I just got back from my first trip to the Philippines. I’d say it is more modern than I expected, but the spoken English is more like pidgin English than American or European - I felt like I needed a translator half the time. For example, “ma’am” is pronounced “mom”.
Also caveat emptor - when evaluating a package trip or hotel, ask bluntly the price of each little feature or transfer that is mentioned. Often what’s listed is merely available at extra cost.
I spent about one week in Baguio City (BC), the summer capital, and a week in Manila, learning about the country, sight-seeing, taking photos, and learning about the call center industry there.
Week One - Baguio City
BC is located about 250 km north of Manila in the mountains, so has cool, rainy weather and lush foliage - its nickname is “The City of Pines.”
Currently TI has a large plant here, and there are several call centers: Sitel (formerly ClientLogic), People Support and E-commerce support (only opens at 4 am.)
Now there’s an invasion of Korean students in BC to learn English cheaply for TOEFL or International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam preparation for later studies in the USA or Australia/New Zealand. Some of the Internet cafes have their computers set to the Korean language.
Asian Spirit airlines is the only scheduled airline to BC from Manila. They fly an ancient de Havilland Dash-7 regional jet almost daily from Manila at 9:30 am in good weather, returning at 10:40 am from BC. The scenery is spectacular upon landing in BC - a spiral descent from the clouds into a mountain-top airfield with cliffs at either end. After landing there are nice views of a mountain-top radar facility and a building mural painted near the runway. There were only a dozen passengers on my flights in a plane that can seat 50.
BC has a noticeable police presence, but money couriers still use what appear to be amphibious armoured personnel carriers, and newer malls frisk everybody at the entrance (there are separate lines for males and females.) Most people use chrome-plated diesel mini buses called Jeepneys for transportation. They can hold about 15 people.
BC has 4 large shopping centers, the old Porta Vaga Mall below the Baguio Cathedral, and the 4-year old SuperMalls (SM) City Mall Baguio. There are also Abanao Square and Center Mall, near the market area.
Porta Vaga Mall has a traditional atmosphere with small, local shops, restaurants and a very small gym (spinlock dumbbells) with a dance floor. Not many chain stores yet.
SM Mall is huge - a block long and 3 storeys high with fantastic views from the balconies which ring the mall. It also has a small but better gym (Fitness Edge), with dumbbells to 150 pounds, plenty of staff, and hourly aerobics and martial arts lessons. SM is not well adapted to the daily monsoon and typhoon rains, but they are gradually adapting to it with glass partitions. The best Internet cafes in SM are Station 168, with about 100 terminals on 6 Mbps download, and “got hub? Internet”, which has a nice wiring closet. The Fedex office seems to have quite slow computers and Internet connection. SM frisks each customer upon entrance with separate male and female lines and guards. Hahn Sporting Goods sells hunting knives and Bushnell optics.
I did a little dental tourism in SM Mall. Dr. Wilma from Lapid Dentistry (a mall chain there) did a cleaning, checkup and one filling for $28 with no appointment and no waiting. That would certainly be $500 back home. ($900 crowns are 3750 pesos, about $75.)
Restaurants are inexpensive in BC, usually under $5/person. I had acceptable meals (good chicken teriyaki on yellow rice, ok spaghetti bolagnese, fettuccine lacking spices) at Zola Resto Cafe on Session Road (free WiFi) and at Pizaata next to the Baguio City Cathedral and Porta Vaga Mall. Also Pinoy Hotpot/Barrio Fiesta for beef and seafood stews.
Camp John Hay Hotel has a good gym according to some TI employees.
The Baguio Country Club is a 4-star members-only facility, with an 18-hole golf course.
Rainy season is from beginning of July to mid-September, with monsoon rains. Also rains during Christmas season.
Some places to see are:
- Mines View lookout
- Burnham Park, man-made lake downtown BC
- Philippine Military Academy
- Radar Lookout
- “The Mansion” summer palace
In February there is a month-long Flower Festival. On 2 consecutive Saturdays there is a parade.
Week Two - Manila, Coco Beach and Tagaytay City
After BC I flew back to Manila for 2 days, walked around in the Spanish fort and on the Manila Bay waterfront, then got a package tour to Coco Beach Resort on Mindanao Island. The van trip there went from Manila to Lipa (air force base), to Mabini City Port in Batangas Province, then by boat to Coco Beach on Puerto Galera Island, Mindoro Province.
Coco Beach is a beach resort. Not much to do, but there is an ok beach, diving, cute outdoors fitness center (spinlock dumbbells and barbells, universal machine and heavy bag) and great food. The included complimentary breakfast is comprehensive, with fruit, toast, rolls, omelettes, cereals and porridges. The lunches and dinners are expertly cooked. I ate some Philippines chicken tinola stew and tinolang tahong with ginger seafood stew, which are like a soup with large pieces of vegetables. The tilapia fish and beef steak filipino style were also good.
Any other activities, such as the waterfall, require off-island boat and van transportation, which can get expensive quickly - over $50. Some chalets include AC, hot water, and some have cable channels. My chalet could sleep about 10 people! Internet access is 200 PHP/hour from 2 working terminals up 3 flights of stairs.
The main boat safety was good, although the skiff used in the return trip transfer had no life jackets or flotation gear and a plank was used to transfer to the main boat in moderate waves. One wave swamped my side of the main boat and soaked many people and some of my baggage before a plastic drape was unrolled.
At Mabini City Port is a traditional bamboo house. It costs about $2,000 to build and can last 20 years if kept dry and varnished, though the roof may need replacing every 5 years.
On the way back to Manila I stopped in Tagaytay City to see the view of the Taal and other volcanos. There is a great roadside view, and also awesome views from The People’s Park, about 30 minutes from downtown. The Taal caldera is often active so off-limits. The People’s Park would be a scenic, varied backdrop for modelling shoots.
Hotels on the view-side of the road start at $100+/nite (ie. Taal Vista and Day’s Inn), while the other side of the street is $30/nite at places like Tirona Hotel Apt. Carlo’s Pizza serves a very good deluxe pizza. There are no taxis, just tricycles and jeepneys until around 9 pm. Raja Internet Cafe allows wired notebook computer access for 60 PHP/hour.
Philippinos buy local traditional food in TC before returning home. Popular items include buko pie, made with coconut and custard filling in a flour crust for 125 pesos, and traditional condiments sold in bottles of vinegar, chili, garlic and onion for 50 pesos. Collette’s Delicacies is one of the most popular name brand bakers of buko pie.
On Sunday the highway traffic was light: only 90 minutes back to Manila. After unpacking, I went to the SM Mall of Asia, supposedly the largest in Asia. The road-side half has AC (including a very busy Starbucks and an ice rink), the other half open-air (including the well-stocked D-1 Canon imaging boutique), and the far side has 2 ocean viewing platforms, popular with young couples. The city-side of the mall has the huge Dell call center office.
For the last 2 days I stayed in the Bay View Hotel near the US Embassy on Roxas Blvd. It has ok rooms, a swimming pool, and a basic hotel gym with several machines and dumbbells to 25 pounds. In the lobby is a Starbucks with WiFi access at 100 PHP/hour. Across the street in front is the harbour, and to the side is a Yellow Cab pizza parlour and Chinese Superbowl IV chinese food restaurant.
Driving from downtown Manila to Quezon City along the Edsa highway revealed how polluted and grid-locked traffic can get. The diesel fumes were overwhelming. Lining the highway are 50 foot high billboards for restaurants, malls and fashion stores.
Departing Manila from Nino Aquino Internation Airport (NAIA), aka Centennial Airport, is … annoying. Visitors must fill out a separate “embarkation card”, buy a 750 PHP (USD $16) airport fee stamp, get X-rayed twice, stamp-inspected twice, interviewed by immigration, and one final “documents and stamp inspection.” The bureaucracy is surreal.
Photographic Tips
Philippines has a lot of scenic nature spots and interesting urban locations to shoot. In the rainy season from June to September, weather is quite unpredictable, so carry rain-gear.
You may want to go with image-stabilized lenses and avoid tripods now.
Keep in mind:
- DSLR equipment and accessories are rare here. Most malls and stores sell only point-and-shoots, so bring whatever gear you will need.
- There is a basic camera repair shop in Robinsons Place Ermita, Manila, 1st Floor.
- Canon D-Zone in The Mall of Asia is an authorized dealer and has a variety of pro lenses and semi-pro bodies. They sell Canon screw-in filters, which can be used on other mfg lenses.
- There are pro camera stores in Quiapo, Manila.
USD $1 = 46.5 PHP
Average monthly salary in Manila is USD $150. Call center operators start at USD $300/month, but must maintain their Average Hold Time (AHT) under 5:15 minutes per call.
Philippines Call Center Industry - Tour of EPLDT, Makati
