One of the most popular items being bought by travelers from the Philippines are handicrafts, either as souvenirs, personal use, memorabilia, jewelries, accessories or house decors. Handicrafts in the Philippines are superior in both style and craftsmanship and are made up of local native products such as bamboo, rattan, capiz shells and coconut shells or husks each handcrafted to perfection for local consumption or for export. Shops in the Philippines are abundant for the handicraft industry in Metro Manila as well in some provinces. Some popular places are the ones in the Mabini-Ermita area and Divisoria in Metro Manila, but for exhibits and showcases events, the best way to go are the Cavite Export Processing Zone along the coastal highway, the National Trade Fair Exhibits or the Manila F.A.M.E. Trade Fair Exhibits where you can view the very best product exhibitions and buy in bulk or in pieces. The expo have a large participant of individual companies in the Handicraft Industry from all over the Philippines. The photo in the left side is the famous capiz chandelier and other photos can be viewed below.

Interior showcases can vary from these styles as shown and many companies can take special orders. A very elegant setting with a touch of native handicraft craftsmanship. Most companies also can assist any traveler in packaging and shipping on any of these items.

From home interiors to bits in pieces of native arts craft, these are the best value money can buy for souvenirs, for gifts or personal use. Materials used vary on each item. The most common are sasa leaves, nipa, rattan and coconut leaves and are inter woven and crafted to the finest perfection. At left are some examples of finished handcrafted products from table mats, bowl and fan.

So for travelers, balikbayans and fellow kababayans, don’t miss out these wonderful products that you can find only in the Philippines.

This is one of the great opportunity for OFW families or loved ones in the Philippines to have a memorable gift on those special occasions besides the usual money remittances. First of all lets talk about the logistics or courier providers. Money remittance centers have sprouted all over the Philippines and became popular because of Pinoys sending their earnings back home. I for one have tried most of the services and the money I sent was instant. It wasn’t long ago that remittances used to take 3-5 days to reach its destination, but thanks to the growing number of pick up points in the Philippines such as banks, jewelry outlets, stores and malls and don’t forget the modernization of the internet too. It has been noted by the Central Bank of the Philippines that as of present, foreign remittance from Overseas Filipinos have remitted and surpassed the 15 billion peso mark even though the exchange rate of the US Dollar has weakened. The Pinoy padala has not been bothered with it and their continuous support for their families back home even grew. Online services have popped up the scene and the affiliates of media giant ABS-CBN even joined the bandwagon for both remittance and box. For money remittances the most popular right now are as follows:

• Western Union
• Xoom
• Money Gram

Sending cargo boxes or most popular as balikbayan boxes of gifts, personal effects, clothes, canned goods or even electronic items have become a phenomenon too. Filipinos overseas loves their family a lot and most, if had a chance, would love to share all the things they have through sending boxes of goods in the Philippines. These logistic providers have come up with this ingenious way of providing Filipino families back home with this kind of support and can be also be delivered to any destination in the country. In our experience we have sent a box of canned goods, clothes, fragrances, juices, chocolates and other imported items that we can share. Very interesting indeed. Some of the popular logistic companies here in the US are as follows:

• Forex
• LBC
• StarKargo

As for online gift sending we have seen a lot and used a few of them. These are services for bulky products such as appliances or electronics, furnitures, packaged good items, jewelries and computers. Most of them are specialized on sending flowers which are good for special occasions and loved ones in the Philippines. It really is a convenient way also of sending a gift through internet payments. A lot of these online services pops up on keyword terms such as Philippine Gifts, Philippine Regalo, Philippine Pasalubong, Philippine On Line Gifts and many more. The services we used so far and have a prompt delivery are the following:

• MyAyala.com
• 22Ban.com

A way to spend some good time strolling around. Malls in the Philippines are conveniently and strategically located around Metro Manila and some cities in the provinces. There are so many of them that got merged, reorganized, renovated and constructed in a rapid pace to provide easy access to local and nearby residents. Most of them have complete facilities from food courts to fashion stores and from department stores to skating rinks, totally built essentially to attract visitors. While there are the ones that in the new term as “high tech” malls there are a few malls that are venues as bargain centers or wholesale markets. It is very hard to track an update to all of them as they provide different venues and offers a variety of market sales.

Though the malls continue to pop up at a rapid scale, many and mostly the new generations knew about its history. The SM Mall chain for example started as shoe department store in the late 50’s in Quiapo, Manila and was called Shoemart, selling various type and styles of local shoes that were made mostly from Marikina. The store became a success that saw the rise of branches in T.M Kalaw in Ermita, Cubao and in various parts of Metro Manila and in 1994 grew to be the largest mall chain in the Philippines. But the first real mall was constructed in the early months of 1976 and also was finished at the same year, The Ali Mall. Ali Mall was the very first mall constructed and named after the popular legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought with Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manila” bout. Ali Mall was built in the center of Cubao and nearby the Farmers Market, the COD Department Store, Rustans Department Store, Araneta Coliseum and the Fiesta Carnival. Renovated now with new modern facilities added, it is now called the Araneta Center, still owned and manged by the Araneta Family.

Since then, many malls have been constructed all over the Philippines and the local citizens frequent the place to shop or stroll around especially in the weekends and during summertime to cool them down in these air conditioned places. Below are a few list of some of the popular malls in the Philippines.

• Ayala Center
• Araneta Center
• Glorietta
• Greenhills Shopping Center
• Robinsons
• Shangrila Mall
• SM Malls
• Harrison Plaza
• Mall of Asia
• Tutuban Center

It really is confusing when planning a trip and choosing a place to stay. Need not worry we’ll try our best to help you out. Choosing from the hundreds or even thousand of accommodations from luxurious hotels to budget inns could be very time consuming. Planning the budget is the very first step to consider. While proximity to the main center of a place is often a deciding factor, some prefer a little bit off the action centers which are quietly located a few miles. It’s always good to compare each establishment while planning. Most travel agencies offer travel budget packages that includes a place to stay in both hotels or B and B Inns too.

First of all is the question, is it business or pleasure ? Business as everybody knows are mostly short term while staying and enjoying the whole month or more has different itineraries. Hotels are much more convenient to the average businessman, since they need to be more nearer to the financial district while the tourist group are inclined to stay away from the regular noises. We’ll just take 2 examples to look at.

The Edsa Shangrila Hotel is a luxurious 5 star accommodation complete with all that extremely luxury service a traveler would need. No need for introductions since every travelers dreams of luxury from service to facilities and from bedroom to dining. The hotel is located within minutes away from the financial district of Makati and the also minutes away from the cities of Manila and Quezon City. Best for travelers for a short stay, business or corporate groups. With all the luxury they offer, of course a deserving price per night comes with it. View the lobby and bedroom photos below and anyone will just say WOW.

Rose Villa is a residential bed and breakfast accommodation a little bit away from the city center. The private residence offers also extremely cozy accommodations with an affordable price perfect for long term and budgeted stay.

Bedrooms are fully arranged with a combined European and Western setting each with own bathrooms, a common living area, air conditioning and hot and cold showers.

While the mini lobby or living room is arranged on a combined local and western atmosphere with native rattan furnitures, it really is a cozy place to relax.

Then the kitchen which has fully equipped appliances with comfortable settings comes with marble counter tops. The Bed and Breakfast Inn offers a rate from a single room of $30 a night to a family room of $40 a night which is a totally affordable cost with a breakfast of choice inclusion.

So my friends and our beloved guest to the Philippines it all comes down to your choices, budget and your individual itineraries of a planned trip. But guess what, all hospitality establishments in the Philippines offers individual unique atmosphere and a very affordable price for a cozy and relax stay.

We at Paraiso don’t endorse nor prefer one establishment to another. We just made an example for our guest and future travelers to have an idea and a good view for a proper stay in our country.

Nutribun - Nutrition Bun pronounced locally as Nutriban.

Not so many folks remembers this supplemental food (bread) in the Philippines. As a matter of fact the new generations have never heard of it and I have to look if there are certain good articles about this topic in which I have found bits and pieces but no actual definition. Only those who were born in the early 60’s and 70’s, went to public school, have heard or tasted this bread. I’m very happy as Wikipedia writers have not even discovered this at all including the young bloggers of the Philippines as well and Paraiso could be the first to give some information, if not.

So what is Nutriban ?

Nutriban bread was introduced in the Philippines during the early seventies at public schools to supplement nutrition. It was a donation mainly from the United States mainly with some coming from Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom. That was during the heightened food and gas crisis that occurred in the early 70’s in the Philippines. Nutriban is similar to the local “monay bread” but bigger, most likely as twice or thrice to its present size and has a real solid make, unlike the pan de sal and other local breads full of air inside. Made up of ingredients such as wheat, baking powder, corn starch, flour and milk. A real nutritional bun, it taste good with any fillings but most prefer with margarine, peanut butter or coconut jam.

It was originally delivered to the Philippines as a food aide to help with nutrition, with hundred thousands of metric tons stored all over government storage facilities, later sent to public schools for free consumption at first. To generate funds for local public school activities, it was later sold at 5 centimo when the price of pan-de-sal was 15 centimo per piece. Not a bad price at all considering its enormous size 4 times compared with pan-de-sal, with its nutritional ingredients. As the supply of Nutriban slowly depleted in 1976, only a few public schools in Metro Manila and in the rural areas continued to serve the bread. In 1977 it totally lost its supplies.

No one in the bread making business dared to copy its ingredient for mass consumption since most of its contents are expensive and selling it to the public at a price lower than the popular breads is losing money. Thus Nutriban became extinct but people still remember it as one of the best cheap bread served in the country.

I hope the government could find a way to revive this bread as it could help millions of Filipinos alternatively finding supplements for the hiking cost of bread in the Philippines. If anyone has more info about this topic please fell free to contribute by sending it to me or just place it at the comments box and I would surely review it and place the proper credit. So don’t forget to write your name. It’s a good topic that needs more info aimed at the Baby Boomers in the Philippines and a good contribution to the young generations.