May1-May 23 trip

Jello! I just finished up my latest trip to the Philippines. My wife and I live in the USA, she is Filipina, but its the first time she’s been back in 10 years, I went back 5 years ago to help immigrate my sister-in-law. This was a vacation.

Here are the highlights:

Hotels:
1) Sofitel Manila – 3 days. Totally awesome hotel, pool, buffet, service, great landing spot after a 20 hour flight.
2) Holiday Inn Galleria – 3 days. I got these days free on points. Nice place, connected to a mall. Nothing special.
3) F1 Hotel BGC – 2 days, nice hotel, good location, decent pool
4) Manila Hotel – 2 days–Wow, great hotel, great room, great service, great history, pool was closed so bummer there.

Wife went to visit the family village, so I stuck to these nice hotels.

Off to Boracay and El Nido

5) Hennan Resort Boracay- Simply amazing, great pool, service, location, etc.
6) Cuna Hotel El Nido- decent, you’re not in the room much due to the island hopping so just fine.

Note: Wifi is there on Boracay & El Nido, but it’s weak.

Note: Manila Hotel holds large luggage for 6 months, so you can island hop from there without worrying about your larger luggage that you brought stuff for family and going to take stuff back for friends.

Other observations:
-Jeepneys are pretty non-existent in Manila. I saw a handful only.
-Grab has virtually replaced taxis. There is a grab taxi which is cheaper than grab 4 seater–just consider AC.
-Grab Food is a real thing. We used it to bring food (Jollibee) to the hotel pool once for family one day. Worked fine.
-Street food, especially those little BBQ carts are becoming scarce in some places. They are getting pushed back.
-Filipinos in Manila are pretty much like Americans now. Feel entitled, superior, not nice. Rude, service bad, etc.
-Filipinos in the province, or outer islands are still nice, sweet, helpful, etc.