New Year's Eve, Manila

New Year's Eve in Manila was interesting to say the least. After having my photo taken in the Shangri-La gingerbread house, we headed off to MOA (Mall of Asia) by Subic Bay for some food & fireworks and judging from the crowds so did half of Manila. It was crazy! Very much like the taxi driver who took us there. Christ on a bike he was weaving in and out of traffic so fast we might as well have been filming another 'Fast and the Furious'. It was terrifying! I think Mat secretly enjoyed it although for me, a little bit of wee did come out!

At MOA, there were revellers of all variety ranging from whole families with babies and grandparents, teenagers, wannabes & tourists all taking advantage of the New Year entertainment. There was a stage for Filipino celebrities to sing and dance on as well as a fun fair, mini Segway track & zip wire. There was lots of 'One Direction' levels screaming going on but all the good looking talent on stage was lost on us. We didn't have a clue who they were!

We managed to get a table at a Thai restaurant with a verandah overlooking the bay for the fireworks. We did venture down into the crowds by the bay but I found it all to be a little overwhelming. There were quite a few families just sitting down amongst the crowds so it made walking difficult. At times, I wasn't quite sure whether I was treading on someone's head or not, so it was all a little tricksy!

We headed back to the balcony area where it was a little calmer. The fireworks when they came were spectacular. They even had a couple of giant remote controlled planes covered in lights 'flying' amongst them for interest. It was all very cool! We had the perfect view as we were on the balcony directly opposite.

The return back to the hotel could have been a lot worse given the number of people all wanting a taxi home. Some of the taxi drivers were being a tad wanky by either not stopping or pushing their prices sky high knowing that desperate people will pay whatever to get home.

We were lucky enough to find a 'taxi' although I'm pretty sure he wasn't an official one as his taxi sign was of the Blue Peter variety and he took us to the other Shangri-La before taking us back to this one! He was very friendly however and clearly out to make hay while the crowds shone so we weren't too annoyed with him.

We didn't do anything too crazy after this as we had an early-ish flight to Palawan for some fun in the sun.