The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. To its west across the South China Sea is Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest separates it from the island of Borneo and to the south the Celebes Sea from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines has the 5th longest coastline in the world. The islands are categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city is Manila.

With an estimated population of about 92,000,000 people, the Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country. It is estimated that there are about 11,000,000 overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11% of the total population of the Philippines. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. Ecologically, the Philippines with its tropical climate is one of the most diverse countries in the world.

Just when you thought you had Asia figured out, you get to the Philippines. Instead of monks you have priests; instead of túk-túks you have tricycles; instead of pho you have adobo. At first glance the Philippines will disarm you more than charm you, but peel under the country’s skin and there are treasures to be found – aplenty. For starters, you can swim with whale sharks, scale volcanoes, explore desert islands, gawk at ancient rice terraces, submerge at world-class dive sites and venture into rainforests to visit remote hill tribes.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines


People of Philippines

Beyond its obvious physical assets, the Philippines possesses a quirky streak that takes a bit longer to appreciate. There are secret potions and healing lotions, guys named Bong and girls named Bing, grinning hustlers, deafening cock farms, wheezing bangkas (pumpboats), crooked politicians, fuzzy caribao (water buffalo), graffiti-splashed jeepneys and – best of all – cheap beer to enjoy as you take it all in.

Transport connections are extensive, but in remote areas may require intestinal fortitude and an affinity for the Filipino maxim bahala na: go with the flow. Gregarious locals everywhere dispense smiles like they’re going out of style. Be sure not to leave before seeing one of the country’s spirited festivals and sampling the Filipino zeal for living la vida loca.

Currency
The unit of currency is the peso, divided into 100 centavos. Banknotes come in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 pesos. The most common coins are one, five and 10 pesos.

Cash
Emergency cash in US dollars is a good thing to have in case you get stuck in an area with no working ATM. Other currencies, such as the euro or UK pound, are more difficult to change outside of the bigger cities.

Credit Cards
Major credit cards are accepted by many hotels, restaurants and businesses. Outside of Manila, businesses tend to charge from 5% to 12% extra for credit card transactions. Most Philippine banks will let you take a cash advance on your card.

Exchanging Money
Moneychangers are much faster than the banks and give a better rate for cash, but can be dodgy, particularly in Manila. They prefer US dollars. Ask your hotel front desk to recommend a local moneychanger. In the provinces, hotels will often change money for you.

Travellers Cheques
We don’t recommend bringing travellers cheques as banks in the Philippines seem to have a vendetta against them. Without exception you will need your passport and the original receipts and you may find that banks and moneychangers will only change cheques between 9am and 10am, or only at limited branches.

The National Psyche

Probably the first thing you’ll notice about the people of the Philippines is their calm demean-our. Filipinos greet adversity with all the fuss that a caribao greets a fly on its back – they shrug their shoulders, smile and move on. This whatever-will-be-will-be attitude has a name: bahala na. It expresses the idea that all things shall pass and that in the meantime life is to be lived. Bahala na also helps explain one of the Filipinos’ more appealing traits: they tolerate just about everybody, regardless of nationality, skin colour or sexual orientation.

Another force that shapes the Filipino psyche is hiya, which means, roughly, ‘sense of shame’. Showing a lack of hiya in front of others is similar to ‘losing face’ and for the Filipino there are few worse fates. Expressing strong or negative emotions in public are sure ways to show you are walang-hiya – without shame. Most problems that travellers run into result from a lack of respect for the Filipino.

Offices and banks are closed on public holidays,although shops and department storesstay open. Maundy Thursday and Good Fridayare the only days when the entire countrycloses down – even most public transportstops running, and Asian Spirit even groundsits planes. The public holidays are:

Weather Information for Metro Manila

Ref: http://www.worldweather.org
Remark: Climatological information is based on monthly averages for the 30-year period 1961-1990.

The Philippines is hot and humid throughout the year, with brief respites possible in January and February. For most of the country, the dry season is roughly November to May. Rains start in June, peak in July through to September, and start tapering off in October. Typhoons are common from June to early December.

However, in parts of the country the seasons are flipped. Eastern Mindanao, southern Leyte, eastern Samar and parts of southeast Luzon are rainy from December to March and fairly dry when the rest of the country is sopping.

Getting there

Air
The three main points of entry are Manila, Cebu and Clark Special Economic Zone. In addition, domestic carrier Asian Spirit runs a thrice-weekly flight between Zamboanga (Mindanao) and Sandakan, Malaysia. Indonesian carrier Sriwijaya Airlines has two weekly flights from Manado, Indonesia, to Davao (Mindanao).

Manila
Unless you fly in with Philippine Airlines (PAL), which uses the tidy new Centennial Terminal II, you’ll have to fight your way through Terminal I of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Expect disorganisation, long queues at immigration and diabolical transport connections to the city.

Getting around
Air
The Philippines now has two budget domestic carriers – Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines (a subsidiary of PAL). Domestic flights on either of these airlines do not usually exceed P1800 one-way (including all surcharges) provided you book in advance.

Cebu Pacific and PAL have the most modern fleets and serve the most cities, although almost all flights originate in Manila or Cebu. PAL tends to be much pricier than Cebu Pacific, although it’s worth checking out its ‘promo’ fares. Air Philippines serves only a handful of cities from Cebu and Manila.