Phileppines and singapore

---

When we woke up on the day we were meant to leave for Manila, we were both feeling pretty terrible to say the least. Weather it was food poisoning, sun stoke or whatever, we were rough! And the prospect of a days travel to the Philippians was not a challenge that i relished !

By the time we got to the airport in KK it was a sad state of affairs. The flight however, thankfully, was OK. We arrived in what we thought was Manila just wanting to get our heads down and recover as fast as possible. So unsurprisingly we were pretty pissed of when we arrived only to find out we were another two hours from our hostel and the center of Manila! I guess thats what happens when you try organizing things when your sick! So without many options left we gritted our teeth and settled in for a long coach journey and a 20 min white knuckle taxi ride, feeling pretty average.

When we finally arrived at the 'Townhouse hostel' our love for always finding the cheapest hostel caught up with us. It was a nasty little guest house, and we were showed to our room where we discovered that we were sharing a small double bed! And far from the luxury's of air-con!
All we both wanted at this point was a drink (water) and some sleep, but that was a bit to much to ask at this hostel so we found ourselves wandering the streets for half an hour trying to find a corner store to but some drinkable water. When we eventually made it back to our room we bedded down and did our best to get some well needed shut eye.

The next day we were feeling just a tiny bit better, but as we only had a week in the Philippians we didn't have the luxury of time to feel sorry for ourselves. So we made our way to the bus station where we boarded the first possible coach down to the port of Batangas, where we were to get a connecting boat to the island of 'Puerto Galera. Not helping our state was the incredible amount of touts trying to flog us anything and everything and not exactly taking no for an answer. It was a far cry from the relative peace and quiet of Malaysia. So that said we were hoping with all our hearts that when we got to Puerto Galera it would be a nice sanctuary for us to chill out recover and have some much anticipated beach time! And it delivered.....big time.

When we got to the port in Puerto Galera, we made our way to an internet and began our search for a hostel/hotel to base ourselves. It looked like the town of 'White Beach' was going to be our best option, it promised white sands and a lack of tourists, perfect for our needs at the time, and once more we were not disappointed. After a 20min ride on a trike (their version of a taxi, basically a motorbike with a side car) we arrived at our destination and checked our selves in to a hotel. Which although a pound more expensive a night each, it came with sky TV, two separate double beds , hot showers a balcony and all the other amenity's that we could have hoped for, things were certainly starting to look up!

The next day it was Millsys birthday and thankfully we were both feeling much better, so we decided to go and have a little recce. It was beautiful. A perfect tropical beach, complete with white sands, handicraft stalls, clear turquoise waters and a few beach side bars thrown in for good measure. And the best thing of all, there was barely another traveler in sight.

A day of perusing the many stalls and clothing shop's followed by a little lie on the beach and a swim. Compared to the night before, we had literally landed in paradise!
I then took millsy out for a birthday dinner at a near by Mexican restaurant, which was amazing. Then a quick stop in one of the bars for the islands very own cocktail pitcher called a 'Mindoro sling', made with rum and various fruit juices.

The day after we were pretty much at 100% so we decided to rent out motorbikes and do a tour of the island. We went all the way across the length of the island to Tamarow falls, a really nice waterfall coming down the mountain, with a nice lagoon at the bottom for swimming, which we didn't need to be asked twice to take advantage of.
Once dried off we made our way to the resort town of Sabang. Not bad place but much more developed than White Beach with a lot more travelers lining the streets. So after a quick drink we went in search of Ponderosa. A view point in the heart of the island. Though we didn't end up finding it, we managed to get to a few choice vantage points, then made our way back to the hotel for a quick clean up and a meal. The restaurant we chose seemed very nice to start with, a BBQ out front and tables on the beach at the back. It seemed perfect! unfortunately after ordering we discovered that it was transvestite bar, where the overly camp host treated all the clientèle to renditions of cheesy pop tunes and with his fellow waiters in tow the dance routines to match! Not exactly the quiet beach side meal we had envisaged, but it was pretty funny and the food wasn't bad.
After the that we decided to head to a bar for a couple of quick drinks before bed. However one jug led to 4 or 5 and by the end we had been joined by the bar staff and 3 French girls. It was about 3am when we finally stumbled home a little worse for wear, but it had been a very funny night filled with random chaos.

The next day was a right off. When we finally did, decide to leave the safety of the hotel for a meal, within 20 minutes, the entire staff of the transvestite bar from the previous night came in and sat at the table next to us then proceeded to sing karaoke very badly and very loudly! Not what we needed on a hang over!

We had a good day spent on the beach and making many random purchases, followed by a really nice meal and another Mindoro sling. A perfect way to end our time on Puerto Galera.

Early the next morning we headed off to catch our ferry back to Batangas where we connected back to the delights of Manilla? After an hour or so in a taxi through the busy streets of manilla, we made it to to our hostel. The 'four season's hometel. Not bad palce for the money, though the staff wernt exactly helpful!

That night after a feed (mcdonalds! oh dear) we decided to give manillas nightlife whirl. Without many actual bars on offer, we walked in to what looked like the most promising option. Unfortunatly after we had ordered our drinks we had a proper look around and we realised that beer was not the only thing for sale!
Needless to say we left after those beers, and after a bit of trapsing around we found real bar with an acoustic set playing and 12 beers for the not unreasonable price of 2pounds 50! We played the rest of the night out there before returning to our hostel on Scout Lorenzo St. just off the busy Tomas Morato strip.
The next day the promised wet season lived up to its name and so we decided to go and check out the 3rd biggest mall in hte world (falling behind on the the west edminton mall and a chinese offering). The SM Mall of Asia. After another hour or so in a taxi, we arrived and had a look around. We spent the whole day there including a trip to the cinema and the arcade. Not exactly what we wanted to do but not a bad way to spend a rainy day in the Phillepeans.

We were up very early the next day and although we had a great time in Puerto, we were very happy to be getting out of Manilla itself. We took a taxi-coach-trike-jeeppney ride to the airport where we boarded our flight back to malaysia and more importantly Kuala Lumpur.

We took a shuttle in to the centre of KL and checked in to a nice cheap hostel called 'Red Dragon' in the heat of the busy china town. Our priority was finding a way down to Singapore the next day to meet up with Ians aunt and uncle. Once we had that sorted, we went for a bite to eat and a stupidly expensive beer in a reggae bar not far from the hostel. Feeling well and truley robbed we went back and watched a movie, then hit the hay, where i fell victim to a few hundred mosquito bites. Shithouse!

A 6 hour coach trip took us to Singapore. We were met there by Anne and Dave, and after a short drive around the town they took us back to there house on Buena Vista rd.
An amazing house in a complex complete with swimming pool. It certainly lookedl ike we were in for some luxury.
That night we were treated to brilliant feed on there impressive Texas BBQ grill, then went to bed for the most comfortable nights sleep in recent memory!

The next day we decided to see as much as we could in Singapore. We jumped on to the 'hop on hop off' tour bus and made our first stop at the Botanic Gardens. Amazing gardens complete with an extensive orchid section. Back on the bus we headed down the shopping district of Orchard rd. We tryed our best to get in to the presidents statly home compound but were met with rather aggressive guards with machine guns, so thought better of it and jumped back on the bus and on to the central district. After a quick beer, we went to see the largest water fountain in the world which to our dismay wasn't even turned on.
We then proceded on foot to the Singapore flyer (their awnser to the millenium eye) and then past Marina bay, a lovely cathedreal, city hall and many other impressive buildings and skyscrapers. Once we had our fill we returned to Ians aunts via the MRT (train) and a unsuccesfu bus ride where we went the wrong way, so after getting back on the right bus we finally arrived back on Buena Vista rd.

That night we were treated to a meal at the near by 'Hoo-Ha's' resturaunt, then back home for a night cap!

The following day i had to return to KL to start my trip up to Thailand to meet by brothers, so after a short walk around the 'East Coast Park' i said my goodbyes and started my trip up to Thailand which included 3 coach rides a taxi and a mini bus. 38 hours later i arrived at my destination of Phuket thailand.

To finish i 'd like to say a big thankyou to Ians aunt and uncle, they made my stay in Singapore very comfortable and memorable, so im very gratefull to them for that!

Well, Thailand bekons with the promise of tropical islands, junge trekking and trips to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with my brothers! Cant wait

Untill next time!
xxx

---

Comments

[abbie]

to the traveller...
loving your work sammy.. blogs are still as awesome as ever :) keep enjoying. speak soon. lots of love xxxxxxx