Phillipines, Manila, Makati Happenings

[huanggua]

Thanks for sharing your well-informed insight.

I don't remember reading that Manila is the worst place to invest in the world. But I do remember reading that PI is the worst place to invest in. The problem with investing in property is that its difficult to convert your investment into cash in short time. Alot is dependent on location and point of entry. Buyers generally will not buy at market price. Market price is set by the developers and obviously it will always appreciate. People will only buy if you are selling at 20 to 30% below market price. I bought a unit at The Serendra for 6 million and sold it for 9 million when the market price set by Ayala was 12 million. I made some money though. As for financing, Banks will never finance a property which is outside the metro. Even the developers themselves will not offer in-house financing at high interest rate. The reason is simple enough. Because it's difficult to find tenants. It's a matter of ROI. You need to have the right location and you need to get in early. Getting in early is a matter of having the right connection. Because good units are snapped up before the launch. It's a very dirty game. Money is power here.

As regards the casinos. This idea was coined during Marcos's era. But it took a long time to reach this stage. The operators have been offered financing by banks own by Henry Sy. The reason why the operators have held back is because of the pending investigation by Ninoy as the contracts were granted without proper tenders. Once this investigation is over the operators will commence their construction. The project cannot failed as the Sys have already invested alot in this project.

Originally Posted by etsys

The Lord; What's new ? haha .. Old story .. as in that it is the cops who kidnap ..

huanggua:

Well, for investing in Manila, my 2 cents.

It is not for no reason that Manila is called as the worst place to invest

The banks and lending institutions have a tight fist, tighter than a hedgehog's ass..

And the businessmen, well, they are great at doing business on Other people's money

Example: LBC bank went bust, but the rest of the LBC group is happy and healthy, and happily making money with no recourse for the investors who lost their money, and the structure is nice enough that one disaster doesn't hit another - safe operations. At the cost of the poor joe public.

Lending ? well, a guy who holds a 60 million property, in Zambo, wanted to take a mortgage, on the fully paid up property for ten million peso, for some liquidity in his other business - wanna know what the banks say ? No can do. All of 'em had the same.

Either the banks don't trust the valuation or they are shit scared of lending money, which is their business in the first place ..

Oh, well, guess who owns the banks ? The Tans, the Sys, the Ayalas, and all ..

I am not a financial guy, but, well, the way the whole system runs is to do only micro lending, and stop and avoid large scale lending, unless fully backed by govt guarantees ..

Coming back to your casinos, they are fully funded by some mysterious financier - who, at the fall of the dice, will reverse all, and there goes all the bets.

I maybe wrong though.

[sugardad]

Originally Posted by The Lord

What u mean bro?

Singaporean stall bro.... One side bk kut teh another side..prata n teh

But if u wan to stick to baboi then im ok also...

Getting ready to fetch my babe to go oversea

Old gal dont leave u, new gal cannot come in, that what I meant, but u a number tag machine next time.

hehehehe, I love to cook but to run a restaurant, specially a sg style one ?? sure get complain until no business.

Originally Posted by etsys

boo ..

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/165707/...r-fire-put-out

sugardad: my wings are clipped, but .. well, there are always 'things' to do in Manila .. haha

Your wings' feathers got trim only, when it grow back,sure can fly higher bro.

Originally Posted by huanggua

If location is not really an issue you may want to look at the projects by DMCI. They are relatively cheaper. I bought a 60 sqm 2 BR at Flair Towers which is at the junction of Reliance and Pines Streets in. Mandaluyong for 3.1 million last year. It is of course cheaper to buy land and build on your own. In fact this is what I intend to do for my retirement home. As regards investments it's very difficult to trust these people. My ice cream palour idea was blown the moment the landlord heard about my plans. I am not giving up as yet. Please let me have the location of your stalls so that I can patronize you when I can. I will also recommend it to my Singaporean friends who are living in Manila.

Hmmmmm..... interesting .
I will buy land to build , that part I am sure.
I will look at some of the current when I am there, thanks for the tips.

I agree with the trust issue, must have some kind of golden handcuff on them diba,

hint hint to all, thats why all my gals are long term.
F&B is easy, as long as I keep my secret formula, I think I am safe for a while.

But seriously, I just love to cook, but as a job........never thought of that before. unless i start my apprentice ship now, learn all the basic from pro, maybe. As of now, cook 1 big pot of ba ku Teh for 20, 30 pax once a while is still ok. Definitely on house warming menu .

[The Lord]

KNN.... Mayors condo sia.... If this happens to d Mayors condo.... Then....?

Originally Posted by etsys

boo ..

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/165707/...r-fire-put-out

sugardad: my wings are clipped, but .. well, there are always 'things' to do in Manila .. haha

Originally Posted by sugardad

Your wings' feathers got trim only, when it grow back,sure can fly higher bro.




.

[bolsterposter]

Speaking of fires along vito cruz ... Saw a Singaporen Restaurant along Vito Cruz the other time - has anyone tried it out?

http://sisasaid.blogspot.com/2011/11...ngaporean.html

Was thinking of going down one day, but for now, just sticking to the tried and tested ~ wee nam kee chicken at ayala triangle, lol

[etsys]

bolsterposter: Going by the taste of Makansutra and Old Chang Kee and Banana leaf, well, I can bet the food is 'filipinised' ..

Should ask my friends there to try ..

[etsys]

Originally Posted by sugardad

...
hehehehe, I love to cook but to run a restaurant, specially a sg style one ?? sure get complain until no business.

let me give you a hint - there are a lot of "Balikbayans" .. who have worked in Singapore, and did an RTB due to many reasons, including trivial ones like being blacklisted because they dared to look for new job when under one agent and so ..

They have experience .. and patience can find them ..

Well, as I speak, one of the 5 star chef here is now happy and healthy in a 5 star spot in Boracay -and he has no complaints compared to the deductions and drama and politics, vs Singapore ..

And trick in cooking is to have learnt the short cuts, so a chicken curry doesn't take 30 minutes or more, or pasta doesn't need one hour or more .. time a customer may not wait for .. and to have consistency ... that wins the case ..

You can always opt for "filipinised" or 'original'' and don't force the original down the throats of the natives - rather than agree that they are not used to the original, the natives there will swear that your original is all wrong .. been there, done that .. like, the Banana leaf - the staff there swear that the prata + the sweet curry is how Singapore style prata must be served .. or else, it is all WRONG .. Don't argue ..

Your wings' feathers got trim only, when it grow back,sure can fly higher bro.

Yah, hope so ..

[huanggua]

Will be over in mid-April.

[lfc78]

Well, just back yesterday from a 3 days business trip. Stayed at Dusit Thani.. Still good since I last went 2 years ago.. Nothing much.. Arrive wed afternoon check in, laze at hotel room till 6pm and took a cab to Airforce One.. Paid 900 peso for massage.. 1500 for the gal.. Selection so so, took A7, name, Marice.. Guess she is consider the better looking one there.. 22 years old, nice tits and smooth complexion.. Service wise.. I can better else where.. Guess I am not so much of a pinoy man.. Dominated by the ang mohs, koreans and japs over there.. So if not for business needs, guess I won't be venturing there too much..

Just by 2 pesos..

[catch78]

Came back last week from a w/e trip to manila - and first of all - thanks to all bros who make this a very informative thread -
my few cents -
for bro's looking to hunt and pick up, i thot the greenbelt was a nice place - on a friday / saturday night - there were pinoys looking to hook up -
also i did not have much success at the clubs went to republique (there were a lot of for hire) but found it difficult to break into the local manilla crowd - i find that you need to know someone there to break into that circle but thats just me. Also went to the 'ning' bar at the peninsula - but found that too dead - there' s a band playing there (bad band) - and most people stick to their tables --

went to AF1 - think that was a gd call - there is quite a lot of choice - for bros who go there and have time, there is another acquarium place.. just a few 100 meters ahead, on the same side of the road - after the intersection (i forget what its called).

and finally - i really recommend bro's to do most of their business during day light hours - even AF1 - unless you have a taxi or driver u trust - or have a local wth you -i do not recomend being out in manila at night - only makati i think is safe.

gd lck bro's and tx again for making this one of the best threads

ps - i was pleasantly surprised by the fact that i dnd't have much troble with taxi's - most new taxi's have meters and there are a lot of them around - so i one doesn't go, just let him go an get the next one - i insisted on meter and found it not to difficult to travel that way - but i htink key is daylight hours!
just my 2 cents

[huanggua]

You were lucky, bro. Go there often and you will know what I mean. There are places which are not safe even in the day. I was accosted by 4 youths who demanded money from me under broad daylight in Ermita. I have seen a lady being robbed of her gold chain inside a jeepney. I stop taking jeepney after that. Many foreigners had their throats slit under broad daylight.

Originally Posted by catch78

Came back last week from a w/e trip to manila - and first of all - thanks to all bros who make this a very informative thread -
my few cents -
for bro's looking to hunt and pick up, i thot the greenbelt was a nice place - on a friday / saturday night - there were pinoys looking to hook up -
also i did not have much success at the clubs went to republique (there were a lot of for hire) but found it difficult to break into the local manilla crowd - i find that you need to know someone there to break into that circle but thats just me. Also went to the 'ning' bar at the peninsula - but found that too dead - there' s a band playing there (bad band) - and most people stick to their tables --

went to AF1 - think that was a gd call - there is quite a lot of choice - for bros who go there and have time, there is another acquarium place.. just a few 100 meters ahead, on the same side of the road - after the intersection (i forget what its called).

and finally - i really recommend bro's to do most of their business during day light hours - even AF1 - unless you have a taxi or driver u trust - or have a local wth you -i do not recomend being out in manila at night - only makati i think is safe.

gd lck bro's and tx again for making this one of the best threads

ps - i was pleasantly surprised by the fact that i dnd't have much troble with taxi's - most new taxi's have meters and there are a lot of them around - so i one doesn't go, just let him go an get the next one - i insisted on meter and found it not to difficult to travel that way - but i htink key is daylight hours!
just my 2 cents

[The Lord]

That is the reason i gv up on Manila Lock stock n Barrel.

1) too many criminals n criminals wannabe

2) too many touts

3) too many pimps

4) too many people who wan a share of ur assets n will find ways to relieve u of ur money

5) cabbies cheat u

6) not sure how many are aware of d Famous Horse Carriage scam in Malate .... Intramurous areas

7) the list does not end... Does it?


MORAL: Yes the PI is a great place. But to enjoy it, you have to go beyond Manila....NO... NO.... i am not referring to AC at all... To the provinces.... The above mentioned activities do take place in the smaller towns as well but on a Miniscule scale... That its easy to manage.... In Manila, its really hard to watch ur rear..

Originally Posted by huanggua

You were lucky, bro. Go there often and you will know what I mean. There are places which are not safe even in the day. I was accosted by 4 youths who demanded money from me under broad daylight in Ermita. I have seen a lady being robbed of her gold chain inside a jeepney. I stop taking jeepney after that. Many foreigners had their throats slit under broad daylight.

[The Lord]

Thks to bros who upped me.

Thx again

[crappy23]

any sammyboys presently in Manila and will like to visit MBC tonight? plz ping me so we can go together.. thanks..

[darkknightrises]

Just back from Puerto Galera. Stayed at White Beach so didn't check out the 'action' at Sabang. Occupied with my gal as well so I didn't wanna venture out. Run-of-the-mill watersports here: jet ski, cave exploration, snorkeling, kayaking. Still all good if you got good company and nice to shut out from life.

Was at Republiq on Saturday night and had a Silver table with friends. As I was there after a company function, I was still in my suit (minus tie of course) so I'm not sure if that gave me a slight edge over the other guys. Found it was pretty easy to talk to girls especially they were all hanging around tables waiting to be invited to sit at one. Managed to invite 3 girls to sit with me but they weren't my cup of tea (just wanted to test if it was easy to pick up girls) upon closer look. But damn when pinays dance... I don't know what is it but sure turns me on. Headed to Palladium after that but didn't really like the atmosphere. For me, Republiq is better than Insomnia/Paladium now.

As usual, a great outing. Appreciate advice dished out by Lord and etsys. Newbies to the Philippines should just read all the posts by them.

[darkknightrises]

Hi bros

On the topic of doing business, is a foreigner allowed to run a food store (cafe, eatery, etc) in the Philippines? I have done some research and it seems that it's not allowed as the commercial regulations are quite protectionist. If any bro knows the way to get around it or if I have been misinformed, please let me know.