I was going to start by giving a brief history of the Philippines, but I decided against it. The best way to learn about the Philippines is to read the Wikipedia article on the Philippines. What I'm going to do is to relate some of my own history and thoughts about the Philippines. Please [...]

On September 24th, I took the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) to the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEx) en route to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila in order to drop my wife off for her flight on Philippine Airlines.
As you can see if you click to enlarge the image, it starts at the Tipo [...]

Unless you're a Filipino or have close ties to Filipinos, you probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about when I mention anything about a balikbayan box. The word "balikbayan" is actually a combination word coined in the 1970s. "Balik" means to go back and "bayan" means home town or home country. So [...]

My wife (Josie) missed her connection to her Philippine Airlines flight at LAX but because Philippine Airlines has excellent customer service, she was re-booked for the next flight with minimal problems.

There are some nice Philippines hotels and resorts in the Olongapo City and Subic Bay (adjacent to Olongapo City) areas and there are some that are not so nice. Other than the Philippines hotel and resort offerings at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, I can't tell you which are which. Based on my past [...]

For traveling between the US and the Philippines, nothing beats Philippine Airlines. I've used Philippine Airlines on all occasions except for when I was in the military and when flights weren't available. I'll provide some of my experiences after a brief history lesson.

In 2005, I made a conscious decision to move to the Philippines permanently. It wasn't until after I arrived in April of 2006 that I decided to make Olongapo City my home. Many factors led up to both decisions, some of which are too personal to write about. Here's a little history for you.

Two days ago, I survived yet another nerve-wracking trip to and from Metro Manila. Of all the places I've been here, I dislike Manila, Philippines the most.
I left here on Wednesday morning at approximately 6:30 am and arrived at the American Embassy at about 9 am. The stretch from Olongapo City to San Fernando [...]

HotelsByCity.net has custom written over 500 Travel Guides, including an International Hotel Guide. Both because I lived in Coolidge, Arizona during elementary school years and because my family later lived there (for 12 years), I've chosen to write a little about their Phoenix guide. It contains links and pages to other important places besides the [...]

Back in the 1970s, I spent nearly four years living on the island of Kauai. I can honestly tell you from personal experience that Kauai has some of the most breathtakingly beautiful spots in the world and it's one of the best places to vacation.
Vacation villas are replacing large, commercialized hotels as the new [...]