What better way to open my series of posts about the Philippines than to do it with the quintessential tourist spot in the country, BORACAY! Whenever a foreign friend asks me for advice on places to visit when on vacation in the Philippines, here are the first things that I say: 1. Make sure you visit an island. The Philippines can’t be represented by the city 2. Although we call our capital Manila, it is not necessarily just ‘Manila’ the old city. that’s just part of METRO MANILA. 3. Don’t confine yourself to hotels listed as being in ‘Manila’ Broaden your options since a lot of great hotels are located in other parts of Metro Manila such as Bonifacio Global City, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, etc. 4. If it’s your first time in the Philippines or worse, first time in Asia, I highly recommend going to Boracay instead of trying to be adventurous and heading out to the more remote islands. I’ll post more about my advice for coming to the Philippines but for now, I’ll tell you why I always