I'm off to the Philippines --yea

[FreakinDJ]

My wife is Filipino and her family is having a family reunion so me and her are traveling there for the next 3 weeks

I've traveled all over Asia and how I wish MORE Americans would get out and see what the world is all about.

Life in the Philippines, as beautiful as the place is and people are, absolutely speaks volumes of the hazards of corruption and crony capitalism. But even as corrupt as the Philippines can be THEY outlawed the use of ESS Voting Machines - truly a proud day in annals of the Philippine Supreme Court.

Sadly thou - the corruption is so extensive normal folks are expected to pay "Grease Money" - (Bribe) to government officials just to obtain documents we take for granted. ie: Birth Certificate, Driver's License, Marriage Certificate.

And never have I been so afraid of following down that rabbit hole as when Bush was in office

But looking on the bright side - I get 1 week of Reef Diving with my wife all to myself during this ordeal

[GP6971]

1. Enjoy!

Loved the Philippines the couple of times I was there.

[yeoman6987]

2. I've been. Lovely place and the people are wonderful.

Enjoy and look forward to hearing about it on your return.

[MADem]

3. What part? I knew the Cubi Pt/Subic scene, such as it was, back in the day,

and the Angeles City area a bit, and I did get a chance to visit with friends who lived out in the "real world" as well (given that those first two areas were not representative of the culture or society as a whole).

I got a real kick out of the colorful public transportation in that country!!! Never a dull moment when you're riding around in a work of art!

[FreakinDJ]

5. No I've never been to Angels City or Subic Bay

Neither has my wife

My wife has her Masters in Archetecture and I'm an I&C engineer

We met working

[MADem]

6. I never got to Manila, but I always wanted to go. It just never worked out.

Subic is now an enterprise zone, the port there is being put to good use. Angeles got hit pretty hard when Pinatubo exploded, not sure what's going on there now. It's been many years.

I also never got to some of the other islands. It's really a beautiful place. You might not want to come home....

[FreakinDJ]

7. I like Cebu better then Manila

Like comparing New York and San Francisco

[MADem]

8. Well, safe trip, take some nice pictures of the sights, and share a few here!

That way, we can "armchair travel" along with you!

[brooklynite]

14. I took my wife to Manila 95 to show her where I grew up...

...the pollution was terrible, and the traffic was 10 x worse than when I was there in the 70s.

[bigwillq]

4. Have fun!

[jberryhill]

9. The Omaha of the Pacific

If you like beef... Dang, what a place.

[Omaha Steve]

10. Be safe!

[pampango]

11. My wife is Filipino too. We met during my time in the Peace Corps there. You are right

about it being a beautiful (outside the big cities ) but the corruption, crony capitalism and overpopulation make life more difficult than it should be.

Last there for 6 weeks in late 2013. Enjoy your time and family.

[panader0]

12. When I visited Manila years ago (I was16)

we stayed at the Hotel Phillipinas--I was at the age where it was hilarious to me.
I enjoyed it a lot, the trip to Corregidor was interesting.

[FreakinDJ]

13. LAX smells just like Manila

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. have a great trip