When searching for your next affordable destination, you can’t go wrong in the Philippines. I’m not suggesting for a moment that you dismiss other parts of Southeast Asia, but this unique destination offers so much, especially when travelling on a budget. Idyllic beaches framed by swaying palm trees are just the start of this archipelago’s appeal for Australian travellers looking for an affordable tropical getaway. The eclectic cuisine and warm Filipino hospitality are a natural drawcard for budget travellers and digital nomads, especially when flights to the Philippines are so affordable.

Why the Philippines is so affordable

Affordable flights from Australia

Philippine Airlines (PAL), the Philippines’ flag carrier, flies directly from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Once you land in Manila, Philippine Airlines has seamless onward connections to 32 domestic destinations and 40 international destinations, including Australia and Japan.

Special Black Friday deal: If you book between 21^st November and 1^st December 2025, you’ll get incredible savings for valid travel from 21^st November 2025 onwards, with return fares starting from $720 (if flying from Perth) in economy. The fare includes checked baggage of 30 kg, seat reservation, miles earned, and flexibility. These inclusive bonuses are a rarity with budget airlines and even some full-service airlines.

Book now at www.philippineairlines.com

Affordable accommodation in the Philippines

The Philippines caters to all accommodation budgets, ranging from beachfront guesthouses to affordable luxury, often costing less than in Bali, Thailand or Malaysia. In fact, you’ll be surprised at the value, even in mid-range hotels and resorts costing significantly less than other tropical destinations.

Booking tips: There are simply too many accommodation options to list, but booking during the shoulder seasons (May – June and October – November) can help reduce your accommodation costs.

Filipino Food: Local and budget-friendly

Eating in the Philippines is both an adventure and a money-saver. Local eateries, known as carinderias, offer hearty meals like adobo, sinigang and grilled seafood for just a few dollars. Street food is plentiful, and even dining at trendy cafes in cities like Manila of Cebu are surprisingly affordable.

For a delve into Filipino cuisine, you might enjoy reading The hottest food tour in Manila

Action-packed Philippines

You can do as much or as little as you want in the Philippines and never be bored. You’re surrounded by vibrancy and humanity, both enchanting and confronting in equal measure. Many of the country’s attractions are natural and free. Beaches, waterfalls, rice terraces, lagoons and hiking trails attract minimal fees. Even guided activities like snorkelling, island-hopping and scuba diving in places like Palawan, Siargao and Cebu tend to be more affordable than in other tropical destinations. Heading to a local market never fails to entertain while sampling the local cuisine.

Cheap transportation options on land, air and sea

Consisting of around 7,000 islands, Philippines Airlines services 32 local destinations and several airlines often have flights on sale, including Philippine Airlines. Colourful jeepneys, tricycles and buses offer very low-cost travel within the cities and towns. Ferries and fast crafts make island-hopping accessible and fun on any budget.

Best budget destinations in the Philippines

Puerto Princesa and Palawan

Often dubbed “the most beautiful islands in the world,” Palawan offers hidden lagoons and limestone cliffs on inexpensive tours. Also home to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Underground River and coral-rich waters teeming with marine life.

Cebu

A perfect mix of urban adventures and natural beauty, Cebu mightn’t be the prettiest island, but it’s certainly interesting. Once a Chinese trading port and claimed by the Spanish centuries ago, the architecture alone is worth admiring. While here, you must sample the local delicacy of suckling pig named lechon.

If you’re considering Cebu, you might enjoy reading Divine diversity: holier than Cebu

Bohol

So much diversity is on offer in Bohol without overspending. The Chocolate Hills, beaches and riverside escapes have placed this destination at the top of the list on my next visit to the Philippines.

Manila

You can’t miss the capital for a lively mix of culture and nightlife, ranging from high-end dining to street food, and a thriving arts and music scene.

Tips for travelling the Philippines on any budget

• Travel during shoulder seasons for lower airfares and accommodation rates, and to avoid the crowds
• Eat local to save money and most importantly, to try authentic flavours
• Jump in a jeepney to get around
• Book domestic flights early and take advantage of promotional fares
• Travel slow, fewer transfers mean lower transportation costs

For more information about travelling to the Philippines go to Visit Philippines

The post Why the Philippines is an affordable travel destination appeared first on Fluffy Towel Travel.

Duck embryo anyone? Bottoms up!

I have a confession while on a food tour in Manila. My attention isn’t entirely focused on the food on the Big Binondo Food Wok Tour through Manila’s Chinatown. For starters, I’m a little bit star-struck as not only is our delightful tour leader Ivan Man Dy, a local celebrity in his own right, but I’m retracing the steps of Anthony Bourdain. Secondly, it’s so hot that I wonder if I might actually morph into one of the sidewalk woks or satay grills on this food tour in Manila. Although Filipino cuisine is milder in the spice department than its Asian neighbours, the temperature is intensified by all the food sizzling around us.

The Philippines is one of the most affordable travel destinations around and you will discover why in Why the Philippines is an affordable travel destination.

Manila’s Chinatown markets

The hottest food tour in Manila

I might add here that a walking food tour in Manila, a city with one of the worst traffic problems in the world, may seem like a crazy idea. However, within the sprawling metropolis, Chinatown is a mini-city with one kilometre of eateries along the main drag of Ongpin Street. The Filipino capital is synonymous is often associated with poverty, however, very little of this is evident throughout the tour as the locals compete to see who can supply us with the most amount of food.

The Philippines serves a mixture of Spanish, Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese and American cuisines and you could say it’s like a dipping sauce combining a staggering array of flavours on this food tour in Manila. The Chinese brought rice, which is eaten with almost every meal. The Malays taught the locals how to make noodles and wonton soup in exchange for huge jackfruit, tubers and spices.  The Japanese came, conquered, and left a bad taste in the locals’ mouths – but sadly didn’t think to teach them how to make sushi. During the fifty years the Americans stayed, their legacy was the Jeepney, the English language and fast food joints, like the franchise Jollibee dotted all over the country serving American style fast-food with a Filipino twist.

Oodles of noodles in Manila’s Chinatown

Much like chopsticks have been replaced with utensils, the Western influence is prominent as the Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 330 years. One left-over ingredient from the Spanish and integral to Filipino cuisine today is vinegar, and nowadays the sourness of kalimansi and guava is often added to many of the sauces. The Spanish introduced the method of sauteeing with garlic and onion, and even the local words prito or pinirito are derived from the Spanish word frito meaning fried or deep-fried. The Spanish also introduced paella to the Philippines, which is cooked over a flame in enormous pans and is very popular for festive occasions.

Curry in a hurry

Regardless of which region you’re visiting, it’s impossible to not notice that Filipinos have a fondness for deep-frying, and it is thought that even the name of the island of Cebu originated from the word sibu meaning animal fat. The aroma of cooking oil, fried meat and spices hangs in the thick air as Ivan leads with his pouting lips – a common gesture of the locals. I compliment him on his voluptuous lips that any Hollywood starlet would be envious of and he explains that many Filipinos use their pout as a gesture especially useful when ordering food.  This truly is a culture who think with their mouths and stomachs as the locals virtually eat non-stop. Three meals a day just isn’t enough and they snack wherever they go, and this national past-time is known as merinda. Which is what we’re doing as we make our way through Chinatown sampling foods from cafes and stalls, some more makeshift than others. Our journey is known as turo-turo meaning point-to-point.

We sample the infamous sisig, the leftover bits of a pig including the cheek, nose and ear, which are finely chopped and cooked on a hot plate to form a crunchy layer on the bottom. Nothing is wasted in the Philippines. Next thing on the menu is pata, braised pork hung up to dry for twenty-four hours and cut into chunks and then deep-fried. We sample pancit, stir-fried noodles, which are often enjoyed as a snack and are likened to Filipino comfort food, much like Westerners resort to chicken noodle soup. During celebrations, noodles are mandatory and long uncut noodles symbolize a lenghty life, but today ours are cooked out on the street over an open flame with pork and vegetable strips. We learn that chicken is often roasted over an open flame and stuffed with rice and dried fruit. Just as we think we might go up in flames ourselves, Ivan offers crackling or fried pork rinds, chicharon, to be enjoyed with a variety of dipping sauces.

Oodles of noodles in Manila’s Chinatown

It mightn’t look pretty, but Lechon is the ultimate food-porn

Are you noticing a pork theme here? So it is of little wonder then that the most renowned delicay of all is lechon, the legendary suckling pig roasted over hot coals. Bourdain refers to this obscenely fatty dish as food-porn, if only for the health rating. There are variations of its preparation all over the country, for example in Cebu, about an hour south of Manila, lechon is not served with sauce because they proudly believe it doesn’t need any. Given that the crispy, crackly skin is so tender, with its flesh so moist, it’s a believable declaration. Naturally, in the true excessive nature of Manila, lechon is garnished with a heart-stopping sauce made from pig’s liver.

By now even Ivan, a life-long resident, is soaked to the bone in sweat and he whisks us off to the air-conditioned comfort of Mr Ube cafe. The earnings from the cafe go to volunteer firemen and the word ube means purple yam.  Purple has practically become the national colour and we pass a purple fire-truck along the way and I wonder if they get requests to hose down sweaty tourists.  Ivan gives us his closing speech and I feel a little sad that he won’t joining us for the rest of our Filipino adventure.

Manila’s purple theme extends to its fire trucks

There’s a theory that any gourmand will head straight for the markets when arriving in a new destination. Manila’s Chinatown is a culmination of the country’s cuisine, providing a range of food as generous as the locals are. The Philippines consists of over 7,000 islands, and after just one taste, you may even consider the country’s only Chinatown as another island.

Sardines in a jeepney

 

Manila facts:

Join Ivan Man Dy at Old Manila Walks on the Big Binodo Food Wok tour details www.oldmanilawalks.com

Stay at Manila Diamond Hotel www.diamondhotel.com rates start at $120.00 AUD

Extra tidbits:

• For the adventurous try balut, boiled duck egg containing the embyro.
• Halo-halo an icy refreshment which can include ube, layered in a purple rainbow
• Given the Filipino’s love of meat, vegetarians will suffer but there is a dish called pinakbet consisting of pumpkin, string beans, eggplant, okra and other vegetables seasoned with garlic, onions, ginger, tomatoes, shrimp paste (optional) and coconut milk.

Nice bun’s

For more Filipino fun, please check out Divine Diversity: Holier than Cebu

Craving more travels? Please stay in touch by subscribing to Fluffy Towel today. Thank you and happy travels.

The post The hottest food tour in Manila appeared first on Fluffy Towel Travel.

There are 7,000 islands in the Philippines but not all of them are famed for their beaches. On Cebu, Magellan’s Cross looms above, a larger than life relic to Christianity, but forget about the stoic tradition of Catholicism as this island applies as much vibrance to its religious rituals as it does to its jeepneys, cuisine and broad smiles.

The Philippines is one of the most affordable travel destinations around and you will discover why in Why the Philippines is an affordable travel destination.

There are Catholic icons everywhere on Cebu: a crucifix hanging off the rear-view mirror in a taxi, a painting of The Last Supper displayed in a cafe, or a rosary pressed between fingers clutching a steering wheel while negotiating the mad traffic. All over Cebu, there are churches and the countryside is dotted with tiny chapels. The city morgue is one of the most opulent buildings in town inspiring families to spend millions of pesos on coffins. Just as city churches are often located in the centre in the city, religion plays a pivotal role in Filipino life as it influences holidays, traditions, art, architecture, and dining.

Cebu lies at the centre of the Visayas archipelago and protected from typhoons, the island became a popular Chinese trading port. In fact, that’s where the name Cebu may have originated from as the word sibu means barter. The other theory is that the name came from sebu or sibu meaning animal fat, and given the Philippine’s affinity with food this is quite likely also true. Cebu is famous for dried mangoes, IT call centres, an exporter of furniture, electronics, toys and Timex watches. Not to mention the Jeepney, compliments of the Americans who left behind their Jeeps after World War II, which were converted into Jeepneys and to this day are used as public transport. It was during this time that the wives of the militarians taught English, also another legacy.

CHRISTIANITY

The Spanish arrived to explore the spice islands led by Ferdinand Magellan several centuries earlier. Such a revered character in Filipino history, a mass was once held in his honour and a cross, fashioned from a local wood was planted in 1521, claiming the land in the name of Christ thus converting hundreds of believers from Paganism to Catholicism. Named Magellan’s Cross, it remains on its original site and is now housed in an octagon kiosk and encassed in dark wood to protect it from devotees chipping pieces of it, which they believe has extraordinary powers. These beliefs are evident even today as outside the octagon, women done yellow costumes while waving candles. One has singled me out and while chanting and dancing before me, she petitions prayers to Saint Nino. After the performance, we make a donation and she slides into a trance to deliver the prayer to the Almighty. Her haunting look left me wondering what she prayed for long after the event.

Magellan’s Cross

Home to Magellan’s Cross in Cebu

Despite his popularity, Magellan was met with much public unrest from the island of Mactan, just a few kilometres from Cebu, when chieftan Lapu-Lapu challenged the unity of Magellan’s following. A monument to Magellan built in 1866 now stands on Mactan Island, near the statue of his conqueror Lapu-Lapu and surrounded by a chain of fresh seafood restaurants serving traditional sutukil . Nearby are hotel chains welcoming foreigners and their diversity – a hedonistic feast of food, tourism and gore.

Ferdinand Magellan also left behind another tribute to Christianity with a representative of the child Jesus called Santo Nino, meaning child saint, making the oldest saint in the Philippines a toddler. The Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino was built to house the statue in 1565 and hundreds of devotees pray to Santo Nino’s image on a daily basis. The current basilica has been rebuilt several times between 1566 and 1739 and constant restoration has ensured the stately basilica retains its Filipino culture blended with Muslim, Romanesque and Neoclassical features. Although a place of worship, the atmosphere is vibrant both inside and out, where followers light candles amongst touters selling balloons, candles and goodwill.

Inside Fort Pedro

It is believed the violent death of Magellan instigated the building of Fort San Pedro in 1565, the oldest bastion in the country. It served several purposes throughout history, including a prison camp during the Japanese occupation, where much of it was destroyed. The fort is made from coral and is bound together with egg whites and lead to an excess of egg yolks, which were used to make biscuits. From battle to biscuits, today it belies its treacherous past as the crumbling ruins function as a museum and the pretty grounds are a haven from the madness beyond the walls.

SOUTH OF THE CITY

South of Cebu City are countless examples of religious heritage sites and a must see destination is the St Catherine of Alexandria Church (built in 1860) in the town of Carcar. Its Moorish architecture includes twin bell towers topped with onion-shaped domes reminiscent of the minarets in Middle Eastern mosques. Inside, visitors are greeted by the 11 apostles at the entrance and the statue of Judas stands all alone in front of the convent. As well as its beaches, Argao draws tourists in with the San Miguel Archangel Parish, an example of Rococo-Baroque architecture. Although the statues in the main altar were painted in gold, much of the church remains true to its 17^th century era. Heading further south in Boljoon is the heritage-listed Nuestra Senora Del Patrocino Parish, the only Spanish colonial church in Cebu today still in its most original form. Established in 1783, the sturdy complex is enclosed by a stone perimeter and inside is a two-level blockhouse with a roofed parapet where artillery was mounted.

Dragon a the Taoist Temple, Beverly Hills

TAOISM

Cebu has a substantial Chinese community leftover from centuries ago and has one of the few Taoist temples open to the public and follows the teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Lao Tze. Located in the suburb of Beverley Hills, the hillside is dotted with mansions and a shantytown known as Beverly Hell, keeping in the true form of the Yin Yang philosophy. Built in 1964, the temple is a classic example of Chinese architecture and the complex includes five chapels and shrines, and dragons symbolising cosmic movement on earth. Visitors also come to have their fortune told by a priest using a pair of kidney-shaped wooden blocks as a medium to communicate with God.

BUDHISM

Catering to the small Buddhist community in Cebu is the Phu Sian Temple located in Beverly Hills near to the Taoist temple. A place of reverence and meditation, the temple is run by several Buddhist monks of Chinese descent. Chu Un Temple is another Buddhist temple built in 1988 and is spread over 1.8 hectares and is approximately 15 minutes from downtown Cebu. The Chu Un Temple is part of BLIA, Buddha’s Light International Association, which practices Humanistic Buddhism in everyday life through the eightfold path.

MUSLIM

There are numerous mosques located in Cebu, Al-Khairiah Mosque (Highway Mambaling) and Green Mosque (Sikatuna). There are strict rules on entering a mosque such as only entering if you’re welcomed in, women must be fully covered including a headscarf and approval for photography must be obtained.

SUPERNATURAL

Prior to the pre-Hispanic faith system, gods, spirits, and creatures dominated. Those relegated with power over the supernatural carried out ritual curing, and some of these paranormal beliefs are still performed today. Brave tourists partake in psychic surgery performed by medicine men and women who plunge their hands into the sick patient’s body to remove diseases leaving the patient scar-free. Believers consider it an alternative healing method, while sceptics consider psychic surgeons to be dangerous frauds.

Basilica Minore del Sto.Nino

Getting there:

Most international airlines fly direct to Cebu from many major Asian destinations and there are several domestic airlines that facilitate the one hour flight from Manila.

Stay in Cebu:

Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort & Spa (Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City Tel + 032 231 0288 www.shangri-la.com) understands island getaways like no other and the premier five-star resort is set on the beach overlooking the Visayan Sea. The resort also includes CHI The Spa at Shangri-La, one of the most luxurious spa villages in the Philippines. The Crown Regency Hotel and Towers is located in the centre of town and offers elegantly designed guest rooms.

Eat in Cebu:

No Problem Restaurant (D’ Fisherman’s Wharf Mactan Shrine, Lapu-Lapu City) serves authentic sutukil a term derived from three words Sugba (SU), Tuwa (TU), Kilaw (KIL) meaning to broil, boil and mariande. Handpick your seafood and relax under the cabana. To sample the local favourite of lechon (spit-roasted pork) visit the very clean and low-key CnT Lechon (1377 Rama Ave, Guadalupe, Cebu City)

For more Filipino fun, please check The Hottest Food Tour in Manila.

Craving more travels? Please stay in touch by subscribing to Fluffy Towel today. Thank you and happy travels.

The post Divine Diversity: Holier Than Cebu appeared first on Fluffy Towel Travel.