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Real Budget Backpacking Style in Philippines

If you happen to read 2 of my previous post, you might know that I am currently on a trip to somewhere around the world. So did you managed to guess where on earth am I right now? Well, I am currently in Manila, Philippines with 2 of my high school friends for almost a week. Once again, I travelled with different group of friends of mine and I experienced different kind of feelings and situation when travel with different group of people but afterall, this is the time where I learned to handle and make everything under control.

You might asking why my friends and I choose to travel around Philippines? Simple, because I am a travel junkie who always dream of wanderlust. That's my tagline by the way and if anywhere where I could possible land my foot on, definitely I love to go and try to explore them. Plus, my friends and I managed to book a return ticket fare via AirAsia for only RM45. Cheap, right? But do take note that the air fare doesn't included the airport departure tax.

Choosing to backpacking in Philippines like what my friends and I did right now is not a problem if you are a wise and experienced travellers. So, for those travel bloggers who used to backpack and DIY most of the trip by themself like John, Fatt, Lily Riani, Biqque, Byya, Chawana, Kemang and Shahrul, I guess there is not big deal for you guys to travel here. But if you never have the experience of backpacking before, I would strongly advise to sign up with travel agent before you reach Philippines. This is because Philippines is being ranked as one of the country with the most highest crime rate. So, don't take the risk if you don't have enough experience to plan a trip to Philippines.

My friends and I did so many activities during our 1 week trip at City of Manila and here are the things we did here:

Philippines 01
Went to Tagaytay City and ride on a ownmade small boat. But the most adventurous experience I had was my first time exprience riding on a horse and went all the way up to the hill to see the smallest and lowest volcanon, Taal Volcano. #Butthurt on the next day confused


Philippines 02
City Day Tour to all the most famous attractions around Manila.


Philippines 03
Talking about shopping, Philippines has countless of shopping malls. We even visited Mall of Asia, the third largest shopping mall in Asia and fourth largest shopping mall in the world.


Philippines 04
And because we have lots of spare time, we decided to have a day trip to Manila Ocean Park. Although it was not that interesting compare to most aquamarine park I visited before in other cities, but this one is way much better than Malaysia one, the Underworld in Langkawi. I think Malaysia must seriously go and learn from them.

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Philippines 05

Somehow, we did hired a local tour guide for 2 days because there are few places that is not easily accessible and also in order to avoid all the hassle and time constraint. Thanks to my cousin for recommend Abel Dava to us. He is indeed a very good tour guide and I really recommend him to you if you plan your trip to Philippines in future. Do email me if you need his tour services.

And not forgetting, I would like to say million of thanks to Lady Mariah for all the help, tips and guide that you gave me for my plan to Philippines.

After reading this travel post of mine, are you interested to visit Philippines now? I do enjoy my trip here by the way. That's recap my 3rd trip for the year of 2012. Till then, do keep visit my travel & living blog for more.
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26 comments:

  1. diana !! envy you, serius ! sy nak masukkan philippines dlm list tahun ni tapi xde cuti,, next year pulak.. aiyo, lately suka baca pasal philippines, serius ! anyway, glad you selamat kat sana :)

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  2. Philippines! I want to go!!! The world famous cosplayer is from Philippines - Alodia. My dad been there few times so one day must go tag with him.XD

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  3. i did enjoy manila especially the tagaytay trip too. and yes, horse riding to the crater was literally pain in the ass but worth it. im thinking of going back there but this time, for Boracay!

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    1. btw, i see that ur boat to the crater is somehow nicer with roof and all. was it windy when u guys went there? cos it was when it was our time. and i had the hell of a time trying to hold on tight to the handle, water splashing on us. still, i enjoyed it. kinda sparked the adrenalin rush in me! LOL!

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  4. i know you dont read my blog but i do read yours.. hehe.. just to drop my footprint here

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  5. hohoho! i wanna go bagpack too! =DDD

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  6. yup...way to go girl! Travel and enjoy while you are still young :). How long more will u be there?

    > kathy

    http://www.smallkucing.com
    http://mamakucingbooks.blogspot.com

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  7. The panoramic view from the lake (or is that a crater?) must've been fantastic. I hope you have a super-wide angle shots of that.

    Great captures!

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  8. Diana i want detail about philiphine.. high crime rate? OMG scary nye...
    i will travel to Boracay in October but none from my friend buy it, seem like i will travel alone kot~
    what are the common area that travel use to stay in manila?

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  9. Very nice pictures, I wasn't expecting such a historical gate in Manila.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  10. the last country in asia that i would go due to the crime rate...and YOU'VE MADE IT! ok...can be reconsider :D

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  11. I have to agree with you that Manila is not safe to travel to, especially when you are a solo backpacker. But I survived the ordeal when I backpacked in Manila last year. Hopping on and off the jeepney is quit an experience right? I had locals telling me never to flash my gadgets otherwise I'd be an easy victim. I was lucky to have a local who willingly took me under her care during my stay in Philippines.

    I'll be going back to the Philippines soon. :D

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  12. always want to go around, but never thought of SEA area.. first up, should be Thailand.. then see how I can proceed to the other countries :)

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  14. Gosh, u're so adventurous! Even tho' I'm an avid traveller, I've not tried backpacking & Manila is certainly one of those places I wouldn't dare to try. Maybe I've heard & know too much about the danger there, that's why it's never in my travel list. I used to travel there but not by choice. U're too daring, dear! Just take good care & be safe, u'll never know....

    Hey sweetie, u may like to get some haircare tips from my latest Get Shiny Hair With NEW Vidal Sassoon Premium Colour Care Ritual! See u there!

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  15. now that I know Manila also has Ocean Park! :) wish to see what's inside

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  16. Wow, lovely place to explore and you did backpacking? Great but I am not sure I will do that.

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  17. Love it! Even their cemetery oso nicer than ours hahaha

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  18. the caldera lake looks cool..if the weather is fine..it would be even better :D
    btw..my Sweden trip is well u can say more to holiday perhaps? I followed a group of students from Yokohama City University..I am the exchange student there :D...to learn something new from field trip etc...more to come from Sweden (stockholm and malmo)

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  19. next time I know who to find if I wanna have a back pack trip :D

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  20. Next time when you travel again in my country, do visit Palawan,Bohol,Boracay. Quite too far from Manila. still need to ride a plane..

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  21. "This is because Philippines is being ranked as one of the country with the most highest crime rate."

    And where did you get this data? Source please? That is just complete exaggeration.

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  22. Hi, stumbled into your blog and I love your posts about the Philippines. Glad you enjoyed your stay. :)

    I'd just like to chime in on an issue already raised in a comment above:
    "This is because Philippines is being ranked as one of the country with the most highest crime rate."

    I'd really like to know what's your basis for saying this? Of course, criminality is indeed a problem in Metro Manila, but I honestly think it shouldn't be any worse than any other third world city. I do know, however, that the Philippines does suffer from very bad press, so that might be the source of your perception... :)

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