The Phillipines - Manila to Malapascua Island

Hello from the Philippines.

We arrived into the budget terminal at Manila Clark Airport which unfortunately is about 3 hours taxi ride from the city centre (Andrew got excited by the cost of the really cheap flight but didn't factor in the really expensive taxi ride!  This is definitely something we have learnt on this trip - things are cheap for a reason and they always end up costing your more in the end) but luckily we met a Danish couple so we were able to split the cost with.  It turned out to be a fairly interesting trip as they were WWF workers (wildlife kind) and we spent the journey listening about projects they were working on.  Although some were really interesting we weren't really enamoured with their current project; all they were doing for a week was... counting birds! We couldn't really hide our disappointment with that one... "oh, that sounds like fun"!  Someones got to do it though, it just couldn't be us. Although the birds were called boobies and with our juvenile humour that raised a laugh - ha, how old are we!  Andrew also cracked a bad animal joke which went down like a lead balloon (although I found it funny and was thinking the same thing)!

We have realised on our trip that our humour doesn't really go down too well with the different cultures that we have met (actually not sure if it went down in the UK), but we keep each other amused at least, which is a good thing as we have been on the road together for so long you would have thought we would have driven each other crazy (cant say that we haven't had a few moments, but all in all, no problems).

When the taxi driver finally found our hotel, we dumped our bags and went to go and find something to eat.  One of the first places we came across was a place called "The Hobbit House" which was founded as the owner was so inspired by Tolkiens "Lord Of The Rings" books that he wanted to open a bar staffed by little people!  How weird.. there is loads of pictures outside of the bar of the little people and a mural of LOTR which you can see below.  (If you don't believe us have a look at the www.hobbithousemanila.com)

You had to enter a little entrance to get in the bar, it all looked a bit freaky to me, don't get me wrong I love LOTR and I love watching the TV Show - Little People, Big World on Sky, however this was a step too far for me.  So instead we went into this Aussie bar and had a beer and some food and listened to a duo singing.. imagine the final scenes in a version of Filipino Phoenix Nights!  The singing was awful but it was pure comedy evening just sitting in the bar. We found out that the Philippines has the cheapest beer in the world!  Good times ahead.
One interesting observation during my first night in Philippines (which has continued throughout our trip of this country) is how many western, old, ugly, wrinkly men are with young, pretty Filipino women.  They are everywhere.  It really is disgusting, obviously the girls are of legal age however I cannot get my head around how a 22 year girl could be with a 75 yr old man, even if has a huge wallet!  I find it gross but yet intriguing.  I even had one young/old combination couple snogging in front of me like a pair of teenagers whilst eating my dinner in a restaurant! Yuck, Yuck, Yuck!

The following morning we took a wonder round trying to find a ATM.  We had arrived in Manila on Election Day which thoughts of had scared me initially however everywhere was so quiet and the complete opposite of what I can imagined that we had no problems at all. 
Two things the Philippines is obsessed with is San Miguel and Manny Pacquiao!  He is everywhere - pictures, posters, billboards, paintings, newspaper articles.. they love him.

It was quite cool to see the local mode of the transport doing its rounds - the Jeepney - which is a pimped up long van which blasts out music and are found in a range of crazy colours where you can see/hear them coming for miles.

We didn't quite have a "Thrilla in Manila" (sorry had to get that in somehow) - We found Manila to be quite a dark, edgy place, slightly dirty and few beggars (though no comparison to the Indian cities we have ventured into) but our time in the city was rather uneventful as it was only a short stop over before heading for a bit of beach life on Malapascua Island.  We were flying to Cebu that day where we would stay for 1 night before arranging a taxi to take us to Maya in Cebu which is about a 3hr drive, in order to head to Malapacsua Island.

From Maya we had to get a public Bangka boat to take us across to Malapascua.  The boat was full to the brim of local passengers so we were packed on like sardines.  

We realised that we had arrived in Malapascua for Fiesta which was going to take place over the next 3days.

Malapascua Island is situated in the Visayan sea, located across from the Northern tip of Cebu.  Malapascua is a tiny Island, only 2.5km long and 1km wide and has eight hamlets.

We had arranged to stay for 1 week at a place called Tepanee Beach Resort in a A/C cottage.  Tepanee was a beautiful place to stay, the rooms were created in keeping with the environment.  It had its own private beach and was next to a lovely Italian restaurant.

There isn't much to do on Malapascua Island which suits me and Andrew down to the ground.  We spent the days snorkeling (our new found hobby), playing scrabble and drinking lots of lovely red Italian wine (had lots of time to make up as due to the red wine drought of the rest of Asia).



Here are some of the photos from our time in Malapascua Island

Me chilling out at lunch time on Bounty Beach, hopefully you can see my tan developing here.  By the way, I do have other clothes its just that I always end up taking the camera out when I have this outfit on so I always look like I have this t-shirt on!

For all you scrabble lovers out there... this was how one of our games started - what a nightmare!








These local girls liked to come and chat with us... every time we walked along the beach we heard our names being shouted, they were very sweet and they did painted my nails for me.  They were forever trying to get us to buy shells as this is how they make they money to buy their toys and nail polish.

In return, I did their make up for them - they had not worn make up before and thought that they were princesses fluttering their eye lashes and decided they were going to show off at the Fiesta.  Actually the second day we saw them and we asked about the Fiesta and they said they had partied until 5am in the morning!  They were only ages between 6 - 10, god, puts us to shame!
The Fiesta music and local DJ blared across the island all night and all day for 3 days - if we hear Akon, Lady Gaga or Rhianna once more on our trip then we may just have to throw ourselves off the nearest passing boat.

This is a local business man.  Aged 4, he had his patter off to a t!  I never buy things from beach sellers normally but he was so cute and little that I couldn't help it.  His name was Romelle and he said he needed the money for school things (I know I am a sucker!) so I purchased a shell for 50 pesos (which is a LOAD of money for a little kid) and he was a very happy boy.
I took the shell and put it back in the sea!

The nicest thing was that as we were leaving the Island he saw me and came running up to me, wrapped his arms around me and gave me the biggest hug and then run off without saying anything.  Even Andrew's heart melted as it was just so cute.


Paradise lost... could get stuck on Malapascua Island for a long time

We found 2 really good restaurants on the Island - La Isla Bonita for local food and Angelines, the Italian.   This is Andrew in La Isla Bonita after enjoying a Bicol Express (pork, baguio beans, chillis, garlic, coconut cream).

We had a great night one evening in Angelines enjoying red wine by the litre whilst eating parma ham, olives, salami and Italian cheese and homemade bread!  After god knows how many months without it, it was heavenly.  We then went home and watched The Godfather 1, followed by 2 (tried watching the 3rd but it was a load of rubbish so we gave up half way through) - so we felt rather Italian.  Who would have thought that you would get a superb Italian half way across the world!

During every sunset when the tide had washed away the sea bed was full of the locals collecting shells and mollusces.














We made some friends on Malapascua Island, Jade and Ken from Canada who were also staying at Tepanee .  We went out for a meal and had a few drinks and had a fab time, they were really lovely people.

Andrew says that he didn't want to embarrass Ken by taking his top off, he says his fitness regime of 2 press ups a day for the last 3 days is paying off big style so he thought it best to leave the top on....

That's our adventures told for this part of the trip.  The next stage is to go to Panagsama Beach, near Moalboal for more relaxation and snorkeling before heading off to Donsol to swim with the whale sharks...

The Philippines... TO BE CONTINUED

Lots of Love Sarah & Andrew xxx




Have a look at our new world food blog website The Food Atlas.com for world food recipes and stories.
Are you interested in food recipes from around the world? Have a look at www.thefoodatlas.com
Computer speed problems? www.systemoptimizer.org

Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

Hello from Kota Kinabalu.  Hope all is good with you all, you will be glad to hear that we are still having a wonderful time on our trip and enjoying ourselves in SE Asia.

Kota Kinabalu (KK) is located on the west coast of Sabah, Borneo. The city lies on a narrow flatland between the Crocker Range to the east and the South China Sea to the west.
Five islands (Gaya, Sapi, Manukan, Sulug, Mamutik) are opposite the city, and their surrounding waters, are preserved as the Tunku Abdul National Park.

KK is known for its beautiful sunsets, which you can see from the above photo we took.  I promise that this photo has not been photoshopped (or photo fake as I like to call it) this is actually how it was and this wasnt even on a good day day either, as it was very cloudy, but yet it is still amazing.

We were due to spend nearly two weeks in KK as Andrew had planned to climb Mount Kinabalu and I was going to chill out by myself for a few days in a nice hotel.  However plans had to change as he started researching it, it dawned on him that he wasnt quite in peak physical condition to climb a mountain that is 4 times the size of Snowdon!  I think that when he read a quote from a successful marathon runner that it nearly killed him that he decided to park the thought.  So we have spent the last 12 days in KK enjoying what the city has to offer.

This is me on KK Esplanade

We went into a shopping mall to get some relief from the heat and there was  large group of people offering some free treatments - this was Andrew having the eye massage.  I didnt like it one bit they squirted this liquid right in your eyes, it was nasty.

They also offer sinus treatments but this involved shoving all sorts up your nose and cotton buds and then someone actually unblocks your nose and all this gunk drips out of it,  I politely declined and started heaving as snot started pouring out of peoples noses as shoppers walked by, yuck!!
 

This is Andrew donning the eye massage glasses which they give you to wear for 5 minutes after squirting that stuff in your eyes.  The treatment is meant to improve your eyes and make them shiny however I think it was a big con as they didnt look/feel any different.

We also both ended up having a really bad cold after this, I think it was all the germs flying round from other people having the sinus treatment.

The staff at our hotel told us about this open air seafood court - you can select the fish you want to eat from the many tanks which you can see from the photo below - there was so many different fish it was unbelievable, we had not heard of lots of the either. 

The freshest fish you can get really and it was lush.

This is me at the seafood court.  It is open air but then if it rains they have a roof which comes across, a bit like the Cardiff Millenium Stadium but on a slightly smaller scale!
















We were told by the locals to have the soft shell crab so that is what we did - this is the before and after shots! (sorry all you fish lovers).  The crabs are caught just as they have shedded their skin so when they are served you eat everything due to the softness of the skin and the crab itself, it was very nice indeed.

We went on a boat trip to Manukan Island.  We head to get a boat from the jetty, now, I am not scared of boats or water at all normally however we had the devil driving us I think that day, it was a speedboat and the driver drove like a nutter and the water was choppy.  I thought that we were going to tip over, it scared the life out of me and took about 2 hours to recover when I actually got to the island.  We had a lovely day snorkelling and chilling out by the water looking at fishies as there was lots.  It was a local holiday so the place it was very busy with locals enjoying their extra day off.

This is Manukan Island.

This is me looking a right idiot in a snorkel!  I had to put it on though as Andrew made me... I can hear you all laughing at me...

These are some of the fishies in the water

We didnt have a hotel for a couple of nights as ours was booked up so they recommended that we spend some time up in Mount Kinabalu National Park.  They sorted us out a lovely lodge called J Residence, just outside of the Park.  It was truly amazing and we had the most spectacular views.  The lodge itself was made of lot of glass windows (even the bathroom) so you could see the mountains and jungle from every angle.  It was a great place to recouperate from our colds and get some fresh air and away from the hot, stuffy city.

This is Andrew outside our lodge and you can see our room on the right.

We woke up the following morning to find lots of insects and bugs outside our room, we have never seen so many different colours... this is a moth which had landed on our room number.

This is Andrew enjoying the view from our balcony just after lunch, we threw a few games of scrabble after this picture was taking (I lost 3-0!! rubbish, but I have come back from worse leads before so rematch in the Phillipines me thinks)

This is Mount Kinabalu.  Andrew woke up at 6.30am and went for a 4 hour hike round the National Park (I was otherwise engaged at this ridiculous time of the morning which wont surprise you all).  

He saw lots of weird and wonderful flowers which you can see below and even got chased a little by a wild dog which was bit scary

This is Andrew doing his Bear Grylls impressions  ... luckily Andrew had the luxury of having our lovely lodge near by to relax, oh sorry that is what Bear Grylls does anway!

(dont worry, this was only on the balcony of our lodge and the drop was only 20ft or so, I can confirm that Andrew wasnt hurt in the creation of this blog)

This is picture is of me and Andrew on our balcony trying to film a video for the twins, we were trying to get the pose right but instead we get another picture of me looking stupid again!

Time to sign off now from Borneo, we are flying to the Phillipines tomorrow where we will spend 1 night in Manilla and then Cebu before heading to Malapascua Island for at least a week.  Hope you have enjoyed our Borneo and we will be in touch soon to update you on the Phillipines. Take care, Sar & Andrew xxxx

Have a look at our new world food blog website The Food Atlas.com for world food recipes and stories.
Are you interested in food recipes from around the world? Have a look at www.thefoodatlas.com
Computer speed problems? www.systemoptimizer.org