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Making your travel to the Philippines become worthy of your valuable leisure time requires taking the extra time to prepare before the actual trip itself. You'll be helped a lot by taking time to listen to someone who has lived the first 40 years of his life back in the Philippines. Here's a list of 14 tips, mostly not from the books, for you to consider:

1) It's a tropical country, and an archipelago at that, just like Indonesia, Brunei, Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Maldives. You'll be surprised at the weather which can easily be 100 degrees Fahrenheit (anytime, except when it rains). The cold season is not out and out cold, as it's manageable and similar to early spring in most 4-season countries. It'll always be humid, as the Philippines is above the equator, about 1625 kilometers from it. It pays to travel light in terms of clothing to be brought with you, unless your trip requires you to bring outfits for special occasions (or to the mountain regions where the weather drops drastically).

2) Some people may find this strange, but English is largely spoken in the whole archipelago, as it's an official language (even listed in its Constitution). And in addition to English, there are at least 10 major languages spoken and used all throughout the nation. As such, most Filipinos are easily trilingual. TV channels (there are combined 23 channels easily from VHF and UHF in Metro Manila), and radio stations use English as well as the other languages in the country in their programming.

3) Actually, it's best to visit the Philippines right after New Year's Day until middle of March. You'll be assured of cooler weather in most parts of the country, mainly brought about by wintry winds from China. Also, it'll be less costly as it's past the stressful holiday season, i.e. Christmas which starts as soon as the "ber" months start rolling until at least 12 days after Christmas (usually January 6th). Of course, you'll see brighter, gayer, exciting street scenes during Christmas, but unless you're used to lots of different noises (music, vehicles, among other types), you'll be sure to find yourself stressed unnecessarily.

4) "Let's admit it," as some people have described in various sources, "Filipinos are nosy." Unless you will go out of your way to say "no" or set your boundaries, they'd be curious to know everything about you, especially if you're a newcomer, and/or a foreigner. But there's really nothing personal about the

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