We left Sydney on Monday morning after having spent five great weeks with the Murphys - sad to leave but looking forward to seeing them again in a few months' time when there'll be three of them!

We flew to Singapore via Darwin (four hours each flight with an hour's stopover) and arrived at Changi airport at about 9 o'clock in the evening. We booked a hotel from the airport and took a taxi - the room was only fifty pounds for the night (cheapest we could find) and when the taxi pulled up outside we thought he must have taken us to the wrong place as it was beautiful and not what we were expecting at all. When we booked in they told us that the aircon had broken and so they taxied us to the sister-hotel a few minutes up the road which was also beautiful - free wifi and breakfast thrown in too, and a gym and swimming pool on the twelfth floor. Sadly, by the time we got to the hotel and checked in, all of the restaurants in the area were closed and so we had to make to with the good old Golden Arches (but even these are pretty in Singapore!).

Our day in Singapore consisted of a lot of walking and looking at the shops; we stopped at a really nice Irish-Italian restaurant for lunch and then had a look at Raffles Hotel (has to be done), and had a look around the Harbour (paddled in the water on the steps by the Merlion), and took the MRT (tube) back up towards our hotel. We stopped at the Goodwood Park Hotel (very glamorous) for a drink in the evening before hooking up with our friend Kirsty who is now living and working in Singapore, and had a really lovely dinner together down at the Esplanade before catching our flight at midnight to Manila. Annoyingly the airline wouldn't let us check in without an onward flight and so we had to book the cheapest flight we could find (still cost us sixty five pounds) before they would let us on the plane.

Steve met us at the airport when we landed (at half past four in the morning!) and so we got to bed at six; slept in until mid morning the next day and then spent a lovely leisurely aftenoon with Steve and Cecile, looking around Lipa and seeing the Fiesta that was going on. On Thursday, we went up to Tagaytay to visit the People's Park in the Sky which was initially built by Marcos and was never finished, and then on to Lake Taal where we crossed the lake in a boat (got very wet!) and then took a donkey up to the top of the volcano to see the lake which lies in its crater (see - knew we would end up on a donkey at some point on our travels!). The view from the top was spectacular, and afterwards we walked down (we both really enjoy walking and we also didn't think the donkeys would survive the journey...).

We had a great day yesterday; six of us (Steve and Cecile, along with Steve's parents Stuart and Pat) drove up to the river Pagsanjan where we took a boat ride up the river to the Magdapio falls which was fab. There were two of us to a boat (like a canoe - not much freeboard so we had to balance very carefully to avoid taking on water - still got wet but it was great fun!). This is the river they filmed in Apocalypse Now; the scenery is incredible and the boat ride a real experience (pictures to follow once we're able to upload them). When we got to the falls, there was a raft to take us under the falls themselves which Simon and I did and got totally drenched! Freezing cold but great fun. All in all, definitely one of the best experiences of the trip so far, and we're having a lovely time.

Next on the (rough) schedule is a trip to Boracay island for a couple of days, then Hong Kong and any one of Vietnam, Japan or Cambodia - not sure which yet as it depends on flights and visas. We're also considering the Grand Prix schedule and are hoping to fit one in; options at the moment are Malaysia, Melbourne or China (we'll need to get some earplugs...)

We'll hopefully get to write another blog soon (sorry to have left it so long) but don't know when we'll next have access to the internet so in the meantime, hope you are all well and speak soon.

Simon and Jane