Philippines, not so hot

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One lesson I learned from my two trips to the Philippines is never to "wing it." <p>

That because if you want to go one place without ever planning your way of transportation, check local prices, etc. , and resolve to asking a local, that one person will ask for monetary returns or offer you other unfavorable services.

So where did i wing it?

Manila, possibly one of my least favorite cities -- I'm sorry Manny P. We arrived at night wanting to go out for drinks, and asked a local who seemed like a frequent in the Manila nightlife. Little did we know that after a couple blocks of walking, we were led to a restaurant/bar/brothel. Within seconds, we left and headed out to the local bar street where it was crowded with an older crowd of foreigners. However, after conversing with a couple of them, we came to realize that prostitution was the driving force behind that area's economy -- not the beers.

Puerto Gallera -- About a 4 hour ride on the bus and an hour ferry ride away from Manila, we arrived at Puerto Gallera, namely White Beach. We stayed at a nice little resort, Hollywood, which gave us a great deal for three nights. The place was a 5- to 10-minute walk to the beach and extremely convenient. Consequently, the Puerto Gallera is silent during the nighttime. Instead of endeavoring in food excursions, we had resort to buying BBQ chicken wings from street vendors -- we were soooo hungry during the couple of nights there.

But enough with the negativity. White Beach was actually very nice. The beach was clean, the water was delightfully blue and the local people in that place was - surprisingly - extremely helpful. We took a boat out to go snorkeling and saw some interesting tropical fish, as well as beautiful coral reefs. I highly recommend this place if you're on a budget and cannot afford to go Palawan or other renowned beach resorts in the Philippines.

Cebu -- Cebu is definitely an improvement from Manila. It is a lively city with a ton of restaurants to choose from. However, we hard a hard time finding Filipino cuisines. People were nicer, and the overall vibe made it feel more like a vacation. Places to visit include the Magellan Marker, where Magellan was killed during a battle against a local chieftan LapuLapu, and Mango Square, an area for drinks and live entertainment.

Mactan Island -- Only a 20-minute drive from Cebu City is Mactan Island. It is a huge island with upscale resorts and above average beaches. Although the resorts were kind of hard to find and the infrastructure there is below standard.

Something out of the ordinary:

Though my brother would not approve, I do recommend on the "DL" to watch the cock fights -- which are legal in the Philippines. It's brutal, yet really is a cultural experience.

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