{{ March 28th Cebu City - Philippines

The On the 27th evening I went to the Casa Verde restaurant at the Terraces in the Ayala Mall. The Terraces  have dozens of restaurants on 3 levels. I had the rib special that I could only eat 3/4 of. Cost 180 pesos (C$5.14). Milkshakes made with real ice cream that were delicious! Cost 90 pesos (C$2.57). All in all great food and great value.

Wikipedia image of Ayala mall Terraces

Massive pile of ribs...

Today it was off to a new and very impressive attraction here. It is called Temple of Leah. A massive structure still being worked on, it is done in Roman style. Love made Temple of Leah possible as Teodorico Adarna, father of actress Ellen Adarna and owner of Queensland motels, offers the construction of the huge edifice to his wife Leah Villa Albino-Adarna.

“This Temple was constructed in the year 2012 A.D as a symbol of my undying love for her and my ceaseless devotion to Leah Villa Albino-Adarna,” he noted on their FB page.

The view...

My friend Jay ...posing and his "admirer"

And of course some wild flowers...

Entrance and just one of the marble and masonry workers...

Our motorbike taxi drivers...

A side trip to an area growing white chrysanthemums which I find out can be used for many things including a natural insecticide...

And finally some of the colourful Jeepneys...

Surprisingly they are designed to hold only 24 passengers but sometimes more ... A very good economical use of gasoline....

{{ March 27th Cebu City - Philippines

Well, it's not Sri Lanka but it will do! My original plans were to spend 8 days in Sri Lanka then the Philippines for 4 more. However, I left my flight too late and it just became too expensive...maybe next year. Instead I will spend until April 6th here in the Philippines. First stop Cebu...

Cebu is the name of the city of 2.6 million and the island of 4.1 million. Full of surprises, this will be my second trip here. I hope to do the place justice in my 3 full days here.

First let's start with some flowers and a few scenes close to my hotel...yes I know! Flowers again! Let's get it out of the way for now...hmmmm.

One of my mother's favourites...Lantana

Small narrow shop selling beer and confections...with living quarters presumably on top.

Yes...that's Colt 45 beer at 22 pesos (C$.62)

Boys taking hard seeds to make ammo for homemade plastic guns...

Religious...

Eyeing the dogs dish...

Seems to be very popular here

A local store ... Grated at the front to stop patrons from entering...

{{ March 25 ... Some closing observations in pictures...

Buddha and monks ...

Birds...

Only in Thailand...a superb magic show that most of the time has only 1 or 2 customers, Ronald MacDonald wai to customers, elephant rides thai style, girlie shows in Pattaya, Water Monitor lizards in Lumpini Park, an unfinished condo highrise because it was taller than Buddha, Lady Boy shows, Thai beer, and Max the Pig Dog.

Flowers in Thailand...

And finally ... The faces of Thailand...

{{ March 24th Ayutthya and Temples

The tour continued with 2 more Temples ... And then a leisurely cruise down the Chao Pha Ya River into Bangkok with a great buffet lunch...

The 3rd largest reclining Buddha in Thailand...

Bangkok Imperial Palace from the river...