Visit to Philippines

Wow so much has happened since my last blog entry. I visited SE Asia and Hong Kong in December and arrived back in South Africa early January. Spent most of my time in Manila, helping my bf and now partner to get a 3month visa to visit South Africa. We stayed at an apartment hotel in Malate Manila. Malate is a vibrant area with a large Robinsons Mall and many smaller shops, bars and restaurants in the area. Davey, my partner and I explored Manila together. Luckilly he has been to Manila before and this helped tremendously with getting around quickly. We also met several of his friends who works for Cebu Pacific Air at the Manila airport. There are several gay bars and a lovely club called Bed in the area. The gay scene is very vibrant, especially over weekends. The city never seems to sleep and travelling on the LRT was an experience in itself. The trains are jampacked with commuters, since it is the fastest way of getting around the city. Generally speaking the restaurants and bars are affordable. The food courts in shopping malls offer a wide variety of food at relavely cheap prices.

Needless to say that we had to spent a lot of time going to the south african embassy to finally get dave's visa approved. The staff, some of whom are Fillipino were very friendly and helpful.

Manila is a vibrant city with a large population. Always large numbers of people in the streets and malls. There is also a large nitght market where goods are inexpensive.

More to follow in my next entry