My Travel in The Philippines
On March 9th, I traveled to The Philippines. I have not been to The Philippines for 10 years.
I went to visit some old friends and to make some new ones. This is my honest impressions of The Philippines.
I had trouble from the get go on this trip. First, Japan and Orient tours never got my tickets to me on time. I paid
$50 (US) to have them Priority Mail to me. They never arrived. I then found out that I had to pay $70 more to get the tickets
at the airport and if I didn't get my tickets before the plane left. I didn't go. Thanks J&O, I am still waiting for them to
reimburse me for the $120 I spent to get my tickets.
The Philippines have not changed much in 10 years. It still is a poor country, however many strides have been
made. I noticed more new cars on the road. Many people have cellular phones.
My first night I spent at Arlene's 3. A small place with expensive prices ($25) for a double bed with air conditioning.
The room was extremly small, and the double bed was two single beds pushed together. There was no dresser and no blankets on the bed.
At 3am, I decided to plug my battery charger into the wall. Not knowing it was 220 volts instead of the American 110. I blew my battery
charger to my movie camera. I then, plugged my electric razor. Presto, that to was blown.
I called the manager, however, he was not available. For the next 7 hours I called the manager, he never returned my calls.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL TO ANYONE. DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL. The rooms are way too small, there is no hot water, No sheets, no
customer service, I give this hotel a half star on my list.
I moved to Bart's Hotel in Barrio Barretto (This is where I wanted to stay in the first place). If you're not looking for a five star hotel, and only care about a clean, inexpensive hotel
with a friendly staff this is definetly the place to stay. I spent four days at this hotel, and I doubt I spent more than $100 (US) for the four days. That included
drinks, room, and food. The staff is extremely helpful, polite and will answer any questions you have. The owner Vincent is a cool dude. The night time security officer rocks.
If you would like to stay at Bart's or to obtain more information click here. I am sure you won't be disappointed at this hotel. Tell them Keith sent you.
I give Bart's a 4.5 Star rating.
I then went to Tagaytay. It is the location of The Taal Volcano. One of the smallest volcanoes in the world. The volcano is located inside a
lake and inside the volcano is another lake. This volcano has been featured in Ripley's Believe it or not. It was described as a lake inside a volcano,
inside a lake inside an island inside an ocean.
I stayed at the Day's Inn hotel in Tagaytay. This is a new hotel and has a great hotel staff. The prices on food are almost what you would pay for
in the States, so eating outside would save you alot of money. It is expensive on the outside. I paid nearly $1.75 for a big mac extra value meal at
McDonalds.
The staff is really friendly, and I would give them a 4 star rating. Only because the food prices were ridiculously high.
Other places I went was the Casino Filipino in Tagaytay and Olongapo. In Tagaytay, I was told there was an entrance for the casino. When I told
the guy I was standing in front of it. He seemed confused. He told me it was located a little down the stairs. Well, I went down and started looking.
I didn't see another entrance, so I told him so. What he meant to tell me was there was an entrance fee of 100 pesos ($2.50).
So I paid it for four people. I was frisked by security, hating this I started to act gay and told the guy I enjoyed it. He told me to get in quickly.
I work in a casino presently, and I never seen such rude customers and staff than I did at the Casino Filipino in Tagaytay. First, some lady rammed a chair
into me. I froze at first while she blindly looked for her coins. I then screamed because the chair was still stabbing me in the stomach. She didn't even react
and kept looking. So I screamed loud, so the entire casino could here. She still didn't even react. So I screamed even louder that she hit me with the chair. Still
there was no reaction. So I pushed the chair back at her. She then looked at me like I was crazy. One customer thought the whole situation was funny and laughed at the
whole thing.
I then went to the cashier cage. I handed over 1,500 pesos to Liza the cashier, who just handed me coins. Never asked me what I wanted just handed me coins. Thinking I
had two peso coins I gave them to my girlfriend and her friends. Needless to say they were 5 peso coins. I went to the Craps table. Now, I take back about what I said about
all the employees in Tagaytay. The craps dealers were good. Not one of the customers tipped the dealers. And of the 10 people playing only three knew what they were doing.
I took my chips back to Liza and asked for 2 peso chips. She gave me cash. I asked again for 2 peso chips and pointed. At which time she threw her money down and asked me
very impolitely, "What do you want?". I think I told her twice what I wanted. I don't know what her problem is. So I don't recommend Casino Filipino in Tagaytay to anyone.
To view my pictures click here.
Please come back.