GuerillaZ

The scene on arriving in Mindoro by motorised Catamaran. This was a family holiday of sorts although winging it from London in the UK to Saigon then Manila before reaching Oriental Mindoro by coach and ferry was not the typical undertaking. Thuy and Sophie on the empty beach outside our apartment. At least one person is tired here. Can you see which one? A cheese ice cream. It is a grim thought but it was okay. I wouldn't run to find another one. A durian ice would have suited me far better. A idyllic view from upstairs in our apartment with the outline of Luzon island to the north This was a private beach of sorts. That is to say no one ever sat on it.  No question it was pristine and clean. There was even bit of coral in the bay. As a new (old) father I was actually too tired to swim more than a couple of times. We were several kilometres from the nearby town. Several westerners lived in the neighbourhood with pretty

Welcome to readers from Turkmenistan First impressions of Manila are less than favourable. The city appears grey even in tropical sunlight. The traffic is execrable. The bus from the airport, only 5 km away, took an hour to make the centre. That journey took us through some tough neighbourhoods. Feel Dinah Washington's  This Bitter Earth Of course merely first impressions. At the traffic lights I was reminded of Manuelita Mascarenas - Green an environmental lawyer recently executed at the lights while in her car with her children. One of twelve such lawyers murdered in the last year alone. * And of course it's hot. The Mexicans and the Spanish got to the Philippines hundreds of years ago at the beginning of the 16th century. Both their influences are palpable here. The big draw here is that most everybody speaks English. I travelled with my partner and Sophie ,who was 4 and a half months old so ... the journey was especially interesting