Manila

The trip to Manila was a mix of good and bad. 

I don't really know where to start with this post so I guess I will begin with the bad as its always better to sign off on a positive note. 

The crew on this trip for some reason didn't seem to gel. I think it was a combination of different cultures, strong personalities, and experience. The service on both legs seemed to be all over the place, and to top it off there seemed to be a lot of bitching going on behind peoples backs. 

 Emirates have a policy where they don't allow employees to speak in any other language except English whilst working onboard. Its put in place in order to avoid crew conflict and it just makes it easier for everyone to communicate effectively with each other. However the more flying I do the more I notice that people tend to ignore this rule, which in turn makes it harder to not only interact, but also to work with fellow colleagues.  

So with this being the case it was pretty clear that no one was really keen to go and explore the city together. I on the other hand had big plans and decided that I wasn't going to miss out, so I went on my own. 

We stayed at the Crown Plaza Hotel, which is perfectly situated in the center of town, right next to Robinson's Shopping Mall. When we arrived at midnight there was a lovely fruit bowl waiting for us in our room and a selection of english TV channels (they had E! !!!) so I was set for the night. 

In the morning I planned on going to one of the markets, so I looked in the hotel information book and it suggested an indoor market place (Greenhills Shopping Plaza) that was air conditioned and offered everything that I was after. So I set off to go and spend all my allowance. When I got there I was shocked at how huge it was! They sold everything from iphone covers, to clothes, as well as DVD's. I managed to spend a couple of hours there before I realised that I should probably head home and grab something to eat before our flight back. 

So when I got back to the hotel I decided to quickly pop into the shopping center and check out what they had on offer. Unfortunately because I had spent most of my money at the markets the only thing I could afford at that stage was lunch. So it was off to Maccas (don't judge).

Although the crew weren't the best, I actually really enjoyed my trip to Manila. I got everything I wanted to get out of it shopping wise, and it was nice to be back in Asia (believe it or not I am actually a little bit over Europe)

Next up Tunisia!

P.S I have recently become aware of how shocking my photography skills have become since finishing my degree, so I promise to up the anti on that front from now on :)