No. I live in Britain. My wife is from the Philippines. She moved to Britain 2 years ago. Yes, there is some fantastic scenery there in the Philippines.
What size laptop are you taking? A laptop can use most of your hand luggage allowance many airlines will limit you to 7 Kg or less, not easy to get a rucksack with laptop charger and much else into 7 Kg. Also I have computers over there but I would not feel secure keeping a laptop safely in a hotel room, few will fit into the safe in your room, if you are lucky enough to have a safe that is. You could run to more than one T-shirt a day, very important bit of advice Filipina's hate smelly people, you won't find any smell on any self respecting Filipino, they bath often, me for nine days I would take about nine T-shirts and hope that someone could do my washing for me not generally a problem for me these days as I have loads of t-shirts and jeans over there.
I would suggest reading websites on trekking in hot climates. The normal clothes rules, such as not wearing cotton, may not apply so much in hot weather. You almost certainly want a bandanna which has a myriad of uses. You can soak it in water and wear it on your head to keep you cool. It can be your tourniquet, bandage or arm sling. How will you get fresh drinking water on your trek? You may need some sort of water filtering system. Sawyer make a couple of good lightweight water filters. One which filters bacteria only and another which filters both viruses and bacteria. You also need a means of lighting a fire - a Fresnel lens will easily harness the sun in the Philippines to light your fire but if the sun is not out then you can use a fire-steel. Advisable to take some char-cloth too or cotton walls balls soaked in Vaseline to start the fire as local tinder may not light so well after/during heavy rainfall. And how will you protect yourself from the rain whilst walking? In hot weather it may not be so important but you probably don't want to get wet if you are stationary in an emergency, so an emergency Mylar blanket can be rigged up as an emergency waterproof shelter with some 550 para-cord As for sandals? Well forget those if you want to trek. You need proper walking shoes or boots with thick wool socks to soak up sweat that will help to prevent blisters. Just make sure the boots or shoes are well worn in before you start your trek!
its the rainy season here so a trip to sagada would probably be very muddy and slippery but you will enjoy the scenery that's for sure. If you are really interested to see the beauty of Sagada, you can visit them again April of 2014 as they will be having a huge festivities (according to my Philippine Music Professor). A lotion type of mosquito repellant is a MUST. A non-slippery sandals, a cap or hat and a sunglasses as well to protect you from the sunlight (still might get a bit scorchy). You might consider buying mineral water here in the Phils. I dont recommend tap water, it might get you to loo very often
13 inch laptop mate. I was planning to keep my bag on me as I could be moving about a fair bit, so wouldn't be leaving it in the hotel at any point. I may take a duffle bag to load on the plane for the trip over and then leave it at my friends and just pack what I'll need for the rest of the time in a rucksack, if the hand luggage allowance is poor. Hi mate, thanks for the advice. Hello, thanks for the tips. As someone who lives in Makati City, I guess you're quite close to my first destination, Navotas City. Someone mentioned before the dangers of the place, is that anything you can comment on? I read that it has it's dangers as any city does, but if you don't act like a fool you're generally as safe as you could expect to be in a city. But then I watched a program on the violence in Tondo, which looks pretty close to Novatas and it made me think maybe I underestimated the 'danger' aspect. I know t.v. programs make exaggerate things, but it just made me think maybe I need to be ore careful than I think about being out at night and stuff?
Bottle opener. Baseball cap. Shaving / manicure kit. And a small but very powerful torch. I suggest that you have a small duffel bag to check in, and that you minimise your carry on baggage.
Cool thanks dude. Are the first two items essential, haha. I'm intrigued by the powerful torch, as that I can imagine being handy. Also I think by the sounds of things I'm going to need to take a duffle bag too, and I'll just leave it at my friends house whilst I'm there.
Navotas is quite far from Makati. The movie 'Bourne Legacy' was shot there (Navotas Fish Port). I haven't been to Navotas but I asked my parents about the place and they say that it is a bit dangerous. I will advise you not to roam alone specially at night. Just be cautious of the people around you. So maybe you can add pepper spray on your list?
But don't buy it in the UK and attempt to bring it with you on the plane - and give it to your girlfriend before you depart for the airport. You can buy it here.
I can see you're winking but seriously a foreigner owning a gun in the Philippines is the next best thing to a death sentence from the locals or life imprisonment from the judicial system.
Of course I was joking. I don't think that pepper spray is a good idea either, though that suggestion appears serious. If you get into a tight corner, better to just smile, and talk your way out of the situation. Once you pull out any "weapon", including pepper spray, your problems become considerably worse.
No foreigner should use or even carry anything that could be described as an "offensive weapon" in this country and that includes knives and pepper sprays.
But you can carry a bandanna which can be used as a weapon! Flick it like a whip in your opponent's eyes or keep coins in it which can be swung into your opponents face. A belt can also be used as weapon. There are also 'tactical' pens but these could arouse suspicion if they are in your hand luggage or carried on your person, especially if they are from Smith and Wesson or Uzi (who both make guns of course)
Yuna's a native and knows the lay of the land, I would trust her judgement on this, personally I would feel safer with no weapons. I personally often carry a fairly heavy solid camera, while it would be expensive to use it as a weapon I would not hesitate in a life or death situation, a big lump of metal on the end of a strong strap can be pretty dangerous.
thanks oss! I have no idea that pepper sprays are not allowed in the airport here ... I myself used to carry pepper sprays and I live in Makati! I feel safe in Makati but for other places in Manila (Tondo etc), not so much
