The Philippines:Part 1

A jeepney probably the most distinctive sight in The Philippines

I have to say that against my expectations I am really enjoying our family holiday in The Philippines. This is not an easy place to travel in: it is hot, very dirty, things don't work, power outages are the norm, and everything is pretty inefficient. There is also, especially in the tourism sector, a common tendency to overcharge canos, short for Americanos, and whether I like it or not I belong in that box for this trip. However this is not detracting from my overall enjoyment of being here. Once wise to the peculiar habits of some of the locals it is possible to minimise these negatives. 

By virtue of being married to a Filipina and in Benedict's case having a Filipino mum, and carrying a copy of the registration of our marriage at the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok, both Benedict and I were granted permission to stay in the Philippines for 1 year on our entry. We are only going to be here for a few weeks but, for instance, if the political situation becomes more dangerous in Thailand it means we can stay here without any complications or need to go through the usual bureaucracy, with its attendant costs, to have tourist visas extended. To my mind The Philippines must be one of the few countries in the region that actually makes it easy for non-filipino spouses and children to accompany their filipino significant others. In Thailand, for instance, other than for a simple holiday type visit where a visa on arrival can be obtained free, visas are required for a longer stay and that has some sort of cost attached to it and thereafter depending on the type of visa paperwork and verification of means are required. 


The Philippines are caught up in a presidential election as we arrived so the streets and media, in fact just about everything that can be, is covered with campaigning material. This may make the place look better and take the eye off the ubiquitous litter and detritus of life. It is sad: look at any waterway in Manila and it is invariably covered in rubbish.

We headed away from the grime of Manila to Los Baños in Laguna on arrival early in the morning. It was a 90 minute drive south-east of Manila made easy by light traffic. A smooth relaxing taxi ride with a very pleasant driver got us swiftly to the TREES hostel on the campus at the University of the Philippines' campus at Los Baños. More about our stay here on botab.blogspot.com but yes, the interest in this particular bolt hole was birds. The campus houses the Mount Makeling Forest Reserve and birds or no, it was a very pleasant and agreeable place to settle into our holiday: green, lush, forested, relaxed and plenty of students and young people. 


After two nights in Los Baños we headed back to Manila on Saturday 17th April for the fourth birthday party of Luke Kelly, son of Tony and Maria Kelly, of Greenford, Middlesex. Peach is a filipina and originates form the Manila area but like my wife and thousands of others she is part of the filipino diaspora. We also connected with Luna's sister Tonette. So Benedict met his Aunt Tonette or should I say Tita Tonette! Tonette is awaiting a work placement in Saudi Arabia and is a blessing as she will provide help with Benedict.


In Manila we stayed at the Fersal Inn in the Sta. Cruz district. This is part of a chain of budget hotels and we booked this through www.agoda.com. In this case you get what you pay for and I was very satisfied with what we got: most importantly it was safe; unfortunately that is a paramount issue for travellers in a city like Manila. Otherwise the room was small, lacking a view but it was clean and comfortable and everything worked. I am not sure that the immediate vicinity would be that safe by night but not much of Manila is and it is not a place where nocturnal strolls are generally recommended for canos or indeed flilpinos. The Fersal Inn had armed security guards 24 hours a day, a common feature of life in this country.

I survive armed robbery on the mean streets!

We had a very pleasant reunion with Peach and Luke. Sadly no Tony as he is grafting in London and standing as a candidate in the local elections coming up there. This was the first time we were able to show off Benedict to friends from London. Luke's birthday party was held in Storyland in SM San Lazarro and it was nice to meet up with Peach's family. I hadn't seen either Luke or Peach for over 18 months. All I can say is baby boy has become a little man.


Retail is big in the Philippines as in much of Asia. The mall was rammed with people and the sound of music blasting out everywhere. 

Street life, Evangelista St, Quiapo

Manila is an amazing place. I am not quite sure why. Who knows how it works but it is most assuredly a place apart. It really is piss poor and dirty, no not dirty, absolutely filthy and it appears as if nothing gets thrown out.  I love the jeepneys which provide an ever present cheap, method of getting about. You pile in and pass your fare down via other passengers to the driver and the change comes back the same way. We had a fair number of trips on them: you ask them if they are going somewhere and they say yes regardless of whether they are because they want the 10 peso fare. Anyhow this makes for an interesting way of getting round the city and quite literally rubbing shoulders and bums with the locals. 

A Typical Jeepney

On Sunday we took about 4 jeepneys to get to mass in the rather rarefied atmosphere of Manila Cathedral. Later we headed to the Quiapo district which operates as a huge market. Never seen anything like it, dear readers. Most of Evangelista Street is devoted to videoke and karaoke machines. Of course karaoke is a national obsession here and is a major cause of murder and discontent due to the noise nuisance. Yup they like it loud! Apparently "My Way" leads to more murders than anything else! In Quiapo there is a big church which appears to have standing room only and seems to operate a rolling mass schedule throughout the day: there are quite literally thousands of people in the church. Ah the server is rejecting my photo files so no more pics for now.

Our Lady Retails... 

Evangelista Street, Quiapo, Manila

Luna, Tita Tonette and Benedict on a jeepney

Red Shirts & Sad Times

I am all for the democratic process. The ballot should be decisive and in my opinion it alone should settle the government of any country as much here as in the UK or China or The Philippines. Yesterday I was explaining to Tony that our mature western democracies have clearly separated legislative, executive and judicial functions, theoretically keeping each other in check with the assistance of a free press; here the fourth estate is not the free press but rather the military which plays a much greater role in the general society and political life of Thailand than elsewhere. This can be seen from walking around: there is a military bank, there are huge military hospitals, they even have their own golf courses and sports clubs. Ratchaburi itself is a garrison town so there is a strong and visible presence here. So what I hear you say?!

The point is the military will intervene here and in my estimation most Thai people supported their decision to ouster Thaksin. I am not sure they were comfortable about this but I think they went with it because they understood our dear friend was out of control. I think it is also likely the military itself did this reluctantly as their top brass clearly would prefer a democratic process. Over a year ago the Yellow Shirts, the supporters of this position, took to the streets in popular protest and occupied the airport. AS I commented at that time the Yellows were largely middle class professionals

The Red Shirts are now seeking the immediate dissolution of the Thai parliament and the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit. At one level they have a compelling case as Abhisit has undeniably been imposed by the military and Thaksin, the oustered PM, was elected by a democratic process. However Thaksin is now a criminal at large with a prison sentence hanging over him. One could say these charges are political but unfortunately they are based on indisputable facts and I believe they represent the true nature of this dangerous man.

The Red Shirts are undoubtedly a Thaksin front. Their demand for immediate democracy will soon be forgotten when Mr Shinawatra returns to power. Check Mr Thaksin's love of democracy, in particular try Amnesty International. Unfortunately Mr T appears to have little regard for the value of human life to say the least. The Reds are reputed to being paid 500 baht a day. If there is any truth in this then you may be able to understand why an immediate election might not be the obvious answer: unfortunately an election here can be rigged.

Now pan forward to this weekend when somewhere in the region of 20 people have been killed on the streets of Bangkok. It is clear the Red Shirts were ready because they retaliated with petrol bombs and grenades. These don't simply appear like rain. In fact as information emerges it seems the army came off worst and in fact retreated.

I don't think most people have an appetite for this stuff. I doubt that there will be a quick solution but I also doubt that there is going to be a sudden escalation in trouble. The impasse will continue. Fortunately the trouble appears to be restricted to specific areas but it has a devastating effect on the commercial life of Bangkok. I am not sure Bangkok's business community will thank Mr T. Yes these are sad strange times.

Tony's Trip to Thailand

Reunion at Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok 24.03.10

Our old friend Tony flew in from the winter of my hometown Glasgow on 24th March 2010. We go back many years once being volunteer workers with The Edinburgh Cyrenians. One of the great things about having a friend/guest is it gets us out and about visiting places we wouldn't normally stop at. So we headed on Tony's arrival to Bang Pu on the eastern side of Bangkok at the top of the Inner Gulf and had a memorable lunch in one of the eateries on the pier....... beautiful crab. Of course we were surrounded by flocks of wintering brown-headed gulls and the gentle sea breeze provided near perfect air conditionsing.

Our plan was to head south to Ko Libong and assist with some bird banding. Sadly this didn't quite work out as we finally arrived at the point at which the last birds were being released into freedom! We had a long and interesting drive south which included an over night stop in a brothel and a very pleasant evening in the town of Trang, deep in the south of Thailand. I must say I slept very well in the brothel but Tony bore the brunt if the noise arising from the ins and outs!!!! Terrible pun! After Trang we headed to Had Yao to board our boat to take us to the Ko Libong Nature Beach Resort. The drive south was just over 900 kilometres.

I will not add a link to Ko Libong Nature Beach Resort. It should be avoided at all costs. Before you read my jaundiced account here is one from ww.tripadvisor.com. So if you have googled the resort and you end up here take your custom somewhere else. There are actually homestays available in the village and I am sure you would be able to negotiate a pretty good deal for a room in someone's house. The locals know the word "homestay"!

I made a major mistake and booked and paid in advance  for 7 nights accommodation in order to secure a 20% discount. The simple advice is this: don't go near this place, as it is vastly overpriced and poor quality accommodation. I also paid more for an air-conditioned room. What was provided was an electric air-conditioning machine that plugged in. This came with a big outlet hose for the hot air produced by the compressor. The only way to use this outlet pipe, other than to let it pump hot air into the room thus negating the meagre cooling effect of these inadequate machines, was to open a door and in so doing allow mosquitoes and other lovelies unbridled access to the room and us. Excuse me I am not taking that risk with a nine month old baby! Moreover the electricity supply was restricted so it was pretty useless.

I thought about asking for money back or even leaving and we discussed these possibilities. I had no doubt we would get palmed off with some degrading explanation which would be an insult to our judgement and intelligence. I also reckoned this would cause me more and further aggravation than it would be worth. So we just decided to stay and make the most of it and then resort to the process of review,comment and opinion available online to advise others. Now if money is not an issue for you then feel free to spray your cash around here. The likelihood is however you will get considerably better quality and value in the other resorts nearby. In the end we curtailed our trip by one day.

Sure it was peaceful, because nobody stays more than one night, and the resident manager and her staff are actually very good and helpful. However  they are managed by ruthless owners whose only interest is your money. They also charge for transfer on a per head basis which means that transfer becomes very expensive if there are a few of you travelling. I think the boats from public pier charge 200 baht per person. All the resort's bumf is about protecting the environment etc....... let me assure you the only interest of the owner is your money. The food is edible but coming in at 200 baht per main dish is very expensive. The day trips offered are likewise hugely overpriced. I am not surprised the place is virtually empty, it is simply bad and bad for your soul to know you are being ripped off. I will not be back to this place and I suspect I will not being paying in advance for this type of accommodation. Unfortunately this is the norm in much of  southern Thailand with an awful lot of tourist services. Be warned! And I post this warning on the basis of living in Thailand and having a keen sense of what the true cost of these types of services actually is.

That apart we had a great time, very restful and the resort was very quiet and peaceful with not a strain of Bob Marley to be heard...... except someone was in the habit of driving a very loud motor bike into the grounds about 4:30 am and would leave the engine running as they did whatever they did. A little irritating!

The island itself is really undeveloped, a number of fishing villages, minimal road transportation and lots of deserted beaches, mangroves, real forests and lots of sea! We just took it very easy. The joy was walking into the local fishing village where we were regaled and the locals took an instant liking to our wee smasher. We ate there and I organised boat trips there which were much better value and on one of these trips I managed to sight Asian dowitchers on tidal flats. See botab.blogspot.com for more information. There was an abundance of whimbrels and other birds around the resort and brahminy kites would stalk the rocks at low tide. I also got into sunset photography and a few of my pictures are below. Ah the joys of using a tripod!

Tony enjoying a local coconut.

The four of us enjoying dinner

Benedict having a nap with a Happy Father

Sunset over the Andaman Sea, Indian Ocean

   AWaning Gibbous Moon

Red Shirts

Our trip to meet cousin Ron meant driving into Bangkok and we were a little concerned about problems arising from the current political protests there. Well it worked well for us as the roads were pretty clear and so access in and out was very quick. Thank you Red Shirts. The protests are really hurting the local economy. Most of the big shopping malls like Siam Paragon are shut. I guess they fear an occupation similar to that at the airport. Hotels are struggling with low occupancy. All of this is rather sad really as the Thai economy has been performing well recently. I have no colour, as we say in Thailand, but I am definitely opposed to Thaksin Shinawatra and believe his return to power would be bad for the country and very good for his personal fortune. All I can say from what I saw is I cannot see how this crew can present a serious threat! 

Family Reunion in Bangkok

Monday night we met up with cousin Ronnie and his wife Donna in Bangkok. I guess we are both the fruit   of the Hebridean diaspora. Ronnie is one of my Uncle Donald Ian's sons and hails form New South Wales, Australia. Uncle Donald Ian is alive and he is an elder brother of my late mother. Nice to reconnect with the tribe. 

Sunset Koh Libong from Lhang Khao VIllage

This is the view from Libong Nature Beach Resort as the sun sets on the Andaman Sea. Ah the joys of having a tripod and a timer!

Prize Competition: Spot the Odd One Out.....who is the Tourist?

A beautiful picture of Benedict with local children in the village of Lhang Khao, Koh Libong, Trang province deep in the south of Thailand. As always Benedict pulled out crowds of admirers and as always he was the object of great curiosity.

A very elegant butterfly photographed on Koh Libong. As to species, mmmmmmm, don't know. Any offers?