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From Wing Luke Museum in Seattle to a jeepney tour in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown, here’s how to make the most out of APAHM this year.

From a history of the German punk movement to an illustrated, kid-friendly guide to the world’s greatest mountain, there’s a book on this list for each adventurer in your life.

Overview

On any visit to the Philippines you can see people crowding into bright colored automobiles called the Jeepney. They are the most popular mode of public transportation in the Philippines! I became completely obsessed with the Jeepney upon my first visit to the country. The Jeepney has become ubiquitous with Filipino culture. The more flamboyant the paint job and the decorations the better. Often times the decorations make absolutely no sense although religious references and air brushed portraits of family and children are common attributes. The brighter the better to attract the customers needing rides. The Jeepney is a relic of WWII when the US military started to sell off the surplus jeeps to local Filipinos. Although I have heard many Filipinos tell me that a Filipino invented the “Jeep”… one of many claims I have heard during my visits to the Philippines. Riding in a Jeepney is a cultural experience that should be had when visiting the Philippines but know that they are crowded, hot, and are often filled with exhaust fumes especially if you’re in Manila. They have also been known to be robbed from time to time, so a tourist visiting the Philippines would want to share this experience with locals that know the Jeepney drivers and their routes.

Makati houses most of the big hotels like Makati Shangri-la, The Peninsula, Mandarin Hotel, New World Renaissance Hotel. It is the largest and most central business district where most major companies and banks are situated. It’s a relatively safe place to stay too, especially for visitors to the country. If you stay in the Makati hotels, you will also be quite near the big shopping malls, so it’s very easy access to restaurants, night life and of course, shopping. While Makati is a nice and comfortable area to stay in, your visit to Manila won’t be complete unless you go out and explore the other cities and municipalities which are quite near each other within the Metropolitan Manila. The city of Manila for example offers a lot of our historical attractions and museums. San Juan, you’ll find our famous bazaar shopping. Pasay, you’ll find the largest mall and a place along the bay to see the sunset. And Taguig, you’ll find a newly developed commercial area called The Fort for restaurants, nightlife, and shopping too. This used to be an old military base. Enjoy your stay :-)

Still in use today, the Ifugao Rice Terraces were carved into the hillsides of Ifugao Province by hand some 2,000 years ago, and are fed by an elaborate irrigation system that captures water from the forests above. While many people explore this famed landscape from the town of Banaue, the Banaue Rice Terraces cluster here isn’t technically part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras UNESCO World Heritage site. These terraces are, however, designated a National Cultural Treasure by the Philippine government and are undeniably spectacular. But probably the most impressive of all the terraces are at Batad, a tiny, remote village in the municipality of Banaue that is only accessible by foot. Thanks to their pristine condition, these terraces—along with four other clusters—are included in the UNESCO inscription. The reward for your hike up is a panorama of a kind of enormous amphitheater where each level is actually a rice paddy and where the village of Batad takes the place of the central stage at its base. Maximize your experience by staying in one of the indigenous huts and wake up to a view of the terraces before you even get out of your cot.