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^^ Listen to /u/prpna; he's a very wise man.

Gonna answer this and share my experiences without using a throwaway -- booyah!

(Source: nearly a decade of talking to/flirting with/hooking up with random girls in clubs and bars, so I can definitely say that culture difference hardly plays a part here.)

When I'm in a bar or at a club, I almost always use what PUAs call a "direct opener" -- basically, starting a conversation by expressing your interest in her.

Why? Because in these types of places, there's a lot of potential distractions going on (loud music, alcohol, chatty/dancing friends, and the biggest distraction of all: other men) so you need to come in strong and differentiate yourself from every other dude who's approached her.

I always say something along the lines of "I saw you and I thought you were cute, so I had to come over and say hi."

And then I reach out for a handshake and introduce myself. And the conversation begins.

There are very few circumstances in which you would want to ask for her number right away -- dude, you don't even know her, what the hell would you want her number for? You have no idea if the two of you would have anything to talk about or even get along, that's why it comes off as creepy.

Anyway, that opener buys me anywhere from 2-5 minutes worth of interaction at a busy club. There will be times when a girl just plainly isn't interested and will ignore you; but it works surprisingly well in most circumstances (around the same if not better than the Naked Man's 2 out of 3 times! </half kidding>).

While I've used that opener in clubs mostly, I've also had success using it in sit-down "inuman" places as well as coffee shops like Starbucks. It's actually better outside of club situations because in addition to the fact that nobody approaches strangers in these places, it's also a very strong and bold way to start a conversation. And I've heard that girls dig confidence ;)

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NOW THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART: One reason I think it's worked well for me these past few years is this: my mentality when approaching isn't to get anything from them.

In all honesty, if the conversation ends right then and there (and many times, it has) I'll be completely fine with it. I don't even mind getting blown off and rejected. In my head, my only purpose for opening with this line is to give them a sincere compliment: if all I can do is to make her day/night a little better and that's it, then so be it.

(And let's face it; whose day wouldn't be made up if a random stranger came up to you and told you that you're attractive and yet not want anything at all from you?

One time, I was hanging out in Katipunan with my friends and noticed this super cute girl who was drinking with her friend. I wanted to approach, but later noticed that she started crying and wouldn't stop -- presumably coming off a breakup or something. Before I left, I walked up to her and told her that I thought she was cute, and that she was obviously having a very bad day and I thought that a compliment from a complete stranger would at least help brighten up her night. If you've ever seen a girl genuinely smile after a solid round of crying.. It's a beautiful thing. Didn't even bother asking for her number but no approach has ever made me feel like a champ more than that one did. )

Which is pretty much what /u/prpna said, but a lot more eloquently and succinctly than I ever could. I agree 200% with his "she made your day; now try and make hers" statement. Seek to give value, not leech it away from people -- it truly does make the difference between creepy and confident.

What you do next is totally up to you, but in general you definitely want to do at least a few minutes of small talk before you close for the number (or you could go and take the interaction as far as you can for the night before you close it) -- that way, she's a little bit more comfortable with you and you actually have something to text her about when you do text her -- but this is a completely different topic in of itself though.

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There's also the indirect opener in which you start a conversation without revealing your interest (sometimes even going out of your way to downplay it). Somewhere in the replies to this post, someone mentioned "The Game" which popularized the opinion opener (i.e. "Hey, I need a female opinion on something: who lies more, men or women?" etc.).

If I have to go indirect, personally I'm a fan of using situational openers. Basically, you use the situation around you to start a conversation with them. Let's say I'm in a club and I'm buying a drink -- if a girl is waiting along with me (btw one of the best times to time to start a conversation with a girl is when she's at the bar buying a drink) a lot of times I just look at them and say "Hi, how you doing?" or if they're holding a drink already, just reach out with my bottle and say "Cheers" then start some casual small talk.

Not such a fan of this approach especially if I'm really interested in the girl, because it takes a lot more conversation (and you have to be super interesting and/or super good looking) before she'll actually be interested enough to give you her number. Plus I'm extremely lazy to bother going through a whole bunch of this throughout the night. Also, getting the number doesn't always mean that she won't flake on you when you text her -- but it is a way to start an interaction with less risk.

But there are times when the situational opener is actually much more useful than the direct one. For example, if you're at a place where there's a lot of social accountability like a school party or whatever (friends, and friends of friends, where getting hit on by a complete stranger with a very strong come on may make you look a little too weird). Or "day game" situations like at the mall or at a bookstore or at a coffee shop where you might feel too vulnerable/exposed to use the direct opener (sidenote: it's not really a problem -- people are paying more attention to themselves and don't really give a fuck about you, so remember to tell yourself to get over yourself; you are not a unique snowflake).

Actually, when I was starting out with "the game" I once gave myself a mission to ask 5 strangers (female, of course) for recommendations on stores to buy good "guy clothes" from. It's a great exercise, IMO -- straight out of the Stylelife Challenge (now known as "Rules of the Game") -- and actually ended up having a 10 minute conversation with a girl on the elevator about whatever (too bad I was too chickenshit to get her number, but I've learned from my mistakes since then).

Anyway, complete wall of text already so I'm going to end this here, but hope that actually helps you out.

I am not Filipino but I have enough connection now to have more than a passing interest. By reading "In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines," I feel somewhat more informed on the topic than even well-educated Americans and Filipinos I run into. I would be curious to know of similar or better books to read on the topic.

The wikipedia page for Bonifacio goes into some detail as well.

There are two ways to read history -- one focuses on the personalities, the "great men" if you will -- while the other is more of a study of culture, resources and demographics. Both aspects are important. To make history approachable for normal people, you have to kind of shine the light on individuals. However, I think the great movements and outcomes are generally determined by less personal forces. Who one chooses to illuminate and elevate often reveals more about an author or speaker than it does about history.

If I remember correctly, Bonifacio went to Hong Kong to buy guns from and enlist support of the Americans but they had already set sail without him. If that story is correct, it seems to me that his political ground game was not so tight. Like he may not have been in the same league as other figures he was dealing with on a pure power-politics level. But he also seems like a more admirable guy than Aguinaldo.

Where it seems the Philippine independence movement fell short is that Aguinaldo was basically fighting on behalf of the elite to preserve the status quo just without the Spanish. His idea of Philippine nationhood was not terribly expansive or inclusive and he didn't really have the regular people behind him in a committed way.

When it sounded like the independence was going to offer them a good deal, the elite of the Philippines were cautiously for it. (But almost certainly keeping their options open just in case.) Later, as dealing with the Americans promised greater riches and became less threatening, the enthusiasm for independence among them subsided. Aguinaldo also lost support of regions through the trial and execution of Bonifacio.

The main concern for Philippine elite was protection of their land titles. The prospect of trade deals leading to export contracts with the US -- then rapidly becoming one of the hottest markets -- was also a major draw. What could independence offer that would be better than that for them? For the regular Juans also, Americans offered education and other benefits.

I wonder what would Aguinaldo's Philippines have looked like had he succeeded. But then again I also wonder what America would have looked like had it remained part of the British empire -- a similarly improbable outcome.

It was our 2nd time going to Japan last April (yay sakura season!) and all in all, mga 100-150k ang nagastos siguro naming 2 ni wifey for 7 days. Original budget was 100k pero pasalubong and stuff. We spent more during our first trip because we spent soooo much on stuff from Universal Studios (theme parks can be really expensive) plus Cebu Pacific changed the date of our flight so we had to spend more because we had to be re-routed to Tokyo and take another plane to go to Osaka.

Now to answer your question and some tips:

Budget

• You need to identify your budget first i.e. how much can you and are you willing to spend. Your itinerary will revolve around this
  
• Don't approach your travel to Japan the other way around where you plan where to go and what to do because it will only frustrate you if you find out that you can't do all of the things that you wanted
  
• By knowing how much you can spend, you can then prioritize the activities that needs to be included in your trip
  
  Travel
  
  
• Search from cheap flights here https://matrix.itasoftware.com/ and then buy the ticket from the airline it recommends
  
• If you're entering from Osaka, get a tourist Through Pass pass, 5k Yen/person siya and it will save you a lot of money if you're moving around a lot. Note - it does not allow you to take JR trains. I don't think Tokyo has something similar so you'll have to get a regular IC card or pay in cash for public transportation.
  
• IC Cards - they're prepaid cards that you can use to pay for train rides, bus rides and even 7-11's. Highly recommended for the added convenience.
  
• Google Maps is your best friend. It will tell you how to get to where you want to go, which train station do you need to transfer as well as their scheduled departure times. You will need internet connectivity for it though
  
• You can ask some of the train station staff how to get to a certain terminal. Some of them have maps and can show you where to go.
  
• We saved a bit by taking an overnight bus from Osaka to Tokyo instead of taking a plane and spending some cash for a hotel room I think. You can argue about the time saved though since parang 9pm-7am ang biyahe namin. It will be up to you on how to fill in the gap for the time you check out from the hotel till the bus' departure time. We booked our tickets via https://www.kosokubus.com/en/, tickets were 5k yen/passenger
  
• Bullet Train/Shinkansen - Expensive but it is nice to experience it at least once. Osaka to Tokyo cost us around 15k Yen/person if memory serves me right, trip duration was about 3 hours. There is a Osaka-Kyoto route if you just want to try it out which should be much cheaper.
  
  Food and Lodging
  
  
• It is a tossup between AirBnB and getting a hotel depending on your needs/wants. You can get really cheap and accessible places either way but one of the benefits of getting AirBnB is some of them would toss in a free pocket wifi that you can use while in Japan.
  
• Lodging is cheaper in Osaka vs. Kyoto. I'd get a place in Osaka first and then take a train for about 45 minutes to get to Kyoto. If you were to get the Through Pass then the cost shouldn't be an issue.
  
• Food from convenience stores like 7-11 and Family Mart are actually quite good, a meal for 1 person is about 300-500 yen
  
• DO NOT TIP. Tipping is considered rude and you're basically telling them that they're not being paid enough by the establishment they're working for.
  
  Connectivity
  
  
• Rent a pocket wifi unit from the airport. 3G is plenty fast but check if the provider has data caps or throttling once you hit a certain threshold. It would suck if you have internet problems and your only way to figure out how to move around the area is via Google Maps. You will need a credit card for this though.
  
• Get a decently sized battery pack. I have an Anker PowerCore+ 26,000 mAh power brick (it feels and weighs like one too) and I'd end the day with 50% charge after connecting the pocket wifi and 2 cell phones to it throughout the day
  
  Cash and Payments
  
  
• Just like the Philippines, Japan is a cash heavy society. There is a good chunk of establishments that don't have credit card terminals.
  
• I did the math and exchange rates via ATMs are more favorable compared to going to a bank or other brick and mortar establishment to change my peso to yen. My account is with BDO so your mileage may vary but I'd call my local bank for their rates and find out any supplemental fees for withdrawing overseas and then compare it against the exchange rate in the airport.
  
• We didn't see a lot of banks around but most of the ATMs that we found were in 7-11s
  
  Our Itinerary
  
  Day 1 - Osaka - Osaka Castle & Dotonbori for dinner
  
  Day 2 - Osaka/Kyoto - Nara Deer Park, Owl Cafe & Haradane Garden
  
  Day 3 - Osaka - Dotonbori and then overnight bus to Tokyo
  
  Day 4 - Tokyo - Diver City Tokyo because Gundaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam
  
  Day 5 - Tokyo - Mt. Fuji Tour (about 10k Yen/person) - inclusive of boxed lunch
  
  Day 6 - Tokyo - Tokyo Disneyland
  
  Day 7 - Tokyo - Return to Manila
  
  Let us know how long and where you plan to go first and I could offer some additional suggestions

I'm a white guy who learned Tagalog fluently in about 6 months of pretty intense study for a mission, but it is definitely doable! Just make sure that you are speaking the language and not just reading it or listening to it. You focus so much more on correct grammar when speaking it.

My language training used this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Conversational-Tagalog-A-Functional-Situational-Approach/dp/0824809440
As well as a few custom books that were developed for missionaries and that was more than enough to help with basic Tagalog!

Good luck! Tagalog is such a fun language and is definitely worth the effort to learn it!

Not Filipino but I've been learning Tagalog via my girlfriend and her friends whilst also various other sources for self-study recently so might have some useful advice.

The Unilang site was good as a quick crash course. I've made an Anki course of the words found there if you are interested titled "Tagalog for Beginners" and am working on a more robust and detailed deck (though that is far from complete).

The Joi Barros book "Tagalog for Beginners" is probably the best traditional book I've found but since there is a huge amount of code-switching in modern Tagalog/Filipino there is always the issue that it teaches pure Tagalog which might not sound the most natural or even be necessary.

In my experience, what I've noticed is that verbs, pronouns, identifiers and prepositions are the most important to learn initially as a lot of English nouns can be used without any issue.

I've been using https://www.amazon.com/Tagalog-Beginners-Introduction-Filipino-Philippines/dp/0804841268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523083003&sr=8-1&keywords=tagalog+beginners & it does have some mixed reviews since it doesn't always explain grammar as well,

but to be honest you can't expect to get everything perfect in a study book these days,so I ordered Essential Tagalog Grammar to supplement it (still waiting for it to arrive so can't comment quite yet) along with a dictionary,etc but i think it'd be a decent starting point? at 14$ (it has a 7hr audio cd)

There's also Complete Filipino (Tagalog): A Teach Yourself Guide from the teach yourself series but I don't own it/don't plan on buying it (it's 48$, and I own other teach yourself books,the structure is the same,not sure if i'd want that for filipino)

Hope this sort of helped & if anyone can add to this,i'd much appreciate it aswell

yes, yes. you can check pse.com.ph for more info - and or the bank you frequently use. :)

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for more information on basic stocks - read intelligent investor by benjamin graham.

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p.s. don't invest in things you don't know and or don't understand. and be doubtful of financial advisors. research it as if you're researching how not to get pregnant, if you're a virgin, and about to have sex (meaning take it seriously) :)

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https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661

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you can get a copy in national book store or any major book store in ph :)

Here's my list from months ago...

Well, here they are:

I recommend Luis Francia's History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos. This book is the best introduction to Philippine history, period.

And then...

• The Huk Rebellion by Benedict J. Kerkvliet
  
• Sakdalistas' Struggle for Philippine Independence 1930-1945 by Motoe Terami-Wada
  
  Both books are still available in major bookstores (NBS, Powerbooks, Fully Booked).
  Mrs. Terami-Wada wrote about the Sakdalistas much earlier and so here's the monograph on the subject.
  
  On the pre-colonial era, the one great expert is no other than William Henry Scott, and here's a list of his books:
  
  
• Cracks in the Parchment Curtain
  
• Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History
  
• Looking for the Prehispanic Filipino
  
  Unfortunately, out of stock. And as you noticed, none of these authors are Filipino.
  
  I'd recommend any book by Ambeth Ocampo, btw.
  
  And finally, on Muslim Philippines, there's only one must-read:
  
  
• Muslims in the Philippines by Cesar Adib Majul
  
  Have fun~!
  
  Lest I forget, books on the Marcoses and the Martial Law era:
  
  
• The Conjugal Dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos by Primitivo Mijares (a free e-book, with the permission of a Mijares' relative)
  
• The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos by Carmen Navarro Pedrosa (available in bookstores)
  
• James Hamilton-Paterson's America's Boy
  
• William C. Rempel's Diary of a Dictator -- Ferdinand & Imelda: The Last Days of Camelot - This one contains excerpts of FM's journals, the originals of which lies deep in the National Archives (?)
  
• Myles A. Garcia's Thirty Years Later...: Catching Up with the Marcos-Era Crimes
  
• Raissa Robles' Marcos Martial Law: Never Again
  
  That's all, for now. :)
  

1. Luck and hard work
   
2. My car audio setup. I swear that it saved me years off my life driving around Metro Manila's hellish traffic.
   
3. Would highly recommend Habit. I typically visit CNN Philippines and Rappler for local news. WSJ and FT for international newspapers. As for people to follow, I love Richard Branson and Elon Musk aside from Steve Jobs.
   
4. We went to the US, told people we're gonna buy iPhones, orders came in, and we bought 25 iPhones back to the Philippines that were sold even before they set foot in NAIA. An easy PHP30k profit each for something that took a few minutes each morning for 4 days.
   
5. I didn't earn my own money so to speak. Well, except my Eth mining sideline. Does it feel empty.. in a way it does but we do have a sense of pride in continuing our parents legacy.

Papi, bili ka nalang ng ganito.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BI4UQK0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Pa freight forwarder (jinio, myshippingbox, etc) mo nalang. Meron din sa lazada pero putang ina ng seller kung makapatong.

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Much better than compressed air and an overall great solution for cleaning PCs, keyboards, etc

Uploaded my app to Amazon last night. Live na siya guys. Sa may amazon app store dyan, please try and review na din. Please. Thanks!

Hello there,
I spent some time in the Philippines and ended up learning how to speak Tagalog. I used a Tagalog-English dictionary and these books helped out a lot too.
http://www.amazon.com/Ramos-Conversational-Tagalog-Teresita-V/dp/0824809440
-and-
http://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Tagalog-Developing-Cultural-Awareness/dp/0824807766/ref=pd_sim_b_6
-This is the dictionary I used-
http://www.amazon.com/Tagalog-English-English-Tagalog-Standard-Dictionary-Pilipino-Inggles/dp/0781809606/ref=pd_sim_b_6

Good luck sa pagaaral mo ng tagalog! :)

Anyone know where I can buy an over the door towel rack here in Manila?
Something like this https://www.amazon.com/LDR-Over-Door-Bathroom-Towel/dp/B01M8P6VK9/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1536084537&sr=8-5&keywords=over+the+door+towel


Tried looking over at Lazada, but they only have really short ones and can only fit on kitchen cabinets. Thank you!

> Amazon reviews are way way better than Lazada

Then there's this. But I definitely agree that the should be more filters.

Anyone interested in buying the Nike Epic React Flyknit 2 for P5,250? They’re normally P7,645 pesos in Nike physical stores in the Philippines. [YES IT’S THAT MURA! It’s also authentic and I can provide you proof 😉]
It’s in the Black/Anthracite color and here’s what they look like. I bought two by accident online when the Nike official singapore store had an online sale because I thought the first order didn’t push through :( I bought it in Men’s size 7.5, which fit a me, woman who is normally women’s 8.5/9. Although Nike online has a great 100% returns policy, I would just rather sell them to someone (if there are any takers) just to avoid the hassle of going through the returns process :) Message me if interested!

I highly recommend these books:

• The Intelligent Investor - I owe everything to this book.
  
• Stocks for the Long Run - Incredibly well researched book on global markets.
  
  Madali lang kumita sa stocks. Madali din malugi :). Ginawa ko yung /r/phinvest a few years ago, pero hindi ko na halos nabibisita. May mga pinost ako doon na intro stuff sa investing at stocks.

Banana Slicer!

And the [reviews on Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/product-reviews/B0047E0EII/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_paging_btm_4?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=4#RXE9ZDRUXGFQ3) are awesome!

There is a book about this (disclaimer: haven't read past the intro) : Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin' in Flip-Flops and the Philippines' Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball by Rafe Bartholomew
https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Rims-Flip-Flops-Philippines-Unlikely/dp/0451233220

Hi! Do you know if this paper is being sold here? And where? Thanks! https://www.amazon.com/HP-Printer-Paper-Premium32-Letter/dp/B000099O2W

Amazon. :)

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https://www.amazon.com/Bloom-Troye-Sivan/dp/B07D4ZX1WR

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If you want to read more about the subject, I'd suggest reading Pacific Rims by Rafe Bartholomew

It's a good read that explores how Philippine culture and basketball tie together.