Michael Aquino

Asia kicked off its responsible traveller training program to help direct tourism towards beneficial ends—training young tourists in the basics of responsible travel, helping them handle sensitive issues like etiquette and minimizing waste. Responsible tourism and plastic waste: In their module on plastic waste, GROUND Asia shares a series of tips that focus on minimizing one’s impact on an already severely stressed environment. The responsible training modules follow from GROUND Asia’s comprehensive responsible training workshop for its staff in Mai Chau, Vietnam. GROUND Asia’s hope that such responsible traveller values learned at an early age will help young travelers and their companions learn the skills and perspectives to help them be responsible travellers for life.

The municipality of Oslob lies right on Cebu’s main highway, but the main whale shark snorkeling outfits can be found in the far-flung barangay (town) of Tan-Awan. At the time of our visit, the resort charged PHP 100 (about US$2.25) per person for a resort entrance fee; either PHP 300 (about US$6.75) for whale shark viewing from the boat or PHP 500 (about US$11.25) for snorkeling with the whale sharks; and PHP 550 (about US$12.30) for the optional use of the resort’s waterproof digital camera (inclusive of CD burning). Your First Glimpse of the Whale Sharks in Oslob As far as I saw, only paddle boats were allowed around the feeding grounds. Over a hundred individual whale sharks have been seen and recorded in the waters around Oslob, although about six to eight individual sharks usually show up on any given feeding morning.

The ten items I’ve listed here link to articles I’ve written elsewhere on different (and to my mind interesting) aspects of Philippines travel – feel free to click through, to learn what I’ve learned. If you can’t work your itinerary around Manila’s airport, I’ve also written a list of survival tips for passengers flying into the congested international gateway. I tell visitors asking about local food to look up Brian Ocampo, who curates a wide-ranging tour of Pampanga province north of Manila where Filipino food was born: a curious synthesis of Western and Eastern influences. Manila remains the epicenter of Filipino food travel, but the latter’s range extends far beyond the capital’s borders, to judge by the 15-hour food safari I experienced courtesy of Makansutra and their local partners.

Take it from my personal experience: Mark serves up helpings of history and Kapampangan food doled out in giant sizes throughout his tour, making a case for putting Pampanga at the core of Filipino culture. In terms of the selection of flavors, when I am comparing the cuisine of Ilocos and Pampanga, I just think that Pampanga has a broader menu. Taking the Pampanga Food Tour is the best way to know the history of the country, as shaped by the Kapampangan. Our history is quite Tagalog-centric, because everything happens in Manila – but on my tour, you’ll realize it wouldn’t happen in Manila if it weren’t for the Kapampangan!