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 Philippines
By 9 am we are boarded on our Philippine Airlines flight looking out at the bleak rainy conditions also being experienced in Melbourne
Approximately 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 Manila
Jeppneys are a common form of inexpensive transport for the locals around Manila
Arriving in the busy business district of Makati where we will be staying for a few days
We book into the conveniently situated Peninsular Hotel in the heart of Makati
The foyer of the hotel has a lot of old world charm including a quartet playing on the top level in the afternoons and early evenings
From 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 Makati
During our stay we dined at the restaurant across the road from our hotel
Before 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 steaks
For dinner we are joined by our friend and business associate, Marx
We share a couple of delicious seafood entrees
….followed by a generous steak and chips with salad and vegetables, which we also shared
Two desserts and and 3 spoons to finish a lovely evening sitting in the very mild conditions in the outdoor garden of the restaurant
Good cheesecake too
Next day another visit to New Wave Offices

Ric with some of the lovely staff at New Wave Offices
Makati being the major business district, has numerous modern very high rise buildings
The flowers in the foyer of the hotel are always spectacular

Good view from our hotel room
After several days in Manila we make our way to the airport by a car organised by the hotel
Arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport around 4 pm for our flight to KL in Malaysia
By 6.30 pm we were taxiing towards the runway to join the long queue of aircraft waiting for their turn to take off
Finally 15 minutes later we were in the air looking back over the airport
We sweep over the modern skyscrapers of the 18 million populated city

At 8.15 pm we approach the Kuala Lumpur Airport
Shortly afterwards we land and taxi to the terminal
After 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 Doha
We spent almost an hour waiting on the runway before we took off
At last at around 11am we took off for our 7 hour flight to Doha in Qatar
We had comfortable seating in the centre of the plane
We enjoy a nice late lunch aboard while watching a few movies
The fillet of beef with mushrooms was quite good for airline food
Approaching 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 country
We approach landing at the very large however very empty airport in Qatar
The facilities look very modern and spacious

Once inside the very modern terminal one could there was no expense spared creating a luxurious spacious airport
There 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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