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That's a good exchange rate for us Brits.

Hello! 😊
I'm planning to spend New Year's in the Philippines, and I'm traveling solo!

If there's any group of foreigners who'd like to celebrate New Year's together, I'd be happy to join.

Can anyone recommend a good place to spend New Year's? 🎉

Are there any shows, fireworks, or special events too?

Thanks in advance for the recommendations! 🙏

$22 a night in Angeles City — Blue Wing Hotel, a quiet remodeled stay

In one line
A look at the price, location and feel of Blue Wing Hotel in Angeles City, where a room costs $22 a night, with a walk through the rooms.

💡 Key takeaways

[Price and booking]
• A room at Blue Wing Hotel costs $22 a night (at the time of filming). The host recommends booking ahead.
• It's a remodeled hotel, and the host thinks the work was done well.

[Location and atmosphere]
• Three city blocks from Margarita Station.
• Its sister hotel, Hotel Halo, is right across the street.
• It's quieter than many hotels in Angeles, he says.
• To reach Red Street, walk 1.5 blocks to 21st Ave and follow it straight to Red Street, the channel owner explained in the comments.

[Host's opinion]
• The host feels Angeles is the best value for money in the Philippines, with overall travel costs about half those of Manila.

⏱ Chapters
00:00 Intro — Blue Wing Hotel at $22 a night
01:01 Location and sister hotel Halo
02:03 Channel membership pitch
04:34 Hotel walk-through (music)
08:04 Drone footage (Walking Street to Fields Avenue)

💬 What viewers said (2 comments)
• A viewer asked how to get from the hotel to Red Street, and the channel owner replied with directions.

Didn't know this: Cruise ship in Subic Bay

The Italian cruise ship Costa Serena arrived in Subic today, October 25, carrying:
1,851 passengers
1,072 crew members
2,923 people in total

Passengers were offered tours of Subic, Pampanga, and Bataan.

From what I've read, 6 to 8 cruise ships come into Subic every year.

Why do foreigners living in the Philippines call their girlfriends "my Filipina"?

You never hear this kind of phrasing anywhere else. If you have a girlfriend in the US, you don't say "my American," you just say "my girlfriend" or "Jen."

It sounds condescending and dehumanizing. It's as if they see Filipino women as interchangeable, commodified companions. Like you can just pick up a generic Filipina at a store, you don't need to know her name, and if you don't like her, you can return her for another "My Filipina."

Foreigner stabbed on Red Street, Angeles City — an eyewitness account (Oct 23, 2026)

In one line
The host walked past the scene where a foreigner was stabbed on Red Street, Angeles City, on the night of Friday, October 23, 2026, and separates what he saw from what he heard.

💡 Key takeaways

[What the host saw]
• On the night of Friday, October 23, 2026, a stabbed foreigner sat with his head down on the sidewalk in front of the Viking bar on Red Street. The host says he didn't see any blood.
• A crowd had gathered and around 20 tourist security staff were at the scene, he says.
• An ambulance arrived about 15 minutes after the stabbing, he says. The host feels getting an ambulance at all in the Philippines means you're lucky.

[Hearsay and unconfirmed points]
• That the victim was Australian is what another foreigner in the crowd told him.
• He doesn't know which bar the victim had been at or why he was hurt. As far as he knows, police had made no formal statement to the media at the time of the video.
• He says false information is going around about the stabbing and asks viewers not to be swayed by the comments.

[Things to note on Red Street]
• The host says filming is no longer allowed on Red Street, which is why he didn't film the scene.
• In the comments, the host says he believes crime in Angeles is rising and that pickpockets using small children are on the rise. He guesses the stabbing was over a woman, but this is not confirmed.

⏱ Chapters
00:00 What he saw on the night of Oct 23
01:00 No filming on Red Street, ambulance arrival
02:44 Street footage (no narration)

💬 What viewers said (5 comments)
• A viewer said he walked Red Street every day on vacation without trouble; the host replied that foreigners can still be targets. That viewer added that someone tried to pickpocket his phone earlier this year.
• Another viewer expects more crime as people get desperate in the Christmas season.

Will criminology departments and schools follow suit?

How is everyone doing? Are you able to keep up with these prices lately?

With the cost of essentials, groceries, utility bills, and just about everything else constantly going up, I'm genuinely curious how everyone is managing their money these days.

For those of you who work for a company, run a small business, or support a family, are you still able to save anything after covering all your expenses? For small business owners, are you still hanging in there, or have sales dropped because people are spending less?

I know everyone's situation is different depending on income, where you live, and lifestyle. I'm just curious about the reality on the ground. How are you getting by with living costs these days? Are you still doing okay financially, or have things gotten a lot harder recently?

I'd love to hear honest experiences, whether positive or negative.

Renting a motorcycle in Angeles City — Nice Bike daily rates, requirements and CTPL insurance

In one line
A visit to Nice Bike, a motorcycle rental shop in Angeles City, covering the bikes on offer, daily rates, what foreigners need to rent, and the Philippine helmet and insurance rules.

💡 Key takeaways

[Shop and location]
• The shop is called Nice Bike, near Margarita Station, a big landmark. The host feels its range and condition of bikes beats other rental shops.
• You can reserve bikes in advance, they say.

[Daily rates (at the time of filming)]
• New Rally 300 = 1,800 pesos per day.
• 650cc bike = 3,500 pesos per day.
• A 2,500-peso bike also comes up, but which model isn't clear from the audio — check the video.
• Weekly and monthly rates aren't spoken; they're shown on a rate board on screen (04:51 section).

[What you need to rent]
• Foreigners need a valid passport and a driver's license, they say.
• The bikes are registered, but the shop doesn't require you to buy insurance before riding off, they say.

[Helmet and insurance rules]
• Helmets are required by law in the Philippines for both rider and passenger. The shop rents helmets too.
• The insurance required by law is CTPL (compulsory third-party liability). It only covers injury, death or property damage to other people — not the rented bike or the rider.
• CTPL is cheap and can be bought at walk-in outlets (the auto-captions are unclear, likely Cebuana) or online via Shopee and GCash, they say.
• The host suggests checking whether your travel insurance covers motorcycle rentals.

⏱ Chapters
00:00 Intro — walking from Margarita Station to the shop
01:01 Helmet law and CTPL insurance
02:54 Looking at Nice Bike's motorcycles
04:51 Rate board
06:48 Drone footage (Fields Avenue to Walking Street)

💬 What viewers said (2 comments)
• One viewer found the rental info useful, and the channel owner replied with thanks.

David Leechiu says some Metro Manila studio rents could fall from ₱30k to ₱5k within 12 months

I saw this on Bilyonaryo (article: https://bnc.bilyonaryo.com/its-going-to-go-down-to-p5000-david-leechiu-warns-metro-manila-condo-rentals-have-much-further-to-crash/business/). David Leechiu says some studios in Metro Manila could drop from 30k to 12k, and then to 5k, within a year. Sounds crazy, but it's hard to say it's impossible.

There are too many condos that are neither selling nor getting rented. Everything costs more these days, so people don't have much money left over for rent. BPO layoffs keep happening too, and those people (aside from POGO) made up a pretty big chunk of tenants around BGC, Makati, and Ortigas.

What I don't get is that he also says there's no real estate crisis. If rents fall to 5k, isn't that a crisis for landlords and the people paying off condo loans?

One thing's for sure: landlords listing studios at 30k are going to get really lonely by next year or so. Right now, tenants have the upper hand.

Would you buy this shirt?

To the locals: would you sell this to foreigners and tourists?

The skylight above my bed was going crazy this morning

Oh my goodness

Hitting a new all-time high...

It looks like IT beat last year's pumpkin this year. Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone, I'm arriving in Manila at 1:45 AM on Friday. Does anyone know of a 24-hour hotel near the airport (Terminal 1) that's within walking distance? I'll probably be running on zero sleep, and I don't want to deal with taxi drivers trying to rip me off. I only have one backpack. Thanks in advance.

What do you think about the electricity rate hikes over the past few months?

My electricity bill used to be a quarter of my rent, and now it's over three-quarters, so it makes you wonder why I'm even in the Philippines.

And we can't leave out the other price increases, like food, internet, taxi base fares, and the OceanJet rip-off..

Didn't I tell you not to play with the cone?

Thoughts on racism in the subreddit 'Philippine_Expats'

Got my first 60-day extension today. The 2-month extension was 3130 including fees, and the ACR card was 3200, for a total of 6330. On top of that, they charged 1000 three times for the express lane fee, so the 2-month extension and ACR card came to 9330 in total. They said I have to come back in 30 days to pick up the card. It's all a bit of a hassle. And they charged me 18 pesos to copy 3 documents I had already submitted last month 😂 This was at the Davao JP Laurel Ave office.