I thought I'd start this thread so we who've done some traveling can talk about our experiences, swap stories, share advice to those thinking about traveling to places (especially for the first time), warn about any risks both real and potential, and so on. Let's get this thread busy! I want to read your stories, as well as share my own. So, in that vein... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY Last November I got to go to the Philippines to visit my girlfriend, to whom I proposed (she said yes, by the way ). I'll post photos as I resize them, but suffice to say, I spent two or so weeks there and had myself a pleasant adventure! I departed from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on 13 November and had my first connecting flight in San Francisco. From there was a 15+ hour flight to Seoul, South Korea, where I made my final connecting flight to Manila International Airport, landing late at night on 14 November Manila time. My girlfriend met me there with her cousins, and together we all headed by Grab ride to the rented condo apartment I'd booked. It's a two-bedroom number in Field Residences, located in Sucat, Parañaque, Metro Manila. It was quite a lovely place, actually. But for a toilet leak that was soon repaired by the unit owner, no problems at all. On my first full day there we went to my girlfriend's cousin's house, where we had a family dinner and sang karaoke. That was quite a fun experience, and the food was awesome! During my trip we headed by airplane to her home in Dumaguete, where we rented another Air BnB condo unit for three days. Her family lives up in the mountains, where they keep a small farm that includes bananas, coconuts, sugar cane, and even a cashew tree that was recently planted. Also plenty of chickens, pigs, and cats. While in Dumaguete we got to go to Robinsons Mall, where we got the engagement cake, pizza, chicken from KFC, and beverages for the party (I'd gotten the ring at the local mall in Parañaque prior to leaving for Dumaguete). I had a lovely day and evening with my fiancee's family. I formally proposed to her after dinner and everyone had arrived, and we sang karaoke until it was time to leave. The last day in Dumaguete we spent at Robinsons Mall again after checking out and waiting for our flight, so we looked around, some new clothes, and ate at this popular café called Sans Rival, where we had its signature confection layer cake. Later on in my adventure my fiancée and I visited Manila Ocean Park and the local zoo, both of which had a lot to see. While at the Ocean Park we had lunch at this restaurant where I got to sample a milkfish, a popular bit of seafood, and let me tell you, it's a decent sized fish and the meat is so good! Of course, all great things must come to an end, so I departed from Manila Airport on the 27th of November, with an overnight layover in Tokyo. I rented a bunk at Global Inn Yokohama, a capsule or dormitory hotel in Tokyo's China Town right across the street from a Chinese temple. The room, such as it is, was small, but then, capsule hotels aren't meant for comfort, but for quick stays on the way to other locations. What really made the stay worth it were the amenities: bidet toilets with heated seats, warm water adjustable sprays, air dry feature, and auto flush! I got spoiled for those, ha ha! The showers were private stalls, each with a carpeted mini-foyer for dressing and undressing, generously sized body wash, shampoo, and shave foam bottles, and shower stalls with seat-ledges for optional sitting while showering. In the morning I checked out and took the limo bus to Haneda Airport, and from there took the 12+ hour flight to Chicago O'Hare, where after going through the ridiculous security checks I caught my flight back to Cleveland. I almost had a major mishap when I failed to realize I had to pick up my suitcase and take it to baggage check. Fortunately, airline staff called me and we worked it out so it was taken care of. D'oh! I arrived back home on 28 November, Thanksgiving Day. Highlights Jollibee! This is the biggest fast food chain in the Philippines, and from what I've learned the founder got the jump on American fast food chains by coming here with notebooks and pens and a keen eye for what worked and what didn't, and upon his return created the popular menu. Imagine combining McDonald's with Kentucky Fried Chicken, throw in Chef Boyardee-like spaghetti, and burger steaks (Salisbury steak without the breadcrumbs), along with rice, and that's about it. But daaaamn, that stuff is good! Sans Rival café, with its namesake sweets. A miniature version of the dessert are Silvanas, frozen buttercream sandwich cookies. The aforementioned Manila Ocean Park, with its many attractions. The accommodations. When booking my trip, I did my research on what was better—hotel or Air BnB. I went with the latter, because for over two weeks I paid ~$550 U.S. Hotels are crazy expensive compared to apartment rentals, so I figured living like a resident instead of merely a guest was optimal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OBSERVATIONS That's the summary of my trip, and if anyone is curious about details, I'll be happy to oblige. Now I want to share with you my observations of the Philippines so anyone thinking of paying a visit knows what to expect. Understand that it is HOT and HUMID. It's a tropical and maritime environment, and even during winter the temperatures never go below the 70s Fahrenheit. My condo rentals, fortunately, had working air conditioners in the living and bedrooms, but the bathrooms don't. The best time to go is from mid-November to about April, early May, before the rainy season when temperatures can go into the 100s and typhoons and flooding are common. No, public restrooms in the Philippines do NOT stock toilet paper, nor do they have bidet seat attachments. Private residences may, particularly condominium apartments, and that was the case when I went. I actually hadn't really believed the rumor about the public restrooms, but learned the hard way that it was indeed true. Fortunately, there was a coin-operated dispenser for tissues and wet wipes, and I had enough coins in the correct denominations, but yikes! Be sure to take wet wipes and tissues with you into public restrooms! As well, grocery stores do sell toilet paper, so as long as you make sure to buy your own and take it with you into restrooms, you're good. Filipino households may not use toilet paper, and toilets aren't really designed for it, so typically the mode of rear-end-cleaning is to use a bidet attachment and nozzle hose, or a handled bowl called a tabo. I bought a collapsible one for the next time I visit, but these are common in Filipino homes. There are tabos used for the kitchen and tabos used for the bathroom, obviously in different colors to help differentiate between them, so you can expect a few in every home. Asian malls have built in supermarkets or hypermarkets (their answer to Walmart), so you can do all your shopping in one place. If your hotel or condo rental is next door to a mall, you'll be a few minutes' walk, so trips outside will be mercifully short on hotter days. Malls will also have attached cinemas, making for a complete day out. There are COUNTLESS stray cats and dogs roaming about. They're quite the invasive species in the Philippines, so much so that it isn't uncommon to see animals missing all or parts of their tails, because they're so prolific and traffic so heavy that often motorists can't avoid running them over. Needless to say, don't try to adopt these strays. Besides being too feral, they'll be carrying a lot of diseases. The modes of travel you'll be using are taxis (expensive), Grab rides (their version of Uber and Lyft, and less expensive), trike motorcycles, and finally, jeepneys. Public transportation in the form of buses are not very common, really mostly for shuttling groups to the airport or from the runway to the terminal. Jeepneys are the least expensive, but can get crowded. Trikes have limited space for baggage and groceries, but at any rate, expect traffic to be extremely heavy in the larger cities and therefore slow going. Foreigners are not legally allowed to drive. American chains are EVERYWHERE! 7-Eleven, Western Union, the major fast food chains such as McDonald's and Burger King and KFC and Pizza Hut and Popeye's, will be there competing with local dining, but each has its localized menu. Rice is a feature on every menu. Jollibee is by far the largest and most popular fast food chain, being native to the country, and I highly recommend the Aloha yumburger, the chickenjoy, and the spaghetti. But please, DO partake of the local cuisine and skip the American chains. Why go eat somewhere American when you're in a country not your own? As well, malls have a lot of American clothing and electronics chains. Depending on where you are, particularly in the walking cities such as Angeles, don't be so sure that the ladies were born ladies, if you take my meaning. I was in Manila and Dumaguete and avoided going anywhere related to night life (clubs have never been my thing), but if you're into the club and bar scene, just be aware that's a possibility. Most Filipinos speak a degree of English, so while I do recommend learning as much Tagalog as you can, unless you're in a mountain province where older folk may not speak any English at all, you're not going to find yourself unable to communicate with the locals. Electricity is prone to frequent outages and brownouts, and Wi-Fi is not available or too reliable everywhere. That said, even up in the mountains people have some electricity, television, radio, and karaoke machines. The food is cooked fork-tender, so it's unusual to see dining knives in use. You get a fork and a spoon, and that's it for utensils unless you buy your own. Finally, insofar as observations are concerned, there's the elephant in the room: the crushing poverty in the Philippines. Most citizens are lower-middle class or extremely poor. On the Grab ride between Ocean Park and the zoo, we were approached by homeless beggars, one of whom was an elderly gentleman who was missing his arm at the elbow. As he tapped his stump on the window, I wanted to cry as I felt helpless to do anything to aid him. It's illegal in the Philippines to give money to homeless people (it shouldn't be), and safety nets for the poor are weak to nonexistent. My fiancée's family lives in a hand-built bamboo house with a corrugated metal roof. Mountain folk build their homes from whatever material is available, so usually bamboo, wood, concrete, or some combination thereof. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADVICE Here are some tips I learned before and after my trip that you'll want to keep in mind if you decide to go to any Asian country, but especially places like the Philippines and Thailand. Always make paper copies of your I.D. and passport, and leave the originals in your hotel room or condo rental in a safe hidden location. You don't want to be caught out without backups in case your I.D. or passport is lost or stolen. Be sure to get yourself a burner phone or cheap trac phone so you have a local telephone number. That way, if your primary mobile phone is lost or stolen, you'll have a backup. Be sure as well to get an International SIM card so you can make calls home and don't have to rely exclusively on local Wi-Fi, which isn't always reliable. Make sure to get all your shots before going, if you can. Medicare and Medicaid won't cover these, so you'll have to pay out of pocket, which can run into the hundreds of dollars or even the thousands. You're taking your chances if you decide to forgo vaccination against malaria and dengue fever. Mosquito nets are a must, especially during the rainy season from May to November. Do NOT drink unfiltered water! No, really, DON'T. You'll get diarrhea, possibly fatal dysentery. The tap isn't safe to drink from, or even brush your teeth with. In hotels and condos, kitchen sink faucets will usually have filter attachments, but even then, you'll want to buy bottled water in bulk. My fiancée refused to drink any water from the tap, even with the filter turned on, though when washing dishes the filter was utilized. Apps you'll want to download for use in the Philippines: Grab, FoodPanda, GCash International (not the domestic version, which is available only to Filipinos), and Wise (for bank transfers if you plan on staying for a long time). For general international travel, having the phone apps for AirBnB, Expedia, Priceline, and Trip dot com will be handy tools for booking both flights and lodgings. Unless it's China, Japan, or South Korea, where crime is low, you don't want to go out too late at night by yourself. If you find yourself being mugged, don't try to be a hero. Give 'em whatever they demand and live to see another day. Most places start closing down by nine P.M. anyway, and on Sundays, by six or seven you're better off packing it in for the evening anyway. If you do decide to go to the red light or club and bar districts, understand there are a lot of scammers looking to rip you off, STDs are rampant, and you may even find yourself pricked with an H.I.V.-filled needle from some bitter woman who got infected by a foreigner and is out for revenge. While I didn't go out after eight o'clock at night and stuck to safer areas, as I have my fiancée to be with, I have heard from Filipinos that this is apparently a thing. Don't get into conversations with strangers who approach you on the street. Likely they're trying to rob you or scam you. Likewise, don't get into any land deals or business matters. Foreigners are forbidden from owning land, though they can own houses built on Filipino-owned land or buy condominium apartment units. There are landlord-tenant laws on the books, fortunately, but find reputable attorneys with solid reputations, and be sure to avail yourself of expats' expertise. Leave your credit/debit cards in your hotel room or condo rental. Be sure to take a couple thousand dollars cash with you on your trip for spending money if you're going for a couple of weeks. Prices are lower compared to the U.S. and Canada, but not so much that you'll be needing to hit the A.T.M. frequently. Some local banks do accept credit or debit cards from the U.S. and Canada, but you'll be hit with A.T.M. fees and there's every possibility your bank may not recognize a foreign bank transaction and lock your card. If you plan on staying longer than thirty days, you'll need a visa. Also, you'll need to have proof of a return flight (ticket or itinerary) to show Immigration and Customs. Be sure to do your homework before going so you know the local laws and customs so you don't get into trouble. Foreigners have few or no rights in the Philippines if they're caught breaking laws or behaving like a-holes, so at minimum you may find yourself banned from returning, and at maximum end up in prison or worse. Don't be THAT GUY who further cements in local minds the idea of Americans as colonial troublemakers (a.k.a. Mongers). Understand, if you find yourself becoming romantically involved with a local, that you are not there to look for a maid with benefits. Too many expats I've met or whose travel vlogs I've seen go searching for Asian wives not because they really care about the people or culture, but because there's a stereotype of Asian women being meek, submissive baby factories who will do all the cooking and cleaning and child rearing for you while you live it up in retired or semi-retired bliss. UH-UH, do NOT be a MONGER. That's how Westerners get bad reps. Don't contribute to that. I met my fiancée through a dating site exclusive to people looking for marriage or other long term commitment, but only after having tried U.S. dating apps and come away frustrated by an endless stream of bots and scammers. I wasn't even looking specifically for a Filipina, and I certainly don't see my fiancée as a maid or nanny who lets me have fun with her. I was raised to pull my weight with household chores including cooking, cleaning, laundry, and yard work. Although most Filipinas are raised to take on traditional women's roles (as we Yanks define them), there's no point taking advantage of that. AGAIN, DON'T BE A MONGER. I cannot stress this enough. But too many guys ignore that to their and our detriment. Be respectful, learn as much of the language and culture as you can, and be a good citizen of the World no matter where you travel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's it for now. I hope this thread takes off and that we can all share our experiences and advise. I've learned a lot over the last year and I still have so far to go in my journey. I'm even taking T.E.F.L. courses in hopes of getting a job teaching English overseas to be closer geographically to my fiancée. That way, once we're married, we can live somewhere the pay is decent and cost of living is low. Enjoy!
Our last big trip was to Wenatchee Washington. We were there in September, for my niece’s wedding. It’s a scenic town, with fun local museums & nature centers. We had the most fun at the visitor’s center at the dam. There was a fish ladder, where we could see the fish swimming upstream, through a viewing window. The other fun little site was a Nutcracker museum.
