Diamond Hotel Philippines Manila

... hi-vis at all). Soon, my leeching tactic was exhausted as the car in front moved away so I was on my own. At this point I was slightly more confident, and I was looking in all mirrors at all times and even used the horn (for the first time in my life) when about 1000 people decided to cross in front of me. Assertion was the only way I would progress and I moved slowly trying to separate the large crowd.

Once the highway ended, the main road itself was a ...

... the plane once we landed. They did ask for the form in the airport and I think we had to go past a thermal imaging camera but that was it. Maybe because we had come from Japan and not directly from the US it was easier but who knows. I wonder if the US is doing the same thing for flights coming from outside the country? Anyway, we finally got home around one, Saturday morning and have been slowly readjusting to the time here.

... bit and the wounds also did not heal which made it painful to walk. So I spent most of my time chilling and planning my route around the country.

The Philippines is a collection of 70000+ islands. Manila is situated roughly in the middle of Luzon and is one of the largest islands. I wanted to head to north Luzon and into ...

Sigh, unfortunately we're back in Manila after a good amount of time in Visayas...would have been nice to spend more time at the tranquil beach of Panglao, instead of the noise and chaos in Manila...the good thing about coming back was that there was no traffic since it was a Sunday...

Each of our three flights (YYZ-YVR, YVR-NRT, NRT-MNL) were delayed but we eventually did get into Manila and the smouldering humidity. Getting through Immigration was long - apparently, all the jumbo jets come at night, plus we inevitably picked the slowest line to stand in...but I'm here for the first time since Christmas 2004 and will be here for 6 weeks!

... there along with a couple of dive shops. There are freighters coming and going so this stretch is not a postcard perfect, serence atmosphere like some of the others. But there are lots of wrecks out in the bay so for divers this area is great. Then we drove north along the coast in search of a place called Johan's we saw listed in the guide book. Outside of town you could tell there was once a military base in the area. The telltale signs are ...

... cats and water the plants when we are gone. On Thursday I was told that the contract was finally complete and ready for signing. Carol, our broker, would be meeting me at the office with the landlord's legal representative. When they arrived the contracts were not all printed because each side had assumed the other was providing the contracts to be signed. There was some last minute scrambling around and since our offices ...

... calling or texting. Then we found out we could go to any 7-Eleven or MiniStop or even an ATM to get a load. Then we found out a girl in my office runs a side business and can get us new load by sending her a text. In fact, if you get in a real bind you can have a friend share their load with you. It can be transferred from phone to phone. There is a whole world of things here that we know nothing about and we are only scratching the surface of learing it all.

... restrictions are affecting the way they do business with the mainland," said Consul General Alejandrino A. Vicente. "But we have not heard from our own nationals, including business people." He said what he did was report the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, and also asked Beijing for more details on the new restrictions. The new rules that took effect only a day after they were made known to travel agents require all foreign passport holders, except those ...

... in existence. (Such as, the northern mountains of the Philippines & various parts of India). She's hoping to get this course done before we leave the Philippines, because text books aren't light. Her next course is already in our possession, and it's one of the biggest textbooks she's had so far. You have to imagine, both our bags filled with bare basics, the lightest in camping technology, and 2 huge textbooks! (Gives a new meaning to the term "work Load ...