Jan 19 2008
Internet Cafes in The Philippines are No Work Zones
For the first time since my arrival in The Philippines about 10 days ago I’ve got no wifi in my hotel. They have a computer in their reception area but it was mysteriously ‘closed’ with no real explanation. I guess that means it doesn’t work? I will never know.
So I’ve found myself in a Filipino internet cafe to book a flight for tomorrow and if I wanted to work I think it would be pretty much impossible. The lights are all off and I’m surrounded by teenage boys tapping away at their keyboards, each with an army of more kids watching them play various flashing, fit inducing games.
I could probably do with a good working session since on Boracay, the last place, I did more beach sitting and hangover recovery than work but in reality I can’t wait to get the hell out of this room!
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go. 
These places are pretty typical through Asia. China’s internet places are pretty amazing with the size of some of them. It is usually the cigarette smoke that makes it uncomfortable for me.
I feel for you just reading this makes me realise its not all roses!
Even though I keep nagging you, did you install easyphp ?
I’m often away from an internet conection and with easyphp I can continue to build & test all I want. In fact I have pretty much built my last two sites this way never mind the fact I get so much more done in an hour when I’m not conected. If you need help installing it let me know
I can walk you through it by email or skype.
Part of my dream/goal is to go somwhere where their is no internet & get busy for a fewdays/weeks then go in to town so to speak just for uploading stuff.
yep, internet ‘cafes’ are not the best places to get work on the road done -there’s too many distractions. nowadays they’re often not the most pleasant places either. as mentioned, you’ve often got a wall of smoke in there as well as the continual noise of mobiles going off, as well as the annoyance of getting to grips with an unfamiliar computer setup.
nothing like using your own laptop with free wi-fi…
Sounds like a swell time. Its kind of funny because I often go to regular cafe’s here just to escape the computer and think about stuff without having constant distractions. I actually do a bit of planning/organizing on paper *gasp* then come back and make it happen.
Being non-connected and then syncing up with the web sounds like a cool idea. I would probably go crazy though like that.
What about security issues in internet cafes, no concerns about that? I’d expect the cafes to be frequented by wannabe hackers/crackers besides from game players, it’s roughly the same age group that get’s into these two things. I’d be afraid of landing on a computer with a keystroke logger, at the very least I’d never log into a site of mine with main admin rights, would create a different one to upload content with.
WiFi is safer but still all security measures that can be taken should be taken, here´s three resources I found:
http://www.thetechzone.com/?m=show&id=195&page=1
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=364
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/stayconnected/hotspots.mspx
LOL your post reminded me of my last trip to PI. Find internet cafe, convince desk guy that I need to disconnect their computer so I can plug in my laptop because I need to use the software on my computer, try to be creative and write something that makes some sort of sense while a room full of kids play online video games… On another note, I’d highly recommend the Waling Waling Hotel on Boarcay–you can sit outside on the beach under the cabana and use their wifi–work, relax, and watch the beach in silence. Have a wonderful rest of your trip!
The challenges of working in unfamiliar places! I’m glad to see you talking about these experiences. You are teaching the rest of us from your experiences. Keep up the great work!