We are in the Philippines now. Flew from Bangkok to Singapore and then to Manila, although we nearly didn't make it! Got up with plenty of time to spare and then the bus was waiting around for 3 passengers that hadn't arrived - one of them had gone of to get a bloody kebab! and then the traffis was a nightmare so I was panicking the whole way there because of what happened in the Cook Islands, thought I had some sort of Jinx or something! But we arrived with plenty of time so it was fine. Sez managed to persuade the air stewardess to give us a new Swayzee, and this time we got one each! So now we have 3. Landed in Manila quite late at night so headed for the youth hostel that is close to the airport. They could only put us up for one night so had to move the next day to the city centre. First place we tried was full except for the penthouse! Now don't get too excited because it looked like a bomb had hit it, it was under rennovation and was really dirty so we opted for a posh hotel round the corner. Was a little plush but only stayed 2 nights and felt like treating ourselves! Went out to a few bars after going for Tapas where a couple of old guys bought us a rose, ahh bless! Nest day just went for a wander and found a shopping mall. Decided not to do the tourist stuff this time as we will be going back there before we leave so will do it then. Left Manila on the 6th on a flight to Cataclan, and again only just made it. We forgot to change the time on our alarm clock so were an hour behind. We were the last to check in and had to sit on the backwrds seats at the very front of the plane, facing everyone. Luckily they hadn't started boarding so they weren't all waiting for us. Had awful visions of everyone booing as we boarded. Once in Cataclan we had to jump on a boat for 5 mins to get to Boracay. Our room is really nice, recently decorated and in a quiet location. We also have a little coffee shop about 10 metres away where the staff are really friendly. When we first arrived on eof the girls who worked there rang around to try and find us some cheaper acommodation. Everyone is really friendly and most people say Hello when you walk past. It's a little weird as were not used to the attention as everywhere else we have been there has been planty of other tourists. I think Boracay is more of a hoilday place for the actual filipinos, so we are slightly out numbered. Weather isn't too great at the moment so I think we are gonna do a bit of a reccy to figure out the best drinking and eating holes. Also hoping to go diving whilst we are here, if the weather gets better, the sea is really rough at the moment. Probably gonna stay about a week in Boracay and then try another island. Will keep you posted x x x x x