Week 32 (Australia (Brisbane) and Philippines (Manila))

01/25


Rose at at 8.45, breakfasted, did the media. Now going out to take some pictures. Laterz.

Nice day. Strolled to the South Bank of Brisbane river,
First cooled down in the Science museum.

Then found a very relaxing concert for Australia day.

Did some other pics as well...

City Beach

Roof terace Hostel

George St.

Goodwill Bridge (ot the other one?)

Went back to the hostel at 3.30, to have an early diner. Watched a tennis game, fell asleep as usual, showered and went back to the south bank of the river. A brilliant firework! Loved it.
Had a last Coopers Pale Ale at the British pub. Did the media, e-mail and the news. Watch Murray now... Ozzie open tennis that is.
Fly to Manila tomorrow. Have a weird feeling about it. Don't know why. Laterz.

Oh, here's how the floor of the elevator in the hostel looked like ... Step in there...

01/26

Rose at 8.45. Breakfasted, packed, checked out and got a daypass for the rest of the day. Stored my lugage. In a cool room now, using my last hour of wifi.
Still have unrelaxed feel about my stay in Philippines .... why?

Anyway, had a last day (partly) in Brissy: went to the open air music festival again. Nice close harmony band. Last walk back through the (by now familiar) centre of town. Watched the movie "Rabit proof fench" in the hostel, made the last slices of bread, drank the last coffee. Too bad i leave on Australia day, coz there was so much to be seen. Not smart Jan.
Left the hostel at 5, took the 5.30 train to the Int. airport, where i'm way too early as usual. The waiting has begun. Lets see if there's any free wifi...
Laterz...

There was free wifi, so.. i chatted with Mariya and updated by blog. Sipped a very expensive beer and then flew to KL overnight for the stopover to Manila. All went well, even arrived too early.


01/27

Went straight (well, straight ... needed a night train, but fair enough ... reasonably straight) to my gate where my flight to Manila was to leave from and slept there for an hour or so. Arrived in Manila too early too. Found a nice and reliable taxi, that drove me to this cheap, but shitty hostel, where i am now.
Spend the rest of the afternoon, shopping and exploring the environment. Tomorrow i'm going to find emirate (backpackers area) for a more permanent location to stay. (Though here is not as bad as i had thought; still pretty bad though.) Laterz...

Ate and made a long stroll through the neighbourhood. Not very nice. Threatening and very uncomfortable. Few people already warned me about going out at night... Will go to Lamate or Ermita the day after tomorrow.
Now, have a beer at the hostel and update blog. Wifi is fine here.

The beer became three beers. All shared with Drake, a very nice guy from Papoea Nieuw Guinea. Finsished his studies, but could not get a job, so... now he studies again in Manila, to become a pilot. We talked about anything, but mostly about the unbalanced division of welfare in this world. He knows about that, as you can guess. Good evening though. Drake, thanks dude. you turned a lousy stay in a shitty hostel into a nice and pleasant time.


01/28

Slept like a baby (no wonder: beers and 24 hours of flying and moving from hotel to another hotel). Forgot to breakfast and started walking straight away to Ermita, the backpackers area. It's about 5 km away,so it took me quit a while, also because i also wanted to see the bayside. But... i think i found a nice hotel there (Aircon, private room, fridge, own bathroom: all for less then 20 Euro/night). Think i'll be there for a while. Go there tomorrow, since i still have one night left here (in the dangerzone... ;-) )
Walked back and did a little nap in my room here. Walked some more (to the busterminal, just in case i want to go somewhere by bus). Now updating blog. KFC it will be tonight. Laterz.

No KFC, since they provided diner in the hostel as well, so... Chicken fried rice it was.
It's still so hot... showering does not help. Beer does though! Thanks Drake!
Had a nice chat with Drake and "Seagull" (The only way i can remember his name, nice bloke from India, also studying here). Slept good again.


01/29

Slept until 9 (!!) (again!!). Still a bit jetlegged i think.
Ran to the 24h convenience store for a ham&cheese sandwhich ad a coffee.
Packed, checked out, and walked .... walked and ... walked untill i was in my "new" hotel.The Slouch Hat, an Aussie style bar/restaurant/guesthouse. Relatively expensive, but quit a bit more comfortable as well. Friendley staff, although hard to negociate with about prices and so on. Oh, well... we'll see how much i like it here. Fist impression is a positive one anyway. Now, lets check the wifi... Laterz.

Made long walks (even more!), sipped a beer at the harbour view restaurant, bought a map of metro maila (man, it's huge!!), did some shoppings at the 7 Eleven, walked through the nearby park (also huge, with beautiful fountains), ate, watched the tennismatch between Murray and <...>, ate real chinese food, updating blog now and do the media in the "lounge" of my little ozzie inspired hotel in the centre of Ermita.

Sipped another beer here and slept well, despite a bad functioning AirCon.


01/30

Woke up at 8, rose at 9. Went to the 7 Eleven for a drink and some breakfast. Lots to do today and so i did: found out where to extend my visa, found out where the bus to Batangas goes from, found out how to get there, found a bar where they display Premier League football, found a bank where i could get at least 10.000 PHP at once, ran 4 KM in the park (which made me feel sooo good) and in between made some walks in the neighbourhood. Lots of poverty though. Can't get used to the view of moms with little kids, sleeping on the pavement ... makes me (want to) cry.

Even seeing them eat on the street ... man, we are so privileged...

After running i showered, shaved and felt like reborn. Went out for some cheap, but good food, had a beer in a bar where they showed tennis (and wher a lot of prostitutes where (man, did i feel popular)), and finalized the evening with a drink in my little hotel (alone).


01/31

Woke up at 8, but did the media for a long time, so went out of my room at 10.30 - ish. Breakfasted (well ... 2 toasts and jam) in the hotel over a big mug of coffee. Brought my laundrey next door (there's a laundrette).
Then ... tried the LRT (public transport) to Putay station. Worked well, found out how and where to obtain tickets and the bus station. Since i was there: explored that part of town.
Feels ok i know my way around now and can deal with most kinds of public transport here. It complex though: There's LRT, Jeepnay (kind of long, extended jeeps), ...

... taxis, city buses, trains, (kind of) bycicle driven riksjas, FX-es, interstate buses and international and domestic airplanes. All do different distances, so you always have to do a combination of public transport means. But... i get to know it by now (more or less).

Went back (by LRT again obviously), walked through the park here, went back to hotel, where the aircon still had not been repaired, so... i got a new room (more luxury for the same price... ). Updating blog now. About to look at the womans finals of the Ozzie open tennis grand slam. Laterz.

So, Sarena won!
Went for a cheap meal and a walk along the bay, back through the red light district (well, there's hardly any none red light district here ...)

Freshened up and went for New castle - Hull City (Premier League football that is). In another bar... with lots of girls with a doubtfull reputation again (I could be married by now three times at least). After the first half i returned to my hotel, where I'm updating my blog now. Laterz.

Slept wonderfully in my luxury room. Did a star trek episode first though.