All bases covered

An eclectic Manila weekend comprising of social, cultural, spiritual and indulgent activities....

The Social: A very orange party!
My Dutch friend Marieke held a World Cup party to cheer on her team on Friday night. Regardless of your nationality, everyone who came through the door had to be decked out in bright orange – there were orange hats, orange shirts, orange tails and orange flags. The party had great food, great sangria and interesting people and as an added bonus the Dutch were victorious over the Ivory Coast.

The Cultural: National Museum
Finally made it to a museum that was open! Dragged some friends to the National Museum to get a dose of culture on Sunday. We were three of only seven visitors to the museum that day and I now understand why...although the museum had some really interesting historical and cultural artefacts the presentation of the exhibits was awful. There was little or no explanation provided in the exhibitions so you were left to work out your own interpretation of what you were looking at and why it was important to the country's history. Guess it comes down to a question of funding or in the case of the Philippines, the lack of funding. Certainly makes you appreciate museums back home.

The Spiritual: Church on a Sunday
I went to church! Actually just popped my head in for about 10 minutes of a service at the Malate Church in downtown Manila. Fascinating to see PowerPoint being used to spread the word. Also interested that an Irish priest was preaching and wondered if anyone could understand his accent. Perhaps that explains the PowerPoint presentation?

The Indulgent: My first spa experience.
Was introduced to the delights of spas in the Philippines. For just A$20 I got to indulge in a sauna, thermal spa and then a “lava massage”- full body massage using thermal rocks. I fear this indulgence could be almost as addictive as mango shakes!
Check out the hilarious photos of me and my friend Huda decked out in our spa clothes...you get these for swimming in the sauna and pools. Orange again!