The Amazing Highlands Escapade is a 3-Day, 2-Night tour ( Can be customized to 4D3N) by Travel North Philippines.
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Travel North Philippines offers tours around Northern Philippines - Ilocos, Sagada, Pangasinan, La Union, Zambales
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Metro Manila is home to many bars, watering holes, and karaoke sites. Popular places include Makati (particularly the Glorietta and Greenbelt areas), Ortigas Metrowalk, and Eastwood in Libis. Other big cities such as Cebu City and Davao also have areas where the nightlife is centered. Establishments serve the usual hard and soft drinks typical of bars elsewhere. Note that Filipinos rarely consume alcohol by itself. They would normally have what is called as "pulutan" or bar chow alongside their drinks which is like the equivalent of tapas. At the least, this would consist of mixed nuts but selections of grilled meats and seafood are not uncommon food alongside the customary drinks. When having a party, Filipinos enjoy drinking round-robin style using a common glass. One is supposed to drink bottoms-up before passing the glass to the next person. This custom is known as "tagayan" and one person usually volunteers to pour the drink.
Beer is perhaps the most common form of alcohol consumed in bars. San Miguel Beer is the dominant local brand with several variants such as Light, Dry, Strong Ice and their flagship variant Pale Pilsen. Budweiser, Heineken and Corona can also be found in upscale bars. Rhum and "ginebra" which is the local form of gin are commonly available forms of hard liquor. Indigenous forms of liquor are lambanog and tuba which are both derived from coconut sap. Tuba is fermented from the coconut sap and though tuba itself can be drunk, it is also distilled to take the form of lambanog. Lambanog is now being marketed widely both locally and internationally in its base form as well as in several flavored variants such as mango, bubble gum and blueberry.
Of course non-alcoholic drinks are also widely available in bars and other establishments. Don't miss:
Drink the readily available bottled water. Buko (young coconut) juice is also safe if they have not added local ice to it. Be wary also of Buko juice vendors, some usually just add sugar to water. Buy and eat fruit that has not already been cut up. Cooked food from a karenderia (outdoor canteen) is okay if there is a fire under the pots and the food has been kept hot.
Bottled water is best purchased from within stores and sheltered eateries. Bottled waters sold outside (by the roads) are more than likely used bottles filled with tap water, sealed then cooled.
GSM mobile phones are in wide use all over the country, however, iDEN network is also somewhat present (service is provided by Next Mobile, a subsidiary of Nextel). 3G technology is also available through Globe and Smart. In most urban locations and many resorts, cell phone service will be available. The usual cost of an international long-distance call to the United States, Europe and other major countries is 40 US cents per minute (approximately 20 pesos), or 30 US cents for Sun Cellular, but at the expense of the worse network coverage. All three operators, however, often have promotions with discounted call rates to selected countries, so it's wise to check it via operators' websites, or (easier) just by telling the dealer to what countries are you going to call, before choosing a SIM. National calls range from 6.50 to 7.50 pesos (approximately 13 to 16 US cents) per minute. Text messages may cost as low as 50 centavos (a little over 1 US cent) and the Philippines is usually tagged as the "texting capital of the world". On many plans, you also get some (significant) number of free SMS each time you reload your SIM. This does not apply to international SMS, and the usual cost for them is 15 peso for Globe / Smart and 10 peso for Sun Cellular (again, sometimes there are promotions for selected countries with rates as low as 1 peso).
Internet access areas of broadband speeds are plentiful in city malls, much less so outside the cities, but are growing at a rapid pace. Some of these shops offer an alternative to the traditional overseas phone calls by use of their VOIP networks. Internet surfing rates depend primarily on where you surf and the medium used (e.g. WiFi or wired). Internet services offered by hotels and shopping malls are expensive and can go up to P200/hour (approximately US$5) but neighbourhood cafes can be as cheap as P15/hour (approximately US$0.35). WiFi service in the Philippines is provided by Airborneaccess.net and WiZ is likely to cost P100 (approximately US$2) for up to an hour. Coffee shops like Starbucks and Seattle's Best as well as malls usually carry WiFi service. Certain areas may carry free WiFi. GPRS/3G from Globe or Smart is also a viable alternative, especially in remote locations, with the usual rate about P10/30 minutes. Consider keeping up with the latest trends with expat yahoo and web groups such as Philippines Living.
