Golf In Manila, the PHILIPPINES

December 15 – 18, 2008

We boarded Cebu Pacific flight, the Philippines’ version of Air Asia at the wee hours of the night. By the time it took off at around 1.30am, I was already fast asleep. The flight was full with returning Filipino workers and Malaysians on holidays. Zack was not with me this time. Shahrul, Haji Amir and Doc Junaidy made up the group from KL.

Sun Valley Club House

We arrived at NAIA, Terminal 3 at around 5.30am. Romy, Ramlan’s driver was waiting for us. We checked into Heritage Hotel. After shower and breakfast, we drove to our first golf destination, Sun Valley Golf Club. The course was hilly, the fairways were tight and the greens were okay. One look at the first hole, I knew I would be in for a tough time. To make things worse, we teed off from the gold tee boxes, the longest. It measures 6,790 yards from the gold tees. We were joined by Datuk Dr. Yusof. Most of us played badly. Double boogey was like the best score we could get. I posted a final score of 114. It has been a long time I had that kind of score card.

Datuk Dr. Yusof, Haji Amir, Doc Junaidy, Shahrul & Myself

Datuk & Haji Amir on Hole 9

Haji Amir doing some serious putting

This Par-3 tees from an elevated position

Doc Junaidy

We had dinner at the Wharf, a sea food restaurant that I have been to before. We had a nice sea food dinner serenaded by a band singing songs that could be requested. They even played a Malay number. After dinner, Doc, Datuk and I adjourned to the 2nd floor of Heritage Hotel to try our luck at the roulette table. I was not that lucky.

The group had decided to check out from Heritage and move into Plaza Executive Suite which was 50 percent cheaper. The location was also ideal for us. There were halal restaurants within walking distance and the casino in Hyatt was right across our front door. Perfect!

Eagle Ridge Club House

Our contact in Manila had arranged for us to play with some Filipinos at Eagle Ridge Golf Club. Golf is such an exclusive game in the Philippines. Visitors must play with members in order to enjoy discounted fees. Otherwise, we had to fork out 3 to 5 times more to play. We arrived at the club house around 9am but our hosts were already hitting balls on the course. Since it was the club’s regulation to have members accompanying guests, we had to wait for Buddy, our hosts to finish the first nine. Finally, after almost 2 hours wait, we managed to tee off in 3 flights of 3 players each. I was paired with Buddy and his friend, M. Solon. Buddy called for a small bet of P100 per hole. We were almost evenly matched. Both of them rode in a golf cart and I walked alone.

With Buddy and his friend

Beautiful Fairways

Buddy teeing off

Eagle Ridge was one of the best courses that I played in my golfing life. There were four 18s and we played at Faldo’s course. Buddy told me that one par-5 was the most beautiful in Asia. It was beautiful indeed.

Unfotunately, the photo did not do any justice to the beautiful Par-5.

After reaching our new place of accommodation at the Executive Plaza Hotel, we fired our driver. He was a bit clueless when it came to finding golf courses. We went to have dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Shawarma. where Shukor, our contact in Manila joined us. Then it was roulette time. Ramlan dropped by and we had a chat until past midnight.

The next day was a bit tough on us. We hardly slept the night before, making it 3 nights in a row. The golf and transport arrangement was in disarray. Luckily I was approached by a driver cum tourist guide, Henry ‘Bong’ Tenefrancia. He offered to take us to Canlubang Golf Club at reasonable fees. We agreed.

Canlubang fairways fringed by coconut trees

Doc Junaidy on the green

Doc having bunker trouble

Shahrul hitting the fairways

I am ok...

Except for Datuk, the rest sent the balls into the ravine (Par-3 Hole)

Henry was more like a tourist guide compared to the earlier chap. The ride to Canlubang was slow and after about 2 hours we reached the golf club. It did not look very impressive. It was built on a former coconut plantation. I had a good start, posting a par in the first hole. Somehow after 3 pars, my form began to deteriorate. To me, Canlubang was just an average course.

Manila could be chaotic at times. The traffic was bad and the jeepneys made it worse. Beggars were everywhere. They would knock on your car windows. Henry told me to knock the window from inside the car to signal that I am not giving any money. The streets were filled with kids, some too young (around 3 years old) to be dodging traffic trying to beg for money. They were on the street until very late at night. It was a pitiful sight.

Long Shadow of myself pointing the hole

Albany, AUSTRALIA

November 27 – 28, 2008

From Margaret River we drove along the coastal road 251 to Augusta. It was a lonely stretch of road with hardly any car. We passed through some forest of tall trees with white bark and impressive trunks. Later, I learned that it was karri forest, Australia’s tallest & most majestic forest.

After checking out from our motel in Margaret River, we visited Leeuwin Winery

After Augusta, we sidetracked to Cape Leeuwin to visit a historic lighthouse. This was also the meeting point between the Indian and Southern oceans.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

This is also where the 2 oceans meet

From there, we drove on Highway 10 until the GPS told us to exit onto the smaller road. Trusting the GPS, I followed. Then, the road turned to gravel country farm road. I still thought we were on the right track until the GPS asked us to turn into an even smaller gravel road. I retraced back to highway 10, and followed it all the way to Pemberton. We had wasted a good 1 hour on the country road. It was too late for us to catch the tram going into the karri forest.
We passed through 2 small towns of Walpole and Denmark before reaching Albany our ultimate destination almost night time. We checked into our motel in Emu Point. Then, we drove into town to look for a Thai Restaurant. Unfortunately, it was closed for quite sometimes. We did some grocery shopping, bought some fish & chips and had dinner in our room. It was a long drive for me.

The Wind Farm

The Coast at the Wind Farm

The next day, we toured Albany Wind Farm, a power generating station based on wind power. The view of the coast was picturesque. We drove to the Gap & Natural Bridge in Torndirrup National Park. These are 2 natural features carved from ancient granite by the forces of nature. The Gap features a 25 metre drop to the ocean. Then we drove to Whale World, Albany’s historic whaling station. We had lunch at the place, bought some souvenirs and went back to our motel.

The Gap

Been There!

The Bridge

Been There!

Whale World, Albany's former whaling station

Our motel in Albany

We decided we had enough of Albany and was ready to drive back to Perth. I took a short nap and after that we began our long drive back to Perth. By night time we reached Perth and stayed at Nina’s place in Bentley. At least we had 2 more days of shopping before our flight back to KL.

Our car during our stay in Western Australia

Margaret River, AUSTRALIA

November 25 – 27, 2008

We decided to tour the southern part of West Australia. Margaret River was top on the list due to many recommendations.

Busselton Jetty

After checking out from Goodearth Hotel and some errands, we drove south. The portable GPS came in handy in finding the places of interest along the way. First stop was Busselton, a small town near the sea. It is famous for its jetty, claimed to be the longest in the southern hemisphere. It used to be 1,800m long but was reduced to 1,700m by a storm in 2004. The wind was strong making the walk uncomfortably cold. We forgot to wear jackets.

This is Southern Hemisphere's longest jetty

With my favourite son & daughter

After some souvenir shopping at the jetty and coffee at a restaurant on the beach, we headed south to Margaret River, about 47km from Busselton. It was wine country all the way with vineyards and wineries along the road. The area is a major wine producer for Western Australia.
We checked into Comfort Inn, Grange on Farelly, a beautiful motel with garden setting. We had dinner at the motel and spent the night reading tourist brochures, looking for places of interest to visit the next day.

Comfort Inn, Nina & Anas

The next day, we headed north on Highway 10 towards Yallingup. Before Yallingup, we turned onto Wildwood Road to Canal Rocks. It was a rocky outcrop on the beach that makes a beautiful backdrop for photographs.

Canal Rocks

Canal Rocks

On the way back to Margaret River, we saw a beautiful place that we could not resist. We stopped at a restaurant cum rest area called Laurence of Margaret River. It is a family owned and farmed vineyard located in the Wilyabrup sub-region. There was a rose garden that attracted the ladies’ attention.

Wine Country

Laurence of Margaret River

Rose Garden

Wine Glass Chandelier

Shopping for Wine?

Further down the road we stopped at, Margaret River Chocolate Company. After tasting some free samples of chocolates and buying some, we got back onto Highway 10. We stopped at a cheese cottage to sample and buy some cheese. We were actually looking forward to seeing how cheese was made but there was no such thing.

Chocolate Factory

We drove to Surfers Point hoping to grab some bite there. There wwere no surfers and no lunch. We made our way back to town and had some kebabs at a Turkish Restaurant, the only halal place we could find.

It was a bit late. We drove to Witchcliffe to visit a winery. Unfortunately I could not find it and it was near closing time. So we went back to our motel to spend the last night in Margaret River.

Fremantle, AUSTRALIA

November 23, 2008

Fremantle Market

Inside the Market

Any trip to Perth won’t be complete without a visit to Fremantle. The main attractions include the Fremantle Market which only opens on certain days, E-Shed Market which sells many items for tourists and of course a meal of fish and chips at Kaili’s, said to be the best in the area.

Lunch at Kaili's

More shopping at E-Shed

On the way back we stopped along Cottesloe Beach. It has nice beach but a bit too windy and cold for us.

Cottesloe Beach

Beach Bums

In the evening, back in Perth, we took a walk along Adelaide Terrace to London Court.

Back in Perth