Few can argue that the tiny island in central Philippines known as Boracay is nothing less than spectacular. With a 3 kilometer long sugar white beach, some of the lowest prices in the world and perhaps best of all plenty of good ole Filipino charm and hospitality, Boracay is truly a wonder to behold. Anyone who has been there will tell you that Boracay, or 'Bora' as the locals call it, is the paradise island of the Philippines and possibly to the world. Geo...

Borneo's magic mountain, a landmark which has been ever-present in the Borneo skyline since my arrival. Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m) is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. Booking a trip on the mountain is without a doubt the hardest thing to do in Sabah, Kirsty on successive phone calls to the same number at the booking office, only to find out it was booked solidly until August. Luckily there was a group cancellation like 4 days before, so we...

Depending on the calendar and time zone, fasting takes place for a whole month once a year. In Sabah, it is from around 6am to 6pm, they'd have to watch the news or read newspaper to know when fasting begins. Women on periods cannot fast till they finish their periods as again, it is considered as dirty. During the month of Ramadan, you are not allowed to drink, eat or even swallow your saliva (in the fasting month, spit is everywhere *shrugs*). Imagine not being...

'Miss and Mr Personality Contest' took place as part of the English month. The contestants were in Form 4 and 5. All of them were totally dressed up. Bearing in mind, make up is completely prohibited in the school and everyone has to wear the modest school uniform. The girls wore dresses above the knee, their hair down, styled and funky make-up on, some of them were unrecognizable! Most of the girls took it really seriously and made a huge effort, but there was a...

On Tuesday evening, we went with all of the children to a local night market. We got to the fruit stall bit and Kirsty nearly had to deck some of the local men. Never known any jaws to get so low, they were literally gawping at us. Then at the mango stalls, we were verbally abused. They sounded like a group of chimpanzees on speed, no joke. The kids all got neon light gooey bouncy things on a string, they all seemed to like them! The following morning, Kirs...