Blogs from Philippines, Asia - page 318

Asia » Philippines » Mindanao April 9th 2006

Standing outside an internet café in the seedy part of town long after Cebu’s respectable citizens are safely tucked up in bed a sleaze ball eyes me from across the street. He flashes me that fraudulent smile common to con-men, pimps and confidence tricksters the world over, and having made ‘contact’ he takes his cue to cross over towards me. Just as he begins his pitch I try to save him the effort with a firm “No!” since it was pretty obvious what he’d be selling in this part of town. I’m on the defensive since I must look like a potential customer standing here in this squalid street stealing a quick smoke. This knocks him slightly off his game and he decides to stop a respectable distance from me before pitching again “You want girls?” ... read more

Grande Island

Asia » Philippines » Subic April 8th 2006

Grande Island

jillcutie

6 o’clock, Saturday morning - I was haggling with my phone’s alarm for another hour of slumber. I could still feel the booze in my veins that I obtained from our usual Friday night-out. But the thought of where we will be spending the day perked up all the adrenalin in my body. Yes! My itchy-feet will be pleased today. This day trip was somewhat a short notice, which was actually perfect, because we knew that it would materialize, instead of the long planning which usually do not push through as always. When our Finance Manager forwarded an email last week regarding Grande Island’s Special Promo, we immediately convened to avail it. Besides, the Promo was a cheap deal - Php 500.00 inclusive of entrance fee, round-trip boat transfers, and a plated lunch. We didn’t even ... read more

Samal Island

Asia » Philippines » Davao del Norte » Samal Island April 7th 2006

Pearl Farm Resort

GlenW

Tuesday morning Nino and I left early for a day trip to the Pearl Farm Resort on Samal Island. The boat left at 8am and took about 45 minutes, the resort is at the end of the island so it's a reasonably long trip considerng how close Samal Island is to Davao City (DC). Upon arriving we received a welcome drink of iced tea, we then claimed a outdoor Nippa hut to put our things and went for a swim, it was high tide and the water was very clean and refreshing. After swimming we played 8 ball in the games room (2 - 1 my way) and then toured the resort in one of the resort taxis. We decided to have an early lunch, the buffet was excellent, my favourte was the Lapu Lapu fllets ... read more

Davao

Asia » Philippines » Davao del Norte April 3rd 2006

Bird Gardens

GlenW

Florita and I left for Davao on Saturday morning, Dicky's driver picked us up in Dicky's new car, he got it the day before and hadn't even ridden in it himself. The plane was due to depart at 10.30am however it was delayed and didn't leave until 12.45pm, only 2 hrs and 15 minutes late - not bad for PAL (Practically Always Late). It was an Airbus and pretty full probably due to the school holidays that have just started here. Tito (Uncle) Pal, Tita (Aunty) Amy and Joey met us at the airport. I went with Joey and on the way to his house we called in to meet his partner Shine, they have a Salon that Shine manages. That night we had a barbeque at Joeys, the chicken was great along with Tuna, a ... read more

touch down

Asia » Philippines » Manila April 1st 2006

storm

at last. i landed in philippines. air asia lands in Clark, Pampanga. so i need to take the land transfer by bus - philtranco which waits for airasia passenger to Manila. 2 places it will stop in manila. since i'll be catching a domestic flight to cebu, stopping @ pasay would be a better choice. else, alight @ SM Megamall, Ortigas if you destination is @ Manila. taxi drivers here ... are leaches. well the first one i met, although i took my fren's advise to ask him to use the meter, but somehow the meter jumped to more than peso300 once the car move. since asianbelle told me my fare shouldnt be more than peso50, i decided to give him peso100 which i considered me being generous. however he raised his voice saying the flag ... read more

Update from SM Mega Mall

Asia » Philippines » Manila March 31st 2006

Megamall

GlenW

After updating the blog on Tuesday in Virac I went for a walk down to the water, there wasn't a lot to see so I went back to my hotel (Midtown Inn) and had a rest. At around 6pm I walked to the Sea Breeze, next to Virac Port and had dinner, I chose the sizzling Blue Marlin steak, the same as my last visit here a week earlier. Wednesday morning I woke early and got ready for the flight back to Manila, I arrived at Virac airport quite early and read my book until the flight was due to depart. The flight back was uneventful which is fine by me, fortunately I had a window seat so was able to enjoy some great views. Sitting next to me was a young Filipina (couldn't have been ... read more

Puraran Beach

Asia » Philippines » Catanduanes » Puraran Beach March 28th 2006

Puraran Beach

GlenW

I'm back in Virac after spending a week at Puraran Beach. The trip there consisted of a one and a half hour Jeepney ride from Virac to Baras and then a 5km tricycle ride from Baras to the beach. The tricycle drivers originally wanted 150 pesos (about $Au4) for the trip, I offered 50 pesos then sat down to see who'd crack first. One guy then gave me the story about how expensive petrol was etc so I said there's no way a local could afford to use the tricycles if that was the real price. He then dropped the price to 100 pesos and said that if locals use the tricycles they usually have 5 crammed into it, I'd be having it to myself so it was classified as a special trip. Fair enough point ... read more

Coron oh my Coron

Asia » Philippines » Palawan March 27th 2006

boatman in coron

sweet_sentiments

i have my own group that we call PexersLibotPinas Club............ we usually make travel plans during summer or whenever there's promo from PAL, cebupacific or whatever............... last summer me and some of my groupmates went to puerto princessa, palawan and pandan island/apo reef and this year it was coron, palawan.............. and once again i was amazed by how beautiful the philippines is......... the photos says it all right? coron island is postcard perfect, another one of the most scenic places in my country.......... stunning vertical limestone cliffs dropping directly into the ocean in beautiful lagoons............ coron island is a protected area declared as a tourist zone and marine reserve by the philippine government..................it is recognized as an ancestral domain of the ta... read more

Puerto Galera, White beach

Asia » Philippines » Mindoro » White Beach March 25th 2006

Wow Jetski Rentals

Aluel

Extra challenge survival budget getaway! Puerto Galera is your alternative to Boracay fun. It's cheaper & very ideal for groups. A 2-3 hour bus ride from Manila through the South Luzon Expressway & 1-1/2 hr ferry boat from the Batangas pier. In this trip, I went with Val's Medicine friends Block C, my brother, Robby & his bestfriend Chichong. We left Filinvest 1 Quezon City, our home at 4:30 AM. Papa drove us to the Tritran Bus Station, Kamias at 5AM. We arrived at the Batangas Pier at around 7:30AM in time for the 7:45 AM ferry boat. There are various ferries that could take you to Puerto Galera, but take note that the best would be the one that goes straight to White beach. Other ferries would be going to other ports like, Sabang, Muelle, ... read more

Diving Anilao

Asia » Philippines » Batangas March 25th 2006

I found Nemo's father!

annmariemarie

We hired a van for 2500 Php from Mandaluyong crossing to Planet Dive in Mabini, Batangas. The driver took us to a different route compared to the map I downloaded from Planet Dive's website. We got into the resort at 8am (we left Mandaluyong City at 5:30am) safely anyway so it was okay. It was just funny that the driver hasn't stopped complaining about the rough road till we got into our destination. Saddle Point Off we go to Saddle Point. This is my first dive for the weekend. It has been months since I last went diving so I probably would find myself grappling with my gears a bit. This boat dive had 7 other divers with Joey Fullon as our dive master. I descended the last because I found it difficult to equalize on ... read more

Brief history of Philippines

The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected President and was ta...more history

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