Manila, Republic of the Philippines....

I spent about, well exactly...four nights in Manila recently.

I went to play craps and bet some sports.

There are currently three major properties in the Airport area, two in the new "Entertainment District". The third is a Genting property, "Resorts World" directly adjacent to the airport.

I stayed a another four star hotel near the airport with a small casino, but no sports book or craps.

Craps was the typical Las Vegas layout with 3-4-5 X odds. Open 24 hours all venues. Chairs! at all venues for craps players. When you get older or fatter, you will appreciate this Asian "thing".

There are great food venues at all locations and the usual "members club" cards where you accrue points for comps.

Sports betting was available at Soliaire and Resorts World. Not available at City of Dreams. All sports plus live cock fighting on TV on Sunday's.

Overall, a nice trip for me from Bangkok. Manila is a dirty place but I was close to the airport at all times, didn't wander off. I'd recommend Manila if you are willing to pay for a decent room and good food. If you are doing it on a budget, forget it.

Hope you picked up some souvenirs to add to the Casino Chip of the Day thread. :-)

Tomspur and Konbu have contributed Asian chips to that thread from their visits.

Given recent political developments, it might be a really bad idea to go there if you're an American.

Better brush up on your Chinese.

And your Russian.

Their new leader: whoa, what a piece of work.

And I don't mean that in a nice way.

I assume the CIA will kill him soon, then it will be back to business as usual.

That is absolutely not true. Filipinos have always been, and still are, with a very few exceptions, warm and kind to Americans. And because of this Duterte has just walked back and moderated his cut ties with America and tilt towards China rhetoric. It did not play well with his own people. He started this whole thing because he is a vain, proud man and was insulted when Obama criticized his campaign to rid the country of drug dealers including low level users by any means necessary, including murdering them, including using vigilantes. Manila may be dirty but no more so than New York. There are few places in the world where Americans are treated as kindly as the Philippines. The U.S. has many close ties to the Philippines and not just militarily. There will be no U.S. interference in their politics. Don't equate Duterte with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. He does not represent a threat to the world.

Quote: lilredrooster

That is absolutely not true. Filipinos have always been, and still are, with a very few exceptions, warm and kind to Americans. And because of this Duterte has just walked back and moderated his cut ties with America and tilt towards China rhetoric. It did not play well with his own people. He started this whole thing because he is a vain, proud man and was insulted when Obama criticized his campaign to rid the country of drug dealers including low level users by any means necessary, including murdering them, including using vigilantes. Manila may be dirty but no more so than New York. There are few places in the world where Americans are treated as kindly as the Philippines. The U.S. has many close ties to the Philippines and not just militarily. There will be no U.S. interference in their politics. Don't equate Duterte with Kim Jong Un of North Korea. He does not represent a threat to the world.

Unfortunately, the people are not the same as the government. I'm sure that if I traveled to Iran or even North Korea, the people there would be friendly, hospitable, and welcoming. However, when you travel to a foreign country, you first and foremost have to deal with its government.

I agree that Duterte is a jerkass of the first order, but he WAS elected to the office he holds. So some ordinary Filipinos must think the way he does. Anyway, there are lots of places to go in the world where the leader hasn't been spouting anti-American rhetoric. Dozens of poor souls who thought that it didn't matter have spent years in foreign prisons accused of being spies or some such tommyrot. It might be prudent to wait until Filipinos throw Duterte under the bus before visiting.

If he in fact forces America to remove its military presence from the Philippines there will be hell to pay.

Do you think we'll idly sit back while Russia and China put in military / naval bases there?

Not likely.

Let the fool play at being a leader for awhile, and if things are still skewed, just take him out.

Make it look like a hit by a disaffected drug dealer.

Ah, ironly.

Quote: MrV

If he in fact forces America to remove its military presence from the Philippines there will be hell to pay.

Do you think we'll idly sit back while Russia and China put in military / naval bases there?

Not likely.

Let the fool play at being a leader for awhile, and if things are still skewed, just take him out.

Make it look like a hit by a disaffected drug dealer.

Ah, ironly.

We've sat idly by while North Korea has developed nuclear weapons and Kim Jong Un has publicly fantasized about dropping a nuclear bomb on Washington DC. Intelligence sources indicate he either has or is very close to having this capability. There has been absolutely no talk about Russia or China putting military bases in the Philippines. There has also been no talk about removing U.S. military installations from the Philippines. You're fantasizing. The Filipino people supported Duterte because they were disgusted with criminality not because of any anti U.S. sentiment.

He just had a press conference in China disavowing an ongoing relationship with the US and embracing both China and Russia.

While there was no specific talk about bases (yet). it is easy to envision him letting the Chinese and / or Russians occupy the bases the US currently has, once he throws our asses the hell out of his country and takes control of the bases we currently have there.

Interesting times.

Quote: MrV

He just had a press conference in China disavowing an ongoing relationship with the US and embracing both China and Russia.

While there was no specific talk about bases (yet). it is easy to envision him letting the Chinese and / or Russians occupy the bases the US currently has, once he throws our asses the hell out of his country and takes control of the bases we currently have there.

Interesting times.

You missed the statement in my earlier post indicating the latest news is that he has walked back and softened his words regarding the U.S. You're "envisioning" is a waste of time and belongs only on websites that entertain wild alarmist speculation. Here is a cut and paste from one hour ago from gulfnews.,com.



"Manila: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday he did not mean he would cut off ties with the United States when he said in China that he was separating from the US, adding it’s in his country’s best interest to stay with America."