Malaysia - Day 8

Travel day #2.  Got up at 0400 this morning in the Philippines to catch an early flight to Malaysia.  I've been in airports all day.  By the time I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, it was dark and rainy.  And I still had to do a 20 minute car ride to the boat, followed by a 20 minute boat ride.  I was tired when I arrived at Gaya Island Resort.  Unfortunately, I couldn't go to my villa because the resort lost power earlier in the day and they hadn't restored power to the section my villa was in....

Positive things today were:

   1.  Malaysia is my second best immigration experience ever.  (Switzerland is still number one.)
   2.  Gaya gave me a free dinner while they were trying to restore power to my villa
   3.  When power still wasn't restored after I finished dinner, they moved me to another villa

Taytay, Palawan, Philippines

Philippines - Day 7

Travel day.  45 minutes to 1 hour boat ride.  90 van ride.  55 minute flight.  Now for the fine details:

   - It rained most of the day. Luckily not bad enough to cause problems for the motorized outrigger we took back to the mainland.
   - El Nido airport, though cute in its own unique way, is not high tech.  Security consists of a few security people physically going through everyone's luggage.  There aren't any scanners.  Surprisingly, they don't check the passengers.
   - While the rain didn't affect the outrigger, it did cause problems at Manila airport.  Our plane was an hour late.
   - I do not recommend driving in Manila.  Definitely get a driver.

Philippines - Day 6

Nice day.  Eat, drink, sleep, repeat.  Not necessarily in that order.

Philippines - Day 5

The day began with a postcard type beautiful morning.  I got up and took a leisurely stroll to breakfast.  I saw some blacktip reef sharks along the way.  I also saw a water monitor lizard by the restaurant.  I took a few pictures of it.  Then I finally made it to breakfast.

After a very satisfying breakfast, I returned to my cottage and pretty much did nothing for the rest of the morning.  Lunch came by and I skipped it too.  I was still too full from breakfast.

I did do a snorkeling excursion in the afternoon.  It was to Nabat island.  It takes 15-20 minutes to get there by boat.  Once there, everyone has approximately 45 minutes to snorkel.  Visibility was about 20 ft.  I'm guessing that was due to the aftereffects of the typhoon.  The water was warm.  There were a lot of fish and coral.  However, there were not any big fish.  I took a lot of pictures of small fish.

After snorkeling, I went to the island bar.  I ordered some drink that I had no idea what was in it.  (It was very good though.)  Then I got to be entertained by some Apulit staff playing volleyball.  I was asked to join but I gracefully declined and enjoyed my drink.  After the bar and volleyball, I still had time to shower before dinner.

Dinner was very good as usual.  The appetizers and main course have been different every night.  This time I saved room for dessert...  Food coma kicked in about an hour later....

Still on Apulit

Philippines - Day 4

I went diving this morning.  Apulit has several dive sites.  The one we went to was called "Dragon Head".  The aftereffects of the typhoon could still be seen.  There was stuff floating in the water.  Not trash or debris, just stuff.  Visibility was about 30 ft.  I didn't see much sealife, however there was one little fish that followed us for most of the dive.  Counting the divemaster, there were three of us and the fish would randomly hide behind one diver, then switch to another.

After diving, I had a little time to shower before lunch.  All the meals are buffet.  However, you can have a private picnic or dinner setup in a cabana, on a beach, or in a cave.

Speaking of which, I did the Cave tour in the afternoon.  It was much better than I expected.  I'm glad I brought my camera.  With the help of our guide, I managed to get some good shots.

The tour finished just before dinner.  I went and stuffed myself.  Food coma is starting to set in about now....

Philippines - Day 3

I had planned to do nothing today.  That happened to be a good idea.  It rained all morning.  There was a typhoon hitting the Philippines.  Luckily, not in the area I was in, but it was close enough to give us rain and thunderstorms.  No winds though.  It was all gone by the afternoon.

I did get out a bit.  I walked around some of the resort and took a few pictures.  In spite of the rain, I and many of the other guests also had breakfast in the restaurant.  I did wonder how that would work out considering the restaurant has just a roof and no walls.  But there was no wind so everyone was fine.  By dinner time, the sun had set and you couldn't tell it had rained.

Apulit Island

Philippines - Day 2

Finally made it to Apulit Island.  This place takes time to get to.  Another reason I spent a night in Manila is I didn't arrive early enough to catch the connecting flight to El Nido.  This morning, it was a 40 minute ride from the hotel to the airport.  (Manila traffic is bad.). Followed by a 55 minute flight to El Nido.  Then a 90 minute ride to Taytay town.  Then finally, a 40 minute boat ride to Apulit.

Upon arriving at Apulit, we were greeted with Ginger tea and a song by the staff.  After a quick registration, I was given an overview of activities and taken to my water cottage.

Apulit has 50 water cottages.  20 have a loft and sleep 4.  30 sleep 2.  All are over water.

I didn't realize how tired I was until I checked into mine.  I did a little unpacking, laid on the bed and the next thing I knew, it was dinner time.

Dinner was a huge buffet.  There was a lot to choose from.  I didn't even make it to the desserts.

After dinner, I called it a night.  I was well fed, a little tired, and ready to go to sleep.

Intramuros

Philippines - Day 1

SFO to Taipei, approximately 13 hours.  Taipei to Manila, approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Not bad really considering I slept most of the way.  I didn't even watch an in-flight movie.  BTW, for those of you who have ATT Uverse with the app. It does work in Taipei airport.

Immigration in Manila is relatively quick.  I still had to wait for my luggage, but I wasn't in any rush to be anywhere.

The hotel I was staying at, the Bayleaf Intramuros, provided transportation.  I was only staying here one night.  I wanted to see a little bit of Manila before continuing on to my final Philippines destination, El Nido resorts, Apulit island.

The Bayleaf is very nice and conveniently located to a lot of stuff.  It is in the Intramuros.  There is a lot to see a many places to eat, all within easy walking distance.  I did manage to see quite a bit.