Day 4 Bohol Highlights

After a good Philippino breakfast of garlic rice, scrambled eggs, chorizo (pork sausage), mango juice and coffee, we left for a tour of the highlights of Bohol. This included the Chocolate Hills, a butterfly farm, a river cruise lunch and the tarsier sanctuary.

The Chocolate Hills are really an area of raised, isolated hillocks, covered in grass. The chocolate description comes from when the hill's foliage drys out to a brown colour under the scorching summer sun. There is a step way up on of the hills which leads to a viewing area of the surrounding hills. There were quite a few locals and tourists having their pictures taken at the view point and by local photographers who got them to pose in weird positions in front of pictures of the hills.


Having come down and whilst we waited for our private transport, Clare had a lovely mango ice cream which was 'refrozen' over a super chilled metal dish prior to serving. This was topped with marsh mellows and chocolate crispy flakes. - it was delicious.


The next stop was the butterfly farm. This was quite small, but very informative. We had a guide who took us through the life cycle of the butterflies and moths. There was then a walk in enclosure where the butterflies flew freely and could settle on you.



From there it was time for lunch. This was an 'event'! It was a river cruise on a floating restaurant. Sounds very nice, and it could have been without the other passengers and the feeding frenzy that ensued as soon as they were aboard. It was a shame as it put us off our food some what!



We stopped off at a floating pontoon for a local village group to give us a singing welcome and a dance show, which was the best part of the lunch!



Then it was off to the Tarsier sanctuary. This was set up in the hills and was quite a small affair, but it was excellent to see these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat and being watched over by dedicated staff. It is a sad fact that many are taken from the wild for the benefit of tourists to see up close. Unfortunately they don't survive long in captivity and so more are taken from the wild, which ins now threatening their survival, along with habitat loss.




We were lucky to see four of these tiny primates and the guide explained the sanctuary programme and gave us excellent information about the life cycle and breeding of these beautiful creatures.



We then returned to the main town where we stopped at the market. This was massive, with all sorts of stuff on sale. There were fruit stalls selling all manner of exotic fruits, some familiar some not. Of course we brought some for later.



There was also fresh and dried fish stalls, vegetable and everyday item stalls. It was great to see such fresh and varied produce in one place.




After a stop for some local rum, we returned to our hotel for a swim before enjoying our fruit purchases washed done by copious amount of rum and sprite! Then we staggered up the beach for a fish, pork, corn and potato BBQ'd supper right on the beach. A perfect end to the day!

Day 3 Manila to Bohol

Today we flew with George form Manila on an early flight to Bohol, with us came Ramon and Larry. The flight took just over an hour and of course we arrived to beautiful weather, hot and sunny. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Alona Tropical Beach situated on Panglao, an island attached to Bohol by two causeways.

The hotel is small and simple, but comfortable and is situated between two much more expensive ones at one end of a fine white sandy beach. After dropping our bags in our rooms we went for a bit of late breakfast, noodles with seafood and more with chicken and pork. Clare tucked into some fruit pancakes and a mango milkshake.

We then had a quick walk into the nearby village for some more supplies of fresh fruit and then hit the beach for some R&R. The sea is lovely and warm and Clare had a lovely time enjoying it and the sun.




After a few hours it was time to check out the neighbouring posh hotel and have some afternoon tea - well mocha iced coffee, caramel cake, banana turon de Bohol and a huge halo-halo. Larry reserved a beautiful table overlooking the beach at this hotel which will be a lovely spot for our dinner tonight.

We had a gentle stroll along the beach to work off our afternoon snack and check out the rest of the hotels and bars along the short half mile stretch of beach All the bars etc were trying to get customers to eat drink at their place - some had a lovely array of fresh seafood on display to tempt the passing trade.

Now it's time for our cocktails before dinner! Tomorrow we are off to check out the sights of the island.

Day 2 - Manila / Tayabas

Today we took a journey south of Manila to see the mountains and some old Spanish era churches. Bella, Tony and Bobot came with us so we went in a small mini van with a driver.

After another sumptuous breakfast, this time with fresh shrimp (so fresh they were still jumping when brought to the house!), we left to drive south. After a few hours, after experiencing the roads here in Manila with the buses, motorcycle and sidecar taxis and jeepneys - the local hop on and off transport, we arrived at our lunch spot.



The lunch stop was a fish farm with floating dining areas over the fish ponds. They obviously served fish, but also they specialised in roasted pig. Bella and the rest ordered for everyone and we were soon settling in to another lovely meal, washed down with fresh young coconut juice out of the shell.



After lunch we went on to see a couple of old churches and take in some views of the river as it flowed to the sea. We used a local suspension bridge to view the passing traffic of canoes and floating wood off to market.





Afterwards we headed back to Manila and after a very quick freshen up went over to Baby's - George's niece's for a family meal. Here there were four generations of the Go family, starting with George's brother, Joaquin and his wife Nini, both in their 80's! It was great to share another excellent dinner with some of the extended family, down to the great gran-niece. We will get to see some of them again at the birthday party on Saturday.

Early tomorrow we leave Manila and fly to the island of Bohol - Clare will get he wish of a sun lounger and some well earned R&R!

Day One - Manila

After a short night's fitful sleep we awoke to a warm sunny day and a sumptuous breakfast provided by our lovely hosts Bella and Toni. We were really spoilt with rice, omelette's, milk fish, dried beef, fried banana, fresh mangoes, guava and fresh calamansi juice - a Philippine cross between a lime and a lemon. We also had a chance to take a good look at the lovely open, Spanish style house, which makes the most of the warm weather.

Then we had a quick run into the local town for some cash and to try the halo-halo, a iced mix of fruit, milk and sugar and a topping of leche flan - quite delicious!

The driver then took us to Makati where George's family still have their cafe. Here we met Luis, Eric and Gerry - more of George's old friends. We had a lovely lunch, of rice, sweet and sour fish, mixed veg and more fresh juice. This was followed by a great desert of Bibingka , a rice flour, sugar, cheese and butter, with salted eggs, baked in a leaf on hot clay brazier. It is served with freshly grated coconut and is really popular here as a snack!

We walked through the business area of Makati and onto Luis apartment in the centre overlooking the park. After a brief stay our new lift arrived with even more of George's friends, Rene and Ramon. Again we were driven by their air-conditioned vehicle and driver to Intramurous - the original walled Spanish city. Here we went into the only surviving original church - San Agustin and a wonderful colonial house The Plaza San Luis, with a very opulent wooden interior.

It was by now time for something more to eat and drink! So we went to a shopping mall, right on Manila Bay and took in some coffee and coconut deserts - Clare had a really great fresh mango juice. After a brief stroll along the front we hopped into our transport and went to the Sofitel Hotel to get a cocktail and watch the sun set. It was wonderful, with a warm ocean breeze and a great sunset, not to mention the excellent rum based cocktail.

Of course it was now time for dinner!!! So we went to a local eatery called Savory - which is owed by Georg's friend Ramon. Again we had a really good chicken dinner, with fish, pork and spring rolls, washed down by a four season juice - excellent!

We were by no quite sleepy - not to mention full, so we headed back to Toni and Bella's, to be greeted by Bella with a bowl of ice cream! We certainly are going to well fed and watered this trip! It's now 10.20 pm and it's still about 20 degrees and very pleasant as I sit in the courtyard and write this. Tomorrow we are off to Laguna De Bay about two hours outside Manila with Toni, Bella and Bobot - George's youngest nephew!

Go's Philippines

Today we started another adventure, this time to the Philippines to celebrate George's birthday.
George, with help from his many family and friends have put together an itinerary for us, which includes Manila, Bohol and Cebu. We are staying with some of George's extended family and in a few hotels so it will be a nice informal mix.

We flew with BA to Hong Kong, which is where we are at present waiting for our connection to Manila. The flight over was very good, with a upgrade to Premium Economy making our 10 hours literately fly by. We had a really strong tail wind, so arrived a good hour and half ahead of schedule.

The new airport at Hong Kong is all very efficient, clean and well staffed, which fits with our previous experience of Chinese airports when we did our China trip in 2008. The shops are all designer, the prices on a par with the West and the food very good!

It's great to have free wi-fi to be able to catch up with e-mails and complete the blog, lets hope the Philippines proves as efficient!

Off now for some noodles, watch this space for more!