Now We Know: The Philippines

2 weeks in the Philippines flew by quickly and we had a blast exploring just a small number of the 7641 islands that make up this wonderful archipelago. We picked up a few local lessons and observations along the way and no doubt these will help us be better prepared for a future visit here!

• Filipinos suck at driving. It is a bit of a generalization, but we didn’t have a single experience on the roads that we weren’t fearing for our lives.

• Videoke is karaoke with worse singing. It’s everywhere.

• Basketball to Filipinos is like football to South Americans. Seriously, they are always watching it, playing it, talking about it.

• It’s hard to sleep with 50 rooster alarms which seem to be in every neighborhood between 2-5am  (possibly a bit of illegal cockfighting still going on..)

• Uber exists in most cities in the Philippines and it seems to be way better and cheaper than taxis.

• No helmets are necessary here for motorbikes. And those motorbikes have A LOT of capacity.

• AC buses are amazing! But also very, very cold.

• Try to visit the local attractions on weekdays to avoid crowds – apparently during the weekend there are 2000 people at Kawasan Falls !!

• Jollibees is the local version of McDonalds. While we weren’t brave enough to try it out, the billboards of the ‘Yum Burger’ were enough to make us ill again. ‘Beefy’ is a loose term.

• Healthcare update – surprisingly affordable and almost enjoyable!

• Cheese covered Chicken and chorizo for breakfast? No thanks.

• There are over 7,600 islands and we barely covered 2. Wow.

• Bring your own trusted sunscreen from home. It doesn’t quite cut it here. ‘Very water resistant’ usually means not water resistant at all.

• You don’t need to arrive 6 hours early for a domestic Air Asia flight because there won’t be anything to do or eat at the airport, and there is a 100% chance it will be delayed.

• Terminal fees at the airport. How is this still a thing?

• When you can’t find a selfie stick that fits the camera, there are always enough natural resources to take the money shot when on a deserted sand bar.

• It truly is paradise. When you escape the other tourists!

As our time on Cebu Island was rudely interrupted by our stomachs, there are a few places we planned on going but didn’t quite make it .. they are on the list for next time!

• Moalboal: amazing place to learn to dive and a town with a great chilled vibe.

• Oslob: we were hoping to check out hikes and waterfalls here. Oslob is famous for its whale shark swimming, which we’re pretty unsure about as they bait the whale sharks by feeding them and it sounds like the ultimate tourist trap.

• Bohol: Luke has a friend here and every person we met who made it over raves about this island! When the security threats are reduced and we have a little extra time we would love to explore this beautiful island.

We had an amazing time in the Philippines and can’t wait to come back again in the future!

A Kiwi & A Cali xoxo