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Cab horror stories do happen, but the public transport system we have doesn't reach certain areas in Manila, or is confusing for tourists, so they're a necessary risk. Try taking the LRT/MRT when possible, but avoid rush hours (6:30-8:30 AM, 5:00-7-8:00 PM) unless you're prepared to be squished like sardines. When riding cabs, always make sure that the cab driver turns on his meter. To make things easier, try hailing cabs from the taxi lines in malls. If you want to be extra-careful or have a bad feeling about your taxi, call your host and tell them the license plate of your taxi in your conversation, making sure the driver hears you.
I'm not too familiar with Malate- it's a commercial area with lots going on, and there are lots of hotels in the area, but one foreigner I knew stayed in this seedy place with rats and lots of prostitutes hanging around outside, I hope you're not staying there 
Beyond that, I'd say that Manila is not a dangerous city as long as common-sense tourist things such as keeping your bag about you, not flashing wads of cash around, avoiding dark sidestreets, etc. Malate is known as a tourist area so as long as you stick to the main thoroughfares at night and well-lighted sidestreets you should be ok.
I think there are quite a number of TLers in Manila who would be more than happy to meet up with you and your GF. Unfortunately, I can't because I'm leaving on Saturday. I hope your stay in the Philippines was great so far and I hope you two enjoy Manila! (even though it was my foreigner friend's least favorite place in the Philippines )
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There will be a StarCraft 2 event in SM Megamall this June 4 2011 1PM at the Cyberzone. You'll meet the PH community there. 
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Germany1302 Posts
The SM Megamall was the only place I visited today / yet, how ironic Still this sounds awesome and I'll be there! Thank you both for the infos!
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Zurich15325 Posts
Chosi! How is the trip? What else have you planned? Have a great time you two!
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hello Chosi! we will take care of you on saturday .. oh man if I didn't have work this friday night we might be drinking on that date ^_^
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Manila nightlife is definitely fun!
Malate has some great places.
Go to Makati for a much fancier ambience. Greenbelt 3 and 4 are good places to go to.
SM mall of asia is also a good place to visit.
But if I have anything I can advice you to try, it would be the amazing street foods.
Really really good stuff.
Try out the hard-boiled quail eggs, chicken intestines, pork bbq, deep fried squid, and much much more.
But be careful though coz there are a lot of street vendors that doesn't really prepare their food properly.
Be sure to ask your guide which ones are good and not.
Also, try an ice cold Red Horse Beer when you can.
One of the best beers ever for sure!
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Germany1302 Posts
I had a beer tasting the first day and I like Colt 54 (or was it 45?) the best. But the others were still ok or good - for someone comming from Germany
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oh wait are you a starcraft 2 player?
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On June 02 2011 22:23 Chosi wrote:I had a beer tasting the first day and I like Colt 54 (or was it 45?) the best. But the others were still ok or good - for someone comming from Germany
If you have the chance, you should also try local hard alcohol like lambanog or tuba. Or maybe you already have? They're really strong though, and you usually can't find them in your normal drinking places like bars since they're usually distilled by households or small community operations.
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@chosi: I'll be at the June 4th event at SM Megamall wearing the Team AZK shirt. Hit me up when you're in Manila; First Round of Beer is on me at Cable Car, near Greenbelt 3 in Makati.
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On June 02 2011 22:42 AZKwitchdoc wrote:
@chosi: I'll be at the June 4th event at SM Megamall wearing the Team AZK shirt. Hit me up when you're in Manila; First Round of Beer is on me at Cable Car, near Greenbelt 3 in Makati.
Hey, witchy it's me clivey! hehe oh yeah Chosi you'll definitely have a great time with us AZK boyz! ^^
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Most cities in Manila are pretty damn scary during the evenings. If you are the kind of guy who likes a good time, Mall of Asia is the best place to start. It's as fancy as it gets.
I could also recommend you check out Fort Bonifacio. It's even fancier than Makati I don't live too far from there so in case you wanna check the place out, lemme know.
Since you live in Malate, the bars in Roxas Blvd are not so bad. And yes, I can vouch for Wawa that an ice cold bottle of Red Horse is the best booze evar! Just be careful to not get the bottle with a grinning horse face as they say that it is very potent. Then again, bars won't give you something like that on purpose.
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On June 02 2011 22:40 ellerina wrote:Show nested quote +On June 02 2011 22:23 Chosi wrote:I had a beer tasting the first day and I like Colt 54 (or was it 45?) the best. But the others were still ok or good - for someone comming from Germany If you have the chance, you should also try local hard alcohol like lambanog or tuba. Or maybe you already have? They're really strong though, and you usually can't find them in your normal drinking places like bars since they're usually distilled by households or small community operations.
Lambanog? LOL.
Seriously though, I heard that liquor is not so bad. Though the best ones are the locally brewed type in Laguna, I believe? O_o
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On June 02 2011 22:49 Licmyobelisk wrote:Show nested quote +On June 02 2011 22:42 AZKwitchdoc wrote:
@chosi: I'll be at the June 4th event at SM Megamall wearing the Team AZK shirt. Hit me up when you're in Manila; First Round of Beer is on me at Cable Car, near Greenbelt 3 in Makati.
Hey, witchy it's me clivey! hehe oh yeah Chosi you'll definitely have a great time with us AZK boyz! ^^
Definitely !!!
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oh yeah; i forgot to mention that i'm organizing a Major Tournament in Makati, Philippines
here's a "draft site" that isnt final yet - LINK
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On June 02 2011 23:06 AZKwitchdoc wrote:oh yeah; i forgot to mention that i'm organizing a Major Tournament in Makati, Philippines here's a "draft site" that isnt final yet - LINK
KICKASS, BRO! Checking the site nao!
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Chosi you should jump on a flight with cebu pacific for $20 to Davao City! its the best there ^^
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On June 02 2011 22:52 DocNemesis wrote:
Lambanog? LOL.
Seriously though, I heard that liquor is not so bad. Though the best ones are the locally brewed type in Laguna, I believe? O_o
Everything's worth a try? The best lambanog that I've tried was from Laguna, where the people who distill it would place fruit slices in the lamabanog overnight. The next day, you had apple lambanog or whatever flavor they decided upon.
OP, you should also try beer below zero. It's beer, the normal brands like San Miguel and Red Horse but served as cold as possible without the beer turning solid or into slush. Big drinking places have it, so if you're drinking in Greenbelt you can ask if the place has it. Usually they'll advertise if they have it anyway.
Wow, I never knew that there was a real SC2 scene with tournaments and everything in the Philippines! Good job organizers, teams, and clans!
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Nightlife?
Go to Resorts World and go to Republiq. Lots of foreigners there as well. Go on Friday or Saturday.
And as long as you use common sense, nothing bad is going to happen to you. the worst thing that's going to happen to you probably is that you'll get ripped off in the cab. A 100 PHP ride becoming 500 PHP or something like that.
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On June 02 2011 23:43 ellerina wrote:Show nested quote +On June 02 2011 22:52 DocNemesis wrote:
Lambanog? LOL.
Seriously though, I heard that liquor is not so bad. Though the best ones are the locally brewed type in Laguna, I believe? O_o Everything's worth a try? The best lambanog that I've tried was from Laguna, where the people who distill it would place fruit slices in the lamabanog overnight. The next day, you had apple lambanog or whatever flavor they decided upon. OP, you should also try beer below zero. It's beer, the normal brands like San Miguel and Red Horse but served as cold as possible without the beer turning solid or into slush. Big drinking places have it, so if you're drinking in Greenbelt you can ask if the place has it. Usually they'll advertise if they have it anyway. Wow, I never knew that there was a real SC2 scene with tournaments and everything in the Philippines! Good job organizers, teams, and clans!
The PH scene is more active than you think.
Weekly tournies, LAN events, heck even fnatic.Sen came to manila not too long ago.
I guess we really need to post stuff here on TL.
also, we are going to have Peru v Philippines nation war showmatch on Sunday PH time.
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I was in Manila 3 years ago, and experienced one of those cab horror stories myself. Got into cab with parents, gave driver destination in writing, and sat back.
What should have been a 15 minute trip ended up being 40 minutes. The driver took us for a massive detour around and around. Unfortunately for him, we've been to the place before, so we started arguing with him about 20 minutes in. In the end, my dad laid down the tough guy hammer: he threw money at the driver, the amount we paid for last time then just walked out. The driver started screaming and yelling, but we just ignored him and walked into a nearby mall.
I'd present the driver with a map/route if I were you.
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Germany1302 Posts
Today we went to chinatown, sm mall of Asia and robinsons and besides the radical temperature changes when leaving a building and one heavy trafficjam it was awesome. Really glad I asked TL and excited about tomorrow. Oh and I played sc2 only a few times, i played sc1 since the Razer1911 release
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chosi! see you later..
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Here are the photos from yesterday's INNO3D/NVIDIA Xtreme Faceoff
LINK
Photos courtesy of Team AZK
@chosi : i hope that you come back to Manila in October for the event that Team AZK is organizing
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On June 05 2011 12:35 AZKwitchdoc wrote:Here are the photos from yesterday's INNO3D/NVIDIA Xtreme Faceoff LINKPhotos courtesy of Team AZK@chosi : i hope that you come back to Manila in October for the event that Team AZK is organizing
Damn, that looks like it was fun. Is that chosi that I see in some of the photos?
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On June 05 2011 15:06 espritsc wrote:Show nested quote +On June 05 2011 12:35 AZKwitchdoc wrote:Here are the photos from yesterday's INNO3D/NVIDIA Xtreme Faceoff LINKPhotos courtesy of Team AZK@chosi : i hope that you come back to Manila in October for the event that Team AZK is organizing Damn, that looks like it was fun. Is that chosi that I some of the photos?
yup, chosi is the token white guy in the photos
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Germany1302 Posts
This morning I arrived back in Germany after a long but rather pleasant flight. I am still sorting pics and "arriving" home but I just wanted to say thanks to everyone, I enjoyed an awesome evening with you guys. I'm really sorry I could not stay for some more beers but timing was just bad since it was the last day. But I think I'll reserve some days in my upcomming SEA trip (Jan/Feb 2012) to go to Manila again and than the beer is on me!
I'll upload some more pics later!
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EPT
