Goodbye Boracay

Well it was a very very sad goodbye to Boracay when I left on Friday (see picture). I

had a whistle stop tour of the beaches in the north end of the island,
but to be honest, it wasn't worth the bother and I wish I had just
stayed at White Beach as it's nicest. (Puka beach in the north was very
nice and long as well, but nothing there so I didn't stay). Was
interesting to see how quickly the roads got very shabby indeed though.
It was very hot though and it took several dips in the sea before I
could muster up courage to go and get lunch, signalling the end of my
trip there. The sea temperature must have been a few degrees over 30 I
reckon.
When I arrived back in Manila I was taken a different route to Makati
City where my sister lives. It's a CBD district and the stock exchange
etc is around there. It hit me slightly the first visit, but this time
I couldn't believe how much of a difference there is in class within
this city - about less than 100 yards from a brand new tower block is
miles of slums following the railtrack, kids with open lit fires, shacks
on top of other shacks and hundreds of people milling around (see picture). You can
be crossing a junction in a cab when kids come up desperately trying to
get cash out you while they avoid the manic traffic in the lane next to
you. Very depressing.
Went out for a meal in the evening at a centre called the Fort where the
well heeled Filipinos and ex-pats eat and drink in luxury. This was
clearly the other side of the coin. Had a few drinks with the folk from
my sister's work. Boracay seemed a million miles away... :-(