Traveling is Awesome :)

Angeles City Philippines is known as a semi famous red light in Philippines. We've seen a couple videos on YouTube about this area. We visit Angeles because we've seen a couple hotels that are a great value for the money compared to other cities in Philippines and we need somewhere to stay for a month while we are on a tighter budget.

We usually look for hotels on Agoda. Agoda seems to have the best listings for South East Asia. I do want to visit all of the Philippines the good and the bad.

We took a taxi from our hotel in Manila and head to Cubao bus station. We don't actually know when the bus was leaving. However we have had good luck just showing up in the morning and getting on the next bus leaving. You can also use taxi from Manila to Angeles City for 3000 pesos ($60) direct to your hotel. Since we're using bus from our last trip to Puerto Galera. We continue using the bus because its cheap and the reason why we go to Angeles is to save money.

We have some minor misunderstandings about the bus terminal destination. We did not research the name of the destination bus terminal. One thing that you need to understand going to Angeles City is the area you are going to includes the city of Clark. Most foreign visitors are going to Angeles City near Clark at Fields Avenue Balibago. That area is close to DAU Bus Terminal and that named DAU is what you are going to look for in Manila. Remember DAU bus terminal or ask the attendant. Angeles main city is farther away from Fields Ave. than Clark.

Victory liner is one of the big bus companies. They have air conditioned bus with TV. You really don't need to buy the tickets in the ticketing area you can just get off the taxi and get on the bus. An attendant will come around and collect your fare once the bus gets started. The road trip takes about 2 hours. The beautiful scenery is interesting and it makes me think about having a camper van in the future.

Once we got to DAU bus terminal we took a tricycle going to Balibago Fields Avenue. We're staying at Score Birds Hotel the best hotel we've stayed at for the price. The tricycle taxi took about 15 mins only. One thing make me think about Angeles is they have the smallest tricycle I've ever been inside. No baggage compartment like you've seen in Cebu and Mindanao. The seat is good for two people only. We have to pile our bags on our lap and on our feet. The tricycle taxi fare is 150 pesos for one way ride.

Score Birds Hotel

The hotel was owned by some foreigners and they do a great job managing the Hotel. It is located a few blocks away from walking street. We paid in Agoda 2200 pesos ($44) with taxes. More expensive just after New Year but you can also see their prices changes every couple weeks. The room is excellent with spacious bathroom and separate toilet. The WiFi is amazing probably the best or second best WiFi in Philippines that we have found.

The best part of staying in this hotel is the Pool. We enjoyed sitting and working in the restaurant by the pool. Very relaxing with great WiFi. They also have a good restaurant that brings food to you poolside. We usually eat here most of the time. They have a bar named Tiki Bar and Duke's restaurant.

Almost everyday breakfast we had here in Score Birds restaurant having a coffee enjoying the beautiful view. I also do work here for a couple hours and swim after. It gives me more focus on editing a videos and writing Steemit articles. It was very relaxing. The WiFi in the Tiki Bar is amazing compared to most of the other hotels we have stayed at.

I tried the pool twice only since it is a bad timing for call of nature for girls. The pool is a bit cold on your first step but your body adopts to the temperature especially if you swim some laps. The more you swim the lesser cold you feel. The pool is a much larger than most hotel pools we have seen.

The hotel also has gym with the heavier weight. Most hotel gyms have very light weights and are not enough for guys to get a good workout. The area also has chairs that set up for VIP guests for Bikini Contest. They have a few machines for working out also. I just wish they have tread mill since this area has no place to run.

Score Birds is one of the best hotel we stayed for the price. We uploaded a 10GB video in less than one hour. We spend most of our time in the hotel watching YouTube and editing video. Bed are comfortable and service is excellent. One thing I like inside the room is the big mirror by the bed that you can actually see yourself when sleeping (no dirty minds). For the price you get a better hotel than in Manila you get just a okay hotel with a very poor WiFi. Some rooms have kitchenettes but cost more of course. We like kitchenettes if we can get them to cut down on restaurants costs.

Angeles has a few shopping malls that are only a couple minutes away from Balibago area. We visited the Marque Mall to extend his visa for another 2 months. It took us about an hour of waiting to process and then return after 3 working days to pickup the passport. They said the ARC card will take a month to process. The easiest immigration we've been to is in Boracay that only took us 10 mins and were the only people was there makes it more easier. The ARC card only took 7 days to wait compared to Angeles that it will take 1 month.

After immigration stuff we found some good coffee at Extremely Espresso in Marque Mall 20 meters from Starbucks. We tried this since Starbucks was too crowded. They have a plenty choices for breakfast and full menu. The Vienna Coffee is excellent and the Raspberry Frappe is very good. We ordered the boneless Bangus. The Omelet was good because its not as oily as many other places. The price is not cheap but they have great service and the food was also very good. The server explained the menu items in great detail. She told us ingredients and gave us recommendations according to what we were looking for.

Wherever we travel we do laundry about once every week. However, I had a bad experience doing laundry at a small laundry shop between our hotel and Walking Street. We paid extra for one day service laundry common problems on tourist price. Is is about 50 per kilo. The first time we sent laundry they lost one underwear but found it after I went back and complained. There is a guy in line in front of me who was looking for his pants that they also lost.
The second time we sent laundry they lost 5 items. We came back and got them to find 4 items BUT they lost my Blue Roma T-shirt that he brought from Italy for me. I have gone back 4 times to ask but they are trying to blame me and said maybe I lost it inside the house. So I said “It is impossible because I'm staying in a hotel and I'm sure I put it in the laundry. How can I have lost it. When I keep coming back they are launching at me and ignoring me while speaking in there own language. This makes me very sad at their treatment of me and the lost of my gift from Italy.

Hotel Royal Amsterdam

It is located right on the Fields Avenue Street. We paid 2300 pesos ($45) with taxes on Agoda. The room is spacious and updated bathroom. It has a bigger fridge than the last hotel. The bed is a bit hard. The WiFi is pretty slow we needed to stand by the door to get a better signal. The WiFi was on and off most of the time. However, they have an excellent housekeeping service they make sure to clean the room before 4PM. 24 hours front desk and security guard. We had a horrible view out of the window. We got to view the storage are for the hotel. Old equipment and the big fence where the staff park their scooters. So when the go there the can look inside our room of we dont keep the curtains closed.

When a crazy asshole filming inside the room will make you laugh :). Watch the video link at the bottom.

The restaurant is excellent. They have a very good breakfast and bottomless coffee that someone likes. The prices are a bit higher but it is hotel restaurant right on Walking Street. The hotel has a good seating area in front of the hotel to eat and watch all the drama on Fields Ave. This restaurant and hotel is right next to Viking Bar that has a lot of pretty girls. The Korean owner also gives me Kimchi every time he sees us eating in the restaurant. This makes me very happy :)

The second week in Angeles we mostly visited the SM Clark Mall. For our first visit to the mall we took a tricycle. I was so surprised for the fare of 100 pesos for 3 to 5 mins ride. I think this is the most expensive 3 min taxi ride I have ever had. Some of the tricycle will charge tourist price if they see a foreign visitor. We usually try to ask the fare first before we get in. I just miss my hometown fare for 7 pesos. In every place I visited around Philippines I do appreciate how cheap to live in Mindanao. We came to SM Clark Mall to send back some things to my family that I can't carry anymore but I don't want to throw away. Just like with my big blue roller bag. LBC is the carrier that accept delivery door to door in most places in the Philippines.
On the way back we walked the elevated walk way back to Fields Avenue to skip the traffic. It starts right at the mall and goes all the way to Jeepnee transportation terminal. This is convenient for us. From there it is a few minute walk to Fields Ave. It saves us the money & is good exercise :)