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)
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.
We realised that we had arrived in Malapascua for Fiesta which was going to take place over the next 3days.
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
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
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This is a very magnificent island, great place to dive too. A perfect island to have some R&R because of its laid-back atmosphere, this is always my first island destination in my summer vacation.
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