By talking on the phone, and by chatting I still am not able to predict how a meeting will go.  Some of the sweetest ones will show up with half a dozen relatives ready to be dined and taken shopping.
If a lady shows up with more than one chaparone, i politely explain it is rude to bring  so many friends and/or family expecting to be treated to a meal or movie by the "rich kano", and then I leave.
They are typically surprised by this, but I do try to be polite.

90% of the women that I have met have asked me for money at some point in time.  I always say no, and sometimes I will play along and ask for the name and hospital of the  sick and/or dying relative.
Once I start asking questions, the request for money changes or stops.
The attitude here is that foreigners are gullible idiots that will believe any lie put forth by the more clever Filipinos.
Most of the girls do collect and select.  Until married, the attitude is that it is best to have back-up plan in case anything should go wrong with the current number one.

Dental care.  Wow!, I don't remember there being so many women with rotten and missing teeth on my first trip here three years ago.
Maybe it is the lack of dental care combined with the Americanization of the Phils.  Maybe it is all the junk food that is available that is rotting these peoples teeth.  It is still surprising for me to meet some sweet, kind woman, and her mouth looks and smells terrible.
I just can't believe so many people starting in their teens and twenties are accepting of the fact that their teeth are literally falling out of their mouths.  There are so many people here in their twenties and thirties with false teeth.  It was a running joke for a while that every woman that I and another foreigner here would meet would have very bad breath.  So,  if a womans dental health is important to you, have her teeth cleaned and taken care of here in the Phils.  I am guessing the necessary dental care will be much cheaper here in the Phils.
Most dentisits charge $4-8 for a cleaning, and that is too expensive for many Filipinos.  Yes, I am particular about teeth, but I just don't remember seeing so many blackened teeth before.

Age, yes the filipinos do laugh at the may-december romances just as much as Americans do.  Come on, how many elderly Filipinos in the Philippines do you see married to young Filipinas?  You don't, almost all the romances or marriages here are by people close in age.
The rational is money, and that the older foreigner is less likely to screw around.  I am all for people marrying the person they love, but please don't think that it is perfectly normal for a Filipina to want a much older man.

Crab mentality.  Guys need to understand that in public many Filipinos consider any Filipina with a foreigner to be either a traiter or a prostitute or both.
That is one reason that some Filipinas do not like any PDA.  Plus, the gossip can be so insistent and so cruel.  Many guys think that the Filipina would be proud to parade the foreigner around the mall.
But, in reality, the Filipina is having to endure many angry looks from other Filipinos.  It is typically the very rebellious or very secure Filipina that you will see being affectionate with a foreigner in public.  

Being approached in public.  A "good girl" is not going to approach you in public.  Many prostitutes and girly-boys will approach a foreigner at the mall or other place.  Just keep in mind that the man must approach the good girl first, it is relatively easy to arrange a date with a good girl working at her job, but the man must make the first move.  

Virginity. The Filipino culture is such that many Filipino men only want to marry a virgin, but until married the men try to deflower as many filipinas as possible, typically dumping them after they get what they want.  Less than half the women I have met are virgins.
I really don't know understand the men that insist upon marrying a virgin, but the virgins that I meet I leave "as-is", I'm not going to be the one to be their first unless I plan to marry. And, even then, it is not important to me about a womans past relationships.
Also, many of the Filipinas do lie about being a virgin, it goes along with their culture of telling you what they think you want to hear.

Chaparones.  Many ask to bring a chaparone, and I tell them it is okay to bring only one.  The more mature women tend to meet you alone in a public place.  

Other foreigners.  UGH!  I have seen and heard so many embarassing things.  Most Filipinas are SHOCKED that I do not smoke or drink.
Foreigners do have the reputation of getting drunk and rude.
Many foreigners try to insist that the Filipina meet him alone for the first time in his hotel room, how stupid do they think the women are?  Almost all of the women have received at least one nude photo from an American, and have been aggressively requested to engage in sex chatting.  I try to explain that  chatting with the rude men is absolutely useless, most of the men will never visit, they are just getting some cheap thrills by playing with the women.

Single mothers,  Wow!!, what aggressive women!!.  I have met a few, and since the culture of the Phils frowns on any Filipino marrying a single mom, the women with kids are very aggressive.  The word has gotten out that Americans are more open to women with children, and the impression I get is that the ones that i have met would agree to marry anything with a pulse.

Desperation.  I have read somewhere that " if you rescue a damsel in distress, all you end up with is a distressed damsel".
Many of the families are so desperate they may try to force their daughter to marry any foreigner that comes along.
I was offered one daughter for marriage for $3000, that was on the first meeting, and before I had even spent 20 minutes with the woman.
A guy can help a desperate family now, but he does not realize that the desperation does not go away, there will always be more problems and need for more and more money.

One of my questions in a first meeting is "how many babies do you want?".  Recently I met a Filipina that  says she does not want any babies, that she does not like babies !!  Could be interesting, she told me that without my expressing any opinions of my own.
Yes, I may have met the one-in-forty-million Filipinas that does not want to have kids!  Of course, only time will tell why she is different from the others.  So far, she has proven to be a really nice person.

The best women that I have met still tend to be the ones that don't even know how to use the internet.  I still think that is the best way to find a good woman.

Just my experiences and opinions only!

Don

GREAT post!

Many of my observations were similar to yours.  Some of what you're reporting is unfamiliar territory to me, because I had established a reltionship with Gerlie before I went to the Philippines.  So the whole meeting good girls vs not so good girls thing is beyond my area of expertise.  I only met one and she was good  lol

The Dental thing is something I noticed, but mostly in Men.  Maybe it's just more a rural vs city thing.  Gerlie is from Panabo City, which boarders Davao.  Her buddies all seemed to have nice enough smiles, as well as her family.  Maybe they place greater emphasis on this in Davao  Just aiming in the dark on that one

The weird thing about foreigners there for me was that alomst none were American no matter how American they looked.  I could have bumped into most of these guys at a local hardware store and not thought anything of it.  They looked American to me!  The American  Out of the dozen or so I saw, only one was American, he was a Canadian from Vancouver and the only one that made an effort to have a conversation.  Besides him, the rest went so far as to seem openly hostile if I made eye contact looking for a an aknowledgement to begin a conversation.  I am not the type to walk up to a complete stranger and begin a conversation without provocation  THAT I find to be rude  But, I will certainly reciprocate if someone else initiates.  

For the record all of the guys I saw were older than I am(I'm 37) and all of their wives--they all seemed to be married with children--were much younger.

I think the main reason for their attitudes is similar to how I feel in any chatroom where there are Filipinas and American guys.  Obviously, these guys did this a while ago.  When they see me they assume that I am one of the "chatroom dorks" that is just looking for a good time.  I get the "You're ruining our little secret..." vibe and for the most part I don't blame them for their attitude.  

I have heard SO many stories of the incredibly insincere.  I think it took six months to really convince Gerlie that not only do I mean what I say, but that I wasn't an obnoxious, cybersex crazed, former High School geek in sheep's clothing just waiting to expose myself when I felt I had her hooked  

Although the Chatroom, at least at CB, has seemed to have taken a turn for the better lately, I used to get so irritated at the class of guys that used to frequent it.  It was like all the guys with the tired old cliche` pickup lines, that always went home from the bar alone, united and decided the internet was a big enough singles joint that they could actually hold a girl's hand  My lord the dork factor as off the charts!  Oooooops, guess I got off on a rant

One thing you didn't mention anything about that I was wondering if you were expiriencing is the friend factor.  There are definitely the desperate and unscrupulous friends to beware of.  It seems like not only is there jealousy directed toward your Mahal, but that many would betray her in a second, should you turn your fancy to them.  It seemed some would even go so far as to hint at it and deny their intentions if taken to task.  To me THAT was disturbing.

Anyway, didn't mean to make this so long   I enjoyed your insight and can't wait to hear more

Keep the Faith man!

H

Are you behaving yourself?

tito Matt

Also, I am seeing a change in the attitudes in some Filipinos since my last trip here.  There does seem to be a more demanding attitude among some of the Filipinos.  Maybe it is due to a worsening economy, or due to the word getting out that some foreigners are very gullible, I don't know.
Hope this clarifies things a little.

Don

I was only trying to discuss different ways of dealing with those situations when they come up.

Ray

Yeah, I remember your story how you met Jessica by accident when you were on the tour. I guess some people just get lucky. I remember your big fight with Houndog because he insisted that everyone must have a plan. Well, I wonder who’s method worked out the best, yours or Houndog’s? ROTGDFLMFAOTNTPIMGDP!

I also remember when Tim and many others posted here regularly. Remember when Don the Walker was still an enlisted man? I think that was about 3 retirements ago :-). I guess that was back before we started telling fart jokes and chased everyone away (LOL). So tell me Tom, does Jessica laugh when you rip one or does she kick your ass?

Also, I noticed that your spilling has improved 1000%. Did you start using a spell checker or what???

Ray