Throughout this Philippine travel blog I will be writing about my experiences in the Philippines and detailing procedures and costs for anyone else thinking of traveling to the Philippines.
So I began my journey to the Philippines by getting up at 5am on Saturday morning January 31st and headed out to have a couple cups of coffee at McDonalds before walking down to the main bus station in downtown Victoria. The bus left at 7:45am and we got to the ferry terminal at 8:15am and boarded the 9am ferry from Swartz bay to Tsawwassen (95 minutes) and changed buses at the Tsawwassen terminal and took the bus directly to the Vancouver international airport and was there by 11:10am so had just under 2 hours to check in and find my gate. Long line at the airport security area but it went by quickly and efficiently and I had lots of time to kill before my flight at 12:55pm.
I choose to fly with Korean Airlines since they were the cheapest off Expedia.ca ($1330 return from Vancouver to Cebu) and I must admit I really liked the airline as it provided lots of free movies to choose from and documentaries, news, etc... to keep your mind busy while I killed 11 hours on a plane to Seoul Korea.Their meal was good too with either beef, chicken, or fish along with rice and cheese cake etc... Flight ended up leaving Vancouver at 1:30pm and got to Seoul Korea at 12:30am (5:30pm Seoul local time). Went through a maze at Seoul Airport as everyone followed the herd before stopping to wait for a train which took us a certain distance before getting off and continuing along for INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS and there was a bit of a line up at the security gate with 3 lines and moving rather slower but I still had a lot of time to catch my Cebu flight and they did have a priority line up for those who only had 30 minutes or less to catch their flights.
Landed in Cebu at 11:10pm (local Cebu time) and it was quick to get to customs with 3 line up. The right hand line up (booth#1-3) was for filipino nationals and the other 2 line ups on the left hand side was for foreigners (booths 4-8) when I got to Philippine customs desk she asked me how long I planned to stay in the Philippines and I told her 3 months and she said "But you don't have a Philippine visa?" and I said "Yeah I know but you will give me a 30 day entry permit and I will get that extended at the Bureau of Immigration before the 30 days is up" (I can't believe I had to tell her this!). She nodded and as I handed her my passport and travel card she asked me "Can I see your return airline ticket?" which I gave her and told me "You have until March 3rd to extend your stay".
I then headed straight through customs where the luggage carousel was located and grabbed my suitcase and there were 2 big line ups for filipinos to declare stuff but a filipino airport worker waved me over to the right hand side for foreigners (no line up) to do a quick X-ray scan of my suitcase and I was out. I needed to get some local currency and the ATM machine was located outside the airport on the street and I was shocked that they charged 200 Philippine Pesos ($5 cdn) for any ATM transaction but I needed cash for the taxi so took out 3000 pesos and paid the exorbitant transaction fee.
I had read a lot of stuff online about unscrupulous taxi drivers who want to rip off foreigners and said to always insist on them using a taxi meter to ensure you don't get ripped off so right after I withdrew my 3000 pesos from the ATM, a filipino who obviously worked for the taxi company based on the way he was dressed asked me if I wanted a taxi and I told him only if it used a meter and he said "Yes sir, of course, right this way" and took me to a yellow cab who had a driver in it so I got in and the filipino guy passed me a slip of paper through the window saying "TRAFFIC ADVISORY by the Cebu city airport taxi operators" which he had the taxi number of the taxi I was in listed on the slip and if there were any problems with the taxi driver I could submit this and they would know which taxi driver it was. I was thinking this was a really good idea and they are obviously making the taxi drivers more honest through this method. On the Traffic Advisory slip it said in case of drivers abuse and for violations and listed some violations such as 1) flagged up taxi meter 2) over charging 3) over loading 4) reckless driving 5) refuse to convey passengers and 6) Arrogant driver. I loved the last one! Filipinos are so easy going and friendly that I would be surprised if I ever met an arrogant one.
The taxi ride from Mactan International Airport to my accommodation (Cebu Guesthouse) at 211 Mango ave cost 240 pesos ($6 cdn) and since the guy seemed nice and easy going I gave him a 160 peso tip. Cebu Guesthouse is a budget hotel ($11.17 for a private basic room) and I had booked a basic room there for 7 days as I just needed a place to sleep and that is it as I would be up and out and about for the day anyhow. As I got out of the taxi I saw no lights on at the Cebu Guest house and I almost forgot my suitcase in the back of the taxi but he pulled it out for me as I was busy looking for someone at reception. I saw guests and asked them "Sooo.... does anyone actually work here??" they said no and it took another 20 minutes to find the guy on nightshift as I had told them a couple days in advance I would be arriving at midnight and they said their reception is open 24/7 (I guess it is just a matter of finding them though ;)).
A young filipino guy (probably 20 years old) seemed confused about my reservation and didn't have the key for my private basic room so put me into a room with air conditioning for the night. By the time I had gotten up at 5am to start my journey to the point I was checked into my hotel and relaxing it was a full 28 hours on the road. I thought I would be very tired but surprisingly I couldn't sleep (probably jet lag) so just surfed the internet with the free WI-FI here for an hour before going to sleep. The air conditioner was making it too cold but there were no switches to turn it off so I had to unplug it.
For local Philippines time and day go to this website
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_PH.aspx
So I began my journey to the Philippines by getting up at 5am on Saturday morning January 31st and headed out to have a couple cups of coffee at McDonalds before walking down to the main bus station in downtown Victoria. The bus left at 7:45am and we got to the ferry terminal at 8:15am and boarded the 9am ferry from Swartz bay to Tsawwassen (95 minutes) and changed buses at the Tsawwassen terminal and took the bus directly to the Vancouver international airport and was there by 11:10am so had just under 2 hours to check in and find my gate. Long line at the airport security area but it went by quickly and efficiently and I had lots of time to kill before my flight at 12:55pm.
I choose to fly with Korean Airlines since they were the cheapest off Expedia.ca ($1330 return from Vancouver to Cebu) and I must admit I really liked the airline as it provided lots of free movies to choose from and documentaries, news, etc... to keep your mind busy while I killed 11 hours on a plane to Seoul Korea.Their meal was good too with either beef, chicken, or fish along with rice and cheese cake etc... Flight ended up leaving Vancouver at 1:30pm and got to Seoul Korea at 12:30am (5:30pm Seoul local time). Went through a maze at Seoul Airport as everyone followed the herd before stopping to wait for a train which took us a certain distance before getting off and continuing along for INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS and there was a bit of a line up at the security gate with 3 lines and moving rather slower but I still had a lot of time to catch my Cebu flight and they did have a priority line up for those who only had 30 minutes or less to catch their flights.
Landed in Cebu at 11:10pm (local Cebu time) and it was quick to get to customs with 3 line up. The right hand line up (booth#1-3) was for filipino nationals and the other 2 line ups on the left hand side was for foreigners (booths 4-8) when I got to Philippine customs desk she asked me how long I planned to stay in the Philippines and I told her 3 months and she said "But you don't have a Philippine visa?" and I said "Yeah I know but you will give me a 30 day entry permit and I will get that extended at the Bureau of Immigration before the 30 days is up" (I can't believe I had to tell her this!). She nodded and as I handed her my passport and travel card she asked me "Can I see your return airline ticket?" which I gave her and told me "You have until March 3rd to extend your stay".
I then headed straight through customs where the luggage carousel was located and grabbed my suitcase and there were 2 big line ups for filipinos to declare stuff but a filipino airport worker waved me over to the right hand side for foreigners (no line up) to do a quick X-ray scan of my suitcase and I was out. I needed to get some local currency and the ATM machine was located outside the airport on the street and I was shocked that they charged 200 Philippine Pesos ($5 cdn) for any ATM transaction but I needed cash for the taxi so took out 3000 pesos and paid the exorbitant transaction fee.
I had read a lot of stuff online about unscrupulous taxi drivers who want to rip off foreigners and said to always insist on them using a taxi meter to ensure you don't get ripped off so right after I withdrew my 3000 pesos from the ATM, a filipino who obviously worked for the taxi company based on the way he was dressed asked me if I wanted a taxi and I told him only if it used a meter and he said "Yes sir, of course, right this way" and took me to a yellow cab who had a driver in it so I got in and the filipino guy passed me a slip of paper through the window saying "TRAFFIC ADVISORY by the Cebu city airport taxi operators" which he had the taxi number of the taxi I was in listed on the slip and if there were any problems with the taxi driver I could submit this and they would know which taxi driver it was. I was thinking this was a really good idea and they are obviously making the taxi drivers more honest through this method. On the Traffic Advisory slip it said in case of drivers abuse and for violations and listed some violations such as 1) flagged up taxi meter 2) over charging 3) over loading 4) reckless driving 5) refuse to convey passengers and 6) Arrogant driver. I loved the last one! Filipinos are so easy going and friendly that I would be surprised if I ever met an arrogant one.
The taxi ride from Mactan International Airport to my accommodation (Cebu Guesthouse) at 211 Mango ave cost 240 pesos ($6 cdn) and since the guy seemed nice and easy going I gave him a 160 peso tip. Cebu Guesthouse is a budget hotel ($11.17 for a private basic room) and I had booked a basic room there for 7 days as I just needed a place to sleep and that is it as I would be up and out and about for the day anyhow. As I got out of the taxi I saw no lights on at the Cebu Guest house and I almost forgot my suitcase in the back of the taxi but he pulled it out for me as I was busy looking for someone at reception. I saw guests and asked them "Sooo.... does anyone actually work here??" they said no and it took another 20 minutes to find the guy on nightshift as I had told them a couple days in advance I would be arriving at midnight and they said their reception is open 24/7 (I guess it is just a matter of finding them though ;)).
A young filipino guy (probably 20 years old) seemed confused about my reservation and didn't have the key for my private basic room so put me into a room with air conditioning for the night. By the time I had gotten up at 5am to start my journey to the point I was checked into my hotel and relaxing it was a full 28 hours on the road. I thought I would be very tired but surprisingly I couldn't sleep (probably jet lag) so just surfed the internet with the free WI-FI here for an hour before going to sleep. The air conditioner was making it too cold but there were no switches to turn it off so I had to unplug it.
For local Philippines time and day go to this website
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_PH.aspx
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