A philippino birthday and Singapore

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From Kota Kinabalu we caught a plane haeading to the Phillipines on the 9th June at around 15:45. The plane was a little late but we arrived at Manila or so we thought at around 6 in the evening. At the airport with both me and Sam both feeling ill from food poisining (well thats what im going with) we immediately came to our first stumbling block as we were infact not in manila but Clark airport around a 2 hour drive away. After a little confusion and alot of hassle from taxi drivers we got on a bus to Manila. Once in Manila we got into a taxi and headed to a hostel we had previously looked up on the internet called the townhouse motel. Despite being extremely cheap costing around 225 pesos (around 2 pounds 80) the place was an absolute dive and me and barbs both as mentioned earlier not in the best of health had to share a tiny bed in a pretty shabby room with no air conditioning. The next morning we decided that it would be best to get the hell out of manila and head down to an island called Pureto Galera to recover and enjoy a bit of sun/the island life style. So we caught a bus in Manila down to Batangas which took a couple of hours and from there we jumped on a boat to Puerto Galera.

When we got of the boat at Puerto Galera we had no plans so we went on the internet and decided to jump on a trike (kinda like a taxi but its a bike with a side cart) and headed to White Beach to find some accommodation. Once at White Beach we immediately found somewhere to stay with the help of our trike driver. The place was called white beach resort, and we had a private, en suite, air conditioned room with a double bed each and cable tv. The room was a little more expensive in Manila costing around 400 pesos each but the improvement was unbelievable for an extra couple of quid or so, and was just what we needed to get over our food poisoning/bug or whatever it was. The only issue we had was that there was no cash point at Whites beach and the nearest one to us was back at the boat port we had got off at around 15 minutes away. So in order to pay for the room and to have some cash we jumped back on the trike back to the port to withdraw some money. On the way to the cash point our trike came to a sudden stop on a pretty big hill, we kinda wondered what was going on only to find out that we had run out of petrol, so the driver ended up pushing the trike to the top of the hill then we jumped on and free styled down to the petrol station, very funny. The rest of that day we just chilled out got something to eat and watched tele, rock and roll baby!!!!

The next day was the 11th and my 25th birthday. As we were both still feeling a little ropey it was a relatively low key affair. The day was spent mulling around the market stores, chilling on the beach and watching the re-run of an england footie game in our room. We both managed to purchase some board shorts, each pair we bought costing around 1 pound 50 which is stupidly cheap but how long they will last is a little questionable!!! That night barbs took me out for a feed at a mexican place which was really good and we ended the night having a cheeky cocktail called a mindoro sling (rum and juice and things??!!) at a bar on the beach. On the 12th feeling unusually fresh for a day after a birthday and feeling a lot better than i had the previous few days we deciced to hire out bikes for the day and explore Puerto Galera island. The views we saw whilst riding around the island were just spectacular. We stopped of at a few different places, first was Tamaraw falls which are obviously waterfalls, here we had a swim and took a few photos. Then we stopped at Sabang, another area of the island mainly known for its diving and night life, here we looked for places to stay for a couple of nights with very little success. After a while at Sabang we headed to Minolo to find a lookout called ponderosa up a massive hill unsuccessfully before returning back to whites beach. Going around the island on bikes was great fund and well worth the 8 quid we spent on it!! That night we eat at a place on the beach, they had kebabs set out on display which looked extremely good so we decided to give it a go. We soon realised however that we had come to a bar that was being run by transexuals, who would regularly do dance routines to certain songs and were just generally acting as one would expect. The food was very good and the whole atmosphere made for a rather amusing meal. Despite it being a friday night we had not planed for a big night so we headed to a bar just for one cocktail jug before going back to the room. However one kinda lead to two and before we knew we were accompanied by the bar staff and a group of french girls in our drinking activities. After around 5 jugs of various cocktails and being extremely drunk by looking at some of the photo's we decided to call it a night.

The last couple of days on Puerto Galera were spent just chilling out on the beach getting a little burnt and having a look around the little market stores on the beach front. On the 15th June we decided to leave Puerto Galera and head back to Manila for a couple of days to experience the city life in the Philippines. So at around 9 in the morning we caught a boat back to Batingas and then a bus up to Manila. We managed to get off the bus on the wrong side of the city to that of where we were staying so we jumped in the taxi and had our first real experience of the traffic and chaos on the roads in Manila. The taxi took around an hour with the majority of that spend just sitting in traffic and trying to maneuver in and out of it to gain a few yards. The fare was still stupidly cheap though costing around 3 pounds each. We stayed at a place called the Annex in the Quezon city region of the city. That night we decided to go out for a few beers, and the first bar we walked into had a band playing, and a few attractive lady's in it so we thought it looked ok. After purchasing our first beer we were approached by an older lady who was offering her girls to us, we had obviously walked into a hooker bar. We finished our beers and moved on to a bar down the road where we got 12 beers for around 3 pounds which was a result. There wasn't much going on so we called it a night after we had finished the beers. On our final day in Manila and the Philippines we went to the SM Mall of Asia as it was torrential rain pretty much all day. Our journey there and back was again pretty chaotic with drivers fighting for space on the road and generally not making much progress. The mall itself was gigantic and is meant to be one of the biggest in the world and whilst we were there we had a look around the shops, went to the cinema and messed around for a while in the arcades. We visited a fast food place native to the philippines called Jolli bee that night and had a meal for around a quid which was ideal. On the 17th June we caught a bus up to Clark airport and caught a plane to Kuala Lumpur at around midday.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur (kl) at around 4pm and jumped on the airport shuttle bus to Puduraya Bus station and booked in at the red dragon hostel in China town. That night we booked bus tickets down to Singapore to see my aunt and uncle and just had a little wonder around the markets in kl. We caught the bus at 10 the next morning and arrived at singapore at 4.30 where we were met at Jurong east bus station by my Auntie Anne and Uncle Dave. We headed straight to there house on south Buona vista road and on to Vista park complex where they live. Me and Barbs immediately took advantage of the swimming pool at the complex and after dinner we all headed out to a place called Harry's down the road for a couple of beers. On the Friday Anne took me and Barbs to the harbour front MRT station (underground train system) via a short bus journey. Me and Barbs hopped of the train at Chinatown had a short walk around seeing the Sri Mariamman Hindu temple which was being renovated and the markets before getting on the hop on hop off bus around the city. Our first stop was to the botanic gardens where we had a look around and went into the national orrchid garden. Next stop we took was on Orchard road where we went to plaza singapura and Istana (presidents official residents) which was closed to the public. After there we got of at Marina bay and walked to the Singapore flyer, fountainof wealth (which wasn't going), St Andrews cathedral, the war memorial, city hall and Parliament house. From there we headed back to Chinatown and on to the MRT back to Harbour front where we jumped onto the bus. After around 20 minutes on the bus i realised that we were infact back in the city and we had caught the right bus but going the wrong way, so we got off at the next stop crossed the road and headed the right way, we are fools!!! Despite catching the wrong bus and many of the attractions being renovated or not running i had a really good day and really liked the vibe that Singapore gave off. That night Anne and Dave took me and Sam out for a meal at a place called Hoo-Ha's, the food was excellent and everyone had a good night.

The next day was a Saturday and after we all went on a walk around east coast park Sam caught a bus heading towards kl to make his way up to thailand where he was going to meet his brothers. For the rest of the day i headed to Sentosa on the monorail where i went down to Siloso beach for an hour or so, and then headed towards the tiger sky tower in Imbiah. I went up the sky tower where i saw fabulous views over the city and then had a little walk around Imbiah where i saw the Merlion as well as other various bulidings and statue's. On Sunday Anne and Dave took me to Haw Par Villa which is a walk through park/garden with lots of statues and various scenes acting out stories from Chinese folk law. The gardens or parks were extremely interesting and very unusual with the main attraction probably being the 10 courts of hell where you go through a tunnel and it shows you through 3d sculptures all the punishments hell gives you for committing various crimes. Some of the punishments are a little gruesome and in some cases harsh as some of the crimes aren't that bad for eg cheating in an exam. Lets be honest we've all done that at some point in our lives!!!!! In the afternoon we went to the Asian Civilisation museum, which again was very interesting and opened my eyes up to a lot of the cultures im going to and have experienced. In the evening we went for a meal at clarke quay and watched part of the Singapore water festival on the Singapore river. The river looked pretty spectacular lit up at night, as did some of the boats on parade.

On my final full day in Singapore i went down to Vivo city shopping mall where i had a look around the shops and got extremely lost and confused as it is just enormous, i found myself walking round in circles regularly. I spent the rest of the day chilling in the pool, writing this and just generally relaxing.

Tomorrow i head up to Thailand to meet back up with Barbs and his brothers and before i go would just like to say a massive thank you to my Aunt and uncle for putting both me and Sam up and for showing us a great time in Singapore, cheers guys!!! Take care people and will keep you all updated on my adventures in Thailand, laters!!!!

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Photos

Chilling on whites beach
Its a hard life!!

Birthday meal
how romantic, ha!!!!

cont
gaying it up in the gardens!!!!!