Why the Philippines is a special place for me

I’ve just booked a couple a fabulous holiday to the Philippines. It’s not very often I get asked about booking Philippines holidays and if I suggest the Philippines as a holiday inspiration I usually get pushed back. I loved putting the itinerary together and reminiscing about the places I’d visited in my twenties.

When I left University in my early twenties (obviously not over 25 years ago!!) I didn’t know what to do so decided to head to the Philippines. My father had business contacts and he usually made a couple of trips to the Philippines on business each year and I had been once when I was about 12 years old and knew a lot about if from my father’s stories.

So I rocked up in Manila and was met by a lovely Chinese family who were going to let me stay and then I was going to get some work experience at a company called Herway/ Altenee which was similar to Avon cosmetics. I arrived off a long flight where I’d pretty much slept the entire flight and got an applause as I woke up from the people around me. I disembarked and waited ages for my luggage, but it didn’t arrive, so I reported it and then headed out to meet the family. They were quite surprised how light I had travelled … so that immediately broke the ice as we laughed together that I had no luggage. They offered to lend me stuff to get me started and the airline promised to deliver my luggage as soon as it arrived. So I made do for a few days as the family were all very petite but I didn’t have a choice. My luggage did arrive a few days later so that was great.

I enjoyed working in marketing at Herway/ Altenee and ended up travelling about with the president of the company promoting the new marketing incentives. I think I managed to visit about 15 different islands, there are about 7000 in total so not a great percentage. I also managed to head up north of Manila to Bagio and Banaue to see the rice fields. It was pretty cold up there. I also visited Tagaytay, an active volcano on a beautiful lake.

One of my favourite islands was when my mother came to visit with my father. My father headed somewhere else on business, so my mother and I decided to head to Bohol, known for the chocolate hills. That’s because they look like chocolate not because they grow chocolate. It was lovely, we got to see big eyed monkeys and took a boat trip down the river with a barbeque on board. One of my worse moments was attending a conference in Mindanao at the offices and not feeling very well. I didn’t want to be rude by not eating the amazing spread of food that had been put on for us but my tummy was really churning. I tried to be polite but eventually I had to run out to the street to be sick. It was a really busy street, and I was definitely one of the first white people that locals had ever seen so they just stared at me. Not my finest moment!

The trip I have booked for my client is flying to Manila on NYE for 2 nights then taking a flight to Boracay, stunning white sand beaches and great nightlife, for 5 nights then taking a short flight over to El Nido to stay on another beach for 6 nights, known for it's white sandy beaches and amazing coral reefs, great place for diving. I’ve included a couple of island-hopping excursions with lunch at both Boracay and El Nido. Then they fly home via Manila. I am sure they’ll have an amazing time. It’s also a surprise for my client’s partner so I hope he’ll be over the moon.

Want to know more about the Philippines? Ask away … it’s a great alternative to the more touristy spots of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

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