New years, Manila, Boracay

Day 49
I skyped with my family which was fun. I honestly don't remember what I did during the day. However at night we celebrated the birthday of one of my new Italian friends called Valentino by going out to the civic bar. It had a live band and was really crowded. We didn't stay long.

Day 50
I planned the canyoning and abseiling trip for today which again meant I had to get up at 5:30. It was a 200 meter abseil in 5 pitches in the blue mountains. We started with the abseil which was pretty scary. Especially the first one of 45 metres and one where there was an overhang which forced you to jump. We were with about 8 people. A few guys had gopros and they said they'd share the pics on the Eagle Rock adventures Facebook page. But I haven't seen them yet. Too bad. We ended the tour walking up to the top again which was pretty tough to be honest. 200 meters of stairs takes quite a bit of time.

The canyoning was less scary but more fun. The water was pretty cold eventhough it is not melted ice. I go canyoning every year in Austria and the water was warmer to be sure but it was still pretty cold. The trip consisted of 4 jumps with a max height of about 6 meters. The coolest one was a jump at which you had to do a matrix run on the side of a rock to make sure you ended up in the deep end. We ended the tour with an abseil through a waterfall.

While we did the abseil through the waterfall another group was simultaneously doing that abseil as well and failed miserably as their tour guide was what they call a recreationist. He failed to guide his group properly causing them to slip and hang upside down in the waterfall. This scared the bedjeezus out of this one girl whom was upside down for about 30 sec.

I did make pretty pics of the blue mountains which look like a green canyon from the top. I slept on the 1.5 hour bus ride back to Sydney and was pretty fatigued. That night we still went outinto town though to some disco with several venues.

Day 51
I woke up to the sound of my telephone. It was Niels from Melbourne accompanied by our friend Erik. Apparently there was some miscommunication with their accommodation. They thought they could be there at 8 am, but the owner of the appartement thought he said PM. They hadn't slept all night and now needed a place to store their bags. I told them they could store it in my room in the hostel.

We decided to go to Bondi beach together with a few others I've met. We had this Japanese guys with us whom could barely speak English. He decided to go with us on a whim without anything but the clothes on his back and a wallet. At the bus stop, as all of us had already checked in, he suddenly came to the conclusion that you can't buy bus tickets in the bus. So he jumped off and told us that he would be there later even though he couldn't even pronounce Bondi Beach. So one down.

Then as we tried to rent a surfboard for the day we lost another Australian guy called Barry in a shop somewhere. We searched but failed. 2 down. Then Niels, Valentino and myself tried to surf. Our board was too small which apparently makes things infinitely harder. I was barely able to stand up. I said my goodbyes to Niels and Erik again and went on to figure out what the plan for tomorrow which was the 31st of December would be. I agreed with a bunch of guys to go Macquaries point which has the best view over the bridge and opera house.

Day 52
The day of new years eve. We knew that we needed to get up really early in the morning to get to Macquaries point to stand in line as thousands upon thousands of people want to be there first to get the best view. We had to get up at 7 am and be in the line around 8 am (yes AM, not PM). We sort of knew that brining you own alcohol wouldn't be allowed so I hid a small north with Vodka in a loaf of bread. I also brought the rest of my goon (4.5 litres) which I intended to use as a honey pot so they wouldn't check my bread.

However, our group of about 15 people already drank all the goon I and others brought while standing in the queue. As we got into the park it was already very crowded and the best places were taken. We did manage to find a spot with a lookout of the Barbour bridge but not the opera house. Then we spent all day playing games and generally just chilling. It was really hot that day with a burning sun. Our spot did not have a shade though so we were all sunburnt. Some more than others.

That night we watched the fireworks. First at 9, which are the family fireworks, and then at 12. We celebrated with party poppers, wine, beer and works before leaving. I actually had to be quite quick as my boat party was due to leave at 2:30 am and it was a fair walk from Macquaries point.
I got on the boat and had some fun with a few others from the hostel. I was sort of disappointed though. They told Mr that loads of our hostel were going when I bought the tickets, but there were only about 5 of us there.

Manila
Day 53
It was the end of the boat party and I had to hurry to get to my plane. By this time I had already been awake for over 24 hours. I was beat. I took the train to the airport and desperately tried to charge my phone as much as possible as I needed to navigate through Manila. I told the taxi to bring me to the hostel which he did.

The hostel wasn't all that great, I saw a few cockroaches in the bathroom and I had a room with no windows which was not much bigger than the bed. As I walked on the streets at night I did not feel particularly safe as there were almost no other tourists around and loads of people sleeping on the streets. I decided to go a more touristy place in the city and stay in a hotel. I roamed the streets during the day to soak up a bit of the culture. It was good to be a rich man again as everything here is cheap again.

Day 54
The next day I went to makati where there are apparently loads of nightclubs and there for tourists. However, there are also tonnes of prostitutes and an amazing amount of lady boys. I once again roamed the streets during the day, ate in restaurants and simply enjoyed being rich again.

Day55
I set out to a megamall to buy some clothes and a snorkel set. It really was a huge mall. It took me quite some time to scout just half of the mall. I did manage to find a snorkel set though. I had an early night that night which was sorely needed.

Boracay
Day 56
I went to manila airport and tried to catch the plane to boracay. It was delayed for about1.5 hours which meant I had to stay for a while in a room with about 200 people whom are all waiting for their flight. When I got to cataclan I tried walking to the the ferry but ended up in some local shanty town. there I found a guy who was willing to help me get toto the right port. When I reached the port the chaos began. I apparently needed 3 tickets to get to boracay which was really confusing. I needed a terminal ticket, a environmental ticket and a boat ticket. Once I got into boracay I decided to walk to the hostel, which took me about an hour with 15 kg on my back and another 5 on the front. When I reached the hostel I was sweating like crazy so I took a shower.While I was in their I overheard two guys who were going out. I asked if I could join them and I met a few Australian girls and a French guy. It was pretty cool as the white beach is filled with discos.

It was the only night I could stay there though as the hostel was fully booked and so were most other hostels.

Day 57
I woke up and went to this guest house which was sort of out the way. I was one some sort of farm with a guest house attached, I tried to go snorkeling on white beach, Not much to see there I'm afraid as white beach is sort of barren. I tried to get a nap at about 6 pm but woke up at 6 am, I already booked a few nights at another hostel (Frendz hostel) by that time.

Day 58
I didn't do much during the day but I went out with a bunch of people that night at a place called Paraw. Rum is really cheap around here. About1.8 euro per liter.

Day 59
I met a Canadian guy called Adam who is a rescue diver, He gave me a bunch of tips on diving and where to go. I also met a few Australian girls called Portia and Sephy, they were really nice as well. We had pizza together and went out for a few drinks on white beach.

Day 60
The next day I went on a snorkeling tour where I met this Portuguese guy called Ricardo. We got food on the trip and we only snorkeled for a short while to be honest. They did manage a sailing trip all around the island which was fun. I did break my snorkeling mask there which bummed me out because it was almost brand new. I think I went out with a couple of guys from the hostel that night,

Day 61
I slept in and got a few coffee when I woke up as it has become my custom. I tried fixing me snorkeling gear which didn't work. That night we did a pub crawl which was fun. I got in touch with a bunch of locals and made quite a few friends. I've been on pub crawls before but these guys went all out and they were actually good at having people getting to know strangers, They organized games, ordered you to mingle with others and loads of other stuff.

Day 62
I was supposed to go to Arials point but I was sort of hung over plus it was shitty weather. In most countries they'd actually ask you to sign up and pay beforehand,but not here. You just show up if you want to and if you don't show up, there are no consequences. I went scuba diving instead. No schedule, just show up when you want to. The scuba dive was cool as I tried to really preserve my oxygen this time and did a few buoyancy tricks I was taught in my open water training.

At night I managed to mobilize about 15 people to join me and Adam on a improvised pub crawl. I've noticed that if you simply try to organize people that there are actually very few people who decline that sort of offer. It was loads of fun even though it was hard to keep the group together. We ended up with approx 8 people in a club where we stayed all night,

Day 63
I met a really well traveled German guy called Martin. Ricardo, Martin and myself went to Puka beach which is up north in Boracay. After that we went to this lookout tower from which we could see the entire island. At night we went to the Spider House which is run by a Canadian guy who lives in Amsterdam. His son has lived in Holland for most of his life so I had a talk with him as well. He told me that the tissues they put on opened bottles is not so much for aesthetics but more so for the rust that accumulates on the bottle openings. So yeah....encouraging. We saw a great sunset from the Spider house though.

Like all nights in Boracay, we went out at night after having a few drinks at the hostel.

Day 64
Today we went to another lookout point and then just chilled at the beach.

Day 65
Went windsurfing today as it was my last real day in Boracay. It was actually a lot harder than I remember. Maybe it was the strong wind or the waves that made it harder than I was used to. After that I got a massage on the beach for approx 6.5 euro. I purposely canceled my accommodation for tonight as I was gonna leave at around 3 am to catch my flight. So a few of my new friends stayed awake with me until I had to leave to the ferry.

Puerto Princesa
Day 66
I would have to take the ferry on the south side of Boracay to get to Caticlan where the airport is located. So I took a tricycle there. This time the port was a lot less chaotic. However, when I arrived at the airport I had to take out weight from my check in bad since I am actually only allowed to check in 10 kg as Cebu Pacific only flies to Caticlqn airport with small propellor planes. I was prepared though, just like when I came here, I stuffed my carry on with as much weight as possible because I knew they wouldn't check my carry on bag. I also wore 2 pants, my vest and 3 shirts in order to reach the proper limit.

I had to wait for about 5 hours before my flight to Palawan would run. But of course it got delayed. So it took another hour. When I arrived in Puerto Princess I took a tricycle to the hostel.

That night I figured I'd do my hair but then my trimmer crapped out on me about 1/3rd of the way through. I tried fixing it but to no avail. I asked around for a bit and luckily there was someone with a trimmer so then I could finish.

I went into town to see what's what, but Puerto is a bit of a sleepy town at night.