Where else to visit on a work trip to the Philippines

[physics911]

Hi, everyone.
I'm going on a work trip to the Philippines the 2nd half of Feb.
My plan is when I finish work on Wed., to go somewhere else and start the trip back to the US on Sat.
Where do you recommend?

I'm kind of split between doing an extra flight and going to Thailand or Vietnam, or spending time in the layover city like Tokyo or Seoul.
I'm kind of leaning toward staying in the layover city because I am already going to be exhausted from work, and I don't really want to waste a lot of extra travel time since I'm only staying 4 more days.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

[typical.investor]

Staying in the layover city makes sense. All of those seem like good places to visit.

If it’s Tokyo, I assume that is Haneda which is in Tokyo. If it’s Narita, it’s about an hour from Tokyo.

So maybe look into where the airport is for the layover possibilities.

[stan1]

With just two full days (depart after work Weds, all day Thurs, Fri, return to US Sat) I'd do the layover city not another flight to Thailand or Vietnam.

Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore could work depending upon what airline(s) you are able to use.

[Cecelio]

Consider visiting a southern island in the Philippines if you like tropical beaches. February will be cold in most northern layover cities.

[lthenderson]

Hi, everyone.
I'm going on a work trip to the Philippines the 2nd half of Feb.
My plan is when I finish work on Wed., to go somewhere else and start the trip back to the US on Sat.
Where do you recommend?

Unclear if you are looking for places in the Philippines too or only neighboring Pacific rim countries. It would be helpful to know which part of the Philippines you will be staying in. While it is a small country, it is incredibly time consuming and even difficult without having someone native as a guide to get from point A to point B that might not be very far away from each other on a map. Going 100 miles might take you 6 hours depending on the time of day where as here in America, you could drive yourself in 90 minutes.

Assuming you are arriving in Manila and staying there, do you like history? If so, I highly recommend booking a water taxi ride out to Corregidor Island out in Manila bay. I was blown away by the ferocity of war seeing the leftover scarred WWII remains. Fort Santiago in Manila is also a pretty neat place to explore.

If you are talking about days of times, the rice terraces of Banaue are sometimes described at the 8th wonder of the world. There are some excellent caves to explore in that region as well.

If you are in Baguio City, the winter capital, there is Burnham park to explore along with Asin Road if you would like to pick up a beautiful hand carved sculpture to bring home.

There are probably tens of thousands of beautiful beach houses/resorts that one can rent for a pittance (U.S. standards) and treat yourself to life on the ocean eating fresh sea urchin and dickering with locals hawking exquisite handmade jewelry.

It all depends on where you are going to be and what your interests are.