Angeles gets a negative rap because let’s face it – there’s not much to do here for tourists. It’s not a very beautiful city, there’s no beach, no attractions other than a water park and yearly balloon festival, and it can be pretty dirty, polluted, and corrupt. The tourist department tries to bill it as the culinary capital of the Philippines, but honestly, you’ll find more variety and arguably better food in Manila.

But it’s not all bad. What it does offer is a slower pace then Manila, a whole lot less traffic (even during rush hour) and some international services are slowly coming online year after year. New malls, IMAX, better internet, better healthcare facilities and a lot of building In the Clark Economic Zone. Things are changing.

1. Things to see

Who can say what the future of Angeles will be? The past had two main influences; the American base which brought money and bars to the area, and Pinatubo which drove the American base away and almost squashed Angeles under tons of ash.

Today It’s mostly come back, although you can still see remnants in the old abandoned buildings with caved-in roofs, and of course the miles of lahar when you go near the volcano.

There is still real problems with infrastructure; internet that cuts out and ‘brownouts’ – really blackouts. Sometimes that last 8hr at a time with no warning. I’m not sure how companies are supposed to do business with no electric or internet, but I guess they get by.

ABC pool

Shops

Around town

Friends house

ABC Hotel

The wig

More around town

A cute cat!

2. Nightlife

Angeles is an entertainment center at heart. A place where foreigners and Filipinos do their best to mix and accept each other’s differences. At first, it was mostly American tourists and returning GI’s that decided to retire in the Philippines, (probably many of them had been based here when the base was opened), and now it appears that Koreans are quickly becoming the main tourists. There’s even a thriving Korean Town full of 40+ restaurants that gets busy at night.

The bars are still in place, but getting smaller, often a bar will close and you’ll find a nail salon, cafe or Hello Kitty store open up – so, on one hand, the nightlife scene is dying (or at least contracting). On the other hand, you see more construction of high-rise condos being built than ever. As if the builders expect a flood of tourists to come pouring into the now smaller nightlife areas that are 3x the price they were a decade ago. So, there’s a mismatch of agendas. Who knows how it will all work out.

3. Spend

There are a few good hotels in Angeles. ABC Hotel is one of the best, with two pools, a pool club with a (sometimes) DJ on nights and weekends, and comfortable western-style rooms and food. It’s still pricey compared to what you can get in Bangkok, but it’s probably the best hotel on offer in Angeles today. Other hotels have faded from their glory like Lewis Grand and others. There are cheaper options – Wild Orchid, and some of the many new hotels that are constantly coming online.

As far as I know, there are no souvenir shops in Angeles, you spend on your hotel, food, and nightlife.

4. Food

Food is everywhere, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Pizza, Filipino food, Greek, hotel food and hole-in-the-wall food.

5. Getting Around

You can rent a bike, take the Jeepneys or hire a trike. Beware that trikes in Angeles will offer prices directly equivalent to how stupid you look. If you’re a foreigner and look like an easy target that price might go up 3x. But even as a Filipina I’ve often been quoted twice the amount. You just have to go to the next trike to find a good fare. Taxis from the hotel are also on offer, and now Grab has come online which promises even lower fares.

Unfortunately, this is not one city that you want to walk around in the daytime or especially at night, there have been numerous bag snatches, stabbings, rapes, kidnappings, and robberies. It’s much safer to have a driver you trust to take you from Point A to B. You also want to keep a low profile with how you dress.

6. Costs

Visiting Angeles doesn’t have to be expensive, and can be a nice break for a long weekend. There is plenty of street food, cheap bistros and lots of Filipino food on offer.

7. Tips

Because this is a tourist town you have to watch out, it’s still retains a bit of the old wild west.

At first glance, Angeles doesn’t seem like it has the infrastructure to become a good tourist destination, but I guess the nightlife and now the western accommodations are coming online. Additionally, aggressive building on Clark may change the face of Angeles forever.