Remember that song....

Nearly flying

This is what a start can look like when you have some experience. Wow! Just to avoid the questions: No, I didn't make a complete round on the wakeboard. I changed to the kneeboard, some sort of little surfboard you kneel on, and that was an awful lot of fun as well. But my time is still to come - I did not give up completely!

wakeboard-pickup-service

Luckily, everybody who dropped out of the course and lost the rope was grabbed of by some guys on bikes that were driving around the course all the time. This time, they got Robin - but he was really good, wakeboarding without binding, on his first day. There was only that one curve being a problem...

the wakeboard-course

This is the course from the starting-hut. It went round behind that strip of green you see on the left side, and there were also some ramps you could theoretically jump over... I didn't.

wakeboarding in Indonesia

This was on saturday, at Bantam. Or so. I can't keep all the names of these islands in my head... at least I know that it was Indonesia. I don't know if there is much more on this islands worth a look then this facility, and the adjoining hotel. The factories full of underpaid women and all the prostitution around them certainly is not - just too sad a story, but again, bitter reality here. However: This was wakeboarding day, the rain had started when we entered the ferry, but that could not take our motivation. The fact that Robin's wife and daughter had to take the first ferry back because Indonesia does not let Swedish people immigrate without some special paper was really sad, but still: We had to get going! Try to image this facility as a ski-lift in the water. There at the hut they give you the rope you hold on to, and then - here you go! It was not that easy, though...

slums in Manila

Just flip back to the picture of the hotel room and then back here. Isn't it crazy? This is a picture of the area where the normal people in Manila live. The slums. And behind that the scyscrapers where the rich get richer. I felt like throwing up when I realized how f***ed up the situation is. We seem to live in a bubble of happiness, money, prosperity. These people get quite an other chunk of reality each day.

automobile reincarnation

on the way to the LTP airbase. You can find these buses throughout the city, everywhere. They are the cheapest way of getting from A to Z and were totally crowded whenever I saw one (which was whenever we drove somewhere). They are quite buddhistic: Reincarnation is a common phenomenon among these buses and a lot of other "home-made" cars in Manila. Take some buses that are ready for the junk press, add some color - voilá! There's your brand new bus!

(un)security in Manila

The Security-guy in front of the hotel. See the shotgun? It looked used. To get to the hotel, you have to pass two security checks: At the first one they check the car, especially the trunk (for bombs and other ugly stuff), and then in front of the hotel they check the luggage and every single person that looks worth a check. Nearly the same procedure applied to the LTP-Airbase, where Military Police made the checks. There we had three checkpoints. And from the entrance of the airport to the aircraft I passed 4 checks. You see, Safety is a big problem in Manila, and there are parts of the city that are strictly no-go, mainly the slums. But on the main routes and in the wealthy parts of the city it is quite safe. To me, it was just scary to see all these armed people, even in front of the restaurant we went to in the evening.

eagle view

The view out of my room. 18 million people live in Manila - it is just huge.

five-star fun

The hotel in Manila was awesome! This was my room, on the 15th floor of 18.