Melon and Michelle say hello to Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore

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From one island- we move to another, Mactan.

Once we arrive in Mactan we are instantly ripped off by a taxi driver at the port, typical. Always always insist on a meter and never ask how much as they instantly make up a price and turn the meter off. At times you might have a battle on your hands but always go with the meter if you can. Our taxi driver, although a rip off merchant did get us to our resort. We were greeted by the staff who had no idea we were coming and tried to set us up in a more expensive room. I shouted loud enough that the owner gave us an upgrade (so he says) for the same price I originally booked for. His wife was a real life cruella deville. She was something out of a bad movie, stuck up, annoying and constantly puffing on her cigarette much to Michelle's dismay. Our room was nice enough, except for the MASSIVE spider on the wall. We called on security to get rid of it for us. He marched, with his gun ready to kill our unwanted visitor only to find he was too short to reach it and I had to find him a foot stall- poor sod. We later embarked on a voyage to the bar for some pizza and beer. of course I was bitten by mosquitoes because the bar was full of them! One good thing Cruella did do for us however was introduce us to a German diving instructor. If anyone is in Mactan and would like to go diving/snorkelling or island hopping I would recommend Mactan scuba Dive Centre-www.mactan-scuba-dive-centre.com Sebastian Lindner is the man in charge. He got us a good deal and went out of his way to make sure it was a great day for me as it was my birthday.

Neither Michelle or I have scuba dived before so we were both a little anxious as well as super excited. We both had a dive master each and of course a trusted skipper. mactan has some of the best diving sites in the world and although we werent allowed to dive too deep what we did see was amazing. The coral was gorgeous, all different colours, shapes and sizes. The fish were a friendly bunch, one even did a poop right by my face. We were taken to another island for a seafood lunch where I was given a chocolate birthday cake and a bracelet. After lunch we hit a second dive site. It was a lot better the second time as we both felt more confident. Poor Michelle didnt have her weight belt on properly and kept toppling over to one side. I nearly broke the boat by smashing into it with my oxygen tank (that thing is heavy), but other than that it was a brilliant experience. We would definitely both go diving again.

In the evening we found a floating restaurant that our dive instructor recommended. It was one of the few meals in the Philippines we actually enjoyed so it was an all round good food day! Our journey back to the resort was once again eventful. The tricycle drivers love to give you a hard time over the cost.

We didnt get to spend much time on Mactan Island but we did have lots of fun and if you stay away from the city, it really is a beautiful place. From Mactan we made our way to Puerto Princessa, Palawan and the Underground River.

M x

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