Day 151: Relaxing at The Funny Lion

Very little to report again! We spent the day enjoying the resort facilities! Shandos had a massage, I spent the morning in the pool and then a few hours in the afternoon working on my video.

More cocktails again around sunset, then dinner in the restaurant again (steak for Shandos, seafood pizza for me). Happy to report again that the food was excellent, and our stay's been great so I think they'll be getting quite a bit of positive coverage.

Hard to believe it's our last night in the Philippines, after nearly six weeks here (minus a few days in Hong Kong)! Off to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow via Manila, then a day of errands planned (and hopefully a new phone for me) before we fly to Myanmar on the 17th.

In hindsight I think overall I've enjoyed the Philippines, though if we hadn't spent as much time in Palawan I would've been distinctly underwhelmed I think. Boracay is too crowded, Manila is too dirty and jammed. Bohol was nice, but didn't really offer us anything we couldn't have done elsewhere. And central Palawan (Puerto Princesa) wasn't really anything that spectacular either, outside of the Underground River.

Plus the food isn't as good as it is in neighbouring countries (though I've come around to it somewhat), and I don't think the people are as friendly either. People who work in tourist related industries (hotels, transport, guides etc) are great, but everyone just seems grouchy. And it's far poorer than I expected, particularly outside the rich parts of Manila. I'd almost put it on par with Laos in terms of how rustic and poor it is. I would definitely recommend people travel to El Nido and/or Coron though - particularly in the next few years, before the hordes of Chinese descend like they have in Boracay. And on that depressing note, it's time to sleep.Read more