Essential items for visiting the Philippines,just for fun .

[5olidsnake]

don't forget to keep boarding passes from your flights safe in your money belt.
take loads of photos of you together,
don't wear any jewellery or expensive clothes, that just makes you a target. be 100% streetwise, try to blend in (impossible if your a 6 feet)
and a must that i learned NEVER pay a taxi driver whilst sitting in the car and leave your luggage in car then jump out (take bags out first then pay taxi driver) he drove off !!!
change big notes in shops (like minimart or shopping malls), so you have plenty of coins for jeepneys/buses.
exchange your sterling money in phils, you will find many moneychangers in areas like Ermita (you will get a better rate than england) but make sure you have some peso's to get you traveling from airport. take a few ATM cards (emergency money) not all mine where accepted in machines.

regards martin

[joebloggs]

don't forget to keep boarding passes from your flights safe in your money belt.
take loads of photos of you together,
don't wear any jewellery or expensive clothes, that just makes you a target. be 100% streetwise, try to blend in (impossible if your a 6 feet)
and a must that i learned NEVER pay a taxi driver whilst sitting in the car and leave your luggage in car then jump out (take bags out first then pay taxi driver) he drove off !!!
change big notes in shops (like minimart or shopping malls), so you have plenty of coins for jeepneys/buses.
exchange your sterling money in phils, you will find many moneychangers in areas like Ermita (you will get a better rate than england) but make sure you have some peso's to get you traveling from airport. take a few ATM cards (emergency money) not all mine where accepted in machines.

regards martin

yes when we go by taxi, i always get the wife to phone for it, and let her get in, and agree a price, then i'll go out a minute later and watch their face drop, as they know they missed out on some easy php, if they see a whitey its doubled or tripled !!!, yes and have lots of 100php notes, so the little monkeys can't pull the no change scam !

[andypaul]

yes when we go by taxi, i always get the wife to phone for it, and let her get in, and agree a price, then i'll go out a minute later and watch their face drop, as they know they missed out on some easy php, if they see a whitey its doubled or tripled !!!, yes and have lots of 100php notes, so the little monkeys can't pull the no change scam !

To true loads of change also really handy are 20 peso notes otherwise for small things even 100 pesos is to much for change which mounts up if it happens all day.

[singkit]

exchange your sterling money in phils, you will find many moneychangers in areas like Ermita (you will get a better rate than england)

Hi, Jeff. Exchanging money in Ermita is not always safe especially when you don't really know which exchange shop you're going to. The safe way I can suggest is to bring Traveler's cheque. This cheque has your name on it so nobody can cash it. If you lose it or stole from you, you can ring up AMERICAN EXPRESS to replace it. There's a code on the cheque for you to remember or write it down. Check exchange rate for UK pounds and US dollars as you may get more for your money with US dollars at the moment.So check the rate before you do anything and enjoy your holiday.