Going to the Philippines....need your help BAD!

I know i haven't been active this month, but i've been getting ready for a trip to the Philippines this August. I'll be their for 10 days to perform with a worldwide known dance company...BAYANIHAN. They have toured the world with rave reviews everywhere they went. And our dance company, PASACAT, will have the pleasure to dance for and learn from them, Philippine folk dances.

Anyway, its been about 6 years since i've been to the Philippines and i have no idea what to expect. All i know is that people are making out the Philippines to be an uncivilized place where crooks and theives are looking out for tourists, and that the heat and humidity is eneogh to make you cranky and uncomfortable if you don't dress right. Basically they say its like going to Tijauna but much hotter.

Advice number one from my friends and family is to BLEND in. Well...i'm Filipino, so i've got the skin color and look covered. But they say they could pick out the natives from the foreigners just by the way you carry yourself. So i'm worried that i may be a "target".

So here is what i KNOW i'm bringing.

TECH DEVICES:
Digital Camera
MP3/CD Player
Spare 8xNimH AA batteries
Extra smartmedia cards
MAHA C-204F charger

FLASHLIGHTS:
Arc Cyan Arc LS
Surefire E2
Princeton Tec Attitude
EV Arc AAA
Spare batteries (AA, AAA, 123 - 2 sets each)

Clothes: (10 days worth)
Underwear
Socks
Tennis shoes
Sandals
Formal dress shoes
*** As for the rest - i need help....

Ok, here's what i need help with. The big thing is clothes. I love pants. But since we're talking about a place with HOT tropical weather in a typhoon season, i'm thinking jeans are out of the question. So my best bet is cargo shorts if i'm thinking about bringing that much equipment. I plan on EDCing my SF E2, Cyan Arc AAA for sure -If i'm comfortable enoegh....then maybe my ARC LS for a complete trio. I'm thinking of buying some nice watersport shoes that i can use if the weather is looking bad and that i can just hose down if they get too dirty. I'll bring a sturdy pair of sandals if the weather is nasty and i run out of socks . Shirts....hmm, i don't know. Let's just say that i'm a spoiled Americanized Filiino in the prime of his life and a very pretty woman is on board our touring company....hehe. I wanna look good but be VERY comfortable and ready for anything. I'm a survivalist and style in our department is minimal. Where can i shop?.....geez i sound like a girl.

Ok so much for clothes, now how about securtiy? I'll want to first and formost want protect my Passport, money, and wallet. THen i'd like to protect my flashlights and my digital camera, and other expensive tech devices. I'm planning to have my Passport, wallet, digicam, and 2-3 flashlihts with me. But if i were to ever leave any of these IMPORTANT items back in the hotel or somewhere during performances, then what should i do? OK, for the hotel, i'd like to have a safe or some sort, so i decided to padlock a compartment of my luggage shut and onto a bedpost or something - just in case some greedy worker wants to snoop around. (Heck...it happens here in the states.) When i'm out and about though, i was thinking of buying a Camelbak backpack with enoegh room for my digicam and other small items for when i travel about the city of Manila, AND padlocking the sucker up and down so that nobody can sneak anything out. Will there be a threat that someone will be able to snatch the backpack off my back? I'm a pretty big guy, i don't think they'll have the balls. But then again, you never know.
I'd like to carry a nice knife but nice = money. And as you know....knives are not aloud on planes, so bringing a knife to the Philippines is out of the question.

Let me know if i've left out something, or am bringing too much. D'mo...i've heard they you frequently visit the Philippines. I'll only be in the city limits of Manila, but...you never know. (geez i must be a survivalist.)

***EDIT:
I just thought of something. Since we are a group of 10-20 people, there is a possibility we may get split up from time to time. IS it a bad idea to bring along my Motarola FRS radio there? I know that the FRS service is restricted to US and Canada only, but i've heard that it may be okay as long as you select a frequency that will not interefere with other radio devices. I found some info and it says this:

"In The Philippines:
The service here operates on the 325 Mhz band with a 40 channel allocation."

I have no idea what this means. Does my FRS work at 325Mhz? I don't think it does...

The US FRS segment is in the 462-467 range.

Use on non accecpted radio equipment might cause them to whip out da big cane. (I can't remember where the caning stuff happened at).

the caning was in Singapore i think......maybe i won't bring it. hehehehe...ouch!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> I'd like to carry a nice knife but nice = money. And as you know....knives are not allowed on planes, so bringing a knife to the Philippines is out of the question. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe you can pick up a nice balisong while you're there-

I don't know how true it is, but a friend said the people that live there have a stronger constitution for "less than fresh" foods, so they can easily tolerate eating things that might make you ill, so it might be best to exercise some restraint in sampling the native cuisine-

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wingerr:
I don't know how true it is, but a friend said the people that live there have a stronger constitution for "less than fresh" foods, so they can easily tolerate eating things that might make you ill, so it might be best to exercise some restraint in sampling the native cuisine-

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pepto Bismol....check! Yeah, i don't know if that is true either, but i'll be careful anyway.

Hey wingerr, you don't think they'll be able to rip off my new Luminox off my wrist do you? I have the nylon strap on it right now....i think it'll be pretty tough to break if they do try anything sneaky.

D'mo..or anyone that has been their lately...do you think they sell 123 batteries there? The Philippines is a little bit closer to Hong Kong that the U.S. is, i'm wondering if their prices AND dated batteries will be just as good there.

While we're on that subject...i wonder if they sell Surefire or any other nice lights at the mega malls. There malls there are like 3-6 floors high, they've got to have something!

(Haha...i'm traveling 5000 miles to my homeland to do something wonderful...and all i can think about are flashlights and batteries...sheesh. I hope the mosquito bites aren't as bad as this flashahilic bug i've been bitten with!)

LEDagent:

There was a post on the forum a few weeks back by someone who had relatives in the Philippines. He talked of sending them flashlights and batteries. Also how hard the climate was on equipment.

You might try searching the forum for this thread.

Tombeis:

Thanks for the reminder. Yeah, D'mo was the one that wrote about his trip to the Philippines. He only touched on some of the topics that i want to know more about. I'm hoping that he will pay a visit to this topic and shed some light on my questions.


Here's a link for anyone that wants to see the topic i'm talking about. I'll put it here for my use too - instead of using the search function.
Flashlights in the Philippines...

I do know from my parents' visit to China, in a very humid and hot environment (probably similar to the Phillipines), the only watch that survived was a Casio G-shock, because the other mechanical watches with the less than perfect seals allowed the moisture to permeate the mechanism, and they all stopped working.
I'm sure your Luminox will do fine, but it might be something to tell your travelling companions about- bring their water resistant watches only, and leave the ordinary ones home..
I don't think anyone would be able to snatch your watch without you having something to say about it...

For hot weather I usually wear clothes made of wicking material like coolmax. www.ems.com has a bunch. I get most of it from my local Academy Sports. It helps to keep the sweat off your body and the material dries really fast. Keeps me cool down here where the humidity plus the heat can make you sweat standing still.

Do they use 120vac there? If they don't and you don't have a converter the rechargables and 204 won't do you much good. Just worth checking in to.

http://www.magellans.com/content/art_t.jsp?ruleID=86&itemType=ICArticle&itemID=845&iContentCategoryID=162

has some travel information for the Philippines, which includes health, security, and electrical considerations.
It appears that the electrical is either 110/60 *OR* 220/50, which could be a problem.
Upscale hotels will have power converters either built into the room, or portable ones that you can request.

The above site also has links to US Dept of State and CDC www sites, which should have additional security and health information.

Also, http://www.errtravel.com/resources.htm has a lot of related links.

Good luck... -jack

Check out the lonely planet pagefor the Philippines. It has a lot of useful info. They also have guide books for most countries, if you have the time to order a book.

THank you Tree for the wonderful link. I will check out my local sporting goods store for some clothing. You say that the wheather down south is hot and muggy. From what i hear, southern weather is like the Philippines, except its typhoon season in August. Anyway, thanks for the tip.

Thank you Jack for the info. Brock, they use 220/50 in the Philippines. That was one aspect i COMPLETELY forgot about and failed to mention before. My dad has a converter that he bought at a local Target but i'm not sure how trusty those things are. Are converters pretty much all the same? I don't want to spend a fortune on something i'm only going to use for a week or so. I just need something that will convert into clean 110v and possibly protect against any spikes or brown-outs. I'm wondering if a surge protector will work with converted electricity.

Footlight, great link. Check this out:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>WARNING
Two hostages held by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas for more than a year were killed during a military rescue attempt in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte. An American missionary and a Filipina nurse were killed and the third hostage, the missionary's wife, was injured during a shootout between the Philippine troops and the rebels. The Philippine army has been fighting the Muslim separatist rebels with support and training from the United States.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Terrorism sucks doesn't it? I wish i was Superman so that i can....
....I guess bringing along my FBI: Federal Beauru of Investigation shirt, with big FBI lettering in yellow in the back, is out of the question huh? I really like that shirt too.

Here's another question... Will customs at both sides of the border give me any problems with my flashlights - especially the lithium batteries? I know that there is fine print out there about restrictions on lithium batteries on board airplanes, but i've heard that some have carried them on board. But this is on an international flight.

I'm not so much worried about losing the batteries coming home, but i am worried about getting them taken away on my way to the Philippines. Worse yet, will they take my flashlights away? What if some dumb security checker on the other side sees my flashlights as some kind of threat.......am i just worrying too much? If i lose ALL the flashlights i bring, i will be down and out 300 dollars worth of equipment...i'll be really sad then...

I wouldn't take anything I wasn't willing to lose. Depending on you, that might mean going ahead and bringing the E2, or maybe it might mean leaving it at home. I'd also try to take stuff that you can get batteries there, especially if you "lose" them on the way in.

You might want to stick with stuff like the Attitude or Newbeam and UK 4AA or UK 2L. Of course you need an Arc AAA with you, but you might want to bring a standard edition.

The Newbeam would be good because you could buy cheapo batteries and get reasonable performance. Same could be said for the Arc LS and Arc AAA, althought you might try to determine how you'd feel if your Arc LS got "lost".

Using a Newbeam + UK 4AA would be handy because they all use AAs.

I think the Camelback backpack is a good idea, but I'd like to see what travelers think about backpacks in general (I don't travel much out of the US).

Your list was looking a bit long to me, but if you are going to bring your camera and mp3 player, etc, you might look at something like the Scott eVest ( http://www.scottevest.com/ ) to keep the items on you and hidden away. The only catch is it is unclear if it will be too hot to wear a vest. I guess I'd consider leaving the mp3 player. As for the camera, is it small? The Canon Elph series might be good since they are very small and you can stick it in a pocket so it isn't visible.

I think someone from there would have to comment on the knife situation. I would be inclined to bring something like an Air SOG (no serrations), but I would check if it is OK there first. The SOG is light and relatively inexpensive. Fits nice in your pocket (out of sight). Omitting the serrations makes it a bit less threatening. In general, I'd like to have a locking folder with me if acceptable.

I'd add some polarized shades and a baseball cap (for sun).

I can be a bit over the top at times, but I would consider getting a Globalstar (sat) phone. They have plans as low as $25/mo., seems like a good insurance policy (regardless of where you are). If that doesn't give you there air of looking prepared, I don't know what will!

I'll try to write something on clothing later, but I'll trow out a few things now...

I would consider wearing lightweight hiking boots and shorts. I have a pair of Vasque Sundowners that I love. They are light, comfortable and if things get bad having good footwear is a big plus. I'd consider lightweight wool [sic] socks like the Smartwool brand. Start wearing them now (don't wait until the trip).

I would look at the Patagonia silkweight tops. The cool thing about them is they are very thin, comfortable, they wick, work while wet and dry very fast. You could rinse them, wring them out and wear them. In any case you probably want to avoid cotton (it doesn't dry well).

I like the Patagonia Standup shorts, they are rugged and seem to fit well. You'd have to see if you like them.

I would take a lightweight rain shell (read, no lining). You'll probably want pit-zips.

You might consider something like the Teva Rodium Water Shoes instead of tennis shoes. If you get sandles I would make sure you get ones that hold your feet in like the Teva Terradactyls.

As far as security, you could look at the packsafe products ( http://www.rei.com/cgi-bin/rei/searchc.pl?query=pacsafe&noheader=1&text=1&stat=7646b ), but it might draw more attention than it is worth. Dunno, we need some international travlers to give advice here.

I think my tech list would look something like this:

- Canon Digital Elph (& cards/batteries)
- NewBeam Minimag conversion w/push tailcap in backpack.
- White Arc SLS (2AA) on person
- UK 4AA in backpack.
- Arc AAA (standard 3.1)w/lanyard, around neck.
- Spare batteries, brand name alkalines, new, sealed in orginal packaging.
- Some Ziplock bags to repackage items.
- Air SOG (check first!) SOG Microdot (if the Air SOG is too much knife).
- Globalstar phone.

Other stuff:
- Small (=<2400 cu in) Camelback backpack.
- Scottevest in light color.
- Vasque Sundowner boots
- Teva Rodium Water Shoes
- Patagonia silkweight tops
- Patagonia stand up shorts
- Lightweight rain shell w/pit zips, no lining

I guess that's enough for now..

-john

Oh, don't forget to check out http://www.equipped.org/. You might also post your question on the forum there.

-john

I'm taking the liberty of copying posts from the SF board on this topic so everything is in one place.

-john

Originally posted by LEDagent:
===========================
It looks like i'll have to be on survival mode when i'm there. That means i'm definately going to bring my Princeton Tec Attitude, SureFire E2, Arc LS, and Arc AAA. That, along with a Camelbak bag, some MREs, and a travel first aid kit, i think that should be fine for my emergency pack.
===========================

Brightnorm replies:

Plus extra batteries in waterproof container/ wrapping. Are the regular (original) E2 and the LS waterproof? I think you should only take waterproof lights. Also waterproofed matches or magnesium spark rod and/or H2O windproof lighter plus potable water and plenty of it, plus water purification pills plus a good quality micro mesh water filtration unit which is tapeworm proof. (There are tapeworms that can survive many chemicals)

Brightnorm

Johnn writes:
=========================
Who was going to the Philippines and when? It looks like they are getting pounded. 15 killed according to this article from yesterday:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/07/08/weather.storm/index.html

-john
=========================

LEDagent replies:

John N,

You have a very good memory. I am the one going to the Philippines this August. Our group is hoping for better weather! I think I'm going to have to pray more often. That info is scary. Thanks for the link.

It looks like i'll have to be on survival mode when i'm there. That means i'm definately going to bring my Princeton Tec Attitude, SureFire E2, Arc LS, and Arc AAA. That, along with a Camelbak bag, some MREs, and a travel first aid kit, i think that should be fine for my emergency pack.

Anyway, as we say here in Southern California....good lookin' out!

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