Travel to Philippines, Manila.

We spent a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur which we used to go and see a doctor for Victor. While in Kota Kinabalu he had a little bit of fever and started to have a skin rush on his body. The doctor diagnosed nothing serious, probably either a little virus or an allergy. Today he is already feeling better.

We spent some time visiting Kuala Lumpur and spending too much time in the shopping malls (I guess it became the favorite activity in the South East Asian cities…). We saw the preparation of the National day of Malaysia (31st of August ) on Merdeka Square, visited the Jamek Masjid Mosque and saw the Royal Selangor Club, a place which reminded us of the time the British Colonialist were ruling this part of the world.

Just before National Day, we celebrated Victors first birthday in Kuala Lumpur, an exotic place for our little Swiss traveler... Due to the heat and his throat we opted for an ice cream instead of a normal cake. Nevertheless, we believe that he appreciated.

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Travel to Philippines, Banaue.

Established in the 16th century, Vigan is considered the finest surviving example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia, with a unique European atmosphere… said the narrative. The logic: The Philippines was colonized by Spaniards centuries ago, these buildings are old, and Spain is in Europe. A ‘European atmosphere’ we weren’t to find, though there is no doubting Vigan is a quirky anomaly that doesn’t conform to an easily definable Asian cliché.

Dig a little deeper and you'll discover that the town’s original Chinese name "Bee Gan" became Vigan due to the Spanish penchant for mixing their B's and V's. Many of those old colonial buildings were constructed in an apparent Chinese/Mexican architectural mezcla by elite Chinese Creole families who adopted Hispanic family names, and live on to this day.

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Travel to Philippines, Bohol.

Im sure I saw somewhere on a poster that Bohol is the 12th largest island in the Philippines. I could quite easily google it right now to confirm my thoughts but where would all the fun be in that? The point of this thought is that I was expecting the drive back across Bohol from Anda, via the chocolate hills and the Tarsier sanctuary, to be quite a long one – considering it took the local bus 3 hours to cover the same distance in a straight line. To make sure our asses were covered we arranged to do this trip back to Tagbilaran the day before our flight. This was not needed (tip 1).

If you want to arrange to go and visit the highly popular attractions of the Bohol interior then I would probably not arrange it from Anda (tip 2). There is only 1 option and that is to arrange for a local in his car/minivan to take you and your friends (minus the friends in our case because we hadn’t acquired any) to all the sights and through to Tagbilaran in return for many Peso’s. If we were backpacking, we would not have been able to Chocolate hillafford this and would have booked from Tagbilaran fo sho.

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Travel to Asia, Philippines, Cebu.

After our break in Hong Kong we head to Cebu, Philippines. The first thing I notice is the poverty in the city. It is under developed and dirty with lots of people loitering on the streets. It is however hot and sunny and the people are happy and friendly. Unfortunately for me the biggest attraction seems to be me! I have never been stared at so much in my life. I'm not quite sure what sparked the overwhelming interest in me but it kept the natives entertained. I was greeted by 'hello mam' at every corner. Michelle was lucky enough to blend in a little better than me.

Our first day was spent wondering the city where we visited a temple, a church, a native cross and tried to find some food. One thing that has to be said about the Philippines is that the food has to be the worst in the whole of Asia. I was looking forward to being back in Asia for the food alone but the Philippines did not meet my expectations. If you like your food fried and sweet tasting you will get by, otherwise be prepared for lots of fast food and plain boiled rice- yummy!

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Travel to Philippines, Palawan, El Nido.

It was time for my annual leave again and for the 2nd year in a row I have planned a “mini travelling” trip for me and my girlfriend. We had strategically timed our holiday to be around the Easter bank holidays and so we actually had 17 days to spend in the Philippines. This was my 3rd visit to the country I fell in love with in 2010 and my 2nd back to one of our favourite destinations – El Nido. Despite being warned by travellers and blogs all over the internet of the development and tourist boom in the area, we still could not resist the magnetic draw of this place.

I had spent quite some time making sure our travel to the Northern tip of Palawan was as time efficient as possible. All of our flights and onward bus journey’s had been arranged with military precision and I had put a lot of faith in the transport system of Malaysia Airlines and Cebu Pacific Airlines. This was my first mistake. The 12 hour flight from LDN to KL went smoothly and after a 3 hour stopover we were in the air on another flight across to
First ViewManila. We circled Manila airport feeling smug that all was going to plan when the pilot decided to ruin everything and diverted to Clark airport. We sat on the tarmac waiting to refuel for 4 hours and by the time we took to the air again and landed at Manila International we had missed our Cebu Pacific flight to Puerto Princesa. After some sweaty sprinting around the airport we managed to find another flight on another carrier leaving 2 hours later than our original flight.

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Travel to Philippines, Palawan, El Nido.

El Nido was a great place. We stayed in a small hotel owned by a French guy named David and a Swedish guy called Tommy. The restaurant/bar had amazing view over the beach. Our first night we sat at the bar chatting with Tommy and David when we found out they make there own rum shots... And unfortunately for us we had to try them. They tasted good but didn't feel to good the next day. We also met a great Philippine couple that night that ware also on holiday and it was really interesting to talk and see how our life's are different when growing up in the European countries or here in the Philippines. 

Our room in El Nido did not have an air condition and as I am no fan of them and I only think they are loud and unhealthy and the room had a fan so I thought we ware fine. Ohhh was I wrong about that. Our first night was one of the hottest sweeties I have ever lived. And as the electricity gos off at 6 am the fan did too. We did try to sleep but ware more rolling around until we finally got up into the cold shower. Or should I say we shovelled some water over us from the bucket we had in the shower because the pressures on the shower only gave you a few drops of water.

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Travel to Philippines, Benguet.

At Grassland Summit, close to 3,000 feet above the rugged terrains of Northern Luzon, the first positive development of the evening comes in a thick French accent. “Dinner is ready!” calls Mister Tee, our group’s organizer for this climb.

Being called for dinner late in the evening – past seven, to be exact – would normally send me to my feet excitedly, but after six hours of riding a jeepney through ridiculously bumpy roads, four hours of walking in the rain and through muddy trails (even slipping once), and enduring an 8-degree Celsius evening in my shorts (my pants have been covered with mud), my enthusiasm instantly dissolves into a lethargic passivity. Inside my tent, I stare at the fog that has engulfed the campsite, shivering and cowering under my blanket every time the wind blows and aggravates the cold air.

But the arduous journey has taken its toll on my stamina and there’s yet an evening and a full day ahead so I open a couple cans of corned tuna and place them between two slices of whole wheat bread before lying down to sleep. I check my phone, which freezes for a few moments before dying out,
Joyriding, Cordillera-style
Top-loading, or using the roof of transportation to sit people or place loads, is a common practice in the hinterlands of the Cordillera region.a victim of the near-freezing temperature. I use a dry shirt to wrap my camera’s battery and tuck it in my shirt to keep the cold from also draining it out. Up here where there are no electrical outlets, resourcefulness is essential in maximizing power – whether of your gadgets or of your body.

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Travel to Philippines, Manila, Ermita.

Manila is the tenth largest city in the world with a population of about 21 million - not counting the people who live on the street, I imagine. It would be interesting to see statistics on those numbers. They must be very high.

Manila is also not your average South East Asian city. Actually it feels more like a Latin American city. Probably the mix of Spanish and American influences. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 300 years before becoming an American colony and it is the only country in SE Asia (besides the new East Timor) which claims Christianity as its "official" religion. Also, unlike other SE Asian cities, the cuisine is just awful.

A little known fact is that much of Manila was laid to waste during the Second World War. It was second only to Warsaw in its destruction. This is where America and Japan came to blows, and Australia can probably thank Manila for being the distraction which kept the Japanese from invading further south.

The old city, Intramuros, which lies within a fortified city wall must have been quite attractive once. Very little of the original remains,
Fortified walls
Intramuros, Manilabut there are glimpses of its former grandeur in the cathedrals and some partly restored buildings. My favourite, St. Augustine's Cathedral, is modest from the outside, but the interior, in its cool cement greys and pale turquoise, with blue glass chandeliers is quite lovely.

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