Hello everyone.

[HumanAfterAll]

I was in Philippines for a month in March and met a nice girl from Manila.
My interest in the forum is for friendship, advice and cultural learning.

Nice to meet you all.

[Arthur Little]

You ARE, indeed, human after all ... to our friendly, online filipino/uk community.

[HumanAfterAll]

Thank you Arthur, you're the first of 64 passers by to say hello.
Guess I'll settle in.

[Arthur Little]

Thank you Arthur, you're the first of 64 passers by to say hello.
Guess I'll settle in.

Yes, of course you will ... and we look forward to hearing further from you!

[grahamw48]

Hi, and welcome.

Please tell us more about your trip. Your first time in the Phils ?

What did you think of the place ?

How did you originally come to meet the young lady ?

[bigmarco]

Hi and welcome to the forum

[Terpe]

I was in Philippines for a month in March and met a nice girl from Manila.
My interest in the forum is for friendship, advice and cultural learning.

Nice to meet you all.

Welcome aboard HAA.
The more mystery you surround yourself with the more suspicious folks become.

[HumanAfterAll]

Welcome aboard HAA.
The more mystery you surround yourself with the more suspicious folks become.

Point taken
Thanks too Graham,

I was travelling around Asia, left last November. My only plans were to meet up with friends in Thailand for Christmas then I wondered north and ended up in China for their new year, but it was far too cold to hang around.
Philippines was a mystery to me at the time, and I've been around south east Asia several times and fancied something a little different so I got a cheap flight over to Manila with a friend.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, looking back, but I was surprised for many reasons.
I wasn't expecting the Latin influence, I had no idea of the Spanish history of the islands and I was instantly charmed.
The people were, to me, similar to Brazilians; happy, open, wearing their heart on their sleeve and were full of questions for the foreigner.

I travelled across the Visayas, making the mistake of visiting Boracay, beautiful beach, but there was an obvious split between the locals and foreigners, and I wasn't there to listen to Japanese Karaoke.

Bohol was a favourite with the obvious trip to see the tarsiers and the Chocolate Hills. It was fun riding around on the top of buses (watching for powerlines and low hanging branches). Hiring mopeds, driving around with no destination in mind.
There wasn't a thing about the Philippines that I didn't love; the food, the people, the scenery and just the exotic ambience of the place.

The first night in Manila we ended up in Malate and I asked the receptionist where we could go to have a few beers with locals and ended up on Remedios at a small grill place with a table on the street. San Miguel from Philippines! Really?
After a few beers we asked where we could move on to, again, somewhere with locals and were pointed to Cowboy Grill. Anyone who knows this place will probably be smiling now.

There's lots more to the story, but I got talking to a girl and her friend who were out for their uncle's birthday. I met mum the next day.
We had several days getting to know each other before my Visaya trip and I spent a week with her when I returned with a trip out to Puerto Galera.
Jane works in Makati, another place I loved, and we managed a long weekend in Singapore later in my trip and thanks to Globe, Android and Whatsapp we've been in constant contact since.



Hopefully that's less mystery, and less suspicion.

[grahamw48]

I think you'll enjoy your stay here.