Lonely Planet

Though I din recover some pictures I took in da Philippines, these would have to suffice. I lost the pictures of Manila's version of the LRT which is friggin' crowded most of the time and some pics of the jeepneys which are a local form of transportation. A simple pick-up with the roofed back acting like a bus. Costs you only 4 pesos. Dirt cheap. And you get to smell the dirt and smog of Manila traffic too for free!!!

Thanks to Edwin Yeo, my Secondary School classmate for lending me his digicam for the trip!


(*insert corny Radiohead reference: "Paranoid Android" - 'Can you hear those unborn chicken voices in my head?"*) What's that? That's actually a half-boiled/steamed/whatever duck egg. Not really a chicken egg. I think the locals call it a beloo (dun think I got the right spelling). Yes, that's the foetus of the duckling. My colleague who ate this before said it's good stuff, good for the body and I must try. Apparently, some of the beloos you can actually see the duckling foetus staring at you before you pop it into your mouth. 'Cuse me... I need to go to the loo to throw up. Oh, by the way , you are supposed to sprinkle some salt into the cracked egg and suck the chup (juice) before eating the insides. *Barf* It does taste like an egg though...


This is a shot from the LRT station at the streets of Binondo, somewhere near Chinatown in Manila. Dusk is at 5pm. This photo is taken around 615pm, I think.


Taken in Chinatown while we were prowling for potential clients. The doode in the picture, Ong Pin had a street named after him right smacked in Chinatown. So I guess he must have done something right eh?


One of the many cover bands along Roxa Boulevard, this stretch by the coastline. Note the guy second from the left. He's playing percussion on a wooden box. Many of them use such percussion. Filipinos love to sing. Everywhere I went in the country, someone would be belting his/ her lungs out on a karaoke machine and they have those in their kopitiams as well. Mercifully, 9 out of 10 can hold their tunes unlike our local Ah Lians and Ah Bengs who massarce their favourite Sammi Cheng tunes in Singapore...


Roxa Boulevard by night...


Saw this guitar at those stalls in a shopping mall. The headstock had the word Brian May on it. Dun think Queen's guitarist endorsed it though. The guitar din look all that shoddy though I din try it. This lady in her mid-twenties took one up and started whipping out a rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady". Scary... Anyway, they might just have cut down some coconut trees and use those wood to build these guitars; you never know. This electric guitar had so many knobs and switches that it looks like a NASA launching pad console. I think it cost around P5000? (S$1=P31). Fender (U.S.) Strats are going for P44,500.


One of the many security checks available everywhere. This was taken outside Robinson Manila where I checked most of my mails and updated my blog. The left is for male and the right female. Sometimes, they conduct a full body search. I swear my ass has never been groped by so many men in such a short time.


All I want for Christmas this year is this nice and dainty Protona 12 gauge shotgun available right in Robinson Manila. Make me a happy man eh? A simple police clearance and you can get it for a mere P4000+ (or S$130++). Huh? How 'bout it?


My 1st ever foot reflexology session. This pic was taken before the torture began. I thank the heavens above that I'm still a young man of 25 and still in control of my bowel movements. If I were much older by 40 years and had weak colon/ prostate/ whatever control, I'd pooped my pants when the masseuse grinded those reflex points on my soles. I had liked to take some pictures of my expressions when my feet were assaulted relentlessly but I was too busy gripping the sides of the couch.


Their version of the MRT. Looks awfully much like a tram if you ask me... The LRT is almost the same, except that some of them are not air-conditioned.


The view from the hotel in Cebu. Nice place. I like it better than Manila.


Another angle. I just love these places with mountains in the horizon; I dunno why though.


An employee of a prospective client showed us around Mactan Island which is where the airport is located. The small island is just next to Cebu. Anyway, he snuck us into Mactan Shangri-La where we strolled around as if we stayed there. The beach... well, I've seen better. I heard those north of the main island of Cebu are gorgeous. Gotta see for myself the next time round.


I dun have any ocean jokes. So, I just say that the above is a sea. That's it.


A mural showing the natives at war with the colonising Spaniards. I guess people were bored back then, not knowing what to do before the invention of cable TV.