2018-05-10 to 16 Hobart to Melbourne to Manila to Doha to Barcelona
Departing Hobart on one of the rainiest days on record, then spending a night at the Park Royal Airport Hotel, at the early hour of 6 am we make our way to International Departures for our direct flight to Manila in the PhilippinesBy 9 am we are boarded on our Philippine Airlines flight looking out at the bleak rainy conditions also being experienced in MelbourneApproximately 8 hours later we approach the Philippine coastline
The outskirts of the large city of Manila come into view
In the distance a few of the many high rise buildings start to appear
Landing at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila
A 30 minute taxi ride took us into Makati passing a multitude of unsafe looking power lines commonly seen everywhere in ManilaJeppneys are a common form of inexpensive transport for the locals around ManilaArriving in the busy business district of Makati where we will be staying for a few daysWe book into the conveniently situated Peninsular Hotel in the heart of MakatiThe foyer of the hotel has a lot of old world charm including a quartet playing on the top level in the afternoons and early eveningsFrom the offices we are visiting while in Manila we can see our hotel (low level hotel, upper left) fronting on to the Ayala Park in the heart of MakatiDuring our stay we dined at the restaurant across the road from our hotelBefore dinner we enjoyed a drink in the Club Lounge at the Peninsular…….then we make our way across the road to the Blackbird Restaurant which specialises in steaksFor dinner we are joined by our friend and business associate, MarxWe share a couple of delicious seafood entrees….followed by a generous steak and chips with salad and vegetables, which we also sharedTwo desserts and and 3 spoons to finish a lovely evening sitting in the very mild conditions in the outdoor garden of the restaurantGood cheesecake tooNext day another visit to New Wave Offices
Ric with some of the lovely staff at New Wave OfficesMakati being the major business district, has numerous modern very high rise buildingsThe flowers in the foyer of the hotel are always spectacular
Good view from our hotel roomAfter several days in Manila we make our way to the airport by a car organised by the hotelArriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 4 pm for our flight to KL in MalaysiaBy 6.30 pm we were taxiing towards the runway to join the long queue of aircraft waiting for their turn to take offFinally 15 minutes later we were in the air looking back over the airportWe sweep over the modern skyscrapers of the 18 million populated city
At 8.15 pm we approach the Kuala Lumpur AirportShortly afterwards we land and taxi to the terminalAfter spending the night at the Sama Sama Express Hotel in the KL Airport terminal, at around 8.30 am we checked in for our flight with Qatar to DohaWe spent almost an hour waiting on the runway before we took offAt last at around 11am we took off for our 7 hour flight to Doha in QatarWe had comfortable seating in the centre of the planeWe enjoy a nice late lunch aboard while watching a few moviesThe fillet of beef with mushrooms was quite good for airline foodApproaching the flat coastline of Qatar
Qatar is one of the biggest natural gas producers in the world hence the many refineries along the costline
Because of the rich resources Qatar is a very wealthy and prosperous countryWe approach landing at the very large however very empty airport in QatarThe facilities look very modern and spacious
Once inside the very modern terminal one could there was no expense spared creating a luxurious spacious airportThere was a water feature the size of an Olympic size swimming pool in the terminal
The buffet food available for guests in the lounges looked amazing
Plenty of shopping available too
It says it all in the photos!!!After a couple of hours in Doha it is time to head back for our next flight direct to Barcelona
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