Jim Sibbick first visited the Philippines in September 1994 and immediately fell in love with the culture and the people. He lives in Cebu City for part of the year and Australia for part of the year. While traveling to various areas of the Philippines, he shoots videos to bring a bit of the Philippines to those who have never visited or seen this wonderful country. He has more than 100 short videos of the Philippines currently hosted on two websites and available for you to download for free. Follow this site as he discusses his thoughts on the Philippines, new videos available for download and how some of the videos came into being.
Living at the Cebu Century Hotel
Single, travelling and on a tight budget? This place may be for you! 
I live half in Australia and half in the Philippines.
When in the Philippines, I stay at the Cebu Century Hotel cnr of Colon and Pelaez Streets in Cebu City.
I call it the no fuss way to live in the Philippines if you are single.
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The Newbies (3rd and last part)
(the continuing story of my first time in the Philippines in 1994)
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Travel by Superferry (A trip report about travelling on Superries 12 and 17)
Ever since I heard that the Superferry 12 had a swimming pool, several years ago, I have wanted to travel on it. I think I imagined it to be some sort of cruise ship.
In August 2005, I completed my long awaited trip on the Superferry 12 travelling from Cebu City to Manila and I think my expectations were greater than what was delivered but it was still a good ship to ride on. (more…)
The Newbies (part 2)
(continuing story of my first trip to the Philippines in 1994)
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The Newbies (Part 1)
In September 1994, when my friend Ian decided he would go to the Philippines to meet his pen pal, Anita, I was invited to go with him.
Later in the trip with my fiance. I think she is making a sign of V for victory. 
Ian is wearing the white singlet.
It was our first time in the Philippines however we didn’t travel alone because also travelling with us was Anita’s sister Imelda (who set up the pen pal arrangement and arranged for us to stay with her family as we travelled around), Imelda’s husband Joe and Imelda’s daughter Joanne.
Our only preparation for the trip was watching Joe and Imelda’s wedding video and the movie “Filipina Dream Girls” (still one of my favourites).
All the groups considered troublemakers now, such as the N.P.A., were active in the Philippines at the time but weren’t making headlines in Australia so no one thought to tell us it was unsafe in the Philippines and we never bothered to ask. So, we arrived thinking the Philippines was perfectly safe and as it happened, NOTHING on our trip caused us to think otherwise. It was only afterwards when we got back to Australia and our group of friends with connections to the Philippines widened that we received all the dire warnings about the Philippines. Don’t go here! Don’t go there! Don’t do this! Don’t do that! With all these warnings, I was left wondering how we survived to tell the tale without being stabbed, shot, mugged and kidnapped and all at the same time!
We arrived in Manila early evening. The big moment for Ian and Anita and—————————————————- NOTHING.
Instant unattraction is my impression of the meeting. We had arranged to spend two weeks together with Anita and we were off to a bad start. (more…)
Topics filmed
New to the Philippines and want to see what it’s all about?
Beside the tour videos, I have videos of the following topics, plus more, uploaded to Big Jim’s Philippines Experience.com and available for you to download for free:
Building a catamaran in Carmen
- Boat building
- Disability video (or in this case, no disability. made to show (more…)
Localities filmed
Are you wanting to tour around the Philippines and are seeking some ideas of where to go?
I have videos of the following locations, plus more, uploaded to Big Jim’s Philippines Experience.com and available for you to download for free:
View of Roxas Boulevard and marina from the Aloha Hotel
Around Iligan Bay in Mindanao - trip report
I recently undertook a trip to Northern Mindanao, in the area surrounding Iligan Bay.
Iligan Bay
Several of us travelled overnight from Cebu City to Ozamiz City on (more…)
Welcome
Hello Everyone and Welcome!
The site was originally created at CebuTours.com in July 2005 and was transferred here today, 11th August 2005.
Thankyou Paul Petrea for setting up this site, again!
This site is for me to share my experiences in the Philippines from 1994 up to the present as well as the experiences of my friends. While sharing my experiences, I will substantiate what I have to say with links, videos and pictures.
The pictures will display in the messages but you will notice as you read the messages that there are different colours in the text. That usually means there is something extra if you click on it, such as a link to a website or link to a video. If it is a video and you want to save it to your hard drive, right click on your mouse and select “save as”.
To read the rest of each message posted above, click on the (MORE) button
You will notice changes over time as Paul, myself and others learn how to use the site’s features.
Again, welcome and enjoy!
Regards from your host,
Jim Sibbick
You can contact me by email by sending your email to sibbick61@yahoo.com.au