Have any of you expats traveled out of the Philippines with your wife or SO?

[Gratefuled]

My wife has never been out of the Philippines. She has often told me she would like to go to another country and visit. She wants to see snow. 

I promised her and her son ( my stepson) to take them to Hong Kong Disneyland. She has her passport and we are going to apply for her son's passport. I have a cousin in northern Thailand who has a home there when he is not in the states. I have free use of it so Thailand might be another place for her to visit. Neither Hong Kong nor Thailand have snow so I guess she will have to wait til we go to California.

Stepson loves to fly on a jet airplane. We have been to Manila ( Enchanted Village)  and to Cebu the 3 of us. so, Hong Kong Disneyland is in our plans for next year during school vacation.

Any out of country experiences with your wife or SO that you care to share?

Edited August 24, 2016 by Gratefuled
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[scott h]

25 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

My wife has never been out of the Philippines. 

Wife was a world traveler before we met, so cant help you there BUT:

Putting my devious hat on, I know your wife doesn't want to move to the states yet. I suggest you take her to Guam. Really nice beaches, great hotels, pretty cheap flights to get there. BUT, it is the USA. Let her experience the Target store, (no walmart last time I was there), the traffic, the restaurants, the malls etc. etc. etc. She might see what she is missing

[Gratefuled]

8 minutes ago, scott h said:

Wife was a world traveler before we met, so cant help you there BUT:

Putting my devious hat on, I know your wife doesn't want to move to the states yet. I suggest you take her to Guam. Really nice beaches, great hotels, pretty cheap flights to get there. BUT, it is the USA. Let her experience the Target store, (no walmart last time I was there), the traffic, the restaurants, the malls etc. etc. etc. She might see what she is missing

You're right. I'm sure she would be very much surprised at the convenience and efficiency. The large grocery markets and selection of food. 

In the states, they do not offer rice with every meal like here so she might have a problem with that at first. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

I did Hong Kong a couple of times with my last SO and it was nice.  For snow, a friend of mine took his wife to Viet Nam in early January and says they saw snow.  His wife loves to show off her coat and snow boots so it may be true.  Here is a photo shoot from a Google search to back up their story.  I am still not convinced they saw snow in Viet Nam.  That skepticsism comes from watching too many war movies I suppose 

 

Here is the link I mentioned http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/travel/150376/5-incredible-destinations-to-enjoy-snow-in-vietnam.html

[AlwaysRt]

23 minutes ago, scott h said:

I suggest you take her to Guam.

I would like to do that too but not ready to tackle the huge difference in VISA requirements for Philippine passport holder between Hong Kong/Bali/KL... and USA. "Feels" like getting her a China VISA would be easier. (don't actually know because I haven't tried - yet)

[scott h]

1 hour ago, Gratefuled said:

In the states, they do not offer rice with every meal like here so she might have a problem with that at first. 

Huge Filipino population on Guam, they are used to cooking for Filipinos.

I also forgot to mention that Guam is a tourist destination, I might be wrong but visa requirements are not as stringent as those entering the States. You will have to check for certain, but I personally observed US immigration agents checking state found flights, but from the number or Russian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese tourist I saw there you should probably be alright

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I was wanting to get my Balikbayan stamp so she was deciding between Singapore (Universal Studios) and Hong Kong (Disney).  She picked Hong Kong.

She had heard all the same horror stories about being offloaded and was very scared of getting turned away.  She had a passport when we met, but had never used it (was making OFW plans).  We just got her new passport with her married name.

She had a huge folder of stuff, trying to anticipate what they would ask for...  marriage license, old lease, wedding pic, pics of of the house we built, bank account info... I don't know what all she had...

Iloilo is technically an international airport but not very practical yet. So, we had to go through Manila.  We were both pleasantly surprised with the new terminal building. It is quite nice. At the immigration counter she had to fill out one short form.  She takes the form, hands it to the officer, and he looks at her. Looks at the form. Looks at her. Looks at the passport. Looks at her. Stamps the passport and says "enjoy your trip". He did not ask for anything ha ha.  ...but she was ready just in case.

The trip was very nice. We did not see snow, but she loved the cooler weather.  I was in short sleeves, she was in a light jacket.  She seemed to like the grocery store. Was amazed at how big the pizza servings were. Enjoyed proper plumbing, and good bus service.  She almost immediately said we could move to Hong Kong!

She had fun at Disney too. It was her first "real" amusement park. Since it was her first trip out of the country I did splurge on a very nice hotel (Auberge, Discovery Bay).

She was shocked that McDo's did not serve rice. I tried to warn her... she needs to realize I am always right.  We were both disappointed in the street food.  For street food we should have gone to Singapore. 

She wants to go to South Korea next. We can stay at a cousin's house.  But she will have to settle for Boracay next month. My brother and his wife are coming for a visit (a detour during their Hong Kong/China trip).  

[Methersgate]

Thanks for the nice account.

I took K and k to Hong Kong for Disneyland as their first trip outside the Philippines, in 2014. It was a good idea because it gave K confidence in travelling by air to foreign countries, before they came to England. Disneyland was a success, but small k was just as impressed by the Star Ferry!   

[Tukaram (Tim)]

At Disney, I did get her on her first roller coaster (Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars).  She was not happy with that ha ha

[AlwaysRt]

7 hours ago, Tukaram (Tim) said:

She picked Hong Kong.

What month did you go?