it's a totally different place

 

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Stop in to Centro located close to dollhouse same side there on walking Street. Ask for the manager Gabriel tell him you know Larry from secrets and baby dolls he's a really good friend. He almost married Apple from Secrets years ago good thing he didn't we still laugh about that to this day. If you love it there now you absolutely would have never wanted to leave 5 to 10 years ago it's a totally different place

Yes would have loved to experience it 10 years ago. Although same could be said to a newbie to Pattaya today....if they thinks its great now 30 years ago it was in a VERY different league of GFE No tattoes and no attitude. Havent mentioned tatts in Angeles but they were considerably less than on their Thai cousins that was clear. Neither of had a single girl with any

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4 hours ago, Yesitisdakid said:

Stop in to Centro located close to dollhouse same side there on walking Street. Ask for the manager Gabriel tell him you know Larry from secrets and baby dolls he's a really good friend. He almost married Apple from Secrets years ago good thing he didn't we still laugh about that to this day. If you love it there now you absolutely would have never wanted to leave 5 to 10 years ago it's a totally different place

You ( and RR007) have made me get all nostalgic particularly as we stayed mostly in the Pacific Breeze too.

Didn't we have some great times!

Songkran in AC with all the usual suspects from Pattaya. 😀

Absolutely rammed with totty in those days. So many girls on the stages that they could not move round when "dancing" so you had the same ones in front of you until they did a shift change.

"Cherry Girls" 🤣  

boom boom? - No boom boom

Ass? He, he he - No ass

BJ - No BJ

No lady drink then!

OK, BJ but no ass!  🤣

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You ( and RR007) have made me get all nostalgic particularly as we stayed mostly in the Pacific Breeze too.
Didn't we have some great times!
Songkran in AC with all the usual suspects from Pattaya. [emoji3]
Absolutely rammed with totty in those days. So many girls on the stages that they could not move round when "dancing" so you had the same ones in front of you until they did a shift change.
"Cherry Girls" [emoji1787]  
boom boom? - No boom boom
Ass? He, he he - No ass
BJ - No BJ
No lady drink then!
OK, BJ but no ass!  [emoji1787]
Indeed a trip is only as good as those you take it with those good times will never be repeated

Sent from my LG-H990 using Tapatalk

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4 hours ago, Golfingboy said:

Thanks again for adding to your report, it’s much appreciated. Even if it’s less than a week, definitely hitting Philippines next trip to Asia

I'd say by our experience you can go 3 pricing levels.....not saying set in stone but say top end girl 2150 Baht (3500 Peso) plus say 200 Peso tip in morning

Booze from 65 baht to 92 baht (105 to 150 Peso) in Go Go bar really cheap....even cheaper in Sports Bars like Envy

Disco Girls say (923 Baht) 1500 Peso ST (I'm not into ST but mate always is and he had his pick in High Society at 1500 P)....I cant edit earlier post but meant to say SML in High Society Disco was just 62 Baht (1000 Peso).....there is an entry fee which varies from 200 Peso down to zero midweek

In hindsight I was pleased I didnt do any research other than few forum threads etc and just winged it because it turned out perfectly.....I think obviously anyone on here will grasp the scene PDQ but if you'd never been to Asia at all may have been different

Mid November we're looking at a 10 dayer

 

Edited by RR007
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One item I forget to mention and kinda important if you're either tall or fat lol

Avoid Air Asia to Don Muaeng. The smallest seats I have ever seen on a scheduled flight. I was incredibly lucky that I had an empty seat beside me otherwise I would have been stood at the back for 3 hours. Absolutely ludicrous seriously. (The outbound on Cebu Pacific was fine)

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8 minutes ago, RR007 said:

I'd say by our experience you can go 3 pricing levels.....not saying set in stone but say top end girl 2150 Baht (3500 Peso) plus say 200 Peso tip in morning

Booze from 65 baht to 92 baht (105 to 150 Peso) in Go Go bar really cheap....even cheaper in Sports Bars like Envy

Disco Girls say (923 Baht) 1500 Peso ST (I'm not into ST but mate always is and he had his pick in High Society at 1500 P)....I cant edit earlier post but meant to say SML in High Society Disco was just 62 Baht (1000 Peso).....there is an entry fee which varies from 200 Peso down to zero midweek

In hindsight I was pleased I didnt do any research other than few forum threads etc and just winged it because it turned out perfectly.....I think obviously anyone on here will grasp the scene PDQ but if you'd never been to Asia at all may have been different

Mid November we're looking at a 10 dayer

 

Ok, good to know all that. When I’m ready, I want to enjoy myself and not penny pinch on ladies or hotels. But it’s comforting to know  we can go to AC and not need to spend $400+ a night to have fun with decent company. Always been a binge drinker, but really lost the taste for it the last few years, so more worried about those double LD, than my own beer prices. My other worry is safety, lets be honest as messed as I’ve been many nights in LOS, the most I’ve been “robbed”was WS disco where I gave the guy 1K for 2 beers, and when he walked away I forgot about my change. But in Phils I know there’s much more petty theft. I always like to carry enough cash for a week of fun, but over there it sounds like it might be safer to pay those damn fees and hit ATM more often, and not risk losing a huge wad

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11 minutes ago, RR007 said:

One item I forget to mention and kinda important if you're either tall or fat lol

Avoid Air Asia to Don Muaeng. The smallest seats I have ever seen on a scheduled flight. I was incredibly lucky that I had an empty seat beside me otherwise I would have been stood at the back for 3 hours. Absolutely ludicrous seriously. (The outbound on Cebu Pacific was fine)

Thanks again......6’1, 325 qualifies, no? 

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15 minutes ago, Golfingboy said:

Ok, good to know all that. When I’m ready, I want to enjoy myself and not penny pinch on ladies or hotels. But it’s comforting to know  we can go to AC and not need to spend $400+ a night to have fun with decent company. Always been a binge drinker, but really lost the taste for it the last few years, so more worried about those double LD, than my own beer prices.

Although I'd heard of this Double LD thing absolutely didnt come across it to my knowledge.

As regards Air Asia I've shrunk slightly lol I was over 6 foot 3 but around 6 foot 2 now. I'm around 107kg as well....Wasnt the width of seat but purely the pitch that was the issue

Pacific Breeze has an ATM inside foyer I should have added. Didnt use it personally

Edited by RR007
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27 minutes ago, RR007 said:

Although I'd heard of this Double LD thing absolutely didnt come across it to my knowledge.

As regards Air Asia I've shrunk slightly lol I was over 6 foot 3 but around 6 foot 2 now. I'm around 107kg as well....Wasnt the width of seat but purely the pitch that was the issue

Pacific Breeze has an ATM inside foyer I should have added. Didnt use it personally

Great TR. As for double LD, at 350P LD's I think you might have been paying for double LD's without realizing it.

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7 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Great TR. As for double LD, at 350P LD's I think you might have been paying for double LD's without realizing it.

You could be right. You mean as in double gin and tonics for example ??  (so we wouldnt know)

Having said that some of Girls were drinking a single SML but still 350 P

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8 minutes ago, RR007 said:

You could be right. You mean as in double gin and tonics for example ??  (so we wouldnt know)

Having said that some of Girls were drinking a single SML but still 350 P

I seem to recall bottle beer is treated as a double LD. You have to specify a single LD when ordering, and then they only get a glass of something that passes as a drink.

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6 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

I seem to recall bottle beer is treated as a double LD. You have to specify a single LD when ordering, and then they only get a glass of something that passes as a drink.

Great information appreciate that. I thought they were eye wateringly expensive compared to everything else...still if that was the only mistake we made we didnt come out too badly !

Edited by RR007
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