If you have not been to any Asian country, even once in your lifetime, try the Philippines. It is likely that you will enjoy your trip for this unrivaled destination in the Far East. And don’t be afraid about the negative reports because what you have in mind is just a figment of your wild imagination. All these negative impulses will surely be gone once you set foot on Manila.
Just believe and follow in what I’ll say and surely you won’t be disappointed. If this is your first time to the Philippines, all you have to do is secure first the required visa for you to enter the country. But if you’re a citizen of a western country, your visa requirement is waived already and you’re allowed to stay up to three months maximum. All you need is your passport and your plane ticket only. That means you have all the opportunities and time to enjoy your stay in a country that is notorious for its nightlife and hospitality. The friendly atmosphere is just superb so that by the time you set foot at the Philippine soil, you will be greeted by warmth smiles and welcoming attitude of the Filipinos.
Flights to the Philippines are aplenty. They come and go on a regular basis. From Los Angeles, it will take at least 16-18 hours of travel up in the air before you’ll end up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. There are other international airports, too, like the ones in Davao City, Cebu City and Clark Field in Pampanga, the home province of the President of the Philippines. But NAIA receives the most number of flights on a regular basis.
From the NAIA airport, unless you’re already booked in one of the nearest hotels at the airport, you will have the option to stay at pension houses or motels nearby. Or simply pick your choice hotels assigned to you by your travel agency. But before you get out of the airport premises, make sure that you have exchanged your dollar bills with the local currency to make it easier and convenient for you to pay your taxi fare. And it is always safer to pick a taxi service accredited at the NAIA airport for security reasons.
Metro Manila, comprising of many cities and a municipality, is a highly urbanized metropolis that is in itself a maze of jungle to see and feel.
As such, traffic has always its pros and cons for any traveller not used to it. But there are more to enliven your spirit as you make a hectic round of the metropolis. There’s all types of transportation available all over Metro Manila so that the idea of being lost should not be in your vocabulary. Unlike in other countries, public transportations are always on the road, 24-hours a day. Most of the cities are served by the Metro Railway Trains that run the whole stretch of EDSA Boulevard and Taft Avenue, major thoroughfares in Metro Manila. Many buses, jeepneys and taxi cabs compliment these trains, too. Among the most frequented sights worth seeing include the historic Fort Santiago in Intramuros, the Manila Cathedral, Ermita District, Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Asia Mall (one of the world’s biggest malls along Roxas Boulevard), the handicrafts at Echague, the Quiapo Underpass and Church, the Binondo District, Luneta Park (where Dr. Jose Rizal was shot), the new Manila Ocean Park, and so forth. If you want to savor the afternoon breeze, just sit by at the edge of Roxas Boulevard and watch the colorful sunset at Manila Bay on a pleasant day. When tired, you can always drop by at the nearby Manila Hotel, which is a few hundred meters from Luneta Park, to cool off.
In Makati City, you will be treated to an orderly sights of high rises and a wide array of restaurants, offering a variety of recipes known to man. Just go to the Greebelt Area, in the heart of the Makati Business District, and you’ll be treated to almost all the amenities under one roof. If you stay in one of the five-star hotels like the Manila Peninsula, Shangrila Makati, the World Plaza Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel, Manila Gardens Hotel, you don’t have to go out because they themselves have their own bars and dance floors where you and your friends can unwind and fully enjoy the night away. Other cities that have their own unique spots to discover are Quezon City, Caloocan City, Valenzuela City, Pasig City, Marikina City, Taguig City, Paranaque City and the small town of Pateros.
But if you want to escape the hassles of the city, the nearest that you can immediately visit is the Calabarzon Area in Southern Luzon. It comprises of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces. Laguna is famous for its hot springs and exotic foods, fresh fruits and home-made desserts and sweets. While Batangas is known for its picturesue Taal Lake, where an active volcano is situated underwater. Outside Metro Manila, you can always have the leverage to hop in at the terminal beside the Philippine Coast Guard where a ferry boat takes tourists to a nearby historic Corregidor Island. Or you can book a ticket to El Nido in Palawan for a peaceful getaway to a white, pristine beach; the popular Boracay Island Beach Resort in Iloilo; the Panglao Beach Resort in Bohol Island; and the Plantation Bay Resort in Cebu City. Of course, these are only a select few of the famous beach resorts that are worth a visit in the Philippines. While in Palawan, you can have a brief sojourn of the underground river basin there. In Mindanao, there is always the tourist attractions in Davao City, where a captive eagle-breeding project is increasingly becoming popular among local and foreign tourists. There is also the vast pineapple plantations in Bukidnon, whose canned pineapples are intended for local consumption and exports. In the northern part of Luzon, you can always visit Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines developed and used as a cool resting community by the American occupation forces.
In southern Philippines, don’t try to go beyond Zamboanga City, esepecially to restricted areas where recurrence of skirmishes between government troops and a group of insurgents are taking place. I would suggest that you only confine yourselves to Davao City, Zamboanga City, Cagayan de Oro City, and other safe places to visit, where peace and order is under control.