Imperial Palace Suites Quezon City

... it took its toll on my umbrella which snapped several times, leaving me cold and soaking wet and forcing me to hike faster.

Upon reaching KFC, I readily walked into the counter and rattled off my order. When food was ready, I climbed up the second floor, sat in one quiet corner and ate my lunch. Sated, I lingered there for almost an hour but the downpour showed no signs of subsiding. I was getting impatient so I braved the ...

... some alive, some dead!! made in south africa see photo's for what to avoid hehehe

All visa ATM's are refusing me again here, it's a constant battle to try and remain solvent even though the accounts have plenty of money in them, I have a choice of at least 10 bank branches here some with two atm's but at the moment they are all frozen and the branches are closed from ...

... with the worst traffic just for the purpose, however still only cost a pound!! Watched transformersII very clever animation and human mixture, digital film, very good venu but aircon was like freezer, good coz Flora cuddled me whole time trying to get warm......... Ohh something different here, when you buy the ticket you also choose your seat.

Nearly so nearly went to lady gaga concert (I like her) BUT was on night before flight home and timings were ...

... I also cook enough for Flora's lunch box that she eats at midnight, I have taken to doing the same thing so we are in synch on the hunger issues!!

I spent ages looking for sausages that Flora said she liked (i often go shopping while she sleeps) but realized she meant hot dogs, this being an Americanized country! well i must say that I am not that keen on hot dogs, or at least some are pretty yuk, once I realized what I should be looking for I found ...

... but something was different. It was somehow sweet and a little bit oniony but not in a fresh onion type of way. I dissected the burger to see if I could figure out where the sweetness came from and what was so different about it. My analysis didn't come up with anything concrete. Maybe the sweetness is in the meat itself? The meat is a creamier ...

... how to hide secrets, I told myself. But what are the choices, anyway? Can sulking and whining bring back a bag of lost expensive jewelry? Maybe the correct attitude is just to charge the whole thing to experience and simply move on. Anyway, it was back to Macau after a hassle-free entrance to the Gong Bei Port. We only had a few hours left, and our guide made sure that we would spend our time wisely. Our first stop was the Ruins of St. Pauls, which, according to the travel books, is ...

... with brain damage and a hangover I could appreciate its beauty. I learned a valuable lesson (I should know better really) when the driver said we couldn't go to the hot springs unless I paid the P700 guide fee to him (doh). Oh how I laughed (not with him...but at him). My fault anyway...I should have asked all the right questions before then there wouldn't be any doubts. I told him to forget the hot springs and we headed back to Banaue. At the bus terminal I was faced ...

... choose the fastest or slower train, depending on your attitude of traveling. I take moderate speed of train which travels at least 10-12 hours. There are also air conditioned trains and non-air conditioned for your own choice. I always take train number 272/271 to and and from Beijing to Changchun. The time of departure from and to Beijing is ideal for me and the travel time is moderate. There are bullet trains that can only take at least six ...

... the line of obvious taxis. The cab driver I got didn't actually know where the lodge was (he told me later he had been on the job since only March 5th) but got some directions to it. The lodge wasn't far. He was a polite fellow. He tacked "Sir" on to the end of every one of the sentences he directed at me. Of course he wanted to know if I actually had a reservation at my hotel. He wanted to know if I was travelling alone, and whether or not I was interested in Filipino girls, and such ...

... the end of my service. I know that proper processing time for this journey will come as it needs to and I am glad I have made the decision to stay an extra month (in order to have more time with my family and the farm till July) but that does not make the thought of leaving any easier at this point. Regardless, I am continuing on in my classic style filling my last months with finishing projects, attending fellow PCV's wedding's, facilitating camps and training's and soaking up ...