The sun is shining:

[Laxie]

Safe travels Graham and say hi to Roxanne for us!

[cia260895]

Safe travels Graham and say hi to Roxanne for us!

enjoy

you deserve it m8

[taximan007]

Life as THEY know it

Tuesday 17th November 2009

Sunday

Left Heathrow Sat 09.30 arrived Manila 10.10 (Philippine time) via Bahrain, all went to plan, I was met at the airport by Roxanne and Cean (her son) who had been driven there by one of her work colleagues and her husband at a cost of 48.00 pounds, very fair price, fuel included.

Left the airport and drove about 20 minutes to arrive at Manila's biggest open air market, stalls selling mainly clothes, toys and christmas stuff, hard pushed to find anything over a fiver!!! Travelled 6,000 miles to spend 2 hours in 80 degrees bloody shopping!! but Roxanne loves it. Got some lunch then made our way back to home, arriving just after 7pm.

Apart from wanting to see Roxanne the main reason for coming back now is that on Tuesday it is her mums 50th birthday and when I told Roxanne I was coming home I swore her to secrecy so it would be a suprise for all, so you can imagine the bedlam when I climbed out the car on arriving home, it was like the return of the prodigal son lol, and an impromptu party began, a good excuse for drinking 2 cases of local beer and some red wine.

Monday

Spent the day in town, doing mundane stuff, banking, shopping etc, at 8pm sat down to play 'tong its' a 3 handed card game very much like rummy where each game ends up paying off the winner, played until 4am and lost 150 pesos, appox a quid ffs I run so bad.

[action man]

nice one, enjoy your trip.

[taximan007]

Tuesday

Having finished playing at 4am Roxanne and I head off to market to buy meat and veg for Roxanne's mums birthday celebrations, we spend 20 quid on pork, 90% of it being offal, they really do it some strange shit here.

7am the videoke machine arrives, this is a must for any birthday (or any party) at a cost of 4 pounds for 24 hours.

When we got married n June we bought 2 live pigs and these were slaughtered by a local butcher at the house, today Roxanne's Dad and brother decide as part of the celebrations we will slaughter a DOG!!!! To put it mildly this was not the most pleasant thing to watch but I have to accept it is part of the culture. The dog was purchased from a breeder for 7 pounds, bought home and trussed, and whilst 3 of the boys held it, dad slits it's throat and it was left to bleed out.

Once cooked i did taste it, just to say i have, and it is not something i would eat again.

The party went well with around 100 friends and neighbours attending.

[Woodsey]

Whereabouts are you in the Phils mate? I can see myself doing 2-3 trips around SEA this year, the Phils is high on my list after a possible trip to India/Bangladesh as England are playing cricket there. I've been reading up and am seriously considering it..........

[TheChipPrince]

wow Taxi, brave man!  How do update from over there?  Internet Cafe?

[cia260895]

Tuesday

Having finished playing at 4am Roxanne and I head off to market to buy meat and veg for Roxanne's mums birthday celebrations, we spend 20 quid on pork, 90% of it being offal, they really do it some strange shit here.

7am the videoke machine arrives, this is a must for any birthday (or any party) at a cost of 4 pounds for 24 hours.

When we got married n June we bought 2 live pigs and these were slaughtered by a local butcher at the house, today Roxanne's Dad and brother decide as part of the celebrations we will slaughter a DOG!!!! To put it mildly this was not the most pleasant thing to watch but I have to accept it is part of the culture. The dog was purchased from a breeder for 7 pounds, bought home and trussed, and whilst 3 of the boys held it, dad slits it's throat and it was left to bleed out.

Once cooked i did taste it, just to say i have, and it is not something i would eat again.

The party went well with around 100 friends and neighbours attending.

sounds like kevs cooking

[Cf]

Tuesday

Having finished playing at 4am Roxanne and I head off to market to buy meat and veg for Roxanne's mums birthday celebrations, we spend 20 quid on pork, 90% of it being offal, they really do it some strange shit here.

7am the videoke machine arrives, this is a must for any birthday (or any party) at a cost of 4 pounds for 24 hours.

When we got married n June we bought 2 live pigs and these were slaughtered by a local butcher at the house, today Roxanne's Dad and brother decide as part of the celebrations we will slaughter a DOG!!!! To put it mildly this was not the most pleasant thing to watch but I have to accept it is part of the culture. The dog was purchased from a breeder for 7 pounds, bought home and trussed, and whilst 3 of the boys held it, dad slits it's throat and it was left to bleed out.

Once cooked i did taste it, just to say i have, and it is not something i would eat again.

The party went well with around 100 friends and neighbours attending.

sounds like kevs cooking

word

[taximan007]

Whereabouts are you in the Phils mate? I can see myself doing 2-3 trips around SEA this year, the Phils is high on my list after a possible trip to India/Bangladesh as England are playing cricket there. I've been reading up and am seriously considering it..........

We are in San Fernando City, La union, 6 hours drive North of Manila, although we have the beach 5 minutes away we are not in a tourist area, Boracay and Cebu which are South of Manila are where the holidaymakers head for, not been there myself but they do say Boracay has some of the best beaches in the world.

That said if you are in the Philippines you are more than welcome to stay with us, regardless of whether I am here or not, Roxanne's family are one of the most hospitable families you could wish to meet. It's pretty basic, no hot water, outside toilet and shower, but there is always food and we do have a roof on the house.

[taximan007]

wow Taxi, brave man!  How do update from over there?  Internet Cafe?

We have a computer in the house, it allows Roxanne and I to chat online for free (well it did until i made myself homeless lol)

[taximan007]

Friday

Today we visited the cemetery to pay our respects to 'auntie Sonia' (Roxanne's dads sister) who passed away on August 20th this year aged 40, she had been suffering from cancer for 12 months or more and had spent all the time at home and in a lot of pain as the family could only afford basic medication and not hospital treatment.

It was one of her last wishes to see Roxanne married and to dance at her wedding, whilst she wasn't strong enough to be able to dance she was able to watch the festivities from her bedroom window.

I am not a religious person but the time spent at the cemetery was an emotional one for both Roxanne and myself. 

[sofa----king]

wow Taxi, brave man!  How do update from over there?  Internet Cafe?

We have a computer in the house, it allows Roxanne and I to chat online for free (well it did until i made myself homeless lol)

prob someone have already said about this but i got a new iphone a few weeks ago and still learning how to use it..,,.its un--real the things yo can do.,.,if your homless when you get back to the uk you can get an iphone and download the skype application and rox can go on skype from her house all for free.,.,im on my iphone skyping cyprus eeryday all for free..,.,just a thought mate.,.,

[cia260895]

wow Taxi, brave man!  How do update from over there?  Internet Cafe?

We have a computer in the house, it allows Roxanne and I to chat online for free (well it did until i made myself homeless lol)

prob someone have already said about this but i got a new iphone a few weeks ago and still learning how to use it..,,.its un--real the things yo can do.,.,if your homless when you get back to the uk you can get an iphone and download the skype application and rox can go on skype from her house all for free.,.,im on my iphone skyping cyprus eeryday all for free..,.,just a thought mate.,.,

whats the cheapest monthy rental to be able to do that?

[Woodsey]

Whereabouts are you in the Phils mate? I can see myself doing 2-3 trips around SEA this year, the Phils is high on my list after a possible trip to India/Bangladesh as England are playing cricket there. I've been reading up and am seriously considering it..........

We are in San Fernando City, La union, 6 hours drive North of Manila, although we have the beach 5 minutes away we are not in a tourist area, Boracay and Cebu which are South of Manila are where the holidaymakers head for, not been there myself but they do say Boracay has some of the best beaches in the world.

That said if you are in the Philippines you are more than welcome to stay with us, regardless of whether I am here or not, Roxanne's family are one of the most hospitable families you could wish to meet. It's pretty basic, no hot water, outside toilet and shower, but there is always food and we do have a roof on the house.

Ah Right that's a big surfing area right?

Not sure I'll have time to make it there, after a couple of days in Manila I'll probably head for the Cordillera, Banaue, Sagada, Baguio etc, that all appeals to me. Not sure about the rest at this point, I understand Cebu is a sex tourist destination so I'll probably skip that, will keep reading and suss out what is what elsewhere when I get serious about making a booking.