Please use the slider to know more about Silent Gardens ...

Welcome to the Silent Gardens and Beaches of the Visayas
The main purpose of this website is to show the beauty of the Philippines to the entire world. We want you, the respectful tourist, to discover some of the Philippines 7107 islands.

So, this website is full of hints and tricks for travelers, starting with our Manila Airport Guide, Airport Hotels, International and Domestic Flights. There is information about any kind of transportation, such as ferries, buses, taxis, jeepneys and tricycles.

There are mainly three kinds of visitors coming to the Philippines:

The beach bum, looking for a white beach with palm trees, where he/she can lay in the shadow, read a book, drink a cocktail and do nothing other. In the evening he/she looks for a nice bar for a sunset drink and a good restaurant before going to a party or a disco.
This kind of visitors you encounter often in Boracay and Panglao.

The second kind of visitor is the island hopper, who explores and discovers one of our 7107 islands after the other. He/she uses public transports, sleeps in a resort he/she chooses ad-hoc and does not follow the worn out tourist paths, but inquires locally about the places to see. For these visitors we have created special pages with close-up information about the Visayan islands.

The third kind of visitor is the active sportsman/sportswoman.
He/she finds in the Philippines perfect conditions for diving, sailing, surfing and wakeboarding. Not to forget the kite-surfer's and windsurfer's paradise of Boracay.
But also landbound sports are very attractive: golf, trekking, hiking and cycling. Filipinos are very tough golfers and basketballers.

All this information is completed by historical, geographical and political topics. We nearly daily inform the readers of our blog about local news and events.
This website wants also to bring information to the expat who chose the Philippines as his new country of residence. For the expat the most useful pages are the weather page, the money conversion and the visa page.

Among friends here we had long discussions about the frequency of typhoons and the best place to live. So we did analyze the typhoons from 1950 to 2008 in the North-West Pacific and created maps and charts.

An expat's life in the Philippines is a dream. The 7107 Philippines islands make every "long nose" dream. Filipinas and Filipinos are a wonderful bunch of people. They are always cheerful, friendly and warmhearthed. The usual Pinoy is either a fisherman or a farmer (rice, copra, pineapple, mango and others). Pinoys do work as much as they need to live, but not a minute more.
The sparetime Pinoys invest in fiestas, festivals and other come togethers. Filipinos are borne musicians and Pinays are of a natural beauty.

But there may also occure some problems. The first problem comes with the Bureau of Immigration. There are too many types of visa available and if one does not know the law and regulations, one can soon get in trouble with the BI. We try to inform our fellow expats about the latest decision of the BI and the PRA. We also maintain a list of diplomatic representations (embassies, consulates, associations) in the Philippines. Nothing is more difficult to find than a working phone number or an e-mail address.

At the end of 2008 we started a new project: The Expat's Forum. It is still under development, but we think by end of January or early February 2009 we will be able to put it on-line. The main purpose of this forum is the exchange of information between expats. visitors will also be welcome, but expats will have priority and more privileges.

We encourage all expats to send us their ideas, their needs and their experiences.

 And there is information for all those who can not or want not to come to the Philippines, but look for facts or pictures.

If you are fond of volcanoes, you find an interactive map of all active Philippines volcanoes in our Volccano page. For each volcano you find a description and a report of its latest activity.

If you look for maps or political information you find them in our geography and politics sections.

If you ar fond of cooking, have a walk with us on the local market. We also invite you to try Nara's recipes. And maybe in the near future Ierene will open here a cooking corner. (Hmm, we will have to get her away from her beloved stove ...).

Daily news are published in our blog. This can be information that shakes the country, cultural events or simply gossip. We also use our blog to inform our readers about new projects and new pages.

Hmm, it's so difficult to describe the Philippines because each one of the 7107 islands has its own identity, its own language or dialect, its own culture.

So, it is still the best idea to come here. See, feel, smell, experience the diversity of this archipelago in the South China Sea.

We hope to soon see you, hear from you or read your comments.

Let us say "Mabuhay", meaning "Yours is the life".

Your Silent Gardens Team

 

 

We encourage you to use our feedback and inquiry forms you can find on nearly every page. We try to answer your questions within 24 hours. We also wait for your critical comments. Only with your help we can get better.

And a last message. The editor of this website is deaf. He is happy because he lives in the Philippines and because he can hear again. A cochlear implant allows him to communicate, to enjoy music and share the laughter of the children. A bright "Thanks!" goes to the CRIC in Geneva.

In the Philippines over 2% of the people are deaf. Our editor wants to help them and imports hearing aids and sponsors ear clinics. If you want to help him, please make a donation to:

AA-Education, Geneva

An account balance is available on this page. Personal information will be kept confidential.

Welcome to the Silent Gardens and Beaches of the Visayas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer