For anyone planning a trip to the Philippines, here's a highly recommended book: Das Original Philippinen Reise-Handbuch, Jens Peters, Jens Peters Publikationen, email KnopVA@aol.com, tel. + 49 421 451743. It has VERY DETAILED information and maps on virtually all the islands you may want to visit including useful info on wildlife, accommodation, how to travel between the islands and so on. The only snag is it is in German. A real find!
LITERATURE SET IN THE PHILIPPINES: (in no particular order)
- 1) The Tesseract by Alex Garland
- 2) Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
- 3) Last Time I Saw Mother by Arlene Chai
- 4) Dusk by F. Sionil Jose
- 5) Don Vicente by F. Sionil Jose
- 6) Noli Mi Tangere by Jose Rizal
- 7) Ghosts of Manila by James Hamilton Patterson
SHOPPING
This April 2010 article from 'The Age' (Melbourne, Australia) gives a good summary of the bargains to be had in Manila for clothing and footwear.
Travel Pictorial - Country or Natural Wonder
Always browse any or all Travel Pictorial books about a country, region or a natural wonder of the world . You will find excellent photography to view at leisure. Check out any bookstore or library ( lending or reference ).
Travel Guide(s) - Country, Region or City
Always glance through any Travel Guide for the region you are planning to visit. You will always find some nuggat of useful information. The layout and content will always vary with the publisher. Every traveller should make it a priority to browse one or all of the guides listed below. It will be a great education to browse the layout and view the excellent photography. You decide which of the travel guide(s) you like the best.
- DK Eyewitness Travel Guide(s)
- Insight / Discovery Channel Travel Guide(s)
- Lonely Planet Guide(s)are the worst guides of all. Some of the information is way out of date even on current edition.
- AA Explorer, AA Key or AA Spiral Guide(s)
- Far better guides can be purchased at lower cost in the Philippines in either National Book Store, Fully Booked or Powerbooks.
- Note: You will find about thirteen other publishing companies' travel guides in Filipino bookstores.
Travel Books - Children or Junior
Browse the children's or junior section of your local library for travel and geography guides. You will find a variety of guides to countries, regions or natural wonders of the world. The majority of these guides will be less than fifty pages in length. They will contain an excellent overview of a country etc. They are an excellent introduction to travel for a novice traveller.
Travel DVD or Video Viewing
- These are a few ideas for finding Travel DVDs in your local area:
- Local Video Rental Store
- Local Library - Travel Video or DVD
- Any large music store will have a range of travel DVD's or Video's on sale.
- Travel Video Store has an excellent internet site.
- BBC Video series website section
- Pilot Travel Guide series
- National Geographic Travel DVD or Video Series
- Escorted Tour Companies DVD or Videos e.g. Rick Steves'
- National Tourist Bureaus MAY have a introduction Video or DVD on offer or Photo Gallery on their Internet site, such as www.philippinetourism.com.au