Finally! A Chance To Get Back

[dz130]

Took off on my first vacation out of the desert on the 3rd, and came back the 14th. So much work since then, that this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and get on here.

Flew Cathay Pacific round trip to Manila via Hong Kong. Nice flight, nice people. Highly recommend them. Only problem being on the Hong Kong to Riyadh leg coming back. They froze our asses off. Ended up catching another frigging cold barely a month after getting over the first.

Arrived in Manila in the evening, and the fiance and her mom were there with a neighbor to pick me up. Hadn't even made it to Customs when I hit Duty Free and bought a bottle of JW Black.

After that, the four of us went to the outside Duty Free "Mall," and I bought a bunch of stuff for everyone, including a selection of Filippino cigars. More on those later.

After a few days in Manila (Quezon City), she and I headed up to Angeles to see Cahow. Spent a couple days there herfing, eating, and drinking (some excellent single malt ). If any of you can make it to the islands, I highly recommend looking this good BOTL up. He is a most Excellent Host. Thanks again, Carl.

From there, the two of us took a six hour bus trip up north to Bagio. It is a mountainous area that you climb through the clouds to reach. It's pretty cool seeing pine trees next to coconut palms, banana trees, and mango trees. The weather there is much cooler than the rest of Luzon. it can actually get down into the 40's at night, I was told.

We spent one night there, then it was an 8 hour bus ride back to Manila. The rest of the vacation was spent running around, buying souvenirs, and trying to do things to prepare for the wedding, hopefully in May if we get leave, and get everything set up.

I did not realize how poverty-stricken they are there. People are jammed together in huts of corrugated tin and nylon tarps. It was sad to see. But everyone seemed happy. I don't understand why, but they looked and acted like it wasn't that bad.

In ten days, I got to see a lot of things, thanks to the work my girl did to make sure I enjoyed myself. But I still didn't see over 90% of the country. It was really enjoyable. And the cost was extremely low. The exchange rate was about 44 pesos to the dollar.

I can't wait to go back, and take more of it in.