Dear All,

initially, the Philippines were not on my itinerary, but having met such a great man in John back in July, i had to change my plan to spend more time with him in order to know him better.

I arrived on Sunday 10th September and was straight away surprised at what i saw - the airport was from the 50s and i was welcomed by a band of 3 playing music - lol... but that was before i met the grumpiest custom officer so far (even worst than the americans)

John had organised a Taxi for me which was of great help as i wouldnt have know where to go as everybody was trying to get my attention!  also the humid heat was so unbearable!

didnt really understood why the taxi driver decided to ensure the doors were locked, but figured out very quickly when we drove through one of the poorest area i have ever seen - i dont really know how to describe it!  but seeing people barefeet / sheds made up with plank of wood or steel.... in french we call it "bidonville" - i was really surprised you that people can live in these conditions - really brings you some kind of reality on how we live.

what strikes me most on that drive, was the various aspect of the Philippino society - very poor area next to financial district and residential area! all seems mixed together.

on my arrival at the Mimosa resort (Holiday Inn), I cant tell you how happy and excited i was at seeing John again after 6 weeks - poor guy, i had to wake him up as he was sleeping from his night shift! but hey that was also the occasion of seeing John s new tatoo - on his right thigh, which despite having giving some hard time about it, i have to admit is a nice tatoo! :-)

the next two weeks were fairly quiet, as i was trying to spend as much time with John who was doing night shift and sleeping during the day - but we made the most of it. I took on some golf lessons every morning at 6.30am and i am looking forward to get more practice and take on whoever dare challenging me! strange to think that i could easily get up at 5.30am every morning but couldnt do it while working in london! lol

on the second day, John organised to take me to his workplace - military base where few pictures were taken - Clark used to be a huge US military base until 1992 (up to 15,000 staff that year) where they pulled out following request by the Phillipino goverment to have the base back. That was interesting to see where John worked and met some of his colleagues, which in a way was strange - having to pretend i was just a friend visiting on my travels - as some of you may not know, but being gay in the US navy is a sackable offence! how f***ed up is that!

I then got into some kind of routine, coming back from my golf lesson, me and John then were having some breakfast before walking around and entertaining ourselves to:

- manicure / barber  (where i had great haircut - 1.5 mm on top and shaved with razor on the side)

- local casino where i admit we went too often! LOL

- eating regularly at the local sushi place and Wine bar (where the service was terrible but the food were good)...

unfortunately, John wasnt allowed to get out of the resort and as he had to be in bed by 3pm, our activities were limited. but he made lots of efforts so that we spend time together at his expense - he was so knackered after all these weeks of night shift and having me around!

but I manage to spend few afternoon away, while John was sleeping, and went to the local Mall, where hundreds of adolescents were screaming their head off at a local young singer / experienced "Field Avenue" which is the main street in Clark filled with bars and prostitutes - it was quite disturbing to see so many young girls working and where their main customers were westerners of 50+.

another day, I went trekking to Mont Pinatubo, which erupted back in 1992, this was a great day out with a driver and a guide that was only 16. good physical day, as you cross rivers and climb rocks...  the volcano is now a military area where they do exercise regularly and where the locals collect the shelves to sell the metal - unfortunately accident happens when bomb havent exploded.!

one thing which striked me the most was how inquisitive Phillipinos are - from the taxi driver / receptionist / waiter / shop assistant... they all ask you if you are single / how old you are / what you do / if you want a young girl.... it has become so bad, that me and John had to be abrupt sometimes and still they wouldnt understand. every conversation seemed to have a particular interest and it became a pain! had couple of arguments about it with taxi drivers and nosy waiters... that did really made me doubt coming back to this country as on top of that i didnt felt safe outside the resort!

anyway, after 2 weeks, i said good bye to my new boyfriend John who had to go back to Japan and i made my way to Manilla!