Phillippines

Manilla

Wow after a 6am departure from Suzhou we finally arrive in the CRAZY city of Manilla.  Phillippine airlines was great on service and short on leg room.  Now that's saying something as we are not exactly tall people.  Manilla was chaotic - trying to retrieve our bags was a challenge in itself.  Note to self buy some bright coloured bags - black bags like everyone else has is not good.  I am standing where the bags come out - official job bag spotter, Mackenzie is bag messenger to Bev who is further down the luggage bay and he is the muscle.   Samuel's job is to sit in the pram and look good.

Finally we have all our bags and embark on the 2km ride to our hotel which takes 40 mins - traffic is out of this world.   Meet an Irishman who works in Poland for CBRE and his Canadian girlfriend (international school teacher).

Bohol

Alona Beach

The following day we are out the door at 7am and arrive on the island of Bohol.  Tagbilaran airport is the smallest I have seen - one plane in, half hour turn around, one plane out.  We feel happy to have arrived on Panglao (small island to the side of Bohol), connected by a bridge.  Our accommodation is everything we hope for - cheap, spacious, across from the beach, awesome pool and shop close by that sells cheap beer.  We can sit on the verandah drink our beer and watch the kids swim - good times.  The resort is called Alonaland.  The internet is having a spasm and not working on apple devices so Bevan is feeling very very twitchy and irritable.  I think it is a message from above to take a technology break.

Virgin Islands

The beach was magic, clear water, restaurants upon restaurant.  We booked an early morning trip - 6am (again) to go dolphin watching, out to Balicasag island and snorkeling off the reef.  The kids loved it.  They were great at snorkeling and very happy to see alot of nemo fish.  They also have sea turtles out there although we didn't see them - too much excitement in one daywhich we didn't see.  We also stopped in at the Virgin Islands which while pretty wasn't really necessary as it is more white sand and blue water which you can enjoy on Alona Beach.

Trip to Balicasag

Cebu

On day 5 Bevan organised a DAY trip over to Oslob on Cebu island to see the Whale Sharks.  Another early start.  I had a bad feeling about the trip as when we first turned up for the trip there wasn't enough room on the boat for us, then miraculously there was enough room.  The boat ride over was 3 hours and it was rocky, I thought we were going to capsize a few times.  I had white knuckles while it was lucky for the mood on the boat that the kids thought it was an adventure and were shrieking with laughter.  Oh to be young and just enjoy the moment without knowing the potential dangers.  Due to the rough weather the boat anchors 50 metres out and in true phillippino style there is no small boat to bring us to shore so having travelled 3 hrs to get here we take the only option which is to jump off the boat and swim for it.  Samuel and Mackenzie were amazing swimmers and made me proud.  I personally was feeling nervous but they were great.

After a considerable wait we finally get onto a small boat to go snorkeling with the whale sharks.  This is epic.  They are around 4-5 metres long and so graceful.  The water is quite choppy so we need to be careful not to bang our heads on the boat while trying to snorkel.

Once we are finished I am trying to work out a plan on how to get back to the boat when we see the coast guard standing on the beach to announce that we will not be going back on the boat due to a typhoon warning.  The next mission is to then get to a ferry port which is a 4 hour drive away.  We manage to hire a mini van to take us but between the 14 people on our tour 2 vans were organised and we only needed one.  Unfortunately they both arrive at the same time so a big conversation / debate starts as to which one we are taking.  We take a back seat and let the Spanish, Israeli's and Phillippinos sort the drama.  4 hrs later we arrive in the city of Cebu to find that all ferry services have been suspended so we find a cheap hotel and camp out for the next 3 nights while the storm washes over us.  As we only have our swimsuits and snorkels this was getting old by the third night.

The que to get ferry tickets was hours long so I use my acquired chinese style queuing and befriend an Irish guy further up the que to get tickets and get out of there.  We just make it to the next ferry out - arrived at the terminal at 6.30am and depart at 8.30am - yippee.

Bohol

On arrival back in Bohol the kids and I  take a taxi to our next resort while Bev goes in the opposite direction to get our bags from our first accommodation.  When we arrive at the lovely Loboc River Resort it looks like a war zone.  The river flooded the previous evening and everything is flooded out completely so I guess we are not staying there.  We manage to get hold of Bev and tell him to stay at Alonaland as we will be returning.  Unfortunately our spacious bungalow has been occupied but they find somewhere else for the James family.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          We take a tour around the island of Bohol and visit the Chocolate Hills - in the summer these mounds turn brown hence their name.  We stop in to see the cute little tarsier monkeys and also at The Butterfly Farm.  We have lunch at the Bee Farm - an organic farm with Bee hives.  The food is amazing.

As there are so many eating options we take turns at choosing places to eat and manage to get cocktails two for the price of one.  The kids know how to order pina colada by singing "I wanna pino colada".  Entertainment is good with no shortage of phillipino bands doing great covers.  They sure can sing up a storm.

For our last three nights we stay at the incredible Bohol Beach Cub Resort which really was a nice way to finish the holiday.  The service, food, rooms and amenities were awesome.  They had a games room with board games and a wii which was great when it rained.  They had a massage area on the beach, hammocks.  Food was to die for.  We took a glass bottom boat trip and hired a kayak - staying in the kayak proved a challenge but we managed.

The kids loved swimming in the pool although Samuel needs to work on his swimming style as twice people dived into the pool to save him and he is like get off me I am swimming just fine.  I look like the very responsible parent on the side with a cocktail.

Samuel participated in a fire eating show which was very exciting, we built sandcastles and memories on this relaxing trip - stay tuned for our next adventure.