Cebu, Philippines – CNY 2015, 19-22 February 2015

Happy New Year (of the goat / sheep / ram)!

Thursday, February 19 I'm up way before the sun for my CNY flight to Cebu, Philippines - I'm going looking for the sun given it’s been so cold and fog/smog every day! Thankfully it's not too much hassle to find a taxi; then I'm off with a puff of smoke. 110 in a 50 km area, sure why not. Bloody hell it's both hands holding on for dear life.

Check-in is super easy at in-town check-in, either most people left yesterday or they aren't as crazy as me having such an early flight (or going to the airport so early). My patience for standing in lines at security is wearing thin so I'm hoping by going to the airport a little earlier than required I'm straight through. Time will tell.

On arrival at the airport I'm surprised how many people there are here; you would think it was 11am not 6.30am! Large groups of people are just hanging out, I can think of many other places to be doing this! The security line, while long, does move quickly. I quickly exchange some money then it's straight to the lounge - a cup of tea is needed!

We depart on time and I'm pleasantly pleased the 2.5 hour goes by quickly with no issues. On arrival into Cebu airport immigration is 4 lines, the airport is a lot smaller than I expected. I have about an hour hanging out waiting for Anna; being in the warmth is so lovely! I've really missed you heat.

We take the hotel shuttle to the hotel, no more than 20 minutes and thankfully we are the first stop - the difference being Ocean Wing (where we are) and the main wing. No issues with check-in even though we are well before the allowed check-in time.



I get my jandels out then head out to check out the resort - first stop is lunch. We have both decided that there is not enough time to eat lunch, swim and have a shower before cocktail hour (at 5pm) so decide to have lunch then wonder around the property before chilling out in the room prior to cocktail hour. I know I had a bit of shut eye as well :)

Cocktail hour is actually two hours - woo hoo - and doesn't disappoint. I'm feeling dreadful and don't even manage one drink; before getting to the room earlier I'd said to Anna I feel like I'm hungover and unfortunately that didn't change for the rest of the day. I am clearly exhausted and this is my body’s way of telling me I need to stop.

We had a very early night - much needed!!

Unfortunately in the room next to us (a connecting room) we could hear the children; we decided you couldn't really call reception to after 9pm to complain of the noise.

Friday morning (20 February) I wake early, to be expected given it was lights out before 8.30pm :); I was feeling like I was a little hungover, again, but this time it was to be expected as I'd taken a chlorpheniramine pill last night. We head down to find a seat at the pool - what a joke every seat was taken but what a surprise no-one was there. So off to the beach we headed, the same situation greeted us but we did have a life guard helping us; he very so kindly removed someone's towels and bingo we were in! Now for breakfast :)

Breakfast was like a scrum – people everywhere! We found out too late that one could order one dish each off a menu as part of the breakfast deal. Tomorrow we will be prepared for this!
The morning and early afternoon was spent laying at the beach reading and listening to the sound of the waves, a sound I will never ever get sick of.

  

Mid-afternoon we had both had enough sun so headed back to the club floor for a delicious cup of tea. Nothing can beat this. Time now to get ready for the cocktail hour :)

Cocktail hour started at 5pm and given its included in the room rate we booked we didn't see any reason for us not to be there just before 5pm. They had a great selection of spirits, beer and wine with an assortment of both hot and cold tapas. A lovely way to end the day!

We leave the club lounge soon after the cocktail hour is over and head back to the room - time for Bollinger (I brought it from HK) and pizza (room service). I toast to Bridget for her birthday.



Saturday I wake early after an awful night’s sleep - the complete opposite of the night before!! I thought on holiday you are supposed to sleep well....clearly not!

We leave the room just before 7.30am; I'm shocked that every single seat is "taken" at not only the pool but also the beach. WTF. Honestly this is ridiculous. What on earth time do people get out of bed to reserve their seats I ask?! We manage to find two seats at the beach, one which is partially covered so take them then head to breakfast.

We have learnt from yesterday's mistake but thankfully the restaurant is nowhere near as busy as it was yesterday. So nice to take our time and not be pushed over getting food!  After breakfast we go to find the manager of the Ocean Wing who we had spoken to last evening about no seats at the pool or beach.  She promised us she would have two seats saved for us.  Thankfully she kept to her word.

We retire to the pool - so lovely to just sit, read and relax. This really is the life! Lunch is had sitting on our chairs :)



I get chatting to an American lady that lives in Shanghai (her husband works for Ford) after Anna leaves. Such a different life to me - but then again she does have 3 children in their mid-20's so clearly a lot older than me.

For happy hour I decide to break away from the wine and go with a Campari spritz – reminds me of my time living in Italy as well as the Qantas lounge in Singapore.

We head back to the room after the cocktail hour and chill before another early night - great way to end a day!

Sunday (22 February) morning I'm awake early, not entirely surprising when you go to sleep early. After breakfast we retire to our saved loungers by the pool. This is the life!

After about an hour there is a bit of activity at the pool, a little child decides the pool is his private bathroom. A few minutes later the pool is closer for cleaning.

We have lunch on the beach before Anna needs to go - I still have another 4 hours until I need to leave the hotel and thankfully we have been given a late check-out time so I don't need to hurry to pack.

I spend the afternoon at the pool reading and wonder what could be better!

I check-out just before 5pm and have a quick cocktail before going down to take the shuttle to the airport. The staff are all asking me if Anna will be joining - no she is nearly half way back to Singapore.

The shuttle arrives a few minutes before 5.30pm and thankfully there aren't too many people getting on board; we head to the main wing of the hotel to collect some bags then we are off. Leaving the gates of the Shangri La it’s a super quick reminder of where we are. There is a local festival on so a lot more people are around; the drive to the airport definitely takes longer than the journey to the hotel. On arrival we go through a security check - passport and eticket only. There are a number of people in front of me that do not have a print of their ticket, stupid really when it clearly states on your ticket you need to have a print out to both get in and out of the Philippines. I'm straight through and into the next line - bags being checked. Now for check-in, which I had done online yesterday so just need my boarding pass. Another passport check....then to pay the fee (750 Peso's, about USD17) to leave the country followed by a check I'd paid the fee. Honestly. Now time for immigration where there is no line at all :) I think I'm through and ready to explore the airport but alas no, another security check for the bags. No idea what I could have done / brought before the last check and now but hey ho. Time to sit down!

It's been a lovely 4 days away; while the hotel is nice I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone nor return again (it’s very expensive for what you get and over a long weekend it’s packed!). A real shame given Cebu is only a 2.5 hour flight from Hong Kong.

Jaipur, India – 30 October - 1 November 2014

We depart Delhi for Jaipur on Thursday, October 30 at 8am; traffic is already absolutely crazy!!! As we get closer to the outskirts of Delhi it gets heavier and heavier. It's feels like 10 lanes (not that they abide by them!) merging into two. This is going to be a very very very long journey!  I am now cursing myself that we couldn’t make a flight work (we had looked into flights as soon as we got back from the Taj but unfortunately the flights either departed super early or were crazy expensive).

Just when I think we are off we pull over after a toll booth and our driver risks his life by running across the highway to pay the tax fee.
The roads are nowhere near as good as the highway to Agra, add to the mix sharing it with half the world’s population of trucks!!! With the odd motorbike, tuk tuk and push bike added in for some fun. Ooh and then there are the cows and the odd camel or three. Makes for some interesting but scary watching.
Within a couple of hours I'm completely over it! We have a quick stop at the 3 hour mark....well that's what I think it will be, the driver decides he's going to have tea. Right ok, suppose it's needed given he needs to stay awake.
We finally reach the outskirts of Jaipur – the first thing I notice is the red / pink coloured wall then the massive elephants that are on the road like cars. Thankfully going in the opposite direction!
A good 6 hours after we left Delhi we arrive; while parts of the journey was good for people/animal/trucks watching I'm definitely itching to get out of the car!!
Walking into the lobby is a welcome escape from the crazy crazy Jaipur streets. I think it's much busier here than Delhi – perhaps that's because it's more of a compacted city.
After checking-in the first stop is lunch – a cup of tea prior to leaving this morning and a banana enroute doesn't really cut it!!
We are finally given room keys and are taken there with our bags which seemed to go past us a couple of times over lunch.  My room is nice – but nowhere near as good as the Shangri-La which I'm a little surprised about. I had thought this hotel was to be flasher.
I have to head out to a chemist – Eeks alive out in Jaipur alone. First thing I do is make sure my phone is on and has battery life in case I need to call Greg. How he would be able to help me is beyond me but hey ho!! The ladies at the front desk help me to work out where to go and even have concierge arrange a tuk tuk for me (when I tried they wanted to charge close to 3 times what it should have been). Right we are off, and so is my heart beat. Bloody hell this is scary. I really hope my tuk tuk driver is nice and isn't taking me somewhere else. I seem to be doing ok then we stop at an intersection – I feel like everyone is looking at me.....a few minutes later he stops, my eyes are trying to take it all in. I don't see any chemist stops. Thankfully another tuk tuk driver comes to our recuse and we are off for about 50 metres. Ye ha a chemist. Less than 3 minutes later I'm back in the tuk tuk and I'm praying now it's straight back to the hotel. We pass a few market stalls, there are quite a lot people out so traffic isn't exactly moving – I must have made a noise as the tuk tuk driver turned around and looked at me, smiled then took off. Breathing out now.
I notice a group of people standing around something in a circle, from the small glances I get it looks like an animal is in the middle. Time to turn my head away right now!! A couple more corners then its back to the hotel :) and time to relax before dinner.
We take a very expensive (compared with Delhi) taxi to a restaurant for dinner; it's on a rooftop which is a nice change to being inside. By far the cheapest meal we have had since being here, and while tasty I've eaten better (and definitely worse). Thankfully the tuk tuk back to the hotel is at a more reasonable price than the taxi.
Friday morning (October 31, 2014) I wake just before my alarm – major result for me!! After a fairly relaxed breakfast we decide to use a hotel car for the day; better than trying to negotiate ourselves with a taxi or worse yet a tuk tuk.
We drive out to Amber / Amber Fort (which we had passed driving into Jaipur yesterday), getting through the traffic of the city was an interesting ride – thankfully the shops aren't quite opened yet otherwise I'm sure we would need to be sharing the road with people as well!

    
  

First stop at Amber Fort was the bathroom and what an awful decision this was! So bad that I need to share with you. I walked into the ladies and the first thing I see is three stalls like a man's (alright alright I know you are asking how I know this, it's from my contiki days of my contiki in Italy when the line at the women's was so long so I used the men's, right back to today) then a man doing up his fly. I quickly walk backwards and look at the sign. Yes I'm on the right place and now there are other women who want to use it too so we all walk to the men's only to be told it's definitely the men's. So back to the three stalls - how I wish I could be on a farm right now as it would be a darn sight and smell better!!!!

 
We walk up the hill to enter Amber Palace, having to stand to the side often to let the elephants pass. The current Amber Palace, which was created in the late 16th century, is a larger palace to the already existing home of the rulers. It’s an impressive site where back in the day it would have been amazing! The fresco’s throughout each courtyard are amazing, in parts still very vibrant. It would have been very easy to get lost with all the secret hallways and tunnels.

  
  
    
On the way back into Jaipur we stop for a photo at the floating palace – an impressive building and even more so given the crowds cannot visit. There are a few tourist stalls, anyone for a pair of shoes?! I notice some camels across the road, they can stay over there thanks very much.


  
City Palace, is a palace complex that includes two palaces and other buildings, is in Jaipur city. The gates leading into it are the most impressive and interesting.

  
  

I was more impressive with the outside of Hawa Mahal, which is a palace near to City Palace, that was essentially a high screen wall so that women of the royal household could observe street festivities while being unseen from the outside. It’s made of red and pink sandstone.


From here we go to the Albert Museum, which was opened as a public museum back in 1887. I’m more interested in the outside of the building than what is inside.
By this stage I'm getting hungry and not really sure if there is much more to see in Jaipir so we head back to the hotel for lunch (and a nice clean bathroom!!).
The rest of the afternoon is spent relaxing :)
We meet for dinner and decide to try the hotels signature restaurant, on entering I notice it's very similar to the Delhi restaurant. There isn't any tables available so we enjoy a drink in the bar.....takes a while before someone comes to serve us. Ooh so different to the Shangri-La!The menu seems identical to Bukhara, now that we have sat down we aren't overly hungry and decide to order only one main and one side - and something completely different to what we had in Delhi. Ordering the wine was an experience; everything we selected we were told wasn't available....ok tell us what is available and we will select from there.
While the food was tasty, it was no here near as good as Delhi. A shame given it’s my last night in India.
Greg is leaving super early tomorrow morning to fly down south so it was a quick goodbye (given I'm so useless at saying goodbyes....) before I returned back to my room to finish packing. I have a VERY long day ahead of me tomorrow - Jaipur to Delhi (1 hour flight), 9 hours in Delhi, Delhi to Singapore (overnight) flight (5.5 hours); 4 hours in Singapore then Singapore to Hong Kong flight (4 hours). I'm tired just thinking about it!!! Sleep is needed.
Saturday morning after a wee sleep in :) my last for a long time! I head to breakfast, then do last minute packing.
Check-out is nice and smooth, with my driver waiting for me. It's an easy 25 minute drive to the airport. On arrival I see I'm going to be attacked by men with trolleys to assist me with my bags. I ask my driver to ensure they don't help me, it's a hop, skip and jump to enter the terminal so not sure why I'd require their services.
After showing my eticket and passport I'm allowed into the terminal, my check-in bag is then scanned. Now I can go and check-in. The agent asks if I'm related to Michael Jordan.....yes of course, what a ridiculous question! I can't help but laugh.
After looking in the two shops (one selling local clothes, bangles etc the other a book store) I head to the gate. Hard to believe my time in India is coming to an end. It's been an amazing week. Seeing the Taj Mahal was by far the major highlight and something I will never forgot! Delhi here I come.
I arrive into Delhi at 1pm, and after taking a bus to the terminal a man calls my name - I look at him then think that's random and keep walking. He calls it again and this time I stop and stare at him. He adds my last name and explains who he is - Shangri La airport service manager and that he is here to collect me. Ok...wow this is service! We collect my bag together and chat about the month he spent in Singapore. He then puts me in the car to the hotel.
Traffic is a darn sight busier than it was when I arrived a week ago (yes it's a different time of the day). One of the lights we stop at a beggar girl starts knocking at the door; the driver automatically locks the car. This is the part of traveling in Asia that I don't like - it's heart-breaking. My driver informs me its organized begging which makes my heart harden just a bit.
On arrival at the hotel it's straight for lunch (at my normal time of mid-afternoon, not sure this will be continuing when I return to work) before laying by the pool for a couple of hours. It's not warm enough to get in given the water temperature is (very) cold!!
I have a car take me to the airport for my flight home - my last taste of the Delhi traffic! It does not disappoint. The airport is buzzing, so different to a few hours ago. After a few issues checking in (the agent couldn't quite work out how he could check my bag all the way to HK as I was flying two different airlines) I was on my way to the massive security line. Like everywhere else I've been this week the men and ladies have separate lines, with the ladies having to go into a small curtained off area for their check. Mine definitely wasn't much for a check, we chatted about names....very random!

It’s been an amazing week experiencing just a small part of this incredible country – I know one day I’ll be back!
I manage to catch a bit of sleep on the 5.5 hour flight to Singapore; we land just after our scheduled time at 6.10am (3.40am India time...) and the first thing I do is brush my teeth with running water. Such a wonderful experience after a week of brushing with bottled water! Yes it's the small things in life. After taking the train to terminal 1, I collect my boarding pass for my next and final leg (Singapore to Hong Kong) before waiting for my friends to arrive. We have a couple of hours together catching up before I wave goodbye and leave Singapore airport.....wonder when I will return here again.....