Jimmy and Lene's Adventure

I forgot to mention our second night in Singapore...

We decided to take Conchita for a nice meal and we were told that a nice place to eat was boat bay (if I remember who told me I shall kill them!). Anyway you go down there and there are many people trying to coax you into their venues on the waterfront. In all fairness it is a really nice place and the views are stunning at night time.

Just one of the views at night in Singapore.

Well as you can imagine there are many tourists there and all the workers offering 20% off here and 40% off there along with free drinks and free starters...well my brain always starts to worry when people offer you free things because usually you get stung at some point down the line. Well we decided to eat at one place and I think the main reason was because the young man trying to get us in the place was Philipino and they seem to stick together.

Me and Lene at the place...before the FUN started!

Well the first thing that struck me was the price...you would have killed a donkey with what they were charging. Seriously you would not even pay those prices back in London (I knew there was a catch). Also if no one knows if you use the hand towels and the 'free' nuts...you end up paying for them out here! They don't give you any warning, they just want your money. As if the over priced food is not enough, just bad manners if you ask me!

Well we decided to order a small dish each, along with rice and lumpia (spring rolls) and the waiters here are good...'I will order for you two medium dishes sir, so you can share'. Now the cheeky mofo knows that I only want small dishes (not being tight but we were not that hungry). So I have to tell him only small dishes and he had a face on him like I had murded his pet cat!

OK so were sat there and one dish comes, with no plates or cutlery! We have to ask and it seems like a right effort for them to bring them (just bad manners again if you ask me). Finally after 5 minutes the plates arrive folled by another two minutes the cutlery. Well after that about another 5 minutes the rice, followed bay another 5 minutes the second dish...seriously taking the piss now!

Well after about 25 min after the first dish the fish still hadn't arrived, for crying out loud were eating rignt next to water...how hard can it be? Well we decided to jog it all on and then the fish turned up! I decided to have a private word with the manager (away from Lene and Conchita) and pointed out that I wanted a huge reduction on the bill or I would throw him in the river...seriously!

To cut a long story short (should have done that about two paragraphs ago) we paid (with a huge reduction) and decided to take a walk. At this point we were still hungry (obviously) and saw everyone sitting have McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks...

Lene and Conchita spot something...is it the geezer floating in the river?

We decided to get our own (junk) food (but sooooo good).

Me munching on a whopper and iced coffee..

Lene and Conchita with their food

In the end we had a really nice night and loved the food. Its strange that sometimes the more basic the night is the more fun you can have?!

Jimmy xx

Hello again,

Last night we all went to the Night Safari, which is situated right next to the zoo (but we decided to go the next day as we were exhausted).

Me and Jimmy before entering the Night Safari

To be honest with you, the Night safari wasn't as good as the Zoo. Firstly the Creatures of the Night Show was slow and boring (great for kids though), secondly the Bornean tribal Show was OK except for the fire eating performances. Their performance depicted native Asian tribal culture. Jimmy and I have seen tons of these shows before. But i believe they give an insight on their humor, behavior, courtship, social status and even gender roles within tribal societies. Tourists (particularly those from the West) will therefore enjoy this more than we did...

The Bornean Tribal performers

However the tram ride was good, we watched animals (they were not in cages by the way) in the 40 hectares of forest. The darkness created a certain atmosphere, the animals walk around freely and are not tamed, so they may approach the tram. We were therefore advised not to reach out or touch the animals. My favorite animal was the hyenas, they simply stared at us. There was a possibility that they could simply jump and attack us, amazing!! Unfortunately we could not take any pictures during the ride as it was too dark.

For 5 Singapore dollars per person you could take a picture with a python, an owl and this cute cat right here.

I have to say that the Singaporeans are very professional, good in business. Everything we have seen and done is beautifully maintained and highly entertaining!!!

Sorry this is short, we are celebrating my mom's birthday today

Well only a few days to go

We spent the other day exploring Little India in Singapore. Well coming from Leicester and London I must admit that I was not expecting much, however I was quite surprised. First of all like the rest of Singapore it is all very clean, and also like everyone else here people are very friendly.

A street sign in Little India

We decided to walk around and find some of the tourist attractions in the area. We knew from reading our bible (the backpackers guide...) that the main places to see are...

The Masjid Abdul Gafoor ( the main mosque in the area), The Church of Light (a Chinese Anglican church), The local buudhist temple (I can't remember the name...sorry) and last of all the Veeramakaliamman Temple ( a hindu place of worship).

Our first place was Masjid Abdul Gafoor, a muslim mosque. Now this was slightly uncomfortable for us because of the problems that are in the West. Basically we were worried that we would not be welcome inside. However people were very friendly and there was even women working there. Now this may sound strange but I know that back in the West women are not even allowed to pray inside the same mosque as men, so to see women on a level standing here was a refreshing sight.

Lene at the entrance of Masjid Abdul Gafoor

One of the things that struck me also was the decor of the building. It was a beautiful design, obviously full of Islamic designs and motifs. Also it was really nice to see the men and women conversing with eachother, however they each had their own seperate prayer areas and the male part was larger and decorated better than the womens.

Me inside the Mosque, I felt strange whilst taking this picture.

After going to the Mosque we decided to have lunch. Now here in Singapore and like the whole of South East Asia there are millions of places to eat. At times I wonder how people make a living because of the amount of places...anyway! We decided to eat at a cafe called 'Star Inn Cafe' and WOW were we happy with our food.

We decided to share a set meal, water and beer (you have to have a swill with a ruby). The waiter we had was Mr Tara Nath Dulal and he was great. The problem that you find sometimes in Asia is that the people try and get your money off you, like I have mentioned (too many times) people here see us as walking cash machines. Mr Dulal was pleasent, friendly and when we asked him to order for us he came up with the goods! We shared a set menu and nan bread (possibly the best nan bread ever...and also one of the nicest chickens).

Me and our set meal...oh and the beer!

It was really nice because the people here were really friendly, Mr Dulal was friendly and whilst watching the staff they all worked very hard and had with a smile.

Lene and Mr Dulal outside Star Inn Cafe

P.S if you travel to Singapore then find this cafe for an amazing curry and friendly staff.

After lunch we went to the Church of Light, and this also surprised us. Basically it is an Anglican church for Chinese people. The reason we found this strange is because you expect Chinese to be Buddhist, OK I know people have many religions but you just don't expect to see that.

Me at the Church of Light

Inside was strange because the guy who worked there was a bit strange...he told us to wait and took us upstairs. He kept an eye on us and as soon as we prayed, he more or less threw us out. haha the Chinese are a strange lot!

Inside the church..strange to see the cross with Chinese writing?!

We also went to a Buddha temple today, we have seen so many of Buddha temples but this was different. First of all it was very new, not like the ones we have seen in Thailand or Cambodia. The second was like the Church of Light it was run by Chinese. And like most Chinese they are not the warmest of people. We felt really un-welcome and was only there for a few minutes.

Outside the Buddha temple...not much to look at

There was a HUGE buddha inside and it was quite impressive, however because of the people inside it sort of ruined the experience. Basically if your in Little India just give the temple a miss because your not missing much.

Lene inside the Buddha temple.

Now the main place to see in Little India is the Veeramakaliamman Temple. This is a Hindu temple and the oldest in Singapore, it was built in the 1800's and is very impressive. You can see the building from down the street and it is VERY different to other places of worship that we have seen.

Lene outside the Temple...cool or what?

It was nice here because we managed to get there just as it opened. Also people were praying whilst tourists (like us) were taking pictures. The design inside was just as impressive as outside...

Me inside with one of the many designs.

Lene outside in the court yard...awsome designs?

Me at the entrance...next to me was a women sleeping

A lady praying at the temple.

Lene inside the temple...strong colours.

Basically we had a really nice day and if you go to Singapore make sure you give yourself a day to explore Little India.

Jimmy xx

What an amazing day, it was like being a child again. Those who know me well, know that I am an animal lover. Not only was the trip to Singapore Zoo educational, but it provides a lot of space for the animals to move around, so it's very animal friendly indeed.

Jimmy, me and mom.

Even though it was raining heavily during the day, we had a lovely time.

The most beautiful animal I have ever seen is the Bengal Tiger. They were three of them in the zoo, they are fascinating and simply gorgeous creatures!!

The Bengal tigers, beautiful aren't they?

Here you can see they are in a quite spacious environment with a lake and a mini waterfall too.

Here I am with the baby hippos, very very cute!!

My mom had a great time as well, here she is with a giraffe.

Yes I had to upload another photo of me and a snake

Here is Jimmy with a some sort of bird...

There were various monkeys and baboons at the zoo. They were hiding under big leafs and huts, they obviously don't like the rain. Here are some funny pictures

Here I am with mom before visiting the chimpanzees

Unfortunately I do not remember the name of this particular monkey. Their noses looked funny, but they were cute though.

Jimmy with an orangutan statue.

The Zoo was well maintained, nice and green consisting of several gardens and lakes. Even the signs were unique!

One of the numerous signs within the zoo.

It was an amazing day and would recommend people to visit, it is a great place for both adults and kids as it is educational and entertaining at the same time!!!!

Hello Everyone,

Well were now at our final destination...

We have an idea for us to create a survey...basically we want you guys to ask us questions such as...cleanest country...best / worst food.

You get the idea!

Please either post them up here on the comments or on our facebook pages...

Cheers

Jimmy and Lene
xx

First of all I am quite sad...basically this is our last stop of our amazing trip

For people who I have been chatting with you can tell I have been a bit down, basically were home in under a week and well we have to become adults and start our life. What an amazing trip we have had and now were in Singapore.

Well our first night was an interesting one, basically me and Lene were hung over from our last night out in Manila and we had to take a flight to Singapore. I swear I was still drunk at the airport...f@#k I know I was either rude to people or a twat...nothing new there then? haha

Lene and Cochita eating at the food court...good food...reminded me of Camden?! haha

Well our first night we just went for dinner, we stayed near our hotel and found some food stalls. Now its not like Vietnam or Thailand, because when you eat in those countries you generally die from food that is either dog, cat or whatever they can find and cook

Food Court

This was really nice (and VERY clean) and the food was (in my opinion) great. Also if anyone has been here its REALLY expensive compared to the rest of South East Asia so to find nice food at a low price is lucky.

Well I must point out that we were all that tired that Lene, Conchita and myself all fell asleep in our clothes! haha

Today were in Little India and shall post about this tomorrow

A little taster of Little India...more to follow tomorrow

Hello to all our friends...and I take it see you soon

Jimmy xx

Although we didn't backpack through the Philippines like we did in the previous countries we visited, we have seen and done great things... Here's a quick recap

Shangri- La Hotel, Mactan Cebu

We decided to stay at a fancy hotel, simply because it's cheaper here than back home and yes, we like to treat ourselves once in a while.

This is the view from our hotel.

There were several swimming pools at the hotel, but we decided to spend more time at the beach.

Jimmy chilling with his San Miguel

Me on the beach

DAVAO

The breathtaking scenery in Davao is something I will always remember. In addition, White Water Rafting, holding crocodiles for the first time and going on the Sky Rider are experiences I also will look back on.

Here are some photos of us before going on the Sky Rider.

Looks like Jimmy enjoyed himself.

CEBU

The Philippines is very westernized, it's almost like America(!!)

Me with a Wendy's burger. Not really healthy and nutritious, God I miss Vietnamese food!!!!

We also managed to take a picture of the famous buses in the Philippines, namely the jeapney!!!

Jeapneys vary in color and size.

Hello Again,

My cousin Angie had her 21st birthday party before we left for Manila. We went for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant called Krua Thai, before heading for drinks at a pub/cafe.

The birthday girl

Basically, we all got tipsy and drunk in the end, dancing and enjoying ourselves. It was a nice end to our stay in Cebu. We all got a long really well too, a nice family reunion

From the left; my mom, me, Jimmy, my cousin Paula, tito Diody, Angie, tita Mer, Angie's boyfriend Charles, and finally the newly wed couple Jimpet and my cousin Bomboy.

Jimmy got some shots of tequila and sambuka for all of us, ironically he was the one who got completely wasted (not sure how many shots he had in the end).... He even bought a balut, a Filipino delicacy, which is an egg consisting of a nearly developed embryo of a duck... Jimmy could not eat it, but at least he tried

We had an amazing evening, it was great to spend time with my family again!!

Me and the girls

Well our final night in Manila was a messy one...

We met up with the legend that is John John and we decided to drink the night away. We started off by going to pier One in Quezon City and we drank plenty of beer, cocktails and flaming shooters...oh those flaming shooters were good....

How cool is that?!

Pier One was cool because we sat high up and managed to overlook parts of the city. Now if anyone has been to Manila then you will know that its not the cleanest or prettiest looking city, however at night it is quite cool. I also liked it there because it was full of 'normal' people. What I mean is that most of the people here try and pretend to be someone there not. Here people were people and just sat around drinking and talking. It was cool because Me, Lene and John John just chatted away and drank (obviously a good time).

We then went to the Embassy Club (basically the best place in Manila..but full of people who really wish they were rich). It was the place of our first night out in Manila and is a good place to drink more and dance! Before we got there we realized that John John had never drank SAMBUCA!

Well little did we know but John John decided not to buy a shot...he bought the WHOLE F*%KING BOTTLE! Crazy mofo...however we really got drunk. At one point I had to run outside because I thought I was gonna puke...lucky enough nothing came up

John John, Lene and Rommel with his bottle...crazy mofo! If you look closely, you can see John John's name on the bottle of sambuca. He left it at the bar so he can drink the rest of it the next time he stops by at the club.

It was good here because last time we came it was packed with people and this time because it was a Wednesday there were not as many. It was another funny, drunk dancing night and as usual Lene was the disco dancefloor queen Boy this girl loves to dance and also people love to watch her!

We also met up with a dude called Rommel...yeah not too bad.

Also like I said before out here women see that I'm from the west and will try it on. Even though I'm with Lene, they see me as their ticket out. Well on this night I swear some shemale chatted me up! How did I know it was a dude? Well apart from the hairy hands, huge adams apple it was not a bottle of beer that was poking me whilst he/she talked! Well like a true gentleman I said thank you and pointed at the drunk, crazy, dancing disco queen and pointed out thats my wife (with great pride) and like a true gent threatened to glass her if he/she would not jog on...haha only joking! However I did think of the flying banana and made my excuse and ran away in a cold sweat!

Basically it was an awesome night and again John John was the perfect host

John John, Lene and Me..the crazy gang

Jimmy xx

Hello Everyone,

For some annoying reason it has been really hard for us to upload pics and we know that you like blogs with pics, therefor the lack of blogs! Well we managed to upload some pics of our great time in Davao, first we went to a croc farm (Lene wrote about that) and now I'm gonna tell you about the amazing day we had white water rafting!

Basically we tried this in Chang Mai, Thailand and it was one of our highlights, however we did not expect the experience we were to have the second time.

We started off by having an introduction that included us watching a dvd of people falling out the raft! Seriously I was dropping a load before we left the place. Oh and we also had to sign a disclaimer that pointed out if we got injured, even if it was the fault of the indtructer we could not sue! haha

Us in a cave...one of the amazing sights we saw

Well we were told that we shall be going 15km down the river! Also going through 35 sets of rapids from class 1 to 3. First of all we had to all take it in turns to jump off the boat and get pulled back in (how sorry do you feel for the geezer who had to pull me? haha).

One of the first things that struck us was how perfect the scenery was, seriously it was heaven! The jungle was overflowing, the water was clean (ok its brown but thats because it is wet season) and you would be going downstream and see water buffalo relaxing!

Check that out! PERFECT

Now our guide was really professional and friendly, also he let me jump in and go throung the rapids out of the boat. OK it was not the best idea (especially as we signed the disclaimer) however what a buzz! I smashed my knees, back, head and almost drowned...and I f*#king loved it! I suppose its that feeling of 'oh I could die here' and that gets your blood rushing! I actually did this 3 times (of my own choice) and once I actually fell in (and that one was during a class 3 rapids, and seriously it hurt!)

How white are my legs? (there were burnt at the end of the day...ouch)

This was such a great experience, falling out, seeing the sights, getting the blood rushing!

If you have not done this then I suggest you try as soon as you can. It is one of the most fun sports that I have ever done and I shall be taking it up when I get home!

Us on our boat!

What a great picture...and what a great day

Jimmy xx

Hello fellow blog readers,

I honestly thought I would never be able to visit Mindanao, namely the southern part of the Philippines. The main reason for this is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also called MILF (the definition is not associated with the MILF mentioned in the American Pie films hehe). They believe that Mindanao should be separated from the rest of the Philippines (is it based on religion differences?..) Philippines is predominately a Christian country, the muslims are generally located in Mindanao. The Abu Sayyaf (also an Islamic Separatist group) have performed numerous actions of terrorism around the Philippines, primarily in Mindanao. Tourists are therefore discouraged to travel in the southern part of the country.

Anyway, my family who lives in cebu have been to Davao several times, and they say it's a nice place. So my mom, Jimmy, my tita and I decided to visit the place, just for a few days. And they were right!
My first impressions of the place was how clean it actually was. Those who have been to the Philippines know that it's not the cleanest place to visit, so when I saw the clean streets of Davao I thought I was in a different country, it is also very green and scenic.

The first stop was the Crocodile Farm, there we were able to hold live reptiles. It was Jimmy's second time holding an albino python, he was still terrified though. Also, it was amazing to hold a crocodile, it was surprisingly calm and had soft skin. Sorry for not uploading any pics yet, due to the slow computers here.

I love snakes!!!

We also managed to go to Eden Nature Park, which is situated on a mountain. It is 95% man made forest, but it is still very beautiful and well maintained. After the guided shuttle tour around the area, Jimmy and I went on the Skyrider. It didn't provide an adrenaline rush, but we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery. It was very cheap too, about 15 Kroner or 1.50 English pounds.

The day after, we experienced white water rafting. Yes, it was amazing, the greatest thing I have done in a long time. It costs only 2.000 pesos (200 kroner or 20 English Pounds), which also includes:

Round Trip Transportation from the Crocodile Park to the rafting area
Packed Lunch with Bottled Water
Use of Gears and Equipment
Activity Guide
Souvenir Shirt
Photo CD

The staff was very friendly and professional, we were in good hands.
We were 7 persons per raft (including our guide). Firstly, they showed us a video of rafts capsizing (not a pleasant sight), secondly they helped us with our gear and equipment. And finally they taught us on how to pull each other into the raft, in case someone would fall into the river (which Jimmy did)...
I have to say that Davao is one of the most beautiful places I have been to; the untouched nature, the mountains, waterfalls... I felt I was rafting in the Amazon Jungle, breathtaking!!!!
Again, I am sorry I have no photos to show you guys, I appreciate your patience
Basically, it was a great adventure and I recommend river rafting to everyone!!!

Is Davao a safe place to visit? The local Filipinos we spoke to said yes, and I agree. Just excersize common sense and don't go out alone late at night.... I hope to return someday...

Well after the (very) short flight from Manila to Tacloban (about 30 min!) We were kindly met by Lene's Tito Roy (uncle) and driven to the main hotel in the area Hotel Alejandro. The first thing that struck me was that the hotel was full of yank pictures.

If you don't know the Philipines were occupied by the yanks and for some reason everyone here looks up to them?! Yeah I'm as baffeled as you! Oh and when people speak they all sound like yanks! It's like a living nightmare for me!

Anyway when your there you can tell your not in a major city for two reasons. The first, tehre is NO traffic! If anyone has been to Manila then you will know how bad the traffic is..its an absolute nightmare! So many people and terrible transport, I suppose if all the people in power would stop pocketing all the money and spend it on the people then it would not be so bad. And the second reason that you realise your not in a big city is when EVERYONE looks at you! Seriously people stare so much, I have gotten use to it but when your in a place like Tacloban, its hard because your the only white person here.

Oh yeah they have busses out here called Jeepney!

Well the main reason that we came to the island of Leyte and the town of Tacloban is because this is the place that Lene's mum grew up. We were here to celebrate Lene's Lolo (grandfather) death anniversary. Basically the family get together, pray, eat and drink. It was a strange, but good experience for me because you really get an insight into Philipine coulture, when you stay with a Philipine family.

Lene's family (well some of them)

We were at Lene's Lola (grandmas) house and it was nice because I met some of Lene's Tita's and Tito's (aunties and uncles). Well we ate Lechon, if your wondering what thats is...its basically a spit roasted pig! It was an experience, also loads of Philipino food such as lumpia, pancit, calderetia and it was all nice.

Also there I sat with Lene's Lola and also the mayor of the town! haha me with a mayor!

Anywayit was really nice meeting Lene's family and experiencing Philipino culture

Another part of Philipino culture...sam miguel

Jimmy xx