Let's travel to the Most beautiful country in Asia (Philippines)

Going to the Philippines

They country’s catch phrase is It’s more fun in the Philippines. It is an archipelago not the normal single area mass of land instead, you get 7000+ islands. It is where people are kind enough to share food with a hungry stranger, wake up 5am in the morning to get up for a job 2hours away, a place where almost everyone likes to sing, where movie stars and tv shows make it seem like it’s a country of brown Asian version of the US, and where people in general are not so tall yet Basketball is their favorite game unlike most Asian countries dominated by football (soccer).

The Culture

Thanks to Spanish influence more than 70% of the entire language is composed of Spanish words, in fact 8 of 10 people would answer the question “what is the tagalog of blue?” with “asul/azul” which is Spanish instead of the proper tagalog word bughaw.

Even holidays are greatly affected by their history with the Spanish and America where there are festivals at almost every town in all the seven thousand plus islands in the country. 

Christian oriented holidays are all over the entire year with Christmas starts as early as September and ends as far as the first and second week of the following year. It is to be expected that during Lenten season, All saints day, Christmas and New year the traffic jams are at its worse so it is always advisable to avoid traveling within the week before and after these major holidays.

Speaking of Holidays most schools follow a summer break pattern which ranges from April to June the weather makes it ideal for beach trips so expect seeing them on beaches and islands.

Another after effect of history is the government, the entire Philippine constitution is pattern over the United States constitution and also most old municipal halls / city halls are located nearby Catholic churches. The normal working hours are from 7am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays so processing your documents you have to consider these things plus again the holidays.

Buying things and Shopping

The currency is Peso, everyone prefers cash, over the years more and more bigger establishments can accept credit/debit or cash cards. There are still small time side vendors and stores around if you have enough cash even the locals would prefer buying from the bigger groceries and malls. 24 hour convenience stores are also all over especially on the major cities and the covering the entire area of Metro Manila.

News

There are hundreds of international channels available on the local cable companies, with all forms of social media used by everyone with facebook alone having approximately 47 million Filipino accounts for a country roughly 100 million. Luxury hotels around the capital (Manila) would normally have multi-lingual newspapers served in your room for special request.

Entertainment

If Thailand has Bangkok and the US have Los Angeles, the Philippines has Metro Manila containing all the entertainment needs for any tourist below is a quick list of places and the area to find them, going through areas where the KTV’s, Malls and Bars you would also find everything else like massage/spas and restaurants.

       KTV’s: Quezon Ave., Pasig, Sta. Mesa, Pasay, Ermita

Shopping centers & Malls: Almost everywhere the most dominant is SM Malls at North Avenue, SM MegaMall at Mandaluyong and Mall of Asia at Pasay

       Bars: Malate, Quezon Avenue, Fort Bonifacio, Pasay

Weather

The Philippines is a tropical archipelago this means you get the sun, rain, wind and an average of at least 20 typhoons with a combination of the world’s strongest hurricanes yearly.

You get a taste of almost everything in the Philippines except for snow. The coldest parts which is normally Baguio City and Tagaytay City both very popular tourist destinations gets cold weather almost all year long, instances of ice and hail also happens but rarely and only on cold or high altitude places.

For the most part it is an alternate of sunny and rainy weather, checking the weather daily while on a trip is highly recommended.

Food

The Philippines is one of the best of the third world countries

VISA

Who can go to the Philippines for tourism or business for a visit not exceeding 30 days.

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Bahamas

Bahrain

Barbados

Belgium

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Central African

Republic

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Democratic Republic

of the Congo

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Germany

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Latvia

Lesotho

Liberia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia

Monaco

Mongolia

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Costa Rica

Cote d’Ivoire

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Norway

Oman

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Republic of Korea

Romania

Russia

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Indonesia

Ireland

Israel

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

Sao Tome and

Principe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

Spain

Suriname

Swaziland

Sweden

Nepal

Switzerland

Thailand

Togo

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern

Ireland

United Republic of Tanzania

United States of America

Uruguay

Venezuela

Vietnam

Zambia

Zimbabwe

The lucky ones who can visit without a visa for tourism or business for a visit not exceeding 59 days.

Brazil & Israel

Who can visit without a visa for tourism or business for a visit not exceeding 7 days.

o    Hong Kong Special Administrative (SAR) passports

o    British National Overseas (BNO) passports

o    Portuguese Passports issued in Macao

o    Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport

Other Countries?

·         If your country is not listed above this means you have to get visa prior to arrival from the nearest Philippine Embassy in your home country.

Requirements:

Ø  The form click it to download.

Ø  DON’t LEAVE Blank spaces use N/A for fields that are not applicable.

Ø  EVERYTHING MUST BE IN ENGLISH

Ø  IF you cannot write or read English get help from a travel agent.

o    Highly recommended Agent in Cambodia here or google Pathfinder Travel Co Ltd. (they work very closely with the Philippine embassy).

Ø  Proof of Financial Capacity = BANK STATEMENT (IN ENGLISH) = for the amount how much is judged by the Consul.

Ø  Confirmed Itinerary with ROUND TRIP flights (OPEN Tickets not allowed).

Ø  Flights and Hotel bookings must match

o    if tour is 7days the hotel booking must be for 7 days.

Ø  Passport must be VALID with a minimum of 6 mos beyond the date of travel.

o    (Example: If Tour Itinerary is January 10 - 17, 2018 then passport must be valid beyond July 18 2018)

Ø  NO BAD records, history of deportation, history of blacklist from the Philippines, Interpol and home country, if found will be denied.

Ø  EVERYTHING MUST BE FILLED, NO BLANK BOXES, use N/A for Not Applicable places inside the application.

Reasons NOT to GO to the Philippines

1.  Don’t go to the Philippines if you don’t like friendly and charitable people.

2.  Don’t go to this country if you like to party.

3.  Do not go there if you hate beautiful beaches.

4.  Never try it if you are not open to exploring the one of the most breath taking places on Earth.

5.  Do not go if you are rude.

6.  Certainly avoid the Philippines if you are scared of people smiling at you.

More things to Know About the Philippines

1.     Throwing trash on the floor ANYWHERE is a sign of disrespect so trash bins are located visible to the public mostly as good sanitation practice.

2.     The government model is a democracy so people have the right to vote and very active exercising their rights.

3.     Coins are used especially with public transportation and low price purchases

4.     Credit/Debit cards are accepted only with major establishments like Malls, CASH in PhP is more preferred for transactions.

5.     Prostitution is illegal.

6.     The Philippines has a very strong war on illegal drugs.

7.     High risk places with terrorism, violence and war are not easily accessible and will NEVER be used as a tourist destination.

8.     It is almost impossible to get lost traveling as long as you can read and speak English, Traveling is along at night is considerably safe but is not advisable just like any other country.

9.     Majority of the Population are Christians and or Catholics expect almost everything to relate to religion.

10.    High Speed mobile data (4G / LTE) are mostly located on major cities, 3G is more wide spread but not as reliable.

11.    People in General would like to wake up early for things deemed important, punctuality is a big deal for most, and travel activities may be as early as 4am.

12.    Public Transport are everywhere as Jeepneys, Tricycles, Buses.

13.    UBER, GRAB and Taxi service are present on Major cities but expect to pay much more compared to public transport services

14.    Rickshaws / Tuk-Tuk / Moto Taxis are considered mostly unsafe therefore not a popular way to travel

15.    Traffic rules are Strictly followed, all vehicles are on left hand drive.

16.    Trustable money changers can be found in Banks and Malls.

17.    Government offices & Banks regular work days are Monday-Friday.

18.    Policies, Laws and Standards are mostly patterned and similar to the US.

19.    Traveling 15 Kilometers away from the Airport from 7am to 1am may take approx 2-6 hours because of extreme traffic jams.

20.    Due to the Spanish and American influence the food selection easily found are mostly meat based and or fast food.