Philippines

Hello to anyone reading this

Well we've had a busy time since I last wrote. Stand by for an update...

August 31st - Friday
We were up early - 6am as we needed to leave at 6.45am to get through the morning Manila madness that is rush hour to get to the airport for our 9.30am flight. We flew with Asian Spirit to an island called Caticlan on a small 48 seater plane. The flight didn't last long and I conked out while Lynn continued to read the latest Harry Potter book. Apparently it is very exciting.

We got out of Caticlan aiport to be met by a rep from the Red Coconut hotel/resort who took us to a ferry port by motorbike and sidecar. The ferry only took 10 minutes and from the boat we had our first glimpse of Boracay - it looked good. White sand, clear blue water, even clearer than the water at Haad Yao beach. The hotel was literally on the beach and we wasted no time in getting down on to it for a walk, ending up at a Mexican for fajitas and enchiladas. After a quick power nap we were down on the beach, basking in the sun and enjoying the odd dip and splash around to cool down.

Towards the end of the day, when it was a little cooler, some locals started playing 6-a-side football and I joined in for the last 15 minutes after one of the players had to leave early. It wasn't a bad game, it was tough to run in the sand.I almost scored with a header from a corner and did well to save a few goals at our end. One of the things I miss from Glasgow is my weekly game of fives on a Wednesday and occasionally on a Monday.

After the game we both went back to the hotel for a sunset dip in the pool. I was pretty shattered after only 15 minutes, so I enjoyed the refreshing pool.

After a shower and change we went to a local pub called the Hobbit House for a beer. All the staff were dwarves - or should I say vertically challenged? It was quite interesting. A local singer was on and she had a beautiful voice, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. Had a relatively early night as we were both tired.

September 1st - Saturday
We got up at 9am for breakfast, included in the price of the room. After that it was straight down to the beach for some swimming, splashing and sunbathing. Lynn also finished the last 50 pages of Harry Potter, declaring it fantastic. We took some photos as the beach was really quiet - I'll update flickr ASAP. Around 12.30pm we decided to head for some shade as it was incredibly hot. We checked our e-mails and wandered round some shops and then headed back to the beach when it was a little cooler.

At night we had a few drinks and a nice meal in a restaurant/bar called the Bamboo Lounge that had sofas on the beach - ideal. The music was chilled house, there was a very Ibizan vibe going on!

We got back before midnight and I stayed up to watch the United 1 v 0 Sunderland game in bed while Lynn went to sleep - we are so romantic!

September 2nd - Sunday
Slept in until 11am, which was nice as we had had quite a few early starts in the last week or so. We went to the Lemon Cafe for lunch for some deeeeelicious sandwiches and fresh lemonade. We bought some nice hand-made soaps for Gwen and then headed back to the hotel, on to the ferry and on to a plane back to Manila.

Ken and Gwen had invited some of their friends and colleagues along for dinnner. It was nice to meet them and as usual the food provided by Gwen was excellent.

September 3rd - Monday
Another early start. We were up at 7am to travel to Subic - a 3 hour drive away. We were heading to a place calledOcean Adventure where you can swim with False Killer Whales and dolphins. We were both quite excited as my Mum had been to this place with Gwen a few years ago and her photos were excellent.

We arrived at 10.30am and booked in for the 3pm swimming session as the 11.20am session was fully booked. We had a bite to eat, watched some sea-lions play in an educational lesson for kids that were at the place, toured round the aquarium, went for a drink in a cool bar called Maggellans and were back for 2.30pm.

After a briefing and a quick change we were down at the beach with a false killer whale called Pounder (a female) and a bottle nosed dolphin called Sita (male). We were both pleased that the 11.30am session had been fully booked as it meant that we were the only two people on the 3pm session.

Lynn was asked to go in with the dolphin and I went in with the whale. Lynn sped off through the water, holding on to the dolphin and I soon followed her on the whale. What a ride! The whale was huge, powerful, yet graceful and gentle. We arrived at a platform with two instructors and were told all kinds of interesting facts and stats about the whale and dolphin. We got to put our hands in their mouths and touch their tongues and teeth, feed them fish and squid and get in the water for a dance with them! We have a cd full of amazing photos but unfortunately I can't upload them to flickr as Ken's laptop won't play the cd.

All I can say is that it was a tremendous experience. One of the highlights of our trip to date. In fact two of our highlights have involved animals - elephants and whales and dolphins.

On the way back we got stuck in horrendous traffic. After a quick change we headed to an area in Manila called the Greenbelt - full of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. We went toa lovely Thai restaurant and had a nice meal with a few drinks before heading back for a good sleep.

September 4th - Tuesday
A nice chilled day. Long lie, reading the papers, wandering round some shops, going for a swim and packing out bags as we head back to Malaysia tomorrow. We will be getting a bus to Clarke airport at 7am for an 11.45am flight to Kuala Lumpar and we then head to Kota Bharu. It will be a long day travelling so I'm glad we've not done much today.

I'll write again in a few days or so.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Hey all

Well after our holiday on the gorgeous sun-kissed beach of Haad Yao on Ko Phangan we are back into travelling mode, so the blog will be getting updated a little bit more regularly.

I say we're back in travel mode, but we're actually getting a taste of home life as we are currently staying with friendin the Philippines and being spolied rotten! Two of my Mum's best friends (and good friends of ours as well) Ken & Gwen Coughlan have a business out in Manilla. We've spent the last 2 nights at their flat getting fed and watered. The Coughlan's are amazing hosts back home and they may be even better here!

Stand by for an update

TOP NEWS - Lynn passed her PADI open water diving course. Well done to Lynn for working hard and studying hard while I lay about the beach and the pool!

Sunday 26th August
We waved goodbye to Haad Yao beach in Ko Phangan after 9 lovely nights. The staff at the resort were friendly, our bungalow had an amazing view (I'll update flickr asap), we had a BBQ on the beach 3 nights, the sand was pure white, the ocean crystal clear........it was fab. We were both a little sad to leave!

We caught a ferry over to Ko Samui and then a flight to Manila in the Philippines. The flight was a little late, so by the time we got our bags in Manila and jumped a taxi into Chinatown it was almost 1am and I was annoyed as if we had been on time we (I) could have caught the seond half of the United v Spurs game. As it was we caught the post match analysis as our room had cable. United won 1-0 to get their first 3 points of the season!

Monday 27th August
After a nice long lie I went out to lift some cash while Lynn had a shower. The transformation of the street our hotel was on was amazing. There were stalls, lanterns and thousands of people! We were right in the heart of Chinatown. The name of our hotel, Chinatown Inn, should have given that away!

We broke a golden rule by having a MacDonalds as we were starving and there was one on the corner, but I can't say I enjoyed it. Big Mac's don't do it for me anymore. I can't even remember the last time I had one in the UK. We went for a wander and stumbled across the National History Museum, it was only 1 MYR to get in so we did. It was worth it just for the air conditioning, although the museum itself was far from impressive. After that we decided to try and walk to the Kuala Lumpar Telecommunications tower, the 4th tallest in the world. After around an hour's walk we managed to get to the entrance and headed to the observation tower. The view across the city was special. Kuala Lumpar is very modern and it is attracting a lot of top banks and financial companies.

From the tower we could see the famous Petronas twin towers, so we went down and jumped in a cab to head there. Unfortunately they were closed as it was Monday, but we got a good look around outside. The walkway between the towers didn't look that great anyway.

We wandered round a huge shopping mall with some very exclusive designer shops and an O'Brien's sandwich shop! The simple things make me happy! As I am a bit of a sandwich fan we sat down and had a sandwich each.

After that and another wander around the shops we headed back to Chinatown where I bought Adidas trainers and an old retro Adidas trackie top, we had a bite to eat and then hit the sack as our early flight to Manila meant that we had to be up at 4.45am. We booked an alarm call and a taxi for 5.15am - the joys!

Tuesday 28th August
We didn't sleep well as we knew we had to be up early. The taxi driver to the airport took us past the formula 1 race track and the driver obviously fancied himself as a future star. We got there in one piece, checked in, had a sandwich, got on the flight and fell asleep!

Ken and Gwen were waiting at Manila airport to greet us. It was lovely to see familiar and friendly faces and we spent the journey into Manila catching up with news and views from back home. We got through the crazy Manila traffic to Ken and Gwen's apartment on the 19th floor of a high rise development. The view across the city was almost as good as the one from KL communications tower.

We emptied our bags so we could get some washing done, browsed through some copies of the Sunday TimesSunday Mail and Carluke Gazette that my Mum had sent over with Gwen, had some beers, put our feet up and generally felt at home. Gwen is a great hostess and made nachos and Moroccan chicken. Mmmmmm.

Wednesday 29th August
Had a long lie and Ken's driver picked us up at 11.15am to head to the old town of Manila. Ken was at work and we all killed ourselves laughing when we got to the ground floor and Gwen realised she still had her slippers on! Just as well she did.

We headed to Intramuros, which was the centre piece of Spanish Manila. We got a guided tour by a very entertaining guy called Georgey Porgey - the highlight being him serenading us on an old piano! The old town was lovely and Fort Santiago was particularly interesting. There was an excellent section devoted to Rizal, who led/inspired the revolution against the Spanish through his literature.

Afterwards we met Ken at a cool bar called Bar Havana. One drink led to another and we ended up staying out until after 11pm, taking in a superb meal. I had Veal with goose liver and Lynn had a salmon steak. By this stage we had all moved on from beer to wine, so we were well on when we got back to Ken and Gwen's. It was a really nice evening and it was great to catch up with Ken and Gwen. The conversation flowed even more freely than the drinks, which will come as no surprise to anyone that knows Gwen!

Thursday 30th August
Oooh we were a little rough this morning when the alarm went off at 5.50am. Lynn, Gwen and I were going on a day trip to the island of Corregidor. Ken dropped us at the docks and we got a rather plush boat out to the island with some other tourists. Corregidor has played a huge part in Philippine history and is the place where General MacArthur uttered his famous word 'I shall return'. This was during World War 2 when the Philippines and the Americans were fighting the Japanese. The Japanese took over Corregidor and Manila while MacArthur was away, but 3 years after he reluctantly left Corregidor, he reurned, true to his word and brought reinforcements to banish the Japanese and return control of the Philippines to the Philippanese.

It was an interesting day. We're now back at Gwen's where we have had tea and cheese and toast to nurse our hangovers and keep us going until dinner. It will be an alcohol free night tonight and an early one as Lynn and I are getting up early tomorrow morning to head to Boracay Island for 2 nights, courtesy of our fantastic hosts Ken and Gwen! We have promised to repay them by taking them out for dinner and drinks on Monday.

Boracay's beaches sound like they could be even nicer than Haad Yao beach! So we are a little excited.

Stay tuned for more news in a few days time. Also, any football fans can check out my tribute to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blog.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx