Blogs from Philippines, Asia - page 309

Welcome to the Philippines, a country made up of 7,000 islands, a place of cock fighting, karaoke and of text messaging (more than anywhere else in the world apparently). It is also home to some of the best beaches and diving in the world, it has a history of political corruption and unrest and there still certain areas of the country that are out of bounds to tourists. Our visit to the Philippines started with an epic plane journey from Perth to Singapore (disappointed that Singapore airport was just like any other & no chance to swim in their pool), a change of planes and onwards to Manila and then yet another flight to the Filipino city of Cebu all on the same day. No we don't know why Philippines has a P and Filipino an ... read more

My goodness I needed a holiday. The working lark is tough going on the body and soul, I seriously needed some R and R. After toying with the idea of China and Japan I decided to return to SE Asia again, but this time to the Philippines. Rather than take the bus like a normal person to the airport in Seoul (Incheon) I decided to take the metro as close as I could get then take a taxi. What a nightmare that turned out to be, I needed to flag down a taxi on the freeway, which then charged me almost $50 to the airport. In order to get back into Korea I needed a re-entry stamp from airport immigration, a process that I had read could take hours. I’m delighted to report that I was ... read more

Rob was leaving the country in a few weeks to join his Dad and this was our last trip together... Only for this year, I hope. Our schedules wouldn't allow us to go on a long vacation so we opted for a place that is not too far from the city. We've been meaning to go to Kinabuhayan Cafe since July (for my birthday) but events in our daily lives kept thwarting our plans off. I have read about this Bed and Breakfast joint for sometime and it certainly piqued the wanderer in me. After all, the offer of living in a 2-story kubo behind a Mt. Banahaw backdrop with Pinoy gourmet food was simply irresistible for us, two lovesick puppies, who just wanted to spend the most of our "left" time together. Having been able ... read more

AUGUST 7: Our flight to Butuan was 7hrs delayed due to shortage of airplane. I was disappointed because of the hassle of waking up early just to get in the airport on time, thinking I should have been sleeping in my room by this moment; instead I'm here waiting doing nothing. Around 4:00pm our flight was finally called. I choose the seat near the center so that I can sleep and not be destructed by the windows scenery. Around 5:00pm we arrived in Butuan. We meet the person whom my cousin arranged our transportation weeks before our trip. I’ve noticed that he seems worried, I’m about to tell my wife about it when I saw we're heading to a small multicab (maybe he’s thinking how a 17 person including baggage can fit in a small multicab). ... read more

First stop - Boracay Money down: P9750 for 4D/3N stay in Escondido Resort via PAL, airport transfer from Kalibo-Caticlan-Boracay and back, free daily breakfast I arrived at the Centennial 2 airport at around 11:30am of May 8 after much ado with all the traffic in Libis area. I've been in Centennial 1 and it was world class, pero CT2 was better. Ang ganda ng airport. Anyway, my flight was at 12:30 so medyo nagmamadali ako to check in kasi medyo 'tight' kuno ang security ngayon sa airports. As it had always been the case, pansin ko lang na parati na lang akong running late on my flights. Never had I been not hurrying in any of my trips. Babagal bagal kasi eh. We were already in kalibo at 1:30 and took the bus going to caticlan ... read more