03/29/07 - Found out I had to goto Manila, Philippines for work... hmm, cool! thats about half way around the world, 4:00PM here, 4:00AM there... wow! 4 days travel, 1 day work... what?
03/30/07 - Of the 145 countries that don't need a visa to go there, India ain't one, damn! Board a train at crack o' dawn from Boston to NYC. Go to the Philippine Consulate for my Visa, get my visa after few hurdles, back home for dinner... long day, phew!
04/03/07 - Flying business/first class all the way... woohoo! Fully reclinable leather seats, 4 course meals, super service - nice! 27 hrs journey - not nice! dont matter what class you fly :(
04/04/07 - Land in Manila, after short halt at Hong Kong. Take taxi-cab to hotel, driver informs us that the whole city is closed till Easter. 98% Catholic population will do that to a country... the whole place incl. restaurants, offices, banks just shut down for a week before Easter. Great! just my luck, as it is I was gonna have a problem with being a vegetarian... and all of 27 hrs each way to see nothing!
04/05/07 - Work. boring, accomplished little... owing to the miscommunication between client and his broker... great! half way around the frikkin world for this? atleast, on the way to the shipyard we got a glimpse of the country capital (claimed to be the most polluted city in the world) hmmm, not much different from semi-metro towns in India... small concrete houses everywhere, with large areas of 'slums', people everywhere u look, bikes, little cars... people just look different... and ofcourse the jeepneys! dinner at hotel restaurant... ah, ok, so so.
04/06/07 - back on the plane... 27 hrs and another short halt at Hong Kong later, back home! tired, exhausted... but back home!
Philippines is a nice country to travel....all those remote islands...its nice.
But I think you went there for short time, wrong time, and urban area....
May be next time you will go to some nice island of philippines...
Desert Fox said...
1:59 PM
have u been there?
it may have good beaches, but i dont think its where u wanna be if u are a vegetarian... they're not even much into chicken... mostly pork and beef. some of the local delicacies are 'duck fetus' (boiled duck egg with fetus in there... eww), 'fried pig intestines' etc.
i'd rather goto bermuda or bahamas :)
premal said...
3:27 PM
No!!!
I haven't been there....but heard its really nice..
see now you comparing bermuda or bahamas with something in Asia...
bermuda and bahamas is different and asia is different
Desert Fox said...
5:29 PM
go to bahamas next time dude. great place . if u want to relax then go to freeport nad all the hustling bustling go to Nassau.
by the way at least u were flying first class. so where were the stops except for hong kong.
nice view of the city at night. yeah food not good. u know u can even get raw cow and camel legs and hips and lips with snickers sticking out it u want
Tulan said...
5:50 PM
I think it was just a wrong time that you went. I mean you flew first class, stayed in a nice hotel and only had to work 1 day...what more can u ask for except being able to explore your surroundings.
deepa said...
6:22 PM
newark and hongkong...
premal said...
6:37 PM
Ouch
Thats a rough trip. Although the first class must have made it easier. BTW did they give you warm nuts :)
Sukesh said...
9:12 AM
warm cashewnuts = yes.
heated seats = no.
premal said...
10:23 AM
warm nuts.....lol
Desert Fox said...
11:27 AM
umm did uget the GPS system or not
Tulan said...
3:21 PM
yes, Mio c220!
premal said...
3:50 PM
how is it ! can u like post a pic or something like that i might need one for my new baby
Tulan said...
6:06 PM