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Jun 30, 2015 19:38:51 GMT
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Awesome. Bribing is a veritable BARGAIN! Are there any 'Typical' holiday resorts for Brits out there? You know the sort of thing... A little luxury for us whiteys from around London lol.  Hmm, let me think how to say this nicely...  Depends what you're looking for. Beach 'n' Beer is probably Boracay but that's getting full of Koreans now, and they are weird people. Still, there's some nice hotels and you have a pick of quiet or noisy parts of the beach. We use it for quick getaways of around a week and there's plenty of good watering holes. May I recommend Nigi, Nigi Nu Noo's Beach Resort. I kid you not, it's a great place for singles, groups or families alike and we love it. The bar there is a particularly good people watching spot if that's your thing, it's certainly mine.. Have a feeling that Boracay will now begin to suffer from its own success as I believe the sewerage system, such as it was, is starting to creak. Get there whilst it's still nice and clean! There's Subic Bay, which is the old US naval port now gradually re-inventing itself. Okay for a long weekend to escape Manila, but not really any longer. Puerto Galera on Mindoro (not to be confused with Mindanao) is well known for its diving and party spots, but I've not met anyone with particularly glowing reports and we've never been. Plenty of bars I understand, but if I had to choose, then Boracay out of those 3 wins for me. For now. Further afield there the islands of Cebu and Palawan, the latter being seriously quiet and unspoiled. Unfortunately, kidnapping is a little habit the locals have developed who then sell you to the Muslim insurgents on Mindanao. Still, the hotels are nice, for the short time you occupy it. For a more 'theme' based holiday, then Ermita's your place! It's the next district up from us and offers all sorts of...how do I put this?.. diversions. That's a good word, diversions, yes. Just remember that some of the diversions have slightly more under their frocks than others. They are also fiercely determined, so if you enjoy the thrill of the chase, in Ermita you get to see it from the fox's perspective. And finally, if your idea of fun is spending time in the company of pensioners powered totally by ED pharmaceuticals and Red Horse, then Angeles City is the destination of choice. Angeles is adjacent to what used to be the major US airbase in the Philippines, Clark Field and whatever it had that the GI's on R&R from Vietnam enjoyed can still be found in abundance. Be prepared to never see daylight as this place is strictly nocturnal and having driven through it one afternoon, I can see why. So fill yer boots, lad! P.S. Disclaimer; I have no connection with the Philippine Tourist Authority. Shame really  |
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Last Edit: Jul 1, 2015 21:08:20 GMT by georgeb
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THE_Liam
Yorkshire and The Humber
If at first you don't succeed... HAMMERS.
Posts: 1,363
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Jun 30, 2015 20:30:17 GMT
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What's Davao city like? That's where my mates wife is from. I hear a lot of funny stories about the mayor shooting rapists and the like...
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Jun 30, 2015 21:33:25 GMT
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What's Davao city like? That's where my mates wife is from. I hear a lot of funny stories about the mayor shooting rapists and the like... Not got down there yet, but supposed to be a good place and I know a fair few people from there originally who are always just popping home. Problem with Mindanao has been the insurgency down there, which puts a lot of folk off, Madam included, which is a shame as I hear good things about Davao and it's outside the main trouble spots, which are more to the east now I believe. The government keep telling us they've reached an agreement with the various independence groups, normally a week before it all kicks off again. Hopefully one day it'll settle and Mindanao will become a destination of choice again. If I ever do get down there, you can be sure of an in-depth, fly-in-the-sky view of the place. Well, the bars at any rate, or you'll see me on Al Jazeera, one of the two. |
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Last Edit: Jun 30, 2015 21:35:49 GMT by georgeb
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Jun 30, 2015 22:17:25 GMT
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Love this thread. Keeps me chuckling  Like Rough Guide without the tedious grown-up stuff  |
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THE_Liam
Yorkshire and The Humber
If at first you don't succeed... HAMMERS.
Posts: 1,363
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What's Davao city like? That's where my mates wife is from. I hear a lot of funny stories about the mayor shooting rapists and the like... Not got down there yet, but supposed to be a good place and I know a fair few people from there originally who are always just popping home. Problem with Mindanao has been the insurgency down there, which puts a lot of folk off, Madam included, which is a shame as I hear good things about Davao and it's outside the main trouble spots, which are more to the east now I believe. The government keep telling us they've reached an agreement with the various independence groups, normally a week before it all kicks off again. Hopefully one day it'll settle and Mindanao will become a destination of choice again. If I ever do get down there, you can be sure of an in-depth, fly-in-the-sky view of the place. Well, the bars at any rate, or you'll see me on Al Jazeera, one of the two. The insurgency, is that the amusingly named MILF? |
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Great thread George - I've only just found it, thanks to your RR thread. Until now the worst track I'd seen was this:  Which belongs to these guys www.vgr.com.au/homepage.php and they only run 2 or 3 trains (actually the same train, it turns around at each end) a day in either direction over it at about 30km/h and with a couple of cars escorting the train (they seem to use them as mobile crossing gates - maybe you could use that idea?) At least your track is all the same - in Australia they have standard, broad (5 foot 3) and narrow (3 foot 6) gauges. - Victoria and some of South Australia is broad (with a bit of dual gauge in Vic for interstate trains) - New South Wales is standard gauge - Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, and some of South Australia is narrow gauge Australia is not one country! |
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1982 Mercedes 280TE
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Love this thread. Keeps me chuckling Like Rough Guide without the tedious grown-up stuff We try to avoid that sort of stuff. To be honest, acting like a grown up doesn't really get you very far in Asia. It makes it more difficult to relate, you dig? The insurgency, is that the amusingly named MILF? Don't laugh. Imagine how frustrating it must be not being able to casually say, "Hey, yes, that's us, just Google it" Great thread George - I've only just found it, thanks to your RR thread. Glad you are enjoying it. There's more... Until now the worst track I'd seen was this: To be fair, the track isn't that bad here    I've seen a lot worse than this, but also to be fair, I wasn't contemplating sticking freight trains along those. At least your track is all the same - in Australia they have standard, broad (5 foot 3) and narrow (3 foot 6) gauges. - Victoria and some of South Australia is broad (with a bit of dual gauge in Vic for interstate trains) - New South Wales is standard gauge - Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, and some of South Australia is narrow gauge Australia is not one country! Yes, I've worked in Australia a bit and it is a tad confusing. But that's how the lines have grown up so you either live with it, or spend billions, in a currency of choice, to standardise it. Let me give you an example of the opposite thinking though... Before I left Malaysia, I was working on a feasibility study into a brand new line that would run from the Thai border in the extreme north-east of the country, down the east coast servicing several ports along the way until turning inland at Kuantan and crossing the peninsular to Kuala Lumpur. Apart from the port towns there are virually no real population centres along the entire route. So, having finally persuaded the client, (government) after six months, that it wasn't going to be a 350kph Bullet Train, 'cos there'd be no passengers, it could work as a freight line. Now Malaysia is 1067mm gauge, like much of Asia, and has recently spend a fortune on upgrading and double tracking its west coast line. No problem with that, but. So the plan was that the line would be also 1067mm, service both import and export needs at the ports then, as it headed westwards would then link up to the west coast line and thence to KL. In the meantime, trains could also service two huge cement plants that were being built adjacent to another old line in the centre of the country, cement being a major export item for Malaysia, and taken to the eastern ports for shipping, mainly to China. In the same area, there are also major coal fields, another good export commodity. So feasible? Yes. This was then taken to the Ministry of Finance for their approval. It got the go-ahead but with one caveat, it must be standard gauge. So, whilst it could link the ports, we couldn't access the cement or the coal, we couldn't link to the west coast line leaving the only route to KL via a new 25km tunnel through the mountains, Feasible? Not on your bloody Nellie. The only rationale behind this 'decision' was they claimed that all new lines to be built in Malaysia would be standard gauge. When asked where in legislation it said this, there was lots of looking at feet/ceilings and hushed mutterings. When also asked if there were plans to undo the highly expensive double tracking and convert that to standard also, there was even more of the above. What a complete bunch of incompetent tossers! |
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Last Edit: Jul 1, 2015 22:09:46 GMT by georgeb
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Yes, I've worked in Australia a bit and it is a tad confusing. But that's how the lines have grown up so you either live with it, or spend billions, in a currency of choice, to standardise it. Let me give you an example of the opposite thinking though... Before I left Malaysia, I was working on a feasibility study into a brand new line that would run from the Thai border in the extreme north-east of the country, down the east coast servicing several ports along the way until turning inland at Kuantan and crossing the peninsular to Kuala Lumpur. Apart from the port towns there are virually no real population centres along the entire route. So, having finally persuaded the client, (government) after six months, that it wasn't going to be a 350kph Bullet Train, 'cos there'd be no passengers, it could work as a freight line. Now Malaysia is 1067mm gauge, like much of Asia, and has recently spend a fortune on upgrading and double tracking its west coast line. No problem with that, but. So the plan was that the line would be also 1067mm, service both import and export needs at the ports then, as it headed westwards would then link up to the west coast line and thence to KL. In the meantime, trains could also service two huge cement plants that were being built adjacent to another old line in the centre of the country, cement being a major export item for Malaysia, and taken to the eastern ports for shipping, mainly to China. In the same area, there are also major coal fields, another good export commodity. So feasible? Yes. This was then taken to the Ministry of Finance for their approval. It got the go-ahead but with one caveat, it must be standard gauge. So, whilst it could link the ports, we couldn't access the cement or the coal, we couldn't link to the west coast line leaving the only route to KL via a new 25km tunnel through the mountains, Feasible? Not on your bloody Nellie. The only rationale behind this 'decision' was they claimed that all new lines to be built in Malaysia would be standard gauge. When asked where in legislation it said this, there was lots of looking at feet/ceilings and hushed mutterings. When also asked if there were plans to undo the highly expensive double tracking and convert that to standard also, there was even more of the above. What a complete bunch of incompetent tossers! Brilliant! The guy in charge wasn't ex-General Motors by any chance? Sound like the sort of decision making I come across on a daily basis  |
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1982 Mercedes 280TE
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Brilliant! The guy in charge wasn't ex-General Motors by any chance? Sound like the sort of decision making I come across on a daily basis You see that's where Malaysia has it right over the rest of the world. It doesn't need to import incompetence, it has a huge natural Bumi talent pool all of its own, and they are all in government or the civil service. Ah, same thing. It helps that they are all related one way or another (don't ask) as well, so they don't even need to look outside the family. |
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May all of us here at Malate Towers take this opportunity of being the first to wish you, on RR, a very merry Republic Day. Yes, today is Republic Day (actually it’s tomorrow, but today’s the holiday) here in the Philippine Islands, when we celebrate the fact that the ‘merican’s finally gave it all up as a bad job and went home, soon to eye up more exiting trouble spots in South-East Asia. Today used to be called Independence Day, but then they decided that the date the Spanish left to build hotels in Marbella and sell tourists cheap, nasty red wine out of watering-cans was more appropriate for that. Mind, that was after the Yanks had kicked their ass out in the Spanish-American war and the Philippines declared itself a republic. Unfortunately, neither Spain nor the US recognised the new republic and the Americans immediately re-occupied the country in the American-Philippine War, so it wasn’t very independent for very long after all. So, today became Republic Day, Independence Day moved to June 12th, which used to be called Flag Day until then, and Flag Day was moved to May. Presumably because they had a handy spare holiday without a proper name. All clear? Anyway, it’s a holiday so who bleedin’ cares what it’s for. Just to keep the railway theme sort of going, it is indeed a week of anniversaries, as yesterday saw Philippine National Railways shut down for two months following a derailment on 2nd May. A press release at the time said they were going to undertake a full safety survey after the incident and since then, absolute silence. I reckon they've all disappeared to Broacay for a while instead. |
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Last Edit: Jul 2, 2015 21:15:17 GMT by georgeb
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Just to keep the railway theme sort of going, it is indeed a week of anniversaries, as yesterday saw Philippine National Railways shut down for two months following a derailment on 2nd May. A press release at the time said they were going to undertake a full safety survey after the incident and since then, absolute silence. I reckon they've all disappeared to Broacay for a while instead. Hi, well they have got to go somewhere to decide who is going to oversee the survey and to ensure there are no nasty surprises. Colin |
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Hi, well they have got to go somewhere to decide who is going to oversee the survey and to ensure there are no nasty surprises. Colin More like so when the next one falls off, they can all say, "T'wasn't us Mister, we were in Boracay. That nasty man over there said it was okay." No responsibility then, see?  Funnily enough, I've just been asked to attend a meeting with the PNR General Manager on Monday evening, so it'll be interesting to find out what's going on. It's just a pity we're not a bit further on in our project, as we need to install some new points for our inland terminal and build a new passing loop. With a 2 month closure, we'd have had that done long since. |
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Brilliant read. Makes a hermit like me actually want to travel.
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Brilliant read. Makes a hermit like me actually want to travel. What's stopping you? On Opodo, for a mere 859 of your Great British Pounds and 21 hours of your life, you can jump a flight at Leeds Bradford early Sunday morning and by lunchtime on Monday be investigating the effects of exotic bacteria available exclusively at The Mrs. Sanchez Eatery 'n' Medical Center, in lovely downtown Tondo. What more could it take to tempt you? |
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For that price, I could get back again as well, from here in Brisbane!
What are meal costs like there from a tourist perspective? I like street food, mind. I would be willing to discover the contents of mystery substances in banana leaves.
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Feeling a little jaded are we? A little hard to rouse after a heavier than intended Saturday night? Looking for a little pick-me-up? A spike of adrenaline? Well look no further.
May I introduce EDSA...Manila's ultimate Extreme Drive.
EDSA is short for Epifanio de los Santos Avenue which, as you will note from the map above, is the major ring road through the metropolis. This innocuous looking piece of highway runs from Pasay in the south, around Metro Manila until it joins the romantically named C-4 Road in the north. It has a bewildering and ever changing number of lanes and, if you find yourself in the wrong one, can suddenly find yourself spat out like unwanted snot or taking a mysterious flyover to somewhere you don't want to go. Pay attention and keep following the signs for Monumento.
During the week, speeds average around 10-15kph if you're lucky, less during peak hours and nose to tail traffic comes as standard at any time. However, early on a Sunday morning, it mutates malignantly into something that more closely resembles the Nürburgring. The only difference being that rather than dodging some hopeless cretin in Mummy's borrowed BMW at unfeasibly high speeds, you're doing it with hundreds of hopeless cretins driving provincial buses and Jeepneys at unfeasibly high speeds instead.
Yes, freed from the accelerator unfriendly traffic that is the norm, these Shites of the Road cut loose to wreak havoc upon the few ordinary motorists who choose to brave the Sunday morning monster that is EDSA.
So it was at 6am this morning that your correspondent pointed the rather fetching Epsom Green and V8 filled nose of the P38 southwards from Malate and, following a quick splash and dash, towards Pasay in order to join in with the fun. Why? Well one, because I've never circumnavigated the whole thing in one go and thought it may be a lark and two, there was a serious side as I've just reset the adaptive fuel trims and wanted a reasonable run to set things up again.
On a Sunday morning on EDSA, you either keep your wits about you, or you simply die. There's no in between, as provincial buses try to break all records for their particular route and ain't too fussed about how they do it. Unsignalled four lane changes from a bus doing around 90kph scatters vehicles all over the carriageway, as they swerve in desperate attempts to avoid being flattened. Rinse and repeat every 500m or so.
Often two lanes of the five/six available are given over to U-turning traffic. In reality this means that all bar one will be unavailable to through traffic as a herd of turning Jeepneys will fill the rest, desperate to be away first so they can come to a sudden halt in the middle of the road to drop passengers and thus inconvenience the maximum amount of following traffic. In the middle of all this are the two stroke sidecars lurching in all directions whilst laying down enough smoke to hide a medium sized aircraft carrier.
EDSA really is a microcosm of the city, running as it does past the skyscrapers of Makati and Bonifacio, the huge houses of Forbes Park, alongside the more upmarket areas of Wack-Wack, Ortigas and Quezon City. Then, as you start to head west and the coast, traffic starts to thin and you are aware that the per capita income of the locals is now dropping rapidly. By the time you hit C-4, Navotas and the run in towards Tondo on Radial Road 10, it's heading to around zero, along with your adrenalin levels and you are in true shanty territory, with the road pretty much to yourself by now. Tomorrow it will be nose to nose container trucks, so make the most of it. This is where the Manila Abattoir is located along with the notorious and now closed, Smokey Mountain landfill site. 
If you've made it this far along C-4 and R-10 without someone sticking a gun through your window  and relieving you of your vehicle, then jolly well done you. Generally, this is achieved by ignoring all traffic lights, keeping on the roll at all cost and constantly eying the mirrors for any two-up motorbike matching your moves.
As you pass the entrance to Manila North Port and look to your left, now in familiar territory again, you'll see Madam's Hateful Fortuner parked up as she and the girls spent last night at the Tondo house. However, you press on over the Mighty Pasig river, ideally holding your breath and then we're back in Manila City proper and onto Roxas Boulevard, one of the prettiest roads in the city and home to the huge American Embassy. Yes, you've come a full circle, both literally, and economically.
So now, wide awake, forty-odd kilometres and an hour and a bit later, with your knuckles returning to their normal flesh colour, you're back home in Malate for a nice cup of tea. Or would a large steadying brandy be more appropriate, as you ponder the wondrous survival of Manila's latest motoring adventure?
Anyway, I'm going to see if I can get a sticker made up of the route, track day stylee, for the tailgate. Respect!
I really must sort out a dash camera so you guys get to see all the fun too
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Last Edit: Jul 5, 2015 2:13:09 GMT by georgeb
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For that price, I could get back again as well, from here in Brisbane! What are meal costs like there from a tourist perspective? I like street food, mind. I would be willing to discover the contents of mystery substances in banana leaves. Yeah, but to be fair, you're only really up the road! Street food? Virtually free and fortunately medical care is reasonable too . Madam can get a Filipino breakfast at the local car-wash café for around a pound and unless you go really stupid, it's hard to spend more than a tenner a head in a reasonable local restaurant, including drinks. Try that in Makati and you can easily quadruple that price though. Think I've said it before elsewhere, but you hardly factor eating or drinking out as an expense, it's that cheap. |
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You need to invest in a GoPro George!
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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THE_Liam
Yorkshire and The Humber
If at first you don't succeed... HAMMERS.
Posts: 1,363
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I'll have an EDSAring sticker if you're selling them George! Been trying to get someone to make me an A58ring sticker to no avail...
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I'll have an EDSAring sticker if you're selling them George! Been trying to get someone to make me an A58ring sticker to no avail... Wouldn't be a problem to do message me a map and design A58 or EDSA... |
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Like Rough Guide without the tedious grown-up stuff 
and relieving you of your vehicle, then jolly well done you. 