The Philippines had been on my list of places to visit for several years. I watch a lot of Youtube, and more and more I was seeing amazing travel videos of the country. Particularly Mark Wiens and Mike Chen‘s food videos really sold it for me. Then one day while at work, my Filipino coworker was talking about her trip home she was planning later in March, and suggested I go around around the same time. That night I immediately started planning the trip.

I found a relatively cheap flight ($800) with EVA from Vancouver to Manila via Taipei. That was all the encouragement I needed so I booked. Originally I was going to travel with a friend and without Ally, since she was in Newfoundland and I was leaving from work out west. When my buddy had to bail we looked hard at the logistics and found her a reasonable flight to Manila on the same day through Hong Kong.

So we were off. I landed early in the morning, where I made my way into Makati, the busiest part of Manila, and checked into our first hostel. At our age I thought hostel living was behind us, but I decided to take a chance on this one because the reviews were solid. Lub d Makati did not disappoint. It was by far one of the nicest hostels I’ve ever stayed in. It was clean and secure, and had an amazing rooftop bar/restaurant. There was also a really good co-working space with high speed internet. With a Starbucks right next door, it would be a great base to remote work from for extended period. Some people don’t like the hustle of Makati, but I enjoyed my time in this area and definitely could have stayed longer than our three days.

Once I was checked in I went out to adventure while I waited for Ally’s flight to get in that evening. March is when the Philippines heads into it’s dry/hot season, and it was basically a constant dry 32-33 degrees the entire time we were there. This can get a little overwhelming down on the asphalt but there are so many air conditioned malls and rooftop terraces to catch a break from it that it wasn’t an issue. It didn’t rain once for the two weeks we were there. I actually didn’t know how perfect the weather was going to be this time of year. It might be the ultimate winter get away for people living in Canada.

I grabbed a beer at the hostel bar that evening and waited until Ally arrived. We didn’t do much that night since we both had big travel days. The next day we explored Makati and went down to Dampa Seaside Market that night for supper. Dampa is one of those fish markets where you buy your stuff and then walk over to a restaurant and they cook it for you. We grabbed some crab and fish and went for a Sichuan style Chinese spot.

The next day we went down to the SM Mall of Asia, which is a huge mall/convention centre down by the waterfront. We spent a lot of the day meandering around here in the air conditioning. One thing I had heard from my Filipino coworker was that people in the Philippines love malls, especially among the younger generation. It’s a cultural phenomenon. While malls are sort of dying in the western world, they are booming over here. It’s cool to see so many young people just loving malls, hanging out there all day with their friends.

This day also happened to be my birthday, and I TREATED myself. We went to the Spiral Buffet which is widely recognized as one of the world’s greatest buffets. The restaurant is located in the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manilla, one of the nicest hotels in the city. The buffet is comprised of 21 ateliers, french for workshops. Each station represent a different style of cuisine, from local to Chinese, to Italian. There is even one room entirely dedicated to cured meats and cheese. It’s basically an unlimited charcuterie room full of some of the nicest french cheeses you can get. There are two prices: one without alcohol and one with. I understand why a lot of people don’t drink as they want to savour as many things as possible, but there was absolutely no way I wasn’t getting the booze option. The wine options were great and made the meal even better. We also got fairly shitfaced. I don’t know how many rounds I went back for but it was one of the greatest dining experiences of my life. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The next stop on our trip was Coron Island. We flew with Cebu air, one of the sketchiest airlines in Asia, but actually ranked higher on trip advisor for safety over its other domestic competitors.

Coron Town is a cool spot with a bunch of small shops and bars, but there’s not beach off the immediate town. People come here for Coron Island and the surrounding archipelago. Coron Island is a protected ecological area, and visotors do day trips from Coron Town via boat to snorkel, swim with turtles, scuba dive Japanese WWII shipwrecks, and lounge on the beaches for the day. There are no accommodations on Coron Island itself, and only the indigenous groups native to the area can step step foot on the land. We, however, found a loop hole. In one of the lagoons on the island there is a house boat, which allows one to wake up metres from the island. This Airbnb was one of the most unique experiences of my life, and I think Ally would say the same. The first boat from Coron Town arrives at the island around 8:30am, so you can wake up early, hop in you kayak, and have this entire tropical paradise to yourself. In the evenings there is virtually no light pollution and the stars are something to behold. There’s also no wifi/cell service so it’s a great place to disconnect.

The house boat owner Paolo has reached an agreement with the islands indigenous community to only hire locals to run the operation, in exchange for floating in their lagoon. The boat meets super strict environmental requirements and there is a healthy reef just feet from the platform. It’s honestly amazing what they’ve created.

On our last day at the house boat we hired one of the locals to take us on a tour in a small boat, and he took us to some amazing spots. The snorkelling there is world class (apparently, I’m no expert) and I actually couldn’t believe my eyes. He took us to a hidden cave with a secret beach, and an old shipwreck where there were free divers swimming down to explore it (I stayed floating on the surface). The day ended with drinking beers and monkeys on the beach watching the sunset. We overnighted one more night in Coron Town and then flew to Cebu City in the morning.

Cebu is another major island in the Philippines. A lot of people get outside the city to see what the island has to offer, but I personally like being in the thick of it all. We stayed in this new condo with an incredible infinite pool overlooking the city. It was also a 5 minute walk from the Ayala Centre which was one of the best mall’s I’ve ever visited. I know going half way around the world to hangout at a bunch of malls seems weird but they were honestly so great. I wouldn’t change anything if I had my time back.

In Cebu they are know for their Lechon, or roasted pig. They roast an entire pig, usually stuffed with different herbs and spices, until the skin is perfectly crisp. Traditionally this would be for a big gathering, but now a days there are stores where they will cleave up the pig and serve it by the pound. I think I ate lechon at least five times while we were in Cebu. They serve it with a side of vinegar (vinegar is huge in the Philippines) to cut the grease and it is fucking incredible.

We also went to Larsian BBQ pit (Cebu was a bad spot for vegetarians) which was essentially an outdoor all meat food court. Chicken intestine on a stick is a hot ticket item here, and it was actually really good considering my weak North American stomach. We visited another mall later that day and walked home rather than cab in order to take in some of the local neighbourhood.

We ended our trip back in Manilla, and actually got to overlap for a day with my coworkers Joyce and Josh, who were on their family trip. They treated us SO well. I felt like we squeezed a whole other trip into that one day. We visited the museum of natural history, tried halo halo, and returned to Dampa Market for the most epic family style meal Ally and I had ever had. It was an incredible way to end the trip.

The Philippines might be one of the greatest places we’ve ever visited. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic and the weather is perfect (especially during Canadian winters). I can’t recommend visiting here enough. I don’t always leave a place saying I will definitely be back, but I feel like we only scratched the surface of this beautiful country. So until next time!