Photothread: Manila & Puerto Galera...

[Bettyboo]

What? My pics not showing...

But, but, but...

...they show for me.

[Davis Knowlton]

16, 19, 22 & 24 not showing.

[NamPikToot]

Bets, you know the 6K you spent on the Puter Porn, you did think to include an Antivirus? or are certain keys sticking

[Bettyboo]

Thanks, Davis - I will have a looksee.

I'm gonna turn this Safari spellchecker off as soon as I can work out how to do it!

[baldrick]

where are you hosting the photos ? the image location show TD , but as per the bottom photo which shows the photos working the posts with photos not showing, they do not seem to have loaded to the TD storage

they are not showing for me either in the same posts named by davis

[Bettyboo]

OK, thanks, I'll go over those posts - I simply loaded onto the TD site, but maybe I did too many in a short space of time or something...

I think I've fixed 16, 19, 22 & 24 - sorry for the delay; we're done and moving onto Manila.

[Airportwo]

Nice - thanks for sharing, PG changed somewhat since I was last there (1983) it has roads and electricity now
PI food - how many Philippine restaurants do you see around the world? - says it all!
Cheers

[reddog]

Bettyboo,quality travel report and pics.
I love flying so it is a pity that it is a bastard for you when have too,liked your homage to the goat thread with the pic.

[HuangLao]

Another outstanding travel thread, Betts!!
Cheers.

...didn't realize you were such a good looking fella.

[Bettyboo]

Here we are arriving back in Batangas, feels like the reversal of 5 days pryer:



I did not take any pictures (there's a stock one below for folks that don't live on planet Earth and know what a jeepney is), but instead of getting the bus directly from the pier I got a couple of local jeepneys to the main bus terminal; just to have the local experience, really - and I enjoyed it.



I was meeting Katie23 in the Mall of Asia which she later told me is built on reclaimed land - it's a nice area, clean and modern; the mall itself is like a Central. I went straight to Starbucks and brushed my hair in eager anticipation.



The Starbucks coffee and a chocolate cost more than the trip from the pier, so I quickly got my calculator out and worked out it cost about $5 - that's about half what it'd cost in a Korean Starbucks.

The weather was nice, cool in the morning, high 20s in the afternoon, much less humid than Bkk. The air was not as nice as the islands, but better than Bkk or Korea, imho.



Katie23 arrived, as lovely as we all know, and she suggested a nice restaurant where the owner had won a Michelin star as a street hawker - the food was good.



Reasonably priced too.

[Bettyboo]

After lunch, we got a taxi to the walled city, about 30 minutes - the traffic was as per Bkk; not good.

The walled city is the old part of town that the Spanish built and walled off to keep safe from terrible invaders such as the British and Americans... It feels very much like a Spanish city, it's a lovely place to walk around. There are a few churches and a cathedral, and you can go in as long as mass isn't on; there was a wedding at the cathedral - if you are gonna get married, not a bad spot to do so...

(If you look closely, you'll see a photo of Katie23 looking fine...)

[Bettyboo]

We walked around the walled city for a bit longer, and very nice it was too. Katie has good knowledge of the city's history, and along with a couple of cab drivers, one who was particularly chatty..., I got a full tour which was very interesting.







Notice the eco-tour bamboo bike.











I'd had a thoroughly enjoyable day, many thanks to Katie23, but it was time for Katie23 to head home and for me to head to the airport.

The places I went in Manila were very nice - it's an interesting city, vibrant, with many different parts; I stuck to the nice parts.

[Bettyboo]

Sadly, alone, I headed to the airport...

(well, not totally alone as the taxi driver did enjoy a chat and was good fun...)

I had a few of these before check-in:



(Still had a fair few zanax left; even took a few home with me - pretty unusual for me not to devour all)

Check in was ok because I got near the front of the Q.



Now, you may be wondering just how 'fresh' I was at this point, after the 5am start, a full day's activities... I was prepared, I had researched and I went straight to a lounge in departures - 750 pesos, had a shower (everything provided) and set about the alcohol and food while recharging my phone, dropping some zanax and just getting in the right frame of mind (wasted) to fly back to Korea.

(I did have a happy naked shower shot for youse all, but decided it might be in bad taste; &, I don't want Papillion touching himself while looking at my naked body!)



See that bottle of wine below, that's all mine that is... Had a couple of SMs too.













Terminal 1 departures, $15, you can't say fairer than that - if you're flying out of Manila T1 then you'd be a fool not to, imho...

Chokdee would have been very impressed...

[Bettyboo]

Flying back...

Strangely, the front row seats were not as good as the emergency seats because Jeju Air had put a 'wall' up which took away all the legroom - in many years of flying I have never seen this before; bizarre...

I did have a free seat next to me and ok legroom.





Had a Korean traditional meal:



& just enjoyed the view while falling into a zanax fuelled sleep...

[Bettyboo]

The fly was over before it had begun...

In Incheon before 5am, and had to wait around for 25 minutes until the first airport express into Seoul (it was full of noisy Chinese tourists!):





In Seoul, up 7 escalators, bought a ticket then had a bit of time for breakfast:



I spent an extra $10 on a first class seat because I was full of $$$ having bought money back with me from the Philippines. The early train was not busy...





^ that bag carried everything I needed for the 6 day brak - T57 would have been impressed.

Got home, and in the evening the wife took me out for a meal (tasted good).



I was looking good, the hair was irrepressible, Chokdee was impressed although as he was taking this photo he's not in shot...

To sum up: thoroughly enjoyed the holiday, better than expected, would look forward to visiting the Philippines again. Many thanks to Katie23 for helping me to have such a great trip.

Of you haven't visited the Philippines, you just go to Thailand year after year, then try the Philippines - you will be pleasantly surprised.

[beerlaodrinker]

Burster of a thread betty. You should of necked a few of those red horse beers i spotted in the fridge. Go well with the zanex them.

[qwerty]

Great pics/report.

The hair reminds me of somebody... somebody named Boris.

[Davis Knowlton]

Great thread, nice to see good reviews......other than for the food, which were sadly accurate.

[Dillinger]

would look forward to visiting the Philippines again

Awful food- check
Awful traffic- check
Awful singing - check
No sign of any Flippa pussy
And the beach looked like their answer to Rayong.

Why on earth would you want to return?


Nice hairdo btw, looking a bit like Rab C Nesbitt

[Headworx]

^
*Google's Rab C Nesbitt pics, laughs out loud*

Top thread Batty, thanks for sharing.

[NamPikToot]

Great report Bets, thanks.





















Here you go Buttfly hacked Bets Mini and got a shower cleaning scene

[Airportwo]

Enjoyed the trip & came to the realisation I may have had a misspent "youth" lived in manilla for three years and never made it to any of the places you did! though I was like a walking encyclopaedia of the bars on Mabini !

[Bettyboo]

Great report Bets, thanks.





















Here you go Buttfly hacked Bets Mini and got a shower cleaning scene

I think that's somewhat better than the reality!

[Bettyboo]

Burster of a thread betty. You should of necked a few of those red horse beers i spotted in the fridge. Go well with the zanex them.

That is the very reason I avoided them; they looked dangerous... A bottle of wine, 5 SMs and about 5mg of zanax (before getting on the plane) was about right - I didn't wanna go silly...

Great pics/report.

The hair reminds me of somebody... somebody named Boris.

I probably do need a haircut in that case...

Great thread, nice to see good reviews......other than for the food, which were sadly accurate.

The Philippines is nice, and with a bit more time there's so many interesting places to visit; probably 1000+ better beaches than the ones I went to are lurking around the many islands.

Why on earth would you want to return?


Nice hairdo btw, looking a bit like Rab C Nesbitt

I would have been happy to stay longer. Sabang Beach, if diving (muff or scuba), would be nice for a week or 10 days although you'd probably need to escape to other parts of the island from time to time.

^
*Google's Rab C Nesbitt pics, laughs out loud*

Top thread Batty, thanks for sharing.

I was thinking that over-cooked breakfast at the Aussie place would have bought tears to your eyes! The eggs were cooked ok though; consistently the meat was over-cooked and under-seasoned.

Enjoyed the trip & came to the realisation I may have had a misspent "youth" lived in manilla for three years and never made it to any of the places you did! though I was like a walking encyclopaedia of the bars on Mabini !

I suspect most folks on here have done similar at times - perhaps not for the full 3 years though!

[Dillinger]

I suspect most folks on here have done similar at times - perhaps not for the full 3 years though!