Now Noa Private Island, Palawan, Philippines

Yet another short great 2 different flight with Cebu airlines, a 3.5 hour bus ride and 35 minute boat trip. We arrived at Noa Noa island for a short vacation. I had been to the Philippines before but Boracay and it was such a beautiful place to be with white sand beach, great seafood at market and nice place to stay. But I have to admit that Palawan is just another beautiful place that I would need more than just 4 nights.

The white sand beach, the coral, the resort's staff and of course the food was fantastic. We spent most of our time snorkeling, eating and having daily massages on our vacation which is my perfect idea of travel. It took me a little while to get used to breathing by mouth for snorkeling as I haven't done it for such a long time, and I drank heaps of salt water. It's good for my body somehow, I thought. It was great fun when I could do it the proper way. I saw way so many beautiful fish, huge clams and colorful coral.

The resort staff was really generous with the tasty food. They kept asking us if we wanted snacks, cakes and fruits in between meals. Everything they made was fresh and delicious. They shopped every morning at the neighboring island, driving their boat there and back to buy daily ingredients: fish, veggies .... The best part of the experience was that we were the only people on the island. In some way, it was a bit funny that somebody was serving and entertaining me instead of me doing it.

We had a great time and certainly we would come back here again for a longer vacation

Manila

After relaxing on the beach in Boracay, I stayed a few days in Manila and it was so much fun. I met some of my previous street food tour clients and they took me out for dinner and also recommended so many things that I must do in Manila, including shopping.

Between my eating time in Manila, I visited different malls to buy some souvenirs. Malls in Manila are huge and there are too many of them around. I got dizzy and lost in two of them and they only way out I told myself was to walk down to the ground floor and find the car park. It was so frustrating at the time but actually it was great fun walking around different malls to see how local people do their shopping.
I love the weather in Manila as it was nowhere near as humid as Hanoi and I felt more comfortable. Some people may not like it here but I loved it as it's a bit similar to Hanoi. A big crazy Asian city!

My clients took me to a restaurant called Mesa which is located at the Greenbelt Shopping Centre. This is a great Filipino fusion restaurant and always full with locals and tourists. We had way too much food including deep fried pork, fish, stir fried veggies, pigs' feet and then, not that we needed it, dessert! Apologies that I can't give the exact names of the dishes - sometimes you just have to concentrate on the conversation. After dinner, we went to a square where they play live music to drink beer. It's a bit similar to Bia Hoi without music in Vietnam. It was so cool and I loved that atmosphere very much

My clients mentioned about the most popular fast food in Manila called Jollibee and these franchises are always located right next to McDonalds. I don't know why I took the recommendation but I ate the pasta with deep fried chicken. It was really not my type of food.

The only thing I slightly regret is that I didn't have a chance to ride a jeepney around Manila. They look so good and so colourful. This will be one of the reasons that I will come back to Manila. Thanks to my clients that made my trip to Manila so special and hopefully see you again soon

Boracay 2014, Philippine

Recently, after being refused a visa for Japan, I spent just a couple of nights in both Boracay and Manila in the Philippines. Because it was such a short stay, I can't tell you much about the whole country but I loved it there very much due to the people I met and what I ate

Boracay made a great first impression mainly due to the shock of the amazing white sand beach and the clear, huge expanse of blue sky. It took me about 5 minutes to think about the beach on arrival as I couldn't believe this beach could be real. I decided to spend most of my time on the beach drinking San Miguel beer and swimming - let's face it, there's probably not much else to do! Oh, and eating, of course.

 With my fussy eating, I walked down the main d*talipapa market area to choose my own fresh seafood before bringing it over to be cooked at the restaurants. It was a real heaven for me, eating seafood everyday. The local people cooked the seafood in different styles and they turned out well. Even though I prefer to eat seafood very simply, some of their preparations were interesting and I learned ways of mixing new ingredients. The locals were surprised about how much I could eat and how much of an expert I am at eating crabs and prawns. Once they heard I grew in a coastal town, they understood why. I prefer eating steamed and grilled seafood with a Nha Trang simple dipping sauce: salt, lime, pepper and lots of chili but Pilipino don't eat that way :). 

The hotel staff wondered why I kept skipping breakfast. I didn't want to offend them but I never eat hotel breakfasts because then I miss an opportunity for a local breakfast experience. It's just my personal thing but I prefer to take a tri-bicycle or walk down to the market or a local eatery to try the local stuff on offer. That's the best way to learn about the culture and cuisine. I'm a friendly chatty person so locals don't mind spending some time talking to me. They all thought I was from China which is a bit sad but really, especially because of what is happening in our region recently. I do prefer if they think I'm local :).

One big mistake I made when I was in Boracay was going to an Italian restaurant for dinner, upon the recommendation of the hotel staff. The food was reasonable but I would have enjoyed the experience of eating in a local restaurant a couple of minutes down the road, like I'd originally planned. Think I'll stuck with my plan next time.

The nightlife in Boracay is also very interesting. There is a lot of 80s style music being played by bands and DJs and I realized that's why so many Filipino singers in Vietnam are obsessed with the same music. The nightclubs and bars are pretty busy every night but the atmosphere is fun and there is no fighting or other nasty stuff going on.

Boracay is definitely one of my favorite places and I'm pretty sure I'll go back again in the very near future.