I woke up early to have breakfast before leaving for the airport.
I ate at WG Diners; affordable and decent food
The staff at the guesthouse booked me a van taxi for a drop off at Busuanga Airport. I packed up my bags, said my goodbyes and left Coron Backpackers Guesthouse when it was time.
It was the same road back to the airportThere was a discerning lack of cows in the fields this time thoughA fewBusuanga airport, paid for by the Koreans
Immigration took it’s own sweet time. This is as basic as a small airport can get, so not every passenger can get in all at once.
Oh, and don’t even try to smuggle coral shells out of Coron. It’s against the law… but that didn’t stop many from trying.My ride back to Manila was a Cebu Pacific flightBeing a Cebu Pacific flight, in-flight games were in orderThe sights out the window on this flight were nothing spectacular
I arrived in Manila at around 3pm. I had lunch at a Burger King at the terminal and then stepped out of the airport to catch the bus going to Pasay. From there I hired a taxi to get to Bonifacio Global City (BGC), where I would be staying a condominium my friend Janet had access to.
I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the condo nor allowed to share any details as it didn’t belong to Janet. But it sure was nice to stay here!
After freshening up, Janet and I went out for a walk around BGC in the evening.
Bonifacio Global City is probably the nicest and most developed area in ManilaA lot of wealthy residents tooBGC is very well planned and managedJanet took me to Market! Market! — a shopping complex she frequentsWe then went to check out SM Aura. SM Corp’s latest mall in Manila City.It looked and felt… like any other mall. Had that “new” feeling though.We went upstairsThe rooftop had these fountains
For dinner, Janet and I went to an Indian restaurant called New Bombay. They have a few branches across Manila and seem to be rather popular chain.
And yes, you get Kingfisher here!
Date: June 2, 2013
Today Janet and I decided to check out Manila Ocean Park.
It began as a sunny Sunday and we walked through Rizal Park to get to Ocean Park on the other side
The entrance to Manila Ocean ParkWe bought the 550 peso ticketWe checked out the Birds of Prey exhibit firstBrahminy KitesLove the design of such birdsSome (sad) factsQuite a few of them in here
We then posed next to them. This is Janet.I tried to strike a conversation but the kite just wasn’t interestedOnce the crowds had cleared, I asked Janet to take a photo of me doing a “jump shot”. After two trips to the Philippines, I had yet to do it.We moved onI don’t know what these hanging weeds wereGiant Arapaima river fish. It’s huge!Koi fishFeeding timeWe entered the marine life section
Mandarin Dragonet fishLongspine Porcupinefish. Check out how cool its eyes are.Longhorn CowfishSeen a lot of these guys in all my snorkel divesMother nature and her amazing creations. This is the Leopard Flounder. Look carefully, there’s three of them.
Pajama CardinalfishNemo! or Clown Fish as they are actually called.Bambooshark eggs
Reef stonefishRibbon eelNo kidding, these eels are called Convict Blenny. No wonder they are trying to hide.This was the next attraction, dedicated to larger sea lifeCoral triangle map of South East Asia
Next up was the requisite underwater tunnelWhere sting rays and sharks glide over you
A photo Janet took of meBluefin TrevallyThe shark tankBut they weren’t swimmingThey were alive thoughAnd that was it
Janet and I on the way out decided to go for one of those 4D rides. Heck, it was only ₱100 per person. It was silly, and gimmicky, but at 100 pesos, it was worth the short 10 minute fun ride. Afterwards, Janet and I had lunch at a pan-Asian restaurant upstairs.
May not seem like we didn’t order much, but we couldn’t even finish all the dumplingsOcean Park is right by Manila Bay
We then went looking for the jellyfish section as it opened only later.
This costs extra
The jellyfish display
Red jellyfishThey would pass light from above illuminating the translucent jellyfish in various colours
Elegant, but their stings can be poisonous
This is just an illusion made possible by mirrors all around the room
After this, Janet and I waited for our 4:30pm Sea Lion show.
This was the stage where the sea lions would appear with their handlersThe sea lions made an impressive entranceThere were two of them and they displayed all sorts of featsThe announcer would also educate the audience about sea lionsSea lions give the audience a saluteThen it was time for some audience participation. Yes, the sea lion is clapping.And kiss girlsPhotos don’t do these sea lions justice
So here’s a video…
It was a fun show, and Janet really enjoyed it. Manila Ocean Park isn’t bad. Granted, I have been to Dubai Aquarium and Bangkok’s Siam Ocean World, and after a few they all start to look the same and even offer the same sights. Still, Janet had never been to Ocean Park and I had nothing else planned for today — so no regrets coming here.
It was around 5pm when we left Ocean ParkThis is Roxas BoulevardThis is a new hostel in ErmitaA statue in a garden we passed as we strolled through ErmitaErmita Shrine… but you could read that, right?Well if they say soKashmir, one of the more older Indian restaurants in Manila
After this, we spent some time at Robinsons mall where I bought some t-shirts at the department store and after dinner at Carls Jr., we then headed back to the condo. I had just one more day left in Manila, and that will also be the final post in this series.
