Philippines Impressions

Alright, this post was supposed to come out WAY earlier. But after I got back from the Philippines, I got very busy with foosball, work, and other things. Here it is. Just some quick thoughts from my trip earlier in the year - many points specific to Boracay.

• Just like we speak Chinglish at home, Filipinos speak Tagalish. In fact, it's very common for Filipinos to mix lots of English into their speech.
  
  
• There's English everywhere. Kind of caught me off guard.
  
  
• 'F's sound like 'P's when pronounced by many Filipinos. As in, "You're a very good priend."
  
  
• There's a whole lot of "Yes sir" and "Yes ma'am" calling, and it takes some getting used to. It's just the service-oriented nature of people, but growing up in North America where you watch a lot of movies about Black history in the US, it sounds like the oppressed Blacks in the Southern states of America from slavery times.
  
  
• Around tourism areas, shop workers are always trying to gain the extra peso, but also always willing to give a discount "just for you". I guess it's nothing new.
  
  
• In Boracay, joining the Allan B. Fun Tour may cost 700 - 750 pesos for some, but the Filipino price should be 600 pesos.
  
  
• In Boracay, it's far easier to ask a hotel to arrange transportation from the Caticlan airport. A little more expensive (325 pesos) but less hassle and saves time. You're on vacation - so act like it.
  
  
• Massages in Boracay would run 300 - 350 pesos for 1 hour. But you better have a watch nearby and confirm the end time with your masseuse first. I doubt most of them go past 40 minutes.
  
  
• There's something romantic about having a massage on a towel right on the beach... but the romance escapes quickly when sand inevitably enters between hand and back for an exfoliating experience. If you have a choice, do it on a beach chair.
  
  
• Boracay has a Bat Cave. And little kids who try to rip you off, overcharging you for a tour and a flashlight. Do it if you really can't find anything better to do with your time.
  
  
• According to a white guy who's lived in the Philippines for 36 years, "macano" (means "how much") is the magic word. So is asking "last price?"
  
  
• You can get some really cheap and good Filipino booze. Emperador is a local brandy which is dirt cheap, and apparently very good. I bought some, but haven't tried it yet. Lambanog is a local coconut vodka, which is supposed to be pretty gnarly... like fire water. I bought some of that, but haven't cracked the seal.
  
  
• Balut, the hard-boiled duck/goose fetus, isn't that bad. Mine didn't have feathers, so I'm sure that made it more palatable. The taste is between a hard-boiled egg and chicken meat - which isn't all that surprising. Worth a go, and not as disgusting as it looks.
  
  
• Henna tattoos are really popular on Boracay. But keep you eye on the artist's work before you let him/her work on you. If your design has a lot of detail, remind the artist to make the lines nice and fine. And avoid the guy in front of La Carmela. He's an impatient one.
  
  
• While accidentally staying in the red-light district at Makati, it was common to see a fat white guy with two little Filipina by his side. Kind of gross.
  
  
• Boracay vendors and masseuses learn how to say "yi1 bai3" and "an4 mo2" to cater to Chinese tourists.
  
  
• Boracay is a beach heaven. You really don't need anything but swimwear and sandals. Fine sand and gorgeous clear water.
  
  
• We had some bogus flight delays to and from Caticlan <-> Manila. Some BS reasons stating "weather conditions". The weather was awesome. Get the plane going.
  
  
• La Carmela had an overwhelming number of staff. Had to hear "good afternoon, sir", "hello, ma'am" until my ears fell off.
  
  
• I got a waterproof camera case, and it was great. Still leaked, but reasonably good.
  
  
• If you're a decent swimmer, go swim out to a sailboat just for fun. I wanted to do this, and got half way before giving up. I feared getting water into my camera case.
  
  
• Nigi Nigi's self-proclaimed "best burgers on the beach" aren't really.

PHILIPPINES!

Following Singapore, we spent 6 days in the Philippines.

When planning for this trip, personal Filipino consultants CS and RT both said not to bother spending too much time in Manila, and to go to Boracay and Tagaytay instead - so we worked our Filipino visit around that advice.

Jan 30 (Fri): Our 3.5 hr flight brought us to Ninoy Aquino International at 6:25pm. We got special VIP services, having "EdlC", retired Chief of Police where the airport is located, picking us and giving us a ride to our hotel - because he's CS's family friend. In Singapore, we chose to stay in the Red Light District. In Manila, our luck would have it that our hotel was also in the Red Light District of Makati (the financial district of the Philippines). If seeing old fat white guys with two little Filipinas at his side is your cup of tea, you'll fit right at home. I don't want to get into the details of our hotel, I'll just say the photos of Citadel Inn Makati hide its age very well. Not wanting to venture too far from our hotel at night, we just walked around the surrounding area and had dinner at Filipino fast-food roasted chicken chain Andok's.

Jan 31 (Sat): To kill a bit of time in the morning before meeting a friend in the afternoon, we headed to Alaya Center, a huge mall complex in the Makati area - spending most of our time trying and buying filipino foods.

View from Our Hotel Room

In the afternoon, we met with my highschool friend LF who took us to Tagaytay. Tagaytay is city about an hour and some South of Manila, and most famous for its Taal Volcano. With LF being local, we took her on one of her most touristy experiences in the Philippines. We went down to Taal Lake, took a boat across to the volcano, and rode on donkeys up to the end of the volcano's mouth, in which sits another little lake. An expensive round trip, but if you can look past the steep price, it's a fun little excursion. The boat rides there and back get really wet and windy. Getting back to shore, we went to Tagaytay Highlands, which is golf resort and country club where LF's family owns a unit. Tagaytay Highlands gives a great view of Taal Volcano, unfortunately, we arrived late and it was pitch black. After dinner, we returned back to our slummy hotel and retired for the night.

Taal Volcano's Crater

Leaving Taal Volcano

Feb 1 - 4 (Sun - Wed): An early morning 50-min flight put us at Caticlan from where took a boat to Boracay. We checked in at La Carmela de Boracay which is a cozy retreat with a beach out front. Boracay's White Beach is often placed in discussions about the top beaches in the world - and the clear blue-green water is breathtaking when you see it for the first time.

White Sands Beach

For the next 3 days in Boracay, we...
... did a 6-hour boat tour around the island (included some disappointing snorkeling and a decent lunch)
... had massages on the beach every day
... went for strolls along the beach (White Beach)
... got henna tattoos on the beach
... suntanned on the beach
... slept on the beach
... swam
... rented scooters and
... bought local goods

Sunset on Boracay

A lot of our time was spent eating too! Seafood buffets, Mexican food (just a snack), thick flavorful milkshakes (at Jonah's), Nigi Nigi's "Best Burgers on the Beach" (which probably weren't really), great giant prawns and a terrible steak. Sitting at a table on the beach at night with a cool breeze and your feet playing in the sand below really gives that feeling of being on vacation.

Feb 4 (Wed): Back in Manila, EdlC unexpectedly picked us up from the airport again, and took us on a quick city tour of Manila hitting up the Manila Zoo, SM Mall of Asia (2nd largest mall in a country full of malls), Manila Bay, Fort Santiago (drive-by), Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin Church. I also tried balut - boiled duck embryo. The one I ate wasn't all that disgusting looking - like, you couldn't see the half-chick - and it's

We ended our trip with another dinner with LF before calling it a night leading up to our early morning flight.