In Manilla - Philippines

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Dear all,
Its been a while since I last wrote but I am now back in the real world! We spent a month on Gili Trawangan near Lombok and really enjoyed our time there. The diving was amazing and we made lots of new friends. We stayed in a lovely room and both felt quite sad to leave.
Being on a paradise island was not without its own frustrations including lack of abilty to communicate with the rest of the world, frequent power cuts and lack of any medical facilities. I had a bad stomach bug and had to tell the doctor which antibiotics to give me! I am much better now.
We left Gili T on a fast speed boat which took us straight to Bali. We stayed one night in Bali but both found the traffic very annoying after being on such a quiet island. Then we flew to Singapore and onto Manilla.
We arrived here last night. We have only ever been to Manila Airport so actually venturing out into the city was a little bit scary. We are based in an area called Malate and have found an ok hotel. This morning we went to Robinsons Plaza...a massive shopping centre! The christmas decorations were up and all of the Philipino people were doing their Christmas shopping. I heard loads of Christmas carols but it doesnt feel quite right when it is so hot outside!
We have been offered some work over the Christmas period by a dive school on an island called Mactan. So we will explore Manila for a few more days and then head there.
I had better be going. I will upload as many photos as possible now that I have a good connection.
Take care all of you and have fun with the Christmas preparations!
Wendy
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Photos

Speed boat that took us to Bali
Its called Bluewater...thats the closest I am going to Bluewater this year!!!