Going to the Philppines? Here are some tips

There are some things we compiled while travelling...some tips if you are going to the Philippines especially if you are Filipino American like us. Or in Michael's case, a white guy. No matter what, they can spot an American, asian or not.

1. Dress for the weather. It is really hot and humid. Maybe even bring a hanky or small towel if you sweat a lot. You will see a lot of people wearing towels around their necks.

2. Tsinelas (flip flops, slippers, etc) are acceptable pretty much anywhere. Construction workers, road crews, etc. wear them on duty too. Oh, and perfect for playing basketball, and even riding horses up a mountain.

3. Be prepared to take cold showers. Hot water is a commodity. Good point though, supposedly cold water is good for your hair.

4. Bring immodium and other things to help your tummy. Remember, their food is different even if you eat filipino food often here in the states. Their health regulations are different too. Joyce thinks "do they have any actual regs?"

5. Only drink bottled water. Sometimes you can get nicer restaurants to serve purified water from their "fountain" but you have to be very careful. It is advised even if you are brushing your teeth. Also, make sure the ice is purified or from a legitimate vendor. It can get tricky.

6. Wear a money belt, sling bag that is not easy to get into or a neck pouch to keep your passport and money on you when going out.

7. when you get your money exchanged try to get small bills like 20's and 50's. Cashiers like smaller bills and exact change.

8. If you take a taxi, make sure he will use the meter before riding with him. Sometimes they will have a flat fee to rip you off especially if you are a tourist. You could be paying 500 pesos for a ride that is really 120 pesos. Be careful. Locals are even skeptical of taxis in the Philppines especially in Manila.

9. With any public transportation know how much they are going to charge you before you hop in. (Tricycle, jeepney, taxi, etc.) Hire a driver during your stay if you can. It is so much more convenient and a lot safer.

10. Most restaurants already charge a 10% service charge to your total bill.

11. Bring toilet paper/tissues and hand sanitizer into any public restroom. You cannot guarantee that there is any supplies in there for you to use. Sometimes there is a toilet paper roll outside of the bathroom for everyone to share.

12. Restrooms are called Comfort Rooms or CR's. "Where is the CR?"

13. Mangoes are delicious, but they can cause severe tummy aches if you eat too many.

14. Prepare yourself for a mysterious smell that lingers from sewage

15. A small child asking for money, a little old lady guiding her blind husband while holding a cup asking for money... beware. it's a scam. and lock your doors. that's when they come out of the woodworks - at red lights!

16. The way they drive in traffic is completely normal and honking the horn and flashing your high beams at people is a source of communication, not road rage.

Feeling beastly as I shopped

Greenhills what?!

My cousin took me back to Greenhills to do my favorite thing...SHOP. Now this is the place to do it. If you want any kind of replica anything it's here. And if it is popular in the US then the chepaer it gets and the more you can bargain. Take a Louis Vuitton Mongram Speedy 30 for example. This is a popular bag back at home but will cost you about $750. Here you can get a replica for about Php1200 but you can talk them down to let's say Php900. That's about $20. You can get the Class A bag which is closer to the real thing, even made of leather (they'll hold a lighter up to it to show you) for about Php2000 which is about $45. Here is the best part, the more you buy from the same vendor the more you can save. They keep adding on the discounts. Oh, even better, they will even give you a Louis Vuitton Class A dustbag and shopping bag. It was a little overwhelming and very fascinating.

You can get other things at Greenhills like Filipino handicrafts, linens, clothes, t-shirts, jewelry (there is an excellent pearl "mall" there), electronics, etc. They wanted to also take us to Divisoria or 168 mall because the bargains are even better but they said it was too dangerous especially because we were foreigners. Michael would've given us away. We actually had him stay behind in another aisle or part of the store while we were bargaining so we could get away with more. I was advised not to talk but you know me. I couldn't resist while shopping!

Sunday- 1 more day

We flew into Manila very early. Woke up at 4am, got on the plane at 6:30am and headed back to Manila. During the night Michael complained of his stomach hurting really bad so he did not get much sleep. Mine hurt a little but not as bad as his. We have been all doing ok in the stomach department until his report. Don't worry, we packed plenty of Immodium and Gas-X. Chea, keeping up with the poopsies.

Saturday was the day we split up. The Oandasan's and Mario went to spend time with their family in Cavite and I met with my cousin here in Manila. We went around the city and visited many different sites here. She even brought me to my mom's old university- the University of Santo Tomas, aka UST. My cousin Raida lives here near Makati in a place called Marakina. Life for her there is a bit slower than life in Manila city where she used to live. Now she has a family of 3 girls, a husband, and pets.

Today we are going back to Cavite for the afternoon where they will be throwing a farewell party for us. We leave in the morning to head back to the US.

Signing off after tomorrow

We might not post after tomorrow because finding internet here is not very easy even in our hotels. We hope to update at the airport before departing Monday or when we are back in the states. By the way, did it snow again in VA since we left on the 9th? We have no idea of current events. It is very strange to not see news for 2 weeks.

Cebu Day 1

I thought we left all of the crazy traffic and crazy MarioKart driving back in Manila. Wrong! It is here in Cebu too. I am assuming that is just the way it is here in the PI. No one stays in their lanes, signals are almost non existent, and horns are abundant. I am telling you, MARIO KART with humans and real cars...with us in them!

Ok, Cebu is gorgeous. How did we end up in Cebu? Long story short, the plans we had to Boracay were never really made, pair that with Chinese New Year and vacation season (we knew NONE of this) made the plans veer to Cebu. Cebu is located in Visayas, just 400 miles or so south of Manila. It is a lot cleaner than Manila and very touristy. It almost looks like the east's Caribbean because of the many people that visit for recreation, resorts and beaches.

We arrived last night around 10:30 and had a few drinks at the bar and a midnight dinner. Then off to bed we went. The suites here are totes awesome.

We started off today by having a very nice breakfast in a partial indoor outdoor restaurant here at the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa. Then we made it out to the private beach area where the sun seemed as if it were only a mile away. It was so hot and I swear I was turning into dinner. I was definitely cooking. Paul stayed at the pool. He was pretty sure we would last a second on the beach because of the heat. He was right.

Pooltime! The pool area is very nice and we hung out here the most. Bud and Michael joined us a little later and caught some rays as well. Joyce was dark in about 5 minutes, I turned pink, Paul tanned a bit, Bud was pretty tan in 10 minutes and Michael luckily did not have much change. He was careful after that horse ride when he turned into a lobster.

After the pool we took 2 taxis to SM Mall in Cebu City. Nice, but something we have seen many times before. We finished up our souvenir shopping and t-shirt shopping here. We also grabbed some lunch too.

The evening was wrapped up with tapas, happy hour on the water and a more time at the bar in the "pink lobby". Night all. I need to book a room in Manila now for our last night's in the PI.

Villa Escudero

Our Monday trip was to Laguna where we visited the famous Villa Escudero. This is where the famous waterfall restaurant is. We took a ride on the caribou wagon with a singer and guitar player. I swear it was like a honeymoon. We rode by pretty fields and through nicely sculpted gardens. I even put my arm around Bud and told him we were celebrating our honeymoon. I was soaking in the ambiance. It was so nice there.

The waterfall restaurant was cool. First, you kick off your shoes, then you step into a stream with tables in it. When you take your seat you have a waiter that brings you a drink and he lets you go to the buffet that is also in the stream of water from the waterfall. So, just picture this in a prettier kind of way: golden corral, filipino food, no shoes, water flowing fast all over the floor, everywhere you go all coming from a giant waterfall on one side of the restaurant. Yeah, it was pretty cool.

When we finished lunch we walked the grounds and headed to the museum.

Where did we go for 4 days?

After checking out of A.Venue Suites in Makati we kicked it Filipino style for a little while. First, we took a day trip to Tagaytay and visited Lake Taal. There is a volcano there called Mt. Taal. On the drive there we took winding roads up and down the mountains. It was like Blue Ridge Parkway plus tricycle cabs, sharp turns and some areas sans guardrails. We even stopped at one point to drink coconut milk straight from coconut that a man on the side of the road was cracking open with a machete. Buko juice+spoon made from coconut shell+coconut+awesome view= PHp10. Niiice. There was definitely a lot of mmm's going on there. It was so freakin neat. we took lots of pictures.

When we got to the lake we took a boat to the mountain where we docked into what seemed like another world. There was black sand, a lot of small shacks, children running around barefoot or with flip flops on and a small boy bathing a cow in the water.

When we walked through the small "village" we were greeted by a group of people that inhabited the island. Behind them followed 5 small horses. This is where I had a slight panic. I hid it well because the rest of group seemed excited and I didn't want to be *that* person. The lady that guided me to my horse showed me a plastic chair that I was to climb up on and mount the small horse. I really thought to myself, this is really not going to happen. I had to keep paying attention to Joyce, Paul, Mario and Michael to reassure that I was going to be ok. I needed a guide because along with my fear came lack of balance on the horse and if we were going to ride up this steep trail then I was going to pay the extra PhP500 to get up to the top and down to the bottom in one piece. My thought during this whole climb--Big girl+donkey like horsey+guide in flip flops panting= NO GOOD.

So, skipping along to top of the mountain. I looked to the sky before looking at the beauty before me and said a small prayer of gratitude and patted my guide on the shoulder saying, "florence, thank you for helping me and thank you for the prayers." She like praying too to make me feel better when we got to the part of the mountain where I had to lean forward on the horse. The top of the volcano was gorgeous. The crater was full of a beautiful blue green water. I I was pretty excited about that part but knew I had to get back down the mountain as well. So, mind over matter I tried smiling in all of the pictures and prayed the ride back was going to be just fine.

The rest of the crew did just fine. They thought it would be funny to take pictures of me while I held up the back on the way up and down the mountain. At some points, Michael was even taking pictures without holding onto the caballo without a problem. Indiana Jones, he called himself. Paul also gave us a little comic relief too when he passed me and it looked like a scene from Brokeback Mountain. His guide mounted the horse with him. I will let Joyce tell you the rest of the story. She has pictures. All in all it was a great day and one of those, once in a lifetime experiences.

The day was wrapped up with dinner at Leslie's Restaurant- an open air venue overlooking the lake.

Putt Putt Putt

That was the sound our cab made when we pulled up to the tollbooth. This is going to be one of our crazy stories. First, from A.Venue suites we asked that they call a cab to the front to fit all 5 of us to go to Festival Mall in Alabong. The car that rolls up to get us- a ratty small ass Nissan or something. The guy said, it is wider than a Toyota. We thought, yeah right, but we got in anyway. The first 2 seconds were not good when we rolled over a speed bump and we thought the undercarriage was going to fall out. Paul, Bud, Joyce and I were all in the backseat. Joyce was laying across our laps. While driving on the highway I explained to Joyce it looked like MarioKart with real cars. It was nuts. The traffic here is unbelievable.

We finally got to the exit tollbooth where the mall was. The car started to cut off. It was hot as hell, Joyce was getting sick and I was starting to panic a little in my head. He tried starting the car over and over again and nothing was working. WE WERE SITTING IN A TOLL BOOTH LANE IN MANILA TRAFFIC IN A BUSTED CAR! Then, after what seemed to be 10 minutes the car started and the honking behind us finally stopped and we were on our way. We were only putting along though. Then the driver asked where the mall was and Bud was trying but how the hell were we supposed to know. Joyce was getting even more sick and I thought she was going to throw up and her head was in my lap. Damn. We asked him to drop us off about 1 mile from the toll booth because the car started to cut off again. We jumped out, went to Jollibee, grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the mall on foot. We asked people along the way where the mall was and good thing everyone was so helpful. We got to the mall, sweaty and all in one piece.

Found a driver, now let's go

We pretty much start everyday with breakfast in the Granvia Cafe since it is included in the hotel stay here at the a.Venue Suites in Makati. Service is great, food is ok, and the Tang is delightful. I braved drinking the water yesterday. I was so thirsty and was like, what the heck, hand over the water. The first day we left all of the water goblets untouched. I thought to myself we are drinking the Tang, made of the same water, right?

Anyway, then by 10am we are out the door and in a car. Since there are 5 of us we usually have to find an SUV or van. For the first two days we had Tony as our driver in his Benz, then yesterday we took a number of services. Then today, we had Juhn and his Toyota Revo. He took us to the National Museum of the Philippines, Intramuros and Fort Santiago for a little culture lesson today. The sights were great, although, seeing anything here is brand new, even if it is McDonald's.

It was a pretty hot day. The museum was a beautiful building in Ermita. It was huge too. There were 5 floors. Most exhibits did not have A/C. But we lived. It was a nice experience. Then we went to Intramuros which is a walled city that the Spanish built during their occupation. It was a very pretty place. The heat prohibited us from walking around for long amounts of time so the driver came in handy. We still did a good amount of walking at Fort Santiago though. This is where the famous Rizal monument is. There were also a lot of fort structures there too.

When we got back to Makati we enjoyed a 2:00 o'clock lunch at the Antel Lifestyle Center. Then we split up for some girl/guy time. The boys went to grab some drinks while Joyce and I had $2 manicures. My nailbeds look great! They spend about 5 minutes per finger. We even took a snooze while they pampered my hands. It didn't help that they threw a towel over Joyce because she was cold and a towel over both of our heads so we could sleep. How nice of them.

Tagalog 101

I really didn't think I had to learn the language before coming but a big lesson would've been helpful. Everyone is capable of speaking English but it is not used all of the time. And I thought being near Michael would help. Not. They still speak to me in Tagalog. Then, I turn to them, smile, act like I understood and smile again. Oh, it is awful. I feel preettty dumb. Joyce and Mario are pretty good while the rest of us look like a bunch of squares. Then, most of the time the people talking to us get the point. I have been taught to say , "English, laang", meaning "English only". This helps a lot. Now, we are kind of getting the hang of it and Paul can now ask for things like "Do you have hot sauce?" or "Can we have the check?" in Tagalog. I can say things like "I would like to have..." and, well, that is about it.

What I have been good at is converting pesos into US dollars. At first I busted the calculator out, then, it hit me. Move the decimal and double it. Mario knew it. He said, "Did you fail math?" Hm, I did, like, 3 times.

BTW, this place is hopping with the snoring orchestra. Everyone is napping but me.

Salamat sa pagbabasa. Tingnan mo bukas.

House call

Three ladies dressed in white are here for our massages. Mario and are waiting for our massage. Michael, Joyce, and Paul are in their rooms right now getting pampered. It is kind of weird I know. But hey, that's how it rolls here. Mario has been making fun of me waiting while my husband is in *my* room with the lady dressed in white. Here is Mario and I waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

The tall white guy

Name: Michael Occupation: My husband, the tall white guy with the 4 filipinos

Someone said Michael would be our lighthouse of the group before we left for the Philippines. His height comes in handy when we have to look for each other in the store. Paul even said, I thought I saw you and Joyce like 4 times already when we were shopping in the giant Landmark Department store.

As far as Michael and his height, the plane can be a little unfriendly because the guy needs room, meaning I always get to sit in a row with him that has a lot of leg room. On the way to Detroit, we sat in an emergency exit aisle, score. From Detroit to Japan we sat in the very first row of our section meaning the giant movie screen was, bam, right in front of us. But, we had a lot of leg room. (speaking of the plane ride over on both legs...I could write another long post about that...funny stuff)

Now, getting into a small cab is not in his favor. The Toyota cabs here are pretty small. The taxi vans are ok. That reminds me...the traffic. That could be another post.

He has been a good sport and he might be getting his wish if we could find a flight out of here to Palawan. Nice.

Time check

I forgot to mention that time has been a real issue for us. It started out with the flight being the longest flight ever- 21 hours in the air! Then we often ask, what time is it in the PI, what time is it back home, what day is it? Ok, now it is bed time. I still hear the shower running, meaning one of the people in our party is definitely not going to bed with remnants of sweat all over them. Yeah, it is prettty hot here.

The crew

I got everyone to take their headshots before our first day of adventure while we waited for our driver to take us to the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. Smile like you mean it.

Mabuhay!

We made it to the Philippines on time (meaning midnight today!)and we are definitely not hungry and are definitely tired. Delta will feed you until you do not want to see food anymore and our eyes are to the point of burning. But, because I acquired some 16 hours for PHP980.00. Score. Today we ventured out to Joyce and Mario's parents hometown of General Trias, Cavite which is 40 minutes outside of Manila. The driver came to pick us up from the Mall of Asia where we had lunch and did some walking around. When we got to Cavite it was a different world from Manila. From the city to the province we went.

We ate, played mahjohng, ate, got haircuts for the boys, visited their Lola (Uncle Pholee's mom), filmed the boys eating balut (google balut if you want to know), play bingo, and eat halo halo. This brings us to 1:15 am. We were pretty tired and slept a little on the way back from Cavite. The bumpy ride, traffic, and driving etiquette will keep you half awake. Great day, good times. Can't wait to share all the pics when we get back. Time to go to bed.

The crew

Hopefully I can follow up with a picture from the airplane or something. Who is this adventuresome crew?

Gina & Mike Ivey- we believe it was Mike that came up with this idea of going to the Philippines
Joyce & Paul Oandasan- then the blame was shifted to Joyce I think sometime down the road
Mario Baylon- Joyce's brother and inspiration for our trip

2 weeks. Many islands. No snow. Blessed be.

Our bags are packed

Today we pulled the zipper around the Samsonite 360 and managed to not fight over space. Between Michael and I we managed to pack between 5-7 outfits a piece, 3 pairs of shoes and a lot of anti-bacterial gel. My carryon weighs about 75lbs. and consists of Danielle Steel books purchased at the Goodwill, 3 children's games, a Gameboy (I know), iPod with over 3000 songs on it, 6 magazines collected over the last 3 months (cannot open until the flight!), word searches, gas medicine, breathe right strips for kids (for my small nose) and whatever else can keep me in my seat and quiet.

Friends worry that my ADD will attack.

Vacation, come to mama

Ever since my twitter post of "vaca, come to mama", it's remained my motto since. So, three days ago I was starting to end the wrapping up from work, home, and other. My usual vacation happens during the summer and again at Christmas. I've even ventured out my box into September vacations for its bargain house rentals and post summer abuse status in the Outer Banks. Last year I ditched my September routine and headed to Las Vegas for a giant bachelorette party with 30 other people.

This year I step even farther out and planned my first trip overseas. This time next week I will be the Philippines. Along with me with be some very dear friends, all of us without children, yet. We thought last summer, hey, let's do it, while we still have the chance. And there, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to today. I am three days shy of getting on my first 23 hour flight to paradise and the culture I call my own. Not to mention, the amount of shopping I do will be immense.