Manila airport is on the list of the worst airports in the world. Mainly due to the corruption but also because of the scams especially with the transportation. While we were on the ship we spoke to a number of the crew who were Filipino and asked for their advice for the airport. They all laughed and then proceeded to explain that yes it’s pretty bad but apparently it’s getting a lot better under the current president Bongbong Marcos (yes it’s Fernando and Imelda Marcos’ son).
They told us that we probably won’t have to bribe the immigration people any more but that the taxi drivers will possibly drive off with your luggage or at least charge you ten times as much as the ride is worth. Choose the coupon taxi as it’s fixed price and they write it down and that’s what you pay. Also they register the driver and so they are less likely to drive off with your luggage.
Getting to the coupon taxi booth was a right hassle though. Everyone had an official printed out badge saying they were coupon taxi (which they weren’t). The price from the first guy was 5 x as much as we knew we should pay. The next 4 x and so on until we actually got to the little booth surrounded by people saying they were coupon taxi (which they weren’t). We’ll wait for the man in the coupon taxi booth thanks!

As it turns out the advice was right. We didn’t have to bribe immigration they were actually very helpful when we realised we had to do another online health declaration, including our monkey pox status. The taxi driver didn’t drive off with our luggage and we didn’t get scammed because we used the coupon taxi and so paid the government rates. Always pays to be prepared.

The next morning we were back out to the airport to fly to the island of Boracay. We had pre organised the hotel pick up which is a must as you need to get from the tiny airport of Caticlan to the jetty on a boat for a 10 minute ride to the island and then from the jetty to the hotel. Sometimes you just need to spend the $50 to make your life easier.

Boracay is known for its beautiful beaches but also that it started to become over populated with tourists and the infrastructure couldn’t cope. At one point the island was referred to as the worlds biggest cesspit. In 2017 the government closed Boracay to all tourists for six months. They brought in the army and used the time to upgrade the water, waste and sewerage systems. They replaced all the diesel tuktuks with electric buggies and mandated that the hotels and businesses clean up their act. It was the best thing they ever did.
The island reopened just in time for covid to hit and for it to close again.

White beach Boracay is actually a really beautiful beach, so we are very glad we went Added bonus a new country for the list). White sand, clear clean blue water and lined with palm trees. No sun loungers or umbrellas to spoil it, like so many other beaches in the world. There is a beach path that separates the hotels and restaurants from the beach. So you can wander along the sand in the evenings to watch the sunset and the hundreds of small sail boats going out for a sunset cruise.
The people were lovely, the water was warm and the sunsets were incredible.
We will definitely return to the Philippines and spend more time on the other islands. Palawan, El Nido and Cebu all came highly recommended by the locals.

Then we were back to Singapore for another health declaration and a two night stay at Marina Bay Sands.We’ve both always wanted you stay there and to swim in the very instagrammable rooftop pool (was actually the most instagrammed hotel in 2017). The three towers with the ship across the top has to be one of the most recognisable buildings in the world and it’s certainly an enormous hotel with over 2500 rooms. We weren’t disappointed with an incredible view from a really lovely room and a couple of amazing swims in the pool.
Bucket list ticked.

Once our Vietnamese adventure came to an end it was back to Singapore for some clean streets, high end luxury stores and a self serve laundry which cost $8!!! Ridiculous pricing.

We then set forth on our next journey aboard the Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas.

A large sized ship that currently runs 3 and 4 night cruises from Singapore for predominately Singaporean, Malaysian and Indian families.  During the Singapore lockdown these cruises went to “nowhere” and so were the only way to get out of Singapore and so were very popular. 

There were a ton of kids and some really large family groups travelling together on the ship. Apart from us the only other westerners we encountered were a family from Australia who we met at the bar. Cruises we have done previously from out of America, means that every seat at the bar is taken. Every sun lounger is claimed the minute you get on board and it’s hard to find a spot in the sun or at the bar. Not so much out of Singapore. The bars are empty. The sun loungers are empty. No one wants to drink or sunbath. Instead they want to play ping pong and badminton and ride the wave machine. They want to swim in the pools and eat all the food and basically have a great family time. That’s why it was just us and the Australians in the bar. 

We had an awesome time for five days, balcony sitting, cocktail drinking (try the floating colada) ,blackjack at the casino (came out even) and wandering about in the two ports we stopped at, Port Klang, the closest port to Kuala Lumpur and Penang a tourist mecca for short trips to Malaysia. Hot though, far out! Mid 30’s with 100% humidity is pretty gnarly when you are out walking.  

Days before we arrived to Singapore they had removed a mask requirement indoors and had also removed a requirement for a negative RAT before traveling.  The requirements around covid were changing daily so we never knew what we were going to get, masks or no masks and you never know what online health declarations you need to fill out before you arrive.

 After five days on the ship we left to go directly to the airport for our flight to Philippines. New country! Country number 83 for Jen and 85 for Nigel.  Let’s see how it goes!

OK, so it’s not the most impressive bridge that snorts fire and sprays water but it’s the only bridge I’ve ever seen that snorts fire and sprays water.

The last time we were in Da Nang we thought that the famous Dragon Bridge did it’s thing every night and so we missed it as it only happens on Saturday and Sunday nights. I think our expectations of a choreographed laser light, fireworks, fire and holograms bouncing off the water mist extravaganza of the bridge, were quietly usurped by a bridge that breathes fire and spurts water. The place was packed though for the show (which lasted about 5 minutes) It was OK.

Da Nang beach is a long and expansive golden sandy beach. It can be described as akin to Surfers Paradise (without the body builders). There is an Ibiza style dance party happening all night and in amongst it all 10 people send their traditional circular boat out with a massive net to retrieve about 2 kilos of fish total which they share amongst themselves. I think that this age old tradition probably yielded more fish back in the day but these guys keep going every night.
The sea water must be around 38 degrees or a 12 on the 1-10 Jen swimming scale. Too warm for even me to bother getting in.

It’s an area very popular with local tourists who come to swim in the sea and go to massive restaurants where you go and choose your fish or crab or lobster from huge tanks and they will cook it and shell it and basically almost feed it to you.
We didn’t get to sample any of the local seafood or local cuisine though because of a small salad and a sneezer in Cambodia.

Our fourth trip to ‘Nam didn’t go entirely to plan. We had intended on returning and spending a good amount of time in Hoi An. The cutest little Old Town in the world. You can do cooking classes and bicycle around the pedestrian and cycle only streets. There are beautiful restaurants lining the canal with amazing Vietnamese food. People come from all over Vietnam to have their photos taken as it’s one of the most picturesque places in the country. As it turned out Nigel couldn’t stray too far from the bathroom the whole time we were there and I had developed all of the covid symptoms while testing negative for covid five days in a row.

So we stayed put.

Venturing down to the pool and back to the room and back to the pool again. Thankfully our hotel had a nice pool and a really nice room with a balcony. Our plans to eat our way through the beautiful Vietnamese food had Nigel eating nothing but one bite of a croissant one day and one slice of pizza the next.

We did manage to walk to the Old Town on our last evening and it was as pretty as we remembered. We were lucky enough to arrive on the night of the lantern festival (long time readers will know from our last time that every night the locals will tell you how lucky you are that it’s lantern festival night in Hoi An). We took a million photos as the sun set. Had a really nice dinner (which Nigel later got to see all over again) watched the little ladies with their trays of fruit transform to selling paper lanterns that you light and place on the River crowded with boats taking a trip up and down with their lanterns glowing. It was a really nice evening.

It was a shame to be sick but happened at the right time for us and it didn’t really matter as we were able to laze away without having to move until we went 45 minutes by car up the road to Da Nang for a few nights.

Our last day in Vietnam Nigel was feeling a bit better and so we had some breakfast. We went for a walk down the beach, picked up our clean laundry $3 for a massive bag (I love Vietnam laundry services). Then we went and swam in the rooftop pool, lay in the shade and had $3.50 margaritas!

In sickness and in health, we choose our attitude everyday and as long as everyone remembers their smile and a good attitude, any travel day is a good day. It was a really nice way to spend our final day in Vietnam.