Arrived with low expectations, left completely converted

Philippines wasn't high on my travel list. A friend pushed me to go and I'm genuinely grateful. The first full day in El Nido reset everything — the scale of Tubbataha Reef and the quality of the halo-halo were immediate signals that I'd misjudged the place completely.

English widely spoken became my personal highlight of the whole trip. Spent 5 days and could easily have stayed twice as long. Now I tell everyone who'll listen that Philippines is underrated — add it to your list.