Manila Trip & Our First Encounter :)

Oh my gah! seriouly i have left this blog since like forever isnt it? first of all, its not what i intend to do, but just happened. why? how come? anyway just a quick update, i am currently teaching in SK Sungai Tau, Selangau since March 2013. The school is located in an interior area of Sarawak. You can check out our school official facebook page HERE. But just so you know, we dont have any internet connection there (zero, nada!) and the phone receptions are very poor, so that very much explained my absent from the internet world. LOL. but hey thats maybe just an excuse right. i guess the fact that its really hard for me to get online when im there just made me lost my interest of blogging and even facebooking and all. seriously :(

so another quick update, ive made myself a backpacker and did travel here and there, so far just to the neighboring countries like Thailand  (Phuket), Cambodia (Siem Reap) and the latest one on last September, ive gone to Bali, Indonesia. but there was one trip which was very memorable & the one i wanted to share with u guys which is my backpacking trip to Manila, Philippines. & guess what, i finally met my best friend Jay in person! yay! so for all who does not know, we actually been online friends since 2007 via friendster (that was the most in social network by that time am i right?) but only by December 2013 we have finally met eye to eye. what a history. LOL. so anyway thanks a lot to my very best friend Jay who have been a very good guide and company during my 4 days visit.

our 1st pic together!!!

anyway i took a morning flight on December 26, 2013 to Manila, just a day after Christmas which was quite a concern for me cause i was so afraid that i might be interrupting Jay's Christmas plan but luckily he was all fine with it. Thanks a lot buddy! & of course my other concern was he might not recognize me in person cause honestly i do think i look different in person compared to in pictures. lol :p but thankfully he did recognized me at the airport! thumbs up for your good eyes buddy :p

My best friend Jay 

ok for those who have never been to Manila & are planning on visiting, please be aware that Manila is a very big city! its actually divided into some different cities or areas. So visiting places and attractions in Manila is actually quite a journey. Thankfully i have Jay with me & also thanks to their various kinds of public transport (some are very interesting too) which would make your needs of going around very possible. so no worries :)

so on my visit, i stayed at Our Awesome Hostel in Makati, Manila. So Makati is just one of those cities in Manila, quite a nice area and the hostel is just a walking distance (maybe around 10 to 15 minutes walk) to Bonifacio Global City which is somewhat a new city between Makati and Taguig. Honestly im not really sure if i would recommend u to stay there because it all depends on which attractions you want to visit in Manila & Makati is actually quite far from most of the main attractions like the huge SM Mall & Manila Ocean Park. But if you dont mind of taking several public transport which may cost u around 20 minutes or sometimes almost an hour or more to some places, that would be fine. Still quite a sightseeing anyway so again, no worries :) & about the hostel, it was an okay place to stay. My tips, dont get fooled by the promotional pictures. The dorms are a lot smaller & packed in real life :p..but still if you just need a bed to sleep & a locker to place your stuff then it will be fine..& yeah the lockers actually divided into two parts, top and bottom, so if you have a cabin size backpack, that would fit nicely into the locker with some space to spare, but bigger bags @ luggage, i dont think so..

anyway i guess pictures would be a better story teller than myself so heres our pics from those days :)

in front of SM Mall of Asia

taxi or jeepney? hehe

in front of Jose Rizal Monument

wanna ride a horse cart for a change? :)

inside the aquarium at Manila Ocean Park

nice ocean vice at the Manila Ocean Park

with the jellyfish..happens to be one of my all time favourite pic of me..LOL

taking the jeepney..

got on an empty 1, need to wait for more passengers :p

one of the cool monuments/sculptures at Bonifacio Global City..there are a lot!

on one of the ride at Star City Amusement Park..look at him..LOL

so Jay happens to have some issue with height..so i just go for the other rides alone..huhuhu

so there are actually so many pictures from that trip but i just dont want u guys to puke while watching at the pictures. lol. & we actually gone to so many more places, even to Jay's family house, to his hometown, getting a haircut & lots of shopping (i even bought two ukulele :p) at Divisoria & some other places which i cant really recall, & also some sightseeing among others. but for sure, it was such a great experience and a memory that i would treasure for life. again thanks to Jay for making the visit such a great 1 or else i might got myself lost in the big city! seriously! LMAO!

by the way, i have to hold my backpacking activity for awhile due to a new commitment coming out soon (will tell you guys later :p), but i would love to come back to the Philippines some times later maybe visiting another place, those islands maybe, what do you say buddy? of course i would need my best Jay to come with me despite that ive been mistaken as a local a lot (it happens all the times anyway) i think going around in the Philippines would be so much better with someone who knows the place well cause theres so much gems that you might not know just around the corner. so till the next post, ciao :)

p/s: btw i love their petrol pump station..lol :p