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Monday, 14 May 2012
Get Ewan to Disneyland
So I think a little background info is needed, just to put you in the picture, although Ewan's letter was pretty spot on! Ewan's granny Mary was taking his two big sisters to Disneyland in Paris as a special birthday treat on 19th May.
Jess suffered an injury to her eye when a pencil punctured her retina at school on 4th May. Jess is fine, she required stiches to her eye, but she is recovering well - however she has been advised not to fly. This meant that sadly she could no longer go on holiday.
She is dealing with this pretty well! Jodie felt that she could not go without her sister so granny Mary asked the nice people at Thomas Cook if she could change some passengers, allowing Ewan and his cousin to go. As everything was confirmed over the phone we asked Ewan if he would like to go. He went bright red, he grinned from ear to ear then proceeded to throw himself around the room like a thing possessed!! We were delighted for him - it's been a tough year for us all and he's coped so well with everything.
So on Friday granny Mary went to Thoms Cook to make the changes and pay the nominal admin fees to be told that the change would cost a further 35% of the total cost of the holiday! An alternative was to cancel completely and rebook at a cost of over £2000 (for a two night stay!) She was not prepared to do this but as she has very recently received very sad news of a family bereavement, she was not strong enough to challenge them. At this point she was advised to cancel there and then or loose 75% of the money she had paid. She called us in tears from the travel agent, she had cancelled and was devastated for the children. We had to tell Ewan that he was no longer going to Disneyland a mere 24 hours after telling him he was. Sickening.......
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Carol & Giles - 19 April 2012
The wedding took place on the beach at the exclusive Shangri-la hotel and was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever been to. It was relaxed, special and had the glorious benefit of the beautifully calm sea and setting sun.
The previous night we attended a pre-wedding rehearsal and beach BBQ. The food here was the best I had during my trip to the Philippines, with the notable exception of the superb Nanay Dano's Bistek.
If you think the stereotype exists about Asian people and taking pictures is remotely true, you really ought to meet Asian wedding photographers.
After the ceremony we found a bar within the hotel which was having a Happy Hour. Essentially drinks slightly cheaper than normal, but still a long way off Nigi Nigi Nu Noos prices or measures...However, we ended up being the last guests to arrive at the reception, 15 minutes late and our only defence was that we were looking after the grooms mother. I think we were eventually forgiven...
A short photoset of photos from the wedding is contained within another blog post, click here.
I would like to wish Carol and Giles all the very best and future happiness.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Dubai and Philippines - part 2
Our flight from Ozamiz to Cebu was via an airbus and the journey to Boracay by an ATR72 (turbo prop). The runway at Caticlan airport is so short that they must ensure the trim of the aircraft is evenly balanced, weighing all passengers / handcarry and seating you accordingly. The hold luggage is limited to 10kg (they will more than this at £3 per kg).
We arrived early in Cebu and had 4+ hours to spare, we checked in our luggage to a storage facility and hit the bar at the nearby hotel. Go hard or go home was the motto, with us guzzling bacardi and whisky like they were about to announce prohibition. We then noticed the time and realised if we didnt rush, we wouln't make our flight. It was only then that we discovered we had no way of getting our luggage back without going on this really long circutious route and being mis-directed by security on a number of occasions, prompting me to shout at one of the guards "that he was going to make me miss my f**king flight". This caused Jade to get slightly annoyed as he thought I might get arrested / shot.
Anyway, we eventually got our luggage, checked in and were relieved of a heavy excess baggage fee (£60) and a terminal fee / departure tax of £4.
In the departure lounger we met another of the wedding guests Ledee and her daughter Gracie. We hadn't long to wait before we boarded our flight, not long after we got on the plane, the stewardess announced we had to "Get Down"...this was pretty much meaningless but we soon discovered it meant "get off" or the annoying "de-plane". The fuel tender had collided with the wing, rendering the aircraft unserviceable.
A 2 hour delay and we're soon on our way to Caticlan. A 45 min flight then a firm landing and quickly through the baggage re-claim. Our hotel met us at the airport and had arranged our pump boat (complete with life jackets in case it sunk) transfer to Boracay.
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