Just back from 3 weeks in the Philippines.
Had a great time visiting with my friends there.
Here are some random comments from my trip.
Stayed at the PanPacific Hotel in Malate. US$200 per night for a Queen Room with a jacuzzi tub overlooking the City. My guy from Davao loved it. Particularly the bubble bath!!
Then transferred to the Century Park Hotel for the last few days in Manila. Booked a Deluxe Room at US$114. The room was newly refurbished. Very well done with a walk-in glass shower, flat-screen TV, and nice furnishings. I highly recommend it.
From Manila I went to Cebu for 1 week. Stayed at the Crown Regency Towers on Osema. Booked a Corner Suite with a separate living room. Paid US$110. I think it is not worth the money. It was on the inside and not much of a view. Went to the Camotes Islands, see below. Came back the Crown a day early and took advantage of their US$95 Special. Superior Room, Buffet Breakfast and Dinner, and a Sky Ride. My guy loved the ride. We both agreed the Dinner was not much. But the room was very comfortable.
Then they could not accommodate my reservation for the Corner Suite for the next two nights. The hotels was packed with a Baptist Convention... So they upgraded us to a Suite in the adjoining Club Ultima Tower. Very nice!!!
My adventure was to go the Camotes Islands, the Sweet Potatoes Islands, off the north coast of Cebu. My fantasy was a undiscovered white sand beach, ah la Boracay. WELL, the Camotes have a long way to go to meet the expectations of us foreign tourists!!! The white sand beach as wide but tan. And the tide came far into the beach leaving a live of debris and ruts. The hotel was the Santiago Garden Beach Resort built on the cliffs above the beach. It also turned out to be less than a "resort". For US$90 a night, food not included, the room was small, simple, cold water, and tiny TV. The view was great and the food they served was very good and reasonably priced. Getting there was the real adventure. There are two ways to do it... Take a ferry from Cebu to San Francisco Town (3 hours) and then ride a motorbike (1 hour) to the hotel. We did that and not again. At 70 my ass is not meant for 1 hour on the back of a motorbike; even if the driver was 17 and very handsome!!! Or the other way to get there is take minibus from the Cebu North Bus Station (US$1) to the town of Danao (1 hour travel) and then a much larger ferry to Consuleo Town (2 hours). From there it is 20 minutes by motorbike or minibus to the hotel. Much better choice!!!
Anyway, we spent two nights on the Camotes and decided to return to Cebu. did the usual tourist sightseeing and shopping. Both Alayla Center and SM are beautiful shopping malls. Found a good Filipino restaurant, the Lighthouse Restaurant, with great seafood and adobo.
Then one afternoon we went to the Waterfront Hotel and Casino. Not a place I would want to stay, but we had a good lunch at the Italian restaurant there. Freshly made wood-oven pizza. Afterward we went to the Casino to play the slots!!! My Pinoy guy had a ball!!! I gave him US$5 in tokens and he did very well!! But of course you eventually loose it all back to the house. Still he had to text all his friends about going the the Casino!!!!
AHHHHHH, this report is getting long. I will skip my trip to General Santos City for now. If you want to hear more, then ask...
I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES!! Just plan to visit the places outside Manila...
INGAT or TAKE CARE...
George
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Originally Posted by martin911
