Vacation to The Philippines

Banana72

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I've been to pretty much the major neighboring countries for vacations...but never been to The Philippines. Anybody can share their experience good/bad..what to expect? I mean, surviving (and often times even enjoying) living in Jakarta...one might think at least Manila might be about the same? (some have said traffic there is much worse).

Safety? Friendliness? Bang for the buck? Things to see? Me....outside from trying out balut (or not). I'm just into foods, maybe visit Okada Manila..that's about it.
 
I've been all over multiple times
Alone or with female?
Beach? Country? Island?
Cebu. Boracay. Palowan are the tropical islands

Alone? Play golf. Stay in Clark. Ex US airforce base. Lots of golf. Green. Volcanos. Subic for beach. And Angeles city in Pampanga famous for "nightlife"
Stay in ABC hotel Angeles Beach Club hotel.
Dollhouse is the biggest best nightclub there with good dancers and shows

But literally thousands of islands so the choice is yours depend on budget

They all speak English. Beer is tolerable (red horse better than San Miguel). Girls are plumper (jollibee diet)
If you eat pork the food is great

In the very south bit dodgy with the Abu simbel or whoever it is. Manila metro area is ok but chaotic.
Like I said theres thousand of islands really.
 
Balut has 2 styles. I've eaten it countless times but the not so bad one which is like a rubbery boiled egg with spicy vinegar

But the full one with beak and feathers not so much
Adidas is the chicken feet thing that they have here (resemble the logo)
Betamax is boiled blood
Sisig is pork fat and meat dish
Adobo is like a sour stew

Etc etc
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Just thinking of a quick vacation with wifey...I was thinking of going to the (Okada?) Casino Resort...that's pretty much it..maybe a bit of night market or Hawker center...but mentioned it to the house-boss...she was like uhmm..it's like another Jakarta with another bad traffic and pollution...plus she was pickpocketted once there so, yeah looks like she wasn't impressed...
 
Honestly I think she’s right. There were only two plain advantages for me; availability of alcohol and the absence of extremely loud noise multiple times per day. And for that and not losing the city vibe I can also go to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City or so and I prefer many other countries in South East Asia. My wife did like the religious aspect (over there she‘s part of the majority! 🥳), we went to attend a wedding.

Each their own of course but for me, a resort is a resort and I (will) never do that anymore, the last time was at the Red Sea. It’s also somewhat annoying to get to that Mövenpick or Shangri-La resort with the (admittedly) nice beach. We made a multi day stop in Manila, that first flight already took more than 4 hours.

Having said all that, I don’t regret going there. Always interesting to visit other places.
 
Have they improved the airport in Manila yet? I remember massive queus just to enter the building but that was years ago.
 
Honestly I think she’s right. There were only two plain advantages for me; availability of alcohol and the absence of extremely loud noise multiple times per day.
They should include this in their tourist marketing, like the opposite of Sharia tourism. We guarantee 1) protection from noise pollution from mosques, and that you will be able to have a full night's sleep 2) that you can get a beer without any problem 3) that you can have ham in your pizza.
This could be a very attractive proposition for tourists. Maybe hotels could sign up to a charter guaranteeing these 3 things.
 
Have they improved the airport in Manila yet? I remember massive queus just to enter the building but that was years ago.

Pre-pandemic -when we went- it was horrendous yes. But it seems they have improved a lot after some major business process re-engineering efforts in 2019. Well, they’re trying. There is a completely new airport being built btw, should be ready in 2 years time. There’s also another (international) airport not so far away, called Clark but I understood that’s more for flights from HK, Spore etc.
 
Clark is a 2 hour drive up the Nlex. Good for Angeles City or driving into Manila outskirts
 
Angeles is a city in Pampanga province. The city is rich in history and heritage, with old and historical significant buildings dotting its landscape, but these days it is best known for its high concentration of casinos and sometimes questionable nightlife

They should include this in their tourist marketing, like the opposite of Sharia tourism. We guarantee 1) protection from noise pollution from mosques, and that you will be able to have a full night's sleep 2) that you can get a beer without any problem 3) that you can have ham in your pizza.
This could be a very attractive proposition for tourists. Maybe hotels could sign up to a charter guaranteeing these 3 things.

You could add this to the brochure: 4. Offering a high concentration of casinos and sometimes questionable nightlife.

Clark is a 2 hour drive up the Nlex. Good for Angeles City…..

Why am I not surprised you knowing this place which is? ……………………………best known for its high concentration of casinos and sometimes questionable nightlife.
 
The first time I went to AC I never even knew it was famous
I was with a very famous popstar who is from Sapong Bato, Pampanga.

When we went to visit his family, his brothers afterwards took us for beer in AC and that's when I found out that Angeles City is famous.

Then I used to go to Manila for business, go up visit his family for a day or so and have a nice break

As I recommend, ABC hotel (with the helicopter) and we used to spend most of our nights in Dollhouse.
Huge mall across the road
Lots of golf courses
Lots of international call centres based there also
In fact funny story my talent lived in LA and called the cable company which directed to a call centre in Clark and the guy recognised my guy's voice and said omg are you Mr X from XYZ pop group and he laughed and said damn lucky I wasn't ordering p0rn channel

But yes apart from sex tourism it's a perfectly decent place to base for volcano trekking Mt Pinatubo, Subic Bay for beach etc or golf.
 
Maybe wind or a volcano
No, no, they flew on the 31st and it was related to the problems in the article you posted. So even flights that would not land in Manila were affected 🤷🏼
 

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