N Shiva Guru

7continents1passport.com How to avoid a reverse gravy train when you’re traveling abroad If you’re guessing that there are more ways to lose than make money, you’d be right 11 out of 10 times. If you’re going ‘Whoa, whoa, hold it right there! Good vibes please, I’m planning a vacay to Asia, Jesus!’ you should know this is an intervention. Kidding! Okay, just a stunt to get your attention. Your mind is all over the Hollywood friendly, gin-clear waters of El Nido dreaming of running into a celebrity, you’re not alone. However, there are more pressing things like booking a good hotel within your budget, setting a roadmap for places you are going to visit and ensuring your money is safe while traveling. Paying for your hotel Guessing you’re going to be put up in Manila, here are a couple of options you can take a look at. While you most likely always pay through your card, some hotels, especially the ones with dorm rooms, let you pay at least half the amount when you get there. This is great if you are a student. If you are looking for a good accommodation without burning a serious hole in your pocket, Lub D - Philippines Macati is a good option. A good dorm room costs you 700 pesos (do the math, lazybum!) for 1 night and that is not much considering the fact that you’re staying in Manila. Other options include the West Makati Hotel which has been taken over by some bigger chain of hotels. Sim cards Unless you’re using a satellite phone from Jurassic Park (yes, that one buried in the feces of the Stegosaurus, yes!), you will know that you need sim cards when you land in Manila. Beware that the ones you get in the airport are definitely expensive but they help you grab a taxi and call your hotel. So, taking a trustworthy sim card like Smart with the lowest tariff before heading to the city and replacing it with a cheaper one when this runs out is a good option. Grab a taxi Overtaxing (pun intended) a foreign traveler is the oldest trick in the book. As a wise man once never said, Approach a new place with skepticism and you will live to tell the story. So, the best thing to do is try an app that’s like Uber for Philippines: Grab! This app has made the lives of many travelers easier and you would probably be one of them if you avail it. Fooooooodddddd!!! Landing around 11 in the am is the best because you can start out by exploring some local food options for brunch. To be safe, you could go with some boiled rice, some vegetable curry based on broccoli and tofu and some water. You always have the pizzeria around the corner if you feel like indulging. Exciting places to be… Besides El Nido, dubbed as ‘the last frontier of Philippines’, there’s Boracay beach known for kite-boarders and surfers, Panglao and Bantayan Island. There might be a time when you want to engage in an activity you thought was expensive (e.g. they closed Boracay, Alkan beach in 2018 thanks to environmental damage by a few overzealous tourists and if it opens when you’re there, might as well explore the surfing scene, eh mate?) In these times, you can always get someone from your friends and family to send money to the Philippines from the US, Canada or wherever it is you’re traveling from. How about inside Manila? Sightseeing in Manila is going to be a lot of shopping centres, boiled rice and veggies and the occasional drink. Yeah, you can go on a ride but that’s it. ‘But the culture!’ Alright, cool your jets, John Lennon, you can go on a bicycle ride at BGC, renting the bike by the hour. BGC, the folks call the area ‘Mini Singapore’. There are high end shopping centres here if you are into that. If you are a foodie, you can always compare the good you had for breakfast with the food you have at the mall and complain about the extra charge on yelp! or trip advisor. But, you got to hand it to these whistle blowers, there is a huge price difference: it is a difference between 340 pesos and 75 pesos. And it’s not even Singapore! Now, what rhymes with beep meep (of the road runner, which you have to agree is annoying as, okay, we draw the line there) and is equally irritating, though useful? Yes, jeepneys! Not to sound like King Julien from Madagascar but whatever happened to the separation of the classes? Yeah, BGC heard you and they don’t allow the Jeepneys in that area, at all. (But still, that is NO justification to the exorbitant costs!) Did you know it rains cats and dogs in Manila? And you were here thinking you’d get some refuge from the London weather. Guess, who’s laughing now? The children in the mall, of course! There’s a clown in the house! (Relax, it’s not you.) Anyway, what that line meant was, you can always trust the shopping centres to shelter you from the rains. Carrying Cash and Traveler’s Cheques Talking about saving for a rainy day, it is important to discuss about carrying cash and traveler cheques. Like any situation involving money, you cannot put all your eggs in one basket. While it is definitely convenient to carry cash around, you should know that traveler’s cheques help hedge the risk of carrying your wallet in crowded areas. Of course, these cheques should be in a locker in your hotel room or the safety pouch in your backpack. Keep it Simple, Simon Well, if you thought Simon was a weird way of pronouncing ‘Someone’, that would make, well, one of you! Don’t worry about that burn, you will find a lot of ice (no, not code for diamonds, Simon!) in Philippines. Summarizing, you got to plan ahead: carry both cash and travel cheques (for checks and balances’ sakes), and get money sent to you through a trusted money transfer service when you need it. Fin.