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That is what I meant and I am glad I didn't go, with a co-worker or not. goodness.
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Feb 11, 2013 09:47
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No one should ever go to Pattaya, ever, for any reason. Pass it on.
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Feb 11, 2013 11:04
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Put that in the O.P., actually. Avoid Pattaya. Unless you like to diddle kiddies. Note: if you get shanked in Pattaya, nobody will come to your assistance.
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Feb 11, 2013 13:20
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I'm digging Manila's armed guards. Going to 7/11? Yep, dude with a Colt .45 just making sure everything's cool. Outside my hotel? Three armed guards, one with an attack dog. Malls have guys with M16s patrolling. Feels pretty cyberpunk. Oh and Ska: I ran out of pesos on my prepaid SIM. Text you back once I figure out how to load na dito or whatever.
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Feb 11, 2013 14:00
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I like the guys who lean casually on the shotguns, or point them at the customers accidentally and constantly while they're gabbing.
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Feb 12, 2013 01:44
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Just booked tickets to get from Bangkok to KO Tao, getting in Thursday morning. Any recommendations for a cheap hostel at sairee so I can bum about for a few days before diving? And anyone up for a goon meet?
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Feb 12, 2013 09:36
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I always liked the irony in Filipinos using 1911s. People using a caliber designed specifically to kill them 
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Feb 12, 2013 12:37
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G-Hawk posted:Just booked tickets to get from Bangkok to KO Tao, getting in Thursday morning. Any recommendations for a cheap hostel at sairee so I can bum about for a few days before diving? And anyone up for a goon meet? If you want to do any diving, PM me the details of your arrival (your irl name, date of arrival, which ferry you are taking including the time you get on the ferry) or text me at 0843245946 and I can send you a taxi from the dive shop where I work, New Way. We're at 2 goons here right now (plus me)! Prik Thai has rooms as cheap as 250 baht/night, but those are usually always booked up. 300 baht/night dorms are plentiful. 400 baht can get you guesthouses inland (Kanokwan Guesthouse, for instance), 600 baht can get you bungalows right near the beach (Prik Thai if you want to be right in the middle of Sairee, Bow Thong or Mama OChai if you want to be within about 2 minutes' walk from Sairee but not in the thick of it).
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Feb 12, 2013 13:59
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It's my second last night on Koh Tao and I should be busily chasing sluts at Lotus but I just can't be bothered. Also... I dove a rebreather yesterday (in the office bar pool  ) and I am hooked. I see one in my future... maybe not when I come back later this year, but eventually.
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Feb 12, 2013 18:54
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Since I live near Bangkok, I'm going to pretend "Lotus" refers to a Tesco store.
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Feb 12, 2013 19:23
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ReindeerF posted:Since I live near Bangkok, I'm going to pretend "Lotus" refers to a Tesco store. It's a beach bar for backpackers, nothing icky.
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Feb 12, 2013 22:40
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Bai loTAHHH
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Feb 12, 2013 23:13
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Finally arrived in Singapore and the city seems to be half shut-down on holiday. My work told me to meet a guy in "the McDonalds in the big mall on Orchard Road". I think this is it: the worst directions ever given. It's almost art.
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Feb 13, 2013 05:08
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And this is Singapore, the efficient country. Wait until you deal with Thai or Khmer or Lao directions. Concepts like cardinal directions and maps are pretty much non-existent. Here it's like the smallest old rural Texas town where you still get directions to "take a left at the haning' tree."
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Feb 13, 2013 05:09
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:Finally arrived in Singapore and the city seems to be half shut-down on holiday. My work told me to meet a guy in "the McDonalds in the big mall on Orchard Road". You have no idea the horrible directions you are about to encounter. In Thailand (and most of the rest of the region) if a stranger asks you for directions and you don't know his destination (or don't understand him) it is customary to gesture in a random direction and say "That way!" instead of saying "I don't know!" because saying I don't know might mean you're not smart and you wouldn't want to seem dumb would you? ^ ___ ^
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Feb 13, 2013 05:13
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'a big mall on orchard road' is like 'a specially bent piece of hay in a city of haystacks'. I have never seen this many malls and I've never seen a city road this long. It took me twenty minutes to cross Paterson Rd because the only way across is via an underground mall that seems to be horribly confusing on purpose. After an hour and a half I found a grumpy man sitting outside McDonalds with the biggest "you're late" scowl I've ever seen. It was the very last mall on Orchard Road. The very last one. On the plus side, I saw a monkey. I've never seen a monkey outside a zoo before and this one was just chilling in a tree outside a major shopping centre. Also, durians are great. "I have never seen this many" seems to be a running thing I've got going right now. I did grow up in rural New Zealand but still this is madness. Does anyone know what the jungle-y bit about halfway down Orchard Road with a heavy police guard around it is?
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Feb 13, 2013 05:24
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If you mean the place with the armed guard near Dhoby Ghaut, it's the Prime Ministers office
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Feb 13, 2013 06:50
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Anybody in Nha Trang tonight wanna meet up? Let me know!
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Feb 13, 2013 08:08
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I live in a town 30 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur and during any major national holiday we have to suffer the traffic. Is KL still congested with cars more so than usual today?
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Feb 13, 2013 10:02
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kru posted:If you mean the place with the armed guard near Dhoby Ghaut, it's the Prime Ministers office I worked with his daughter a few summers ago. She's cute and was nicer than you might assume a rich SE Asian politician's daughter would be. I totally didn't realize who she was for at least the first month either, despite my job at the time being specifically SEA-politics related. I don't know if that says more about his daughter's ability to be normal or my obliviousness...
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Feb 13, 2013 14:35
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Sitting at the gate on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Manila. They asked me for proof of onward travel not at check in or anywhere until I got to the gate itself and was trying to pre board. Every time I fly with these guys it becomes more and more of a hassle.
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Feb 14, 2013 00:44
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FordPRefectLL posted:Sitting at the gate on a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Manila. They asked me for proof of onward travel not at check in or anywhere until I got to the gate itself and was trying to pre board. Every time I fly with these guys it becomes more and more of a hassle. So.. did they make you purchase a ticket right there from Haiwaiian Airlines? I'd imagine you don't have too much time as you're pre-border right there. Also, where are you departing from?
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Feb 14, 2013 01:06
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lol internet. posted:So.. did they make you purchase a ticket right there from Haiwaiian Airlines? I'd imagine you don't have too much time as you're pre-border right there. Departing from Honolulu. I had to look up my reservation on my phone and show it to the guy but if I weren't so wired in I'd have had more trouble. Now we are delayed because half this filipino family's passports are expired and they are throwing a fit. EDIT: And they didn't catch the passports were expired til we had all boarded.
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Feb 14, 2013 01:18
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Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport is a mess. I went through five or six checkpoints leaving yesterday, and they have this system where you have to pay the airport fee in cash right before customs. I had cleverly planned everything and spent most of my pesos, so I actually had to change Hong Kong dollars at a terrible rate right there to pay the fee. Aren't they supposed to bill that to the airline who includes it in the ticket price? Really frustrating.
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Feb 14, 2013 01:54
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Bloodnose posted:Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport is a mess. I went through five or six checkpoints leaving yesterday, and they have this system where you have to pay the airport fee in cash right before customs. I had cleverly planned everything and spent most of my pesos, so I actually had to change Hong Kong dollars at a terrible rate right there to pay the fee. Aren't they supposed to bill that to the airline who includes it in the ticket price? Really frustrating. You should see their domestic terminal, which is a 15-30 minute drive away. Ninoy is by far the crappiest airport I've been to in Asia. It's still not as bad as Malaga was in 2006 (maybe its better now?).
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Feb 14, 2013 03:52
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TheLizard posted:You should see their domestic terminal, which is a 15-30 minute drive away. I think my experience in the domestic terminal getting from Manila to Puerto Princesa was worse than the endless van ride from PP to El Nido. Such a terrible, disorganized place.
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Feb 14, 2013 04:07
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My friend is flying into BKK on Sunday and I am flying in a coupla hours later. We are planning on meeting at the airport and proceeding to the hotel together. Is there an easily found/recognised landmark in the airport we she could wait till I meet her there? Otherwise I might just say wait at my gate.
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Feb 14, 2013 07:39
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unixbeard posted:My friend is flying into BKK on Sunday and I am flying in a coupla hours later. We are planning on meeting at the airport and proceeding to the hotel together. Is there an easily found/recognised landmark in the airport we she could wait till I meet her there? Otherwise I might just say wait at my gate. Years ago when I was departing Bangkok I'd forgotten I had an extending police baton in my pack (I used it to threaten the vicious soi dogs away while I was staying at a remote bungalow on Koh Phangan -- these days however that bungalow operation isn't at all remote any more and the dogs are gone). At the airport they were like "Hey do you have something in your pack" and I was like "Noooooo I don't think so" and they said "Well what's this?" and I was like "Oh yeah! Haha, sorry, just chuck it in the trash." This was at Don Muang when it was the main international airport. During my last trip at the new airport I noticed a glass display case near check-in that had a bunch of prohibited items in it with suggestions that you should not try to board with these things in your pack. Sitting on the top shelf was my baton. So you should meet at Sheep-Goats' baton.
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Feb 14, 2013 09:05
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Bloodnose posted:Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport is a mess. I went through five or six checkpoints leaving yesterday, and they have this system where you have to pay the airport fee in cash right before customs. I had cleverly planned everything and spent most of my pesos, so I actually had to change Hong Kong dollars at a terrible rate right there to pay the fee. Aren't they supposed to bill that to the airline who includes it in the ticket price? Really frustrating. Glad to help out, sorry we couldn't meet. Next time, though! Traveling to/from Manila is always a hassle, in part due to Philippines' super-strict visa requirements, in part becuase it's unofficially a safe haven. (in their defense, they're trying to crack down on this, which is good for Pres. Aquino) CronoGamer is right though, the bus ride is by far the worse choice. Although I heard plenty of good things about Puerto Princesa?  there's two tricks for getting through NAIA.
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Feb 14, 2013 10:24
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I found this video and thought it'd be funny to post it because the song is super cheesy but then I watched it and immediatly wanted to quit my loving job and move back over.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJt5XVT2MU Goddamn TAT 
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Feb 14, 2013 12:32
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Hey guys, I moved to Bangkok a couple of weeks ago, probably to stay for at least a couple of years. I'm liking it so far, im slowly getting braver with street food and I've stopped noticing the smell so much. I've got a couple of questions I was hoping someone who knows the place could help me with. Are there are gyms in Siam Square? According to google there should be one at the top of the Paragon Mall, but I went today and it appears to be being renovated/converted into a Fitness First, with no notice of when it will open up. Second, when I want to say hello in a shop, am I supposed to say satwadee? I noticed shopkeepers don't say this, they say something that sounds like "sarriva". I think im going to have to take thai classes, it doesn't seem like a language you can just absorb passively by living here. One more question, where can I go to find some normal good looking women? I was walking around the paragon mall earlier while looking for a gym, and god drat, there is some hot women here. My company has put me up in a hotel on Asok while I find an apartment, but well its just thousands of prostitutes. Even inside the bars there are prostitutes. Wherever the hot normal girls go, it is not around here. nugzseeker 2 fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 13:57
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nugzseeker 2 posted:well its just thousands of prostitutes. Even inside the bars there are prostitutes. Wherever the hot normal girls go, it is not around here. I know it's passe' but I had a little laugh.  Also: Nugzseeker lol
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Feb 14, 2013 14:07
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FordPRefectLL posted:Departing from Honolulu. I had to look up my reservation on my phone and show it to the guy but if I weren't so wired in I'd have had more trouble. Now we are delayed because half this filipino family's passports are expired and they are throwing a fit. Bloodnose posted:Manila's Ninoy Aquino airport is a mess. I went through five or six checkpoints leaving yesterday, and they have this system where you have to pay the airport fee in cash right before customs. I had cleverly planned everything and spent most of my pesos, so I actually had to change Hong Kong dollars at a terrible rate right there to pay the fee. Aren't they supposed to bill that to the airline who includes it in the ticket price? Really frustrating. MNL has several terminals spread miles apart, but the one you'll usually go in and out of, unless you're flying the terrifying PAL, is Centennial if I recall correctly (i.e. the old brown one). The one piece of advice I have is that, if you have up to an hour before your flight, take the deal from the hawkers next to the elevators and go up to the lounge. They'll charge you like $15, but the lounge is a throwback to another era and it's bottomless beer, liquor and food - and I make sure to drink more than $15 worth of poo poo, which is no small order in a country where a bottle of Pale is like 30p, heh. unixbeard posted:My friend is flying into BKK on Sunday and I am flying in a coupla hours later. We are planning on meeting at the airport and proceeding to the hotel together. Is there an easily found/recognised landmark in the airport we she could wait till I meet her there? Otherwise I might just say wait at my gate. nugzseeker 2 posted:and I've stopped noticing the smell so much. nugzseeker 2 posted:Are there are gyms in Siam Square? According to google there should be one at the top of the Paragon Mall, but I went today and it appears to be being renovated/converted into a Fitness First, with no notice of when it will open up. nugzseeker 2 posted:Second, when I want to say hello in a shop, am I supposed to say satwadee? I noticed shopkeepers don't say this, they say something that sounds like "sarriva". I think im going to have to take thai classes, it doesn't seem like a language you can just absorb passively by living here. nugzseeker 2 posted:One more question, where can I go to find some normal good looking women? I was walking around the paragon mall earlier while looking for a gym, and god drat, there is some hot women here. My company has put me up in a hotel on Asok while I find an apartment, but well its just thousands of prostitutes. Even inside the bars there are prostitutes. Wherever the hot normal girls go, it is not around here. If you plan to stay long-term, my advice would be to not get into a long-term relationship locally until you've figured the country out. One of the first guys I did some work for when I lived here was a gay guy who'd been coming here for 10-20 years every two weeks routinely, and he told me, "This country's bizarre, people fall in love at the drop of a hat." That's a stereotype, but he's basically right. I didn't date anyone local for 2-3 years after I arrived, which is a little extreme, but when you meet the guys in these unhappy relationships that they got into too early you'll see why. Until you've lived here long enough to get the lay of the land, keep it casual or Western is my advice, but recognize that "casual" for you may not be casual for someone else. This is still a country where, unfortunately, women are considered damaged goods in terms of marriage by the local men after 30, so there's a lot of pressure on them to latch on to someone - especially as they near that age. Think of your country in 1950 - that's Thailand (but with a bunch of transgender people and ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 17:23
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Skandiaavity posted:
Umm... I was saying that the airport was far worse than the interminable bus ride. It was really that miserable. On my way back to Manila we flew via the smaller airline company that operates with the Miniloc and other swanky resorts and it was excellent. MUCH better than going via that garbage dump and the bus ride to boot. Almost didn't reserve our tickets for us though, and my girlfriend and I had to take separate flights since there was only one seat left on each.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:46
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On that note, if you can take Cebu Pacific out of Clark you can avoid all the multi-terminal MNL garbage, but, depending on where you are, CLA can be a pain to get to. Also, I just assume a Cebu-Pacific plane is going to fall out of the sky any day now, in spite of it having a pretty good safety record in recent years. PAL is frightening to fly in my experience. I never flew such a short 747 flight with so many abrupt altitude changes in clear weather. The entire country was put on a blacklist by the EU FAA (EASA?) a few years ago and isn't allowed to land anywhere in the EU last I checked. It is difficult to exaggerate how bad Philippines and Indonesian airlines and pilots are in terms of safety. Entire countries and continents don't just ban other countries out of nowhere. That Thai One-Two-Go crash that made headlines in Phuket a few years ago? Indonesian pilot. I hear Garuda's gotten a lot better, but you won't catch me on any airline from either country. At least the Thais put competent former air force pilots and such on their carriers. In the Philippines, it's basically a vocational school trade. I can't figure out what's wrong with Indonesia, but I also don't care, their safety record speaks for itself in huge, bold letters like a motherfucker - they're probably the worst in Asia. Air Asia's been a welcome surprise with Tony what's his name running it out of KL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqh8e2KYIrU There is literally no single thing more stereotypically Filipnia than synchronized marketing dance routines I think. Just to add a positive note, my girlfriend used to run regional marketing for Sunsilk in Southeast Asia for Unilever out of Thailand and even she would, upon seeing a shot of a really beautiful woman in an ad, say, "Oh, she's probably from The Philippines." I don't mean it in a creepy THE GIRLS way, I just mean that, man, The Phils has some seriously beautiful people representing it. EDIT: Quick, someone show this to a group of United stewardesses and record the response on video for fun. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 17:56
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nugzseeker 2 posted:One more question, where can I go to find some normal good looking women? I was walking around the paragon mall earlier while looking for a gym, and god drat, there is some hot women here. My company has put me up in a hotel on Asok while I find an apartment, but well its just thousands of prostitutes. Even inside the bars there are prostitutes. Wherever the hot normal girls go, it is not around here. Asok and Nana "sectors" are the big, big, BIG nonos. They are like the global ground zeros for prostitution. If you are between 25-35 I'd check out the expat-scene and/or the clubs/bars around Ekkamai/Thong Lor which are more oriented to expats and thai upper middle class or so.
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Feb 14, 2013 22:15
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While we're still talking about onward travel, would having a visa for a neighboring country in your passport work as proof of onward travel? I'm looking at some round trips but I'd be leaving months later and the Vietnam consulate nearby is so unhelpful 
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Feb 14, 2013 23:29
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Tomato Soup posted:While we're still talking about onward travel, would having a visa for a neighboring country in your passport work as proof of onward travel? I'm looking at some round trips but I'd be leaving months later and the Vietnam consulate nearby is so unhelpful I'd imagine so.. but if it's Vietnam you're worried about.. Just slip a couple bucks in your passport when you give it to the border guard. Also, if you're arriving on a bus filled with tourists, it's highly unlikely you'll get hassled.
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Feb 15, 2013 00:20
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I am set to inherit a substantial amount of money very soon (like, um, tomorrow) and would like to go and sit on a beach somewhere for a month and read books, ride a motorbike, get drunk and eat all the time. I am not really interested in diving or watersports. Any recommendations on where to do this? Budget is basically unlimited although I'd like to keep it as low as possible. I've been to Bangkok before and have no problem going back to Thailand.
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Feb 15, 2013 00:36
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CronoGamer posted:I think my experience in the domestic terminal getting from Manila to Puerto Princesa was worse than the endless van ride from PP to El Nido. Such a terrible, disorganized place. Did they put 16 people in the 12 person van? And Puerto Princesa is a dump, unless you're a 50 year old white guy looking for Filipina putang. Then it seems to be the place to be. TheLizard fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Feb 15, 2013 |
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Feb 15, 2013 01:03
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