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Friday 28 August 2015

Top New Malls On the Rise All Over Manila Philippines

SM Mall of Asia

SM Mall of Asia is a shopping mall in Bay City, Pasay, Philippines, near the SM Central Business Park, the Manila Bay, and the southern end of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue(EDSA).
Owned and developed by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall chain owner and developer in the Philippines, it has a land area of 42 hectares, a gross floor area of approximately 406,962 square metres (4.38050×106 sq ft), and attracts a daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people.
It is the 10th largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross leasable area. When it opened in 2006 it was the largest shopping mall in the Philippines until SM City North EDSA was redeveloped in 2008, and was relegated to third place by the expansion of SM Megamall in 2011.

One of the largest malls in the Philippines (407,000 sq.M.). It is located at the coastal areas of manila & has also many outstanding features.

Special features:

-Has an indoor science park with planetarium 

The mall is the centerpiece project of SM Prime at the SM Central Business Park, where five one-story buildings serve as the company's corporate offices (the sixth building being occupied by TeleTech Holdings, Inc. as their flagship site in the country).
The SM Mall of Asia's design team includes Arquitectonica, design architect; GHT Services, project manager, and Hilmarc's Construction Corp. (for the south parking building, main mall, and entertainment mall) and Monolith Construction Development Corp. (for the north parking building), general contractors.
The mall would have opened before Christmas Day of 2005 but had been delayed due to hitches in the delivery of construction materials. Frequent rains in the last quarter of 2005 also delayed the turnover of mall space to tenants. SM Prime decided to move the opening date to March 3, 2006.
On February 27, 2006, local newspaper Manila Standard Today, reported that a team of Pasay City engineers found huge cracks underneath the structure, which was causing the structure to vibrate.[7] When questioned about the inspection, the Pasay City Engineering Department denied making any statement regarding defects in the Mall of Asia. Engineer Edwin Javaluyas, Pasay City engineering officer, in his letter to SM Prime Holdings Inc., said he never stated that the city hall's engineering department inspected the Mall of Asia on February 23, 2006.
SM Prime however decided to move the opening to May 21 of that year. Jeffrey Lim, corporate information officer of SM Prime Holdings, emphasized that a rescheduling of the mall's opening was made to give the company an opportunity to allow more tenants to open shops and denied that the change was due to structural defects.
The mall was officially inaugurated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with a special screening of Everest in the San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theater. The movie was shown three days after Philippine tri-athlete Leo Oracion reached the treacherous mountain's summit.

Mall of Asia consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways; the main mall, the entertainment mall, and the north and south carpark buildings.


Aerial view of SM Mall of Asia
The main mall includes shopping and dining establishments and the food court. The entertainment mall is a two-story complex, most of which is open-air, and faces Manila Bay. Both have concierge desks.
The mall's 5,000 parking spaces are divided across two, six-story parking buildings conveniently designated the north and south parking buildings. The south parking building houses the mall's official SM Department Store, while the mall's supermarket, the SM Hypermarket is located at the north parking building.
Since opening in 2006, visitors to the mall have been welcomed by large steel framed globe on a roundabout at the southern tip of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. In 2009, the globe was turned into Globamaze, an LED display.[



Mall of Asia at night
The mall includes branches of all of the standard anchor stores found in most of the SM Supermalls. The first-ever branch of Taste Asia, one of the SM Supermalls' food court brands, is located right outside the mall's supermarket, the sprawling SM Hypermarket.
One of the mall's main attractions is the first ever IMAX theater in the country, along with a Director's Club Theater for intimate screenings (30 La-Z-Boy seats), a Premiere Cinema, and the CenterStage Cinema which can used for live musical concerts and theatrical performances. The San Miguel-Coca-Cola IMAX Theatre is one of the world's biggest IMAX screens in 3D including 2D screenings.
In addition to the mall's special theaters, it also has six regular two-tiered movie theaters similar to the ones found in almost every SM Supermall.
The mall features the Philippines's first Olympic-sized ice skating rink. At 61 by 30 meters, the rink is described as the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey. Along with plain access and skate rentals, the rink's operators also offer training programs in both figure skating and ice hockey. Several ice skating competitions have been held at the mall's ice skating rink, the most prestigious yet having been Skate Asia 2007. It was also the first time that the Philippines had hosted any international ice skating event.
The mall's open-air music hall directly facing the sea has also held several events, contests and concerts.
The mall also provides office space. Dell International Services, a subsidiary of Dell, Inc. once occupied a 13,470.5-square meter area at the second floor of the north parking building of the mall. At present, Teleperformance has taken over that space.

OneE-com Center (known as SM Corporate Center) provides for the office and workspace requirements of prospective IT-related locator companies and to support office and backroom operations of business process outsourcing. The first building, OneE-comCenter, began March 8, 2006. The building was completed in the first week of October 2007. Its first occupant, Fitness First opened its doors on October 12, 2007. Office started to fill on January 2008.
The 105,857 square meter, 10 storey OneE-comCenter was designed by international firm Arquitectonica and Architect Felix Lim. The building itself will have a total of 71,934 square meters available for lease. Seven floors will be allotted for office space, and the ground floor for commercial use. The average floor plate will be 9,000 square meters. There will be two and a half levels for parking with 600 slots.
The building is connected by a second level pedestrian bridgeway to the mall's north parking building



The TwoE-comCenter

The Two E-com Center is the second phase of the four BPO towers in the Mall of Asia complex. It has a gross floor area of 107,862 square meters and consists of two (2) Towers – Fifteen (15) storey office building with retail areas at Ground and 4th Floor Level. The parking areas are located at the 2nd and 3rd floor level. The TwoE-com Center is designed by the world-renowned firm Arquitectonica.
An esplanade was constructed at the back of the mall where it served as the observation center for the First World Pyro Olympics in December 2005. The second World Pyro Olympics were held at the SM Mall of Asia's boardwalk area in early January, 2007.[
The Esplanade was also the venue for Lovapalooza 2, wherein more than 5,300 couples kissed for 10 seconds on February 10, 2007, breaking Hungary's 4,445 in the Guinness World Records. Also, an events venue named One Esplanade was constructed here. One Esplanade is usually used for product launches, parties, and other events.

The Mall of Asia Eye is a 55-metre (180 ft) tall Ferris wheel which opened to the public at the SM Mall of Asia complex on December 18, 2011. It has 36 air-conditioned gondolas, each able to carry up to six persons, giving a maximum capacity of 216 passengers.


The Mall of Asia Arena is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex which has a seating capacity of 16,000 and a full house capacity of 20,000. The arena is the alternative venue of the Philippine Basketball Association and the main venue of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

On October 13, 2007, the P313-million SM Science Discovery Center, the first of its kind in the world, was opened. SM Prime Holdings has partnered with US-based Leisure Entertainment Company (LEC) Worldwide for the SDC, it features a digital planetarium and a wide range of technology and science-themed exhibits.
In 2009, it was renamed into Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center after being bought by Nestlé Philippines.
In 2014 Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center Has Rebranded To The EXPLOREUM Managed By SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc, Which features 118 new interactive exhibits and over 100 non-interactive exhibits in eight major interactive galleries namely the Natural World, Human Adventure, Zoom, Connect, Cyberville, Space Camp, the Living Earth, and Science Park.


SMX Convention Center
The SMX Convention Center (formerly Maitrade Expo and Convention Center) (Project Name: MAITrade) is the Philippines' largest privately run exhibition and convention center. The 46,647-square meter building will have three floors and basement parking with a total leasable area of 19,800 square meters featuring large exhibition areas and function rooms. The convention center can fit approximately 6,000 people.
The groundbreaking was held on March 23, 2006. The P900 million project, was completed and inaugurated on November 5, 2007. It is used as an alternate with the nearby state-run Philippine International Convention Center and World Trade Center Metro Manila located in the CCP Complex.
The 46,647-square meter building is composed of three floors and a basement parking with a total leasable area of 19,800 square meters. The Architect, Arch. Jose Siao Ling, designed the structure maximizing the use of space, giving exhibitors flexibility and options in terms of their specific area requirements. The exhibition area at the ground level will have a floor area of 9,000-square meters, which can be divided into four halls. Commercial shops will be located along the perimeter. A bridgeway on the second level will connect SMX Convention Center to the mall's south parking building. The third level will have a total floor area of 8,730 square meters, which can be divided into six halls for functions and conventions, along with nine meeting rooms.

A new 2-level expansion will be built at the top of the main mall to be built next year and set to finish by 2017. The new expansion will feature an iconic rooftop football field at the mall's 4th level and all-new shops and restaurants at the mall's third level. The new expansion will be accompanied by major changes on the mall layout and tenant mix. For instance, the ice skating rink will be moved on the topmost floor of the mall. In light of the preparations for the new expansion, a new parking floor in the parking building is constructed together with the newly opened steel parking near the IMAX Theater. The new expansion will relegate SM Mall Of Asia to be the biggest mall in the Philippines, surpassing SM Megamall's 490,000 square meter floor area. It will add an estimated Gross Floor Area of 140,000 square meters, adding it to the existing 390,000 square meters floor area which will be equated to 530,000 square meters


Tri - Noma

TriNoma (Triangle North of Manila) previously named North Triangle Commercial Center (NTCC) is a large shopping mall in Quezon CityPhilippines, owned by property development firm Ayala Land. Opened in 2007, the mall is located on the side of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, east of the North Avenue MRT Station in Quezon City, giving significant market competition to the nearby SM City North EDSA as one of the largest malls in Metro Manila. It is also one of two malls that will be serving Ayala Land's Vertis North township, which is located beside the mall, along with a new lifestyle block mall (similar to Makati's Greenbelt, which was also developed by Ayala Malls) that has been planned within the currently 
in-progress township.

TriNoma is located at the corner of EDSA and North Avenue in Quezon City. Strategically located in "North Triangle", the mall is bound by three major thoroughfares, namely, North Avenue, EDSA and Mindanao Avenue Extension. Located on a 20-hectare parcel of land, TriNoma has a gross leasable area of 195,000 square meters, which includes the mall's major anchor, The Landmark Supermarket and Department Store.
It is directly connected to the North Avenue MRT Station as the mall itself sits atop the MRT-3 Depot. It will be almost connected to the Line 1's proposed North Avenue LRT Station. A pedestrian overpass has also been constructed to connect with SM City North EDSA.

The site of TriNoma used to be the location of "People's Park", a flea market built by former Mayor Brigido R. Simon, Jr. as a livelihood project for the City's nearby informal settlers (the actual market's size, though, only covered what is now TriNoma's public transportation terminal and outdoor pay parking). It was closed in 1995 by then Mayor Ismael A. Mathay, Jr. to give way for the construction of the MRT-3 depot to service commuters along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).
The MRT-3 consortium composed of Fil-Estate Holdings and Ayala Land decided to make the depot underground rather than a regular depot similar to LRT-1 due to its commercial viability as a shopping mall. When the MRT-3began operations on December 1999, the construction of the mall was not immediately undertaken due to lack of funding. The North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation was incorporated in 2001 with Fil-Estate spearheading the development and Ayala Land as minority stockholder.
From December 1999 to December 2004, the depot was idle space until an agreement was signed between Ayala Land and the Fil-Estate Group with the former buying the latter's 30.89% stake in the North Triangle Depot Commercial Corporation for P600.1 million, and in exchange a land situated along Ayala Avenue,
 Makati and other shares.
Ayala Land started constructing the mall on June 2005 under the project name "North Triangle Mall"  but was later changed to "TriNoma" inspired by the redevelopment of industrial
 district TriBeCa.
TriNoma was officially launched in a private ceremony on April 25, 2007. It was inaugurated by officials of Ayala Land, its developer, and authorities of Quezon City, led by Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.. Members of the media were also present.
The soft opening was originally slated for May 3, 2007, but was delayed by structural elements that were yet to be finished. It finally opened to the public on May 16, 2007. The 3.5 billion peso mall was officially launched on October 16, 2007 by the former president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former vice president, 
Noli de Castro (currently an ABS-CBN broadcaster and 
TV Patrol anchor).
The mall was the first building constructed in the 62.3 hectare Triangle Exchange district of Triangle Park and of Ayala Land's Vertis North project. Vertis North is within the 250.6-hectare Quezon City Central Business District (also known as Triangle Park) to redevelop the areas of North Triangle (North Avenue, EDSA, Quezon Avenue), East Triangle (East Avenue, EDSA, Quezon Avenue) and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) property (North Avenue)

The mall is composed of four major levels with two minor ones on ground and on grade. The mall is characterized by alfresco areas punctuated with water features and landscaping. These water features flow into pools at the TriNoma Park, an oasis that sits atop the mall.
The TriNoma Park is a two-level park spanning a total of one hectare. It is home to an array of restaurants offering varied cuisines. The Park also houses a stage, surrounded by pools of water, for performances and shows. The TriNoma Park is linked to the mall's 3rd level.
The mall has two parking buildings, North Ave Parking Building and Mindanao Parking Building. Parking is also available in open areas.


Top Places In the Philippnes That your Surely Enjoy

eastwood city


Located at the southeastern corner of Quezon City, Bagumbayan is one of the newly developed commercial areas in Quezon City. The Eastwood City Business Center is situated here. It consists of several office and residential skyscrapers, including many local IT and consumer electronic firms. Numerous bars and restaurants have been put up since 2000 along E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue (C-5). Many of which are open-air restaurants and coffee shops reminiscent of Paris boulevards, but with a modern architecture. With this, Libis is fast becoming one of the hippest areas for night entertainment, similar to the Malate and Ermita districts of Manila
Eastwood City is an area full of somewhat upscale restaurants and bars located in Libis in Quezon City, about a 20 minute taxi ride from Makati in good traffic. Main route to get there is EDSA Ave although when traffic gets extremely bad in the late afternoons/early evenings, your cabbie may make a right turn on almost any street along the way and take the back roads. Don't think he's taking you for a whirlwind ride... most cabbies (although they're used to it) don't like sitting in traffic also. 



Once you're in Eastwood City, it's very tempting to sample the various posh and elegant eating spots and bars. Environment is very westernized, upscale and upbeat. Almost everywhere you walk, you will hear music blasting from a bar somewhere. There is also a center stage in the middle of the rotunda where various bands perform for the weekend crowd. You can walk all of Eastwood City under a half an hour... and there's even a newly built indoor mini mall located right at the very end. But before you get there, lined up outside are stalls selling anything from jewelry to shoes. It's not a market, mind you... the stalls are akin to those you find in most indoor malls.

Depending on your taste for food, your night can get quite expensive, especially if you drink it up with your buddies. 

It's worth the trip up there, especially if you want to take a stroll with your loved one amidst the hoopla around you. Dress up... everyone else is.




The Heart of Manila 


If you like big cities you’ll love MANILA: it’s a high-speed, frenetic place, where you can eat, drink and shop 24 hours a day and where the Filipino heritage of native, Spanish, Chinese and American cultures are at their most mixed up. Like many capital cities, Manila bears little resemblance to the rest of the country – something to remember if this is your first taste of the Philippines. With 12 million residents, much of it is chronically overcrowded, polluted and suffers from appalling traffic jams, yet in between the chaos lie tranquil gate-guarded “subdivisions” that resemble affluent parts of the US. There’s extreme poverty here, with young children cleaning car windows, dancing or just begging for food at every interchange; while in enormous shopping malls thousands of wealthy, middle-class Manileños are as fashionable and hooked up with iPhones as any of their contemporaries in London or New York. And while the older parts of the city remain shabby and run-down, sparkling districts like Makati, Ortigas and Fort Bonifacio are smart and skyscraper-smothered, like any other booming Asian metropolis.
Technically sixteen cities and one municipality make up what is officially known as Metro Manila covering a vast 636 square kilometres. However, you can explore the key sights in and around Intramuros, the city’s only notable historical enclave, Manila Bay and Makati in a few days. Manila also prides itself on the quality of its restaurant scene, nightlife and the ability of its residents to whip up a good time. For many tourists, this will be their enduring memory of the place: fabulous food, funky bars and nightclubs in areas such as Malate and Makati. And don’t forget, Manila is still a great place to pick up bargains, from the latest goods cranked out by Chinese factories to intricate 
native handicrafts.
Brief history
Manila started life as a tiny Tagalog settlement called Maynila; after coming under the sway of the Sultanate of Brunei in the fifteenth century the area was converted to Islam. The village fell under Spanish rule in 1571 when Miguel López de Legazpi defeated the local ruler Rajah Sulaiman II and established the colony of Manila. Spanish Augustinian and Franciscan missionaries subsequently established themselves in villages around the city. The Jesuits arrived in 1581 and set up more missions, forming outlying centres of population – embryonic settlements that became the sixteen cities of today. Manila’s central location on the biggest island, Luzon, made it the obvious choice as the colonial capital, and it became the hub from which the Spaniards effected the political, cultural and religious transformation of Philippine society. From 1571 until 1815, while the rest of the country remained economically stagnant, Manila prospered from the galleon trade.
At 7pm on June 3, 1863, a catastrophic earthquake struck and large areas of the city crumbled, burying hundreds in the ruins. The new Manila that grew in its stead was thoroughly modern, with streetcars, steam trains and American-style public architecture, a trend that continued under American rule in the early 
twentieth century.


Manila suffered again during World War II. The Japanese Imperial Army occupied Manila from 1942 until it was liberated by the US at the Battle of Manila in 1945. The battle lasted 29 days and claimed 1000 American lives, 16,000 Japanese soldiers and some 100,000 Filipinos, many of them civilians killed deliberately by the Japanese or accidentally by crossfire. Once again, Manila was a city in ruins, having undergone relentless shelling from American howitzers and been set alight by retreating Japanese troops. Rebuilding was slow and plagued by corruption and government inertia.
In 1976, realizing that Manila was growing too rapidly for government to be contained in the old Manila area, President Marcos decreed that while the area around Intramuros would remain the capital city, the permanent seat of the national government would be Metro Manila – including new areas such as Makati and Quezon City. It was tacit recognition of the city’s expansion and the problems it was bringing. Imelda Marcos, meanwhile, had been declared governor of Metro Manila in 1975 and was busy exercising her “edifice complex”, building a golden-domed mosque in Quiapo, the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Manila Bay and a number of five-star hotels. Her spending spree was finally ended by the EDSA revolution in 1986.
In the 1990s popular police officer Alfredo Lim won two terms as Manila mayor – his crime-fighting efforts certainly improved security in the city and he was elected a third time in 2007. He immediately and controversially set about undoing much of the work of his predecessor Lito Atienza (mayor 1998–2007), who had spent millions on city beautification projects. Though congestion and pollution remain huge and apparently intractable problems, Lim has presided over a booming economy, managed to remove squatters in Quiapo and has cleaned up the Baywalk area along Roxas Boulevard. Manileños rewarded him with a fourth term as mayor in May 2010, just months before the Manila bus hostage crisis, when a dismissed police officer hijacked a bus of Hong Kong tourists, eventually killing eight of them; the mayor’s handling of the tragedy was highly criticized in the subsequent enquiry.





Philippines Top Tourist Destinations for 2015

Banaue of Painterly Dreams

Because of its high altitude, Banaue is often described as "where land merges with the clouds to meet the heavens" with the rice terraces as "the stairway to the sky."

Banaue is a place for nature adventures and cultural immersion. Days are for indulging in such activities as strolling, biking, and trekking. Evenings are for campfire chats at a village or warm indoor cosseting at the lodges and inns.

A leading tourism destination in Asia, the Banaue rice terraces start from the base of the Cordilleras and reach up to several thousand feet high. Its length, if stretched from end to end, could encircle half of the globe. 

The rice paddies are fed by mountain springs and streams that are channeled into an irrigation canal that runs downhill through the terraces. 

In the village of Batad, the terraces take the shape of an amphitheater and can be reached by a 12-kilometer ride from Banaue Hotel and a 2-hour hike through mountain trails.

After trekking through the terraces, cool retreats indeed are the spring-fed stream of Guihob and the magnificent Tappiya Waterfalls which has an enormous basin for swimming.

Shopping takes a different twist in Banaue. While souvenir items are offered by curio stores, the more exciting way to shop, however, is to go on a village visit, watch a family demonstrate their native craft and then haggle for a better price on their product.



Awesome Hills
Chocolate Hills is a series of 1,268 perfectly symmetrical, haycock-shaped hills that rise some 30 meters above the ground. A National Geologic Monument, these unique, rock formations were cast after million years of evolution.

Spread out in the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan, the hills are so-called because they resemble chocolate bonbons when their grass cover turns to brown at the onset of summer. Two of the hills have been developed and provided with facilities, including a viewdeck, a youth hostel and a restaurant.

Other hills with a commanding view of the surrounding islands include Banat-I and Elly in the capital city of Tagbilaran, Himontagon in the town of Loay, Sampoangan in Calape and 
Ilihan in Jagna.



Barefoot in the Beach
The code in Boracay is strictly informal.

There is an undeniable easy atmosphere in Boracay where walking barefoot than shod is the rule rather than the exception. White Beach is so, soooo fine, it feels like treading on miles of baby powder! No wonder, even swinging discos have the beach for a floor, giving dance a new twist.

There are no hang-ups either in this island. At daytime, tourists having a soothing massage under the shade of a coconut tree beside the shoreline is a common sight. And from dusk to dawn, Boracay turns into one big party place where everyone is welcome to join in…But first, let's toast that sunset cocktail!

Diversions are certainly no problem in this tropical eden with leisure activities calendared throughout the year and amenities offered by some 350 tourist establishments.


The Isle of Your Tropical Dreams

Cebu is the traveler's fantasy of a tropical island come true - balmy weather, pristine beaches, crystalline waters, and luxurious resorts with all the frills of modern living.

The island-province of Cebu was where the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan planted the Cross of Christianity in the name of Spain in 1521. But even before Cebu became the Occidental gateway to the Orient, it was already a popular entry point among Asian merchants.

Cebu has since blossomed into a choice tourist destination, with many leisure establishments taking full advantage of its sea-valley-and-mountain location. 

Metropolitan Cebu, the country's second biggest metropolis, is the political, economic, educational and cultural center of the Visayas. Hotels, shopping malls, entertainment halls, casinos and golf fairways are ever present in the metro to cater to every tourist's whim.


The rest of Cebu's 166 islands and islets are fringed with sandy beaches and sapphire-clear waters teeming with marine life, perfect for divers.

Land of Plenty

"Kadayawan sa Dabaw" is Davao City's premier festival and showcases the natural and cultural bounty of the land.

A movable feast in August, the week-long merrymaking highlights the manifold tribal cultures of the region which are vividly expressed in traditional songs, dances, games and crafts. It is also on this occasion when a lively trade fair, capped by a flower-and-fruit float parade, takes place. Street dancing and popular entertainment complete the celebration. 

Agriculture-based industries thrive in the Davao region. A major exporter of bananas, citrus, mangosteen and other tropical fruits, it is also the biggest producer of cultured flowers in the country. Its surrounding waters are rich sources for commercial fishing.

The world's largest city in terms of land area, Davao covers all of 244,000 hectares.


Manila

The capital of the Philippines - its heart and soul -- is Manila. It sets the rhythm of life in this archipelago and is a pulsating hub that blends the Oriental with the Occidental, the quaint with the modern, the mundane with the extraordinary.

Manila was born out of the ashes of a once flourishing Malay settlement by the banks of the Pasig River. In 1571, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established the Ever Loyal City of Manila which, until 1898, was the seat of Spanish colonial rule in Asia. He built the city within walls and called it Intramuros.

An anchor tourist destination, Manila is the very core of the 7,000 times more islands that make up the Philippines. It is a center for the performing arts in Asia.

The Last Frontier

Unique to Palawan is its megadiversity.

For a long time, Palawan's bountiful resources, abundant wildlife and extraordinary natural beauty are known only to the many ethnic communities that thrive in these islands and a few other daring settlers who wanted to live in unpolluted surroundings.

The island-province first attracted foreign attention in the 1970's when it became a United Nations Vietnamese Refugee Center. At this time, a disturbance in Kenya also saw the transport of endangered animals from its savannas to the plains of Calauit Island.


However, it was only a sea accident in 1979 that eventually led to the opening of Palawan into tourism big time. 

As the story goes, a tuna line disabled a dive boat's propeller in the middle of the night forcing it to drop anchor in an inlet. The following morning, the divers woke up to an amazing scenery of skyscraping dark cliffs, thick green forest, white-sand beach, sparkling water and, rising above it, a series of magnificently sculpted jade islands. And thus was how El Nido was discovered.

Ecology awareness is at a high level throughout the province. Puerto Princesa prides itself as the cleanest city in the Philippines. To protect its megadiversity, only eco-friendly programs are adhered to by tourist establishments. And there are strict ordinances against dynamite fishing, with only net and line fishing allowed.

Palawan may have opened itself to tourism but it has also taken serious efforts to preserve this last frontier.


Old World City

Vigan, with its centuries-old edifices, is a breathing reminder of what was once a royal city.

One of the earliest Spanish settlements in the country, Vigan was founded in 1572 by Juan de Salcedo who patterned its design to that of Intramuros (Old Manila). It became the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and was called Ciudad Fernandina in honor of King Ferdinand. 

Today, Vigan retains much of the patina of 18th century Castillan architecture as seen in some 150 stone houses which stand in the town's Mestizo District, notably Mena Crisologo Street. Many of these ancestral homes are still in good condition and some have been turned into cozy inns, museums, and souvenir shops.


Along with the homes are other vestiges of the town's colonial past:

The majestic St. Paul's Cathedral was built by the Augustinian friars along the distinct "Earthquake Baroque" style of the Ilocos region and features Neo-Gothic and pseudo Romanesque motifs. Standing on an elevation west of the cathedral is Plaza Salcedo, the oldest monument in Northern Luzon. The Archbishop's Palace is a rich repository of religious artifacts from the Ilocos region. Plaza Burgos was built in honor of Fr. Jose Burgos, one of three Filipino priests who were garroted by the Spaniards for espousing church reforms.

But it is not only edifices which are preserved in this town inscribed in the World Heritage List. Viganos also remain steadfast in their traditional crafts, notably pottery (burnay) and handloom weaving (inabel).

The horse-drawn calesa (rig) is as much a presence in the streets as motor vehicles.


[Photo of Magellan Cross]
Cebu (1.615 million)
Korean tourists became the top market for the Queen City of the South, comprising 29% of total foreign tourists. Chinese tourists increased by 70% as more charter flights were booked between Cebu and Shanghai, as well as from Guangzhou.

[Photo of CamSur Water Sports] 
Camarines Sur (1.566 million)
Better known as CamSur, the province had a dramatic 117.2 % increase in tourists, welcoming an estimated 1.5 million visitors last year. In 2008, more than 720,000 went wakeboarding at the CamSur Watersports Complex. Events like the First Aqua Fest Celebrity Challenge, Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, International Dragon Boat Competition and Bagasbas Summer Surf gave travelers excellent reasons to visit this tourist spot in the Bicol region.




[Photo of Burnham Park, Baguio] 
Baguio (770,187)

The summer capital of the Philippines experienced a 20% increase in tourists after the Kabayan mummies discovered the place after the Kabayan mummy burial caves were featured in documentaries on cable. European visitors made up the bulk of visitors to the Cordilleras where Baguio is located.


[Photo of Mt. Apo, Davao]
Davao (669,864)
Known for being the home of the country's highest peak, Davao also has visitors flocking to the Eden Nature Park and Crocodile Farm, two of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.


[Photo of Boracay Beach]
Boracay (649,559)
Taiwanese tourists to the island paradise increased by 72% since China Airlines started chartering flights there twice a week. Shanghai Airlines flights from Shanghai and Philippine Airlines flights from Hangzhou also boosted arrivals to Boracay by 26%.


[Photo of Cagayan de Oro]
Cagayan de Oro (359,867)
The City of White Water Rafting and River Trekking, Cagayan de Oro not only boasts of splendid views but also very warm and hospitable locals.

[Photo of San Agustine Church]
 Zambales (323,271)
Three to four hours awa y from Manila, the province has some 170 kilometers of beaches with reefs, diving areas, and surfing spots. The Fiesta Poon Bato (Feast of the Sacred Stone) in January is a religious festival in honor of the Catholic Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, and attracts more than half a million tourists every year.

[Photo of Chocolate Hills]
Bohol (313,317)
Home to the world-famous Chocolate Hills, the island also hosts tourist activities like the Ecological, Environmental and Educational Adventure Tour (EAT) in Danao. The program, completely funded by the municipal government, offers mind-blowing experiences like taking a 45-meter plunge over a gorge supported only by a rope harness. There is also a 1.5-kilometer 'Suislide' zipline. Other attractions include caving, river tubing, rappelling, kayaking, and root climbing. Yes, root climbing.

 Puerto Princesa (268,942)
Puerto Prinsesa Underground River

Upgrades done on the Puerto Princesa International Airport paved way for a 23% increase in foreign travelers and a 21% hike in domestic tourists. Local government efforts to develop eco-tourism has brought more visitors and has made them stay longer.



Puerto Princesa Underground River

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park popularly known as Puerto Princesa Underground River is now one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. It’s 8.2 kilometers long and the river flows directly to the sea which is a subject to a tidal flow. It has formations of stalactites and stalagmites and a habitat of many bats.
A very mysterious yet wonderful tourist spot is waiting for you in Palawan.
Enjoy your vacation mga kabayan
its more fun in the philippines


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