Going out
In most large cities and tourist centers, in the most diverse areas of the Philippine Islands, there is a large variety of restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs depending on the location in all price categories. Discotheques, cinemas, theaters or open-air events provide further entertainment – basically everything you want as a tourist if you fancy some action.
The American influence and Spanish history clearly left their mark here and shaped the lifestyle a little. Filipino cuisine cannot be compared to Asian cuisine. The dishes are greasier and often only fried instead of fried. You should try the various seafood such as mussels, lobsters or crabs. The Lapa Lupo is a popular food fish in the Philippines. If you like fish in any case, you should try the Lechon. This is a typical variant of the suckling pig.
In restaurants that start with the name Kawasan, you basically eat by hand. This is not a problem in itself, because for the most part good-tasting meat skewers with side dishes such as fruit or fruit are offered.
You should definitely try the ” Halo-Halo “. It is a mix of candied fruit, ice cream and milk and is considered a specialty in the Philippine Islands.
If you want to eat cheaply in the big cities, go to one of the large shopping centers and enjoy both local and traditional Asian cuisine. Just as you prefer it as a holiday traveler.
Getting there
To enter the Philippines you need a passport that is still valid for 6 months. You can stay in the country for up to 21 days. If you are planning a longer stay, you need a visa that can be obtained from the diplomatic mission.
There are two international airports in the Philippines, Manila City and Cebu City. Various airlines fly from Germany to the Philippines several times a day. Mostly these are night flights.
The flight time for a direct flight from Germany is about 13 hours. There are also flights via Hong Kong and other Asian cities. Philippine Airlines work with code sharing. This allows the airline to continue to operate internationally, since April 1, 2010 there has been an entry ban for all Philippine airlines in Europe. There are significant security concerns against these airlines. With code sharing, which shares flights with other airlines, Philippine Airlines can continue to offer flights to the EU. Philippine Airlines has a fleet of 40 aircraft and was founded in 1941.
To reduce the cost of an expensive direct flight to Manila, you can fly with a low-cost airline to Hong Kong and from there to Manila or Cebu.
However, some tour operators also offer cruises to the Philippines.
You can get around in the Philippines by ship, of course, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea to spend many hours or even days. Of course, planes offer a faster connection. Almost 40 locations are served several times a day. Domestic flights are usually easy to book. However, it can happen that flights are canceled due to a lack of passengers. No airline will admit this, the weather is always advanced.
For smaller distances, you can take a rental car in every major city or in the hotel. Another way to get around are suburban buses, taxis and jeepneys.
Hotels
According to best-medical-schools, there are more than 27 different cities in the Philippines. But there are only hotels in 27 cities. There are more than 300 different hotels. From $ 4 you can find an overnight stay. Before you book a hotel, you should think about what you want to do on vacation. Whether you just want to lie around in the hotel, pool or beach. Or whether you want to explore a lot. If you want to relax more, you should choose a city where the hotel is not far from the beach and it is a bit quieter. If you want to explore a lot, you should rent a hotel in the capital, or at least in one of the other larger cities.
From there you have the opportunity to explore a lot on your own, but you can also find guides and tour groups. The price of the individual hotels is of course based on the number of people and the number of stars. Most cheap hotels offer reasonable and good comfort. They generally meet European standards. On the beach you will sleep in cottages, which are very different in price. One can deduce the equipment from the price.
You don’t have to worry about the temperature to have a great vacation in the Philippines. It is actually between 30-35 degrees all year round. There are only a lot of rainy days in July, August and September. Then you should only go there if you want to spend a lot of time in the hotel anyway. The food in the Philippines is more fatty than in Germany. There are now also many fast food restaurants in the Philippines. This gives you the opportunity to eat as much as in America. The mangoes in the Philippines are the best in the world. The yellow ones are often served as a dessert, and the greens like to go into the main course. But from both types of these mangos you can drink fresh and delicious juice in all hotels.