BLOGGED PHILIPPINES

Maybe it's the pressure from the social media, which was amplified even more when the mainstream media began picking up the story of the outcry from affected people. Whatever the root cause is, you can go ahead now and set an appointment online in select DFA offices in the country. And when I mean now, I mean RIGHT NOW! I just checked the DFA appointment system and there are slots for April 2018 in select DFA Offices in Metro Manila. And here's a thing that's even more interesting, Tacloban DFA has an opening this month January 2018! Wow...whether you care about the alleged corruption inside the DFA or not, you can set it aside and set an appointment now, I mean NOW ! Fully Booked Since mid-December 2017 The DFA Passport appointment system is fully booked until March 2018. It opened up the slots early December last year but just after a week or two, all 27 offices has become fully booked. This sparked outrage among citizens. Reports have emerged that while th...

My second trip to Davao was not as long as my first one. But I was able to have a good time during that trip too. During that time, we did not stay at an acquaintance's house but in St. Camillus Dormitel  located inside the Davao Doctor's Hospital Compound. The Dorm is quite nice because it is clean and it is not very expensive. The price is 200 to 250 pesos per person per night. The rooms are air conditioned and although the bathroom is shared, you do not have to wait for your turn because there are plenty of bathrooms and the water supply is plenty. Related: List of Cheap Inns, Apartelles, Hostels, Pension Houses, and Hotels in Davao City My second visit to Davao was the time when I acquired the taste for Durian . It was September 2010, a  Durian season so the fruit was very cheap, around 20-30 pesos per kilo. There was one night during my stay there where we went to a Coffee shop that serves Durian fruit and Durian flavored Coffee and drinks. Th...

This is just an informal review of my stay there in Go Hotels Iloilo. To provide a short summary of my stay, here's the five categories I used to judge the hotel. Location: Excellent Cleanliness: Acceptable Amenities: Superior Value for Money: Excellent Service Quality: Superior Will I Recommend to Others? Definitely Here are the details. Location - Excellent! Located at the heart of Iloilo City Proper and technically part of Robinson's Mall building, Go Hotels is in perfect location to have the convenience of having nearby stores, restaurants, access to public transportation. Cleanliness - Acceptable Not sure if this true to all other rooms but I can clearly see the stains in the bed. Not sure what those are but it made the impression that the bed covers were not properly washed or if it was washed at all. With stains so visible in the deceptive yellow-light, it could be more pronounced if the bed covers were brought to white light. But a...

Here are more choices of Filipino food you should try when you come to the Philippines. Sisig   Sisig is a good partner for beer. This dish was actually meant to be taken as a "Pulutan" ( food that is usually taken with alcohol) or as an appetizer but now it has become a main dish when Filipinos go out to dine, taken with rice. Sisig is basically pig's ears seasoned and grilled, then chopped and mixed with liver, pork and sometimes Chicharon to give it the crunchy feel, sauteed in onions and garlic and seasoned with hot sauce or chili and calamondin (calamansi) and soysauce. Sisig (Photo credit: miggy357 ) Pakbet This food is made up of vegetables such as sitaw(string beans), squash, ampalaya(bitter gourd), okra(ladies fingers) and kangkong(swamp cabbage or water spinach) sauteed and seasoned with bagoong(shrimp paste). It is a very tasty combination of vegetables and for those who loves healthy, vitamin filled vegetables, this is a must try. ...

Oslob recently rose to popularity among tourists because of a unique attraction: whale sharks . But aside from that, there's another attraction in Oslob that will merit your time and consideration. Just a few kilometers north of Tan-awan (where the whale sharks are located), hidden in the mountainous seaside of Southern Cebu lies Tumalog Water Falls . [READ: Whale Shark Watching: A Trip to Oslob, Cebu ] What's unique though about Tumalog Falls is the fact that it is relatively untouched. No vendors, no cement structures. It's just the falls and the creek that flows from it.  The Tumalog Falls in Oslob, Cebu

If you're thinking of traveling outside the country for the first time, I highly recommend going to Hong Kong. This former British colony is tourist-friendly. Equipped with advanced and efficient transport system - bus, subway, taxi - and many people able to speak English, it's hard to get lost and if you do, it's so easy to get back on track. Moreover, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, the two largest airlines in the country flies to Hong Kong frequently. And yes, Cebu Pacific offers promo fares (as low as 1 Peso base fare) from time to time. All you need is a valid passport and your tickets and you can enter Hong Kong easily. [Related: Latest Promo Fares] It's also relatively cheap to go to HK. Lodging place can be as cheap as 500 Pesos per night if you're not sensitive to room size. My last trip to this place cost me a little more than 15,000 Pesos (all-in) for a 3-day fun. View from Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

The two hours of walk from Brgy. Napo (see Part 1) led us to a creek. This is the point where we have to choose which trail to take: the "long and easy" or the "short but steep" one. In our first attempt to climb Mount Babag, we chose the short and steep trail. And indeed, it proved to be a difficult, uphill climb. [Related:  Climbing Mount Babag Part 1: Guadalupe to Napo to the Small Creek ] Crossing the creek, we turned right to a somewhat hidden trail (the obvious trail is on the left direction which is the "long and easy" one). It led us to a small house where we asked direction. They will pointed us to climb the rose plantation: a 60-degree steep rose fields. That is the beginning of a continuous, extremely steep slope that we have to climb. Our only chance of rest are the small flat portions with tree shades. Green lushes at Mt. Babag in Cebu

To date, I've had three Bohol Day Tours , each of them were memorable. Although the places are the same, the experience of being with different people each time makes the trip unique. In those three tours, people always tell me that the experience in Loboc River Floating Restaurant is the best among the rest. I don't exactly know why but probably, the idea of a buffet meal while cruising in a river, on-board singers and stop-over dancing stations all lined up to create a unique experience that's really hard to forget. Loboc River Floating Restaurant

I was surprised by the news about PAL's move to penalize latecomers with additional fees . I actually thought that they have been doing that since the start. Well, Cebu Pacific is already doing that. The first time I actually felt it was in 2010. The story goes like this. My friend is scheduled to fly to Cebu after a week of vacation in his hometown in Marikina. It was a week after the deadly flood of typhoon Ondoy. Many roads were closed. He miscalculated his chances and he ended up 10 minutes late in the airport. And guess what, he was denied to check-in. He paid another 2500 pesos for the next trip. That was terrible but as I read through the Terms and Conditions, I realized what they did is valid. Two years later, I was going to the airport after a few days of vacation in Bulacan. In the past, it usually takes 3 hours from Bulacan to Airport. But it was not a usual day. Starting in East Ave, everything seems to be slow. The bus is slow. The traffic is terrible. We had to re...