Week 2.5 - Palawan and Manila

Been a bit since the last update, needed enough interesting things to make a post!

Currently I am with Quy in Manila, heading to Boracay in 24 hrs. It's valentines day here and all restaurants and malls are hocking the flowers and everything red ;)

Firstly I arrived in the Philippines and headed to the Palawan province/region, namely starting in Puerto Princesa. The city was great, very clean. A highlight was a city tour I took which ended  being a group of adults all family on vacation from Manila, they took me under their wing as the only other person on the tour insisting I was in there family photos and ensuring I tried the best things at the markets, it's was beyond kind of them.

Heading north via a 6 hour bus ride I headed to El Nindo, where I finally found other tourists, this is basically the northern tip of a large island and thus a mecca for island hopping, diving and everything in between. Hotel space was tight, had to move each night as I was unable to find a single place with room for several nights in a row. Power was off by routine in the village from 6am to 2pm, so that adds a definitely off the beaten path feel. Although one night there was also a brown out for a few hours, luckily the hotel I had that night was a backup generator type of place. Did some island hoping, had a great snorkel experience one of the best snorkeling reefs for a non dive trip I think I've come a across, the health and type of life was great.

From there I cheated and found a small plane ride directly to Manila than have to sit on a bus for 6 hours again ;)

Meeting up with Quy in Manila we quickly hit the town and its been non stop ever since. There seems to be a stereotype I fit as Quy and I have vastly different experiences with taxi drivers. For example seemingly within 10 minutes my cabbie already knows I am single and is asking if I want to visit some entertainment locations, none of which was of my doing. Within 10 minutes Quy is discussing the national hero and local politics. My cabbies are always be friending me and offering me services for my stay and hooking up their digits in my phone, Quy parts way having instilled culture with his cabbie. Why me, although perhaps given everyone feels Quy is a local, and a local basketball star to boot.

A highlight so far was definitely Greenbelt, this collection of 5 malls all connected with amazing green space, lots of outdoor eateries and drinking establishments, great lighting and vibe until the wee hours of the day. We hit up this one bar which had a live band, within a few minutes of a Bryan Adams song Quy was on stage singing with the band. A bit later one of the women singers had me on stage and was violating me in ways I did not stop. Great times for sure.

I've put a few of the Dan and Quy shots up on Flickr if you want to check the link.

Dapper