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 Philippines travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Philippines.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Baguio city guide,
Bohol city guide,
Boracay city guide,
Cebu city guide,
El Nido city guide,
Manila city guide,
and Puerto Galera city guide.
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| C Padovano |
23 January 2005 |
Stayed at Red Coconut Beach Resort-Boracay - Boracay (Aklan), Philippines.
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Just a quick story about Tess, the main counter girl. We went riding on ATV's (which Tess booked for us), and when we got there we found out they didn't accept credit cards. It was a total of about $100 for 2 people for a half day, but the people said after our rides, they will follow us back to a ATM so we can pay them with cash. We'll of course, the ATM wouldn't take our card, so we scarpped up all the money we had, but we were still 500 pesos short. We decided to asak the hotel for another ATM, when we saw Tess walking home. She asked us how our trip was, and we told her we were short the cash. Wel, Tess reached into her pocket book and loaned us the 500 pesos right there on the spot until we were able to find a working ATM! Kindness like that is very rare these days!
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| C Dunham |
22 January 2005 |
Stayed at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino - Cebu, Philippines.
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It is much cheaper to hire a taxi to take you on a Cebu City tour (US$30 for an entire van) than to go through a travel agent (US$25/person). Make sure you ask the driver to take you to a restaurant on Mactan Island at the fish market, where you get to select fresh lobsters, squid, fish, prawns, and other shell fish and have them cooked-to-order. Also, arrange for an all-day boating/snorkeling/island hopping tour through Tropical Island Adventures (on Buyong Beach). They will take you to the best snorkeling and diving spots around Cebu. A barbecue lunch is prepared for you on board. Cost is about $25/person, including food/drinks and snorkeling gear.
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| L Wagman (1st room) |
21 January 2005 |
Stayed at West Gorordo Hotel Cebu - Cebu, Philippines.
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Cebu is easy getting around in by taxi. Taxi's are plentiful and inexpensive fare. I mostly went to the SM mall and the ayala mall. Visited the Catherdal on the feast of St. Nina. Enjoyed the Ft. San Pedro tour too.
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| J Lanteri |
19 January 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Hotel Nikko - Manila, Philippines.
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There is plenty of shopping, dining and clubbing in the immediate area of the Dusit. Dining out and taxi services are very cheap. Do not prepay for airport transportation. A metered taxi only costs about 100 pesos with the tip (about $1.80usd) between the airport and hotel. I paid $30 for the roundtrip in advance through asiahotels.com and then had to pay for the trip back to the airport because nobody at the hotel could find proof that I had already paid in advance. We climbed Mt. Pinatubo and went to Corregidor Island (Gen. MacArthur's "I shall return"). Find a tour agency to book your tours with instead of the ones offered through the hotel. You will save about 40%. There are numerous fine dining establishments in the Greenbelt area to satisfy every cultural taste. I've never dined so cheaply on such quality food and service. The Filipino driving habits (no rules at all!) are amusing and I for one can never get road rage again after witnessing their road maneuvering. I'm surprised that there are no Filipino NASCAR or Formula 1 drivers. They can weave with the best of them.
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| T Martin |
18 January 2005 |
Stayed at BSA TOWER - Manila, Philippines.
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I had a friend with an auto but after a few days selected to take taxi's because they are inexpensive and the drivers are more familiar with areas. Through the doorman at B.S.A. Tower I arranged with a gentleman to drive me on private tours to different area Provinces outside Manila. It was quite good and very inexpensive a typical 12 hour tour with him providing vehicle and gasoline ran $50 and less per day. It could have been cheaper but I gave him $50. I felt comfortable with him going to areas that I would not have gone alone. I was interested in seeing the new and normal tourist areas but also experiencing how the real Filippino people lived so I went into areas that tourist would not have normally ventured in to and felt very secure.
I advise that you take at least three credit cards. I only took one for I thought since I had a $25,000 limit on the card that I would not encounter any difficulties. I ran into problems when Landmark Department Store on the first day made an error on the card processing. Through out the 18 days there it created some difficulties in some stores from then on. Communication was no problem since nearly all the people speak English. I found the people to be extremely friendly and wanting to help.
If traveling by air for more than 12 hours to get there I found it miserable going economy and changed coming back to Business Class for the seats in economy are just too close and too narrow. At first I had concerns because security is so obvious in every store, bank, mall and public building but once I came to understand that this is just part of life especially in Manila I became comfortable with it and it made me feel more secure. I am looking forward to possibly returning towards the end of 2005. I met a lot of wonderful people. The average income of the majority of the people with good jobs is only approximately $190 per month but they are an extremely happy and polite people.
One should decide exactly what they are looking for before deciding to go if they do not have time to visit several islands. Cebu is for the tourist that enjoys the beach and Manila for those that enjoy museums, shopping and the large city, the northern part if you are looking for the mountains and cooler weather. Traffic is unbelieveable so I do not suggest that any foreigner rent a car and expect to drive themselves. The rule of the road is who is the bravest and willing to take the most chances. Thank you for making the arrangements. I would recommend your services to others.
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| A Rimmington |
17 January 2005 |
Stayed at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino - Cebu, Philippines.
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We found Cebu to be a great place for shopping, the taxi drivers were polite and honest. We were in Cebu during the Sinulog Festival. Cebu was very crowded and at times it was almost impossible to get a taxi and even when we did, it took hours to get anywhere, shopping at both Ayala and SM centres was great and good value for money, food is still good value in Cebu, and there is still places where you can get seafood
smorgasboard for p130, exchange rates were good for the Aussie dollar, and some of the best rates were at the currency exchange in the centre of Ayala shopping centre, all in all a wonderful trip.
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| F Guinhawa |
07 January 2005 |
Stayed at Asian Mansion II - Manila, Philippines.
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I had proven once again the goodness of the Filipino people. One day, last January 4. I was out at the mall when I suffered from a severe attack of vertigo, a debilitating impairment which causes one person to lose his/her equilibrium. I rested at Netopia in front of Dusit Hotel for a few minutes. I asked the guy named Arnel if he can kindly provide me with assistance by hailing a cab, carry my belongings and take me back to your hotel. He did that without giving me any troubles. This simple act of Arnel affirmed once more the old tradition of our people of being helpful, accommodating and trustworthy.
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| P Wong |
07 January 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Hotel Nikko - Manila, Philippines.
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The shopping centres near the hotel are big and modern. However, we spent most of our time in another shopping area - Greenhills Shopping Mall which is about 30 mins from the hotel. Taxis are safe there despite many negative advice. There's no need to pay for expensive hotel taxis. All speak good English.
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| D Lynch |
05 January 2005 |
Stayed at Taal Vista Hotel - Tagaytay, Philippines.
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You should take a visit to the Taal volcano if the weather is nice. Make sure you negotiate though up front! Go to the center of town and take a jeep down, the tricycle was was a rough dusty ride down. Wear a rain poncho or swim clothes for the boat to the island, it's a great trip up on horse and a beautiful view of the volcano lake, well worth it. and the active volcano is on the big island not the one in the lake in the picture.
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| D Lewis |
04 January 2005 |
Stayed at BSA SUITES - Manila, Philippines.
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We would recommend all the restaurants in Greenbelt 3. We tried most of them and were very impressed with the service and the quality of the food. Another great place was "M", the restaurant at the Ayala Museum. It is outstanding.
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