In the PH on a school break

[ladislav]

Left Cambodia on a school break and came to Angeles City to hang out. There is a direct PHN- MNL flight now and it's 2.35 hours. Very near. Closer than Singapore. Costs from $280-500 round trip depending on how far in advance you book the ticket.

The place is different now. The number of pretty girls is smaller and smaller and the Koreans seem to have totally taken over. But the place is still nice to live in in terms of services and the proximity of anything you want. I no longer go to bars that much because there is hardly a pretty girl in them.

The Philippines after Cambodia is quite a culture shock. The squalor is very much apparent everywhere. The architecture is bland and there is trash in so many places. People also dress very plainly, and then, the street food is virtually inedible.

At the same time, the feeling is overwhelmingly that I am home. The connection with the people is amazing. Something you never feel among the proper Indochinese. Khmers are nice people, don't get me wrong, but they are way too passionless and too busy. There is no lifeline that connects them to you as it does in the Philippines. Also, you don't realize just how French Cambodia still feels and how American the PH is. Until you compare.

After a while you adjust and start feeling comfortable again,though.

I celebrated a great new year and also hung out with some friends, and the feeling is positive overall. No matter how nice and refined Cambodia is, the Philippines is home and will always be.

Scheduled to fly back on the 8th.

[Taco]

I no longer go to bars that much because there is hardly a pretty girl in them.

As the standard of living slowly rises in the Philippines you can expect the quality of women to decline until no wants them just like western countries.