Blogs from Manila, Philippines, Asia - page 13

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Asia » Philippines » Manila September 26th 2011

I am flying to Kota Kinabalu end of this month. What are the best things to do there?... read more

Asia » Philippines » Manila August 26th 2011

Såååå kom dagen da vi bestemte oss for å flytte residens igjen. ;) For de av dere som har lest forrige innlegg så vil dere forstå at det å stå opp klokken 06.00 er tidlig!! Måltrost på tur var litt for glade i drinkene, og bartenderne litt for gavmilde med gratis shotter dagen i forveien. Men "A man must do, what a man must do". Så da bar det tidlig opp for å ta en tricycle, 15-20 minutter til båten/ små ferjene som trafikkerer mellom Boracay og Catiglua (hvor flyplassen ligger), 15 minutter med båt, og så 5 minutter med tricycle igjen. Da var vi tidlig nok fremme til å rekke flyet vårt, siden vi var der 2 timer før avreise. MEN, som alle ferier/turer så dukker det alltids opp uventede ting. Vårt fly var kansellert. ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Manila July 9th 2011

As we changed our original plans and diverted to the Philippines for a few weeks, it was the first time we have gone to a new country without a Lonely Planet, without a plan of what we wanted to see and do and without knowing what was going to be behind the Pinoy door. But this is what this trip is all about, rolling the dice and seeing what numbers come up. So after a quick look at a map we decided that we would go and visit the banana shaped island of Palawan, the most westerly island in the Philippines archipelago. The basis for choosing this island its proximity to the Borneo state of Sabah- perhaps we could catch a boat across to the Malaysian state and explore it as we have only been to ... read more
El Nido- Pure and Brilliant
Diving El Nido Style
Suited and Booted

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate July 3rd 2011

I've been involved in some rather challenging case conferences this week that have given me lots to think about. One of them started at 8AM and lasted for 6 hours which was particularly draining but we were all given half time entertainment when an ex-Mayor of Manila turned up to give a rousing (I imagine it was rousing because there was clapping... alternatively the applause could have been induced by the fear of dirty politics) speech about how he was moving child protection work forward and that when he was in office he had built many sports venues (I was left wondering about the link too but people seemed to like it). Just as we were recovering from the Mayor's speech, another man came striding into the room with an entourage of about 10 people. Everyone ... read more
Pinapaitan
Pinapaitan
The Pastor

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate June 20th 2011

The start of last week gave me an insight into the Filipino court system. We travelled to Cavite which is about 30km south of Manila, however, it took about 90 minutes to get there because of the traffic (motorcycling here truly is dangerous and you need to be as skilled as Valentino Rossi (world champion motorcyclist) not to crash or be hit). The court from the outside looked like any other but as we walked towards it there was a flag raising ceremony with many court officials and police stood ready to raise the flag. The people I was with ran to the shade when they saw this and I didn't realise why until the national anthem started to play and everyone had to stand still as a sign of respect. I was left in the ... read more
Philippines 2011 day 11 005
Tagaytay
An old friend. Red Horse.

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate June 12th 2011

Well I've come to the end of a very busy first week at work and one that I have enjoyed immensely despite the challenges that I have encountered. This is the first real chance I've had this week to add a blog entry so apologies for not writing sooner. I started work on Monday and was asked to turn up at 9 AM - I thought that as it was my first day I'd have an easy time of it like most first day's in a new workplace... I couldn't have been more wrong. After meeting the work team and setting out my rota for the week I was given an induction reading policies and watching operational DVD's etc. From the induction it was obvious that the Child Protection Unit did exactly what it says on ... read more
Lunch at work on Sat
Philippines 2011 days 4-10 007
The social work team

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate June 3rd 2011

Well, I'm currently sat in my hotel room, tired, sweaty and happy. I've just arrived and almost everything went to plan. I must say that Cathay Pacific is probably the best airline I've flown with. Check in was easy at Heathrow, and the space you get in economy class was surprisingly good. There were loads of films and TV shows to watch - enough to keep anyone entertained and yes, Claire, I held back from watching Dexter 5. Straight off one plane at Hong Kong and onto the next where I was stopped at passport control. I handed over my boarding pass and the woman scanned it only to look up and say "I'm afraid we're going to move your seat... to Business Class". You can only imagine my delight after a 12 hour ride in ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate May 26th 2011

This past Monday, Stephen, my brother, sister, cousins and I attended the Maroon 5 Live in Manila at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay! It was a great concert and the group sang to a sold out crowd in Manila!! Before the concert, Stephen, Christine and I were able to meet Adam and the band! They were so much fun and Adam was a hottie!! :-) He was so suave dancing in the Arena. Check back later for some uploaded videos of the night. Adam Levine's rendition of Alicia Keys was delicious! Enjoy the pics!! Stelson... read more
Stelson, Chrissy & Maroon 5
Come on out Adam!
Maroon 5 concert with my siblings

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate May 19th 2011

Almost 36 hours of being in transit is a crazy amount. I almost would have preferred if the reason was because of more stops but no, alas it was because of the 16 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong which took up a good majority of our time. I had met up with some of the girls going on the trip at the first flight from Washington DC to New York which was nice so we could figure out where we were going together. In the end we agreed that New York was the worst airport. When we had landed there they took us around this really long path, out to the baggage area and then we had to wait in an extremely long line at the ticket counter and go back through the ... read more

Asia » Philippines » Manila » Malate April 27th 2011

After some more napping on the plane we were pleased to be touching down in the Philippines. We had been told that we would be able to extend our visas at the airport, but no matter how nicely we asked, the man at passport control wasn’t very forthcoming. He stamped our passports with a 21 day visa and told us we would have to get it done elsewhere. Enquiring at the ticket office the lady told us that if we wanted to catch a bus we would have to run for it. We couldn't catch a bus without money to pay so we had to find a cash point. We kept trying the cash point, but it didn't want to give us any money. The ticket lady wasn’t helping matters by standing over us tapping her ... read more
Notice the green cake eek!
Cock
Jeepney




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