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Month in Pictures: January 2014

February 1, 2014

These are the latest stories and photos from our crazy life on the road!

Diving into swimming pool at beach — We're jumping for joy because we are now certified divers! This means we can now explore the underwater world all the way through SE Asia back home!

Brake pads with holes in them — Here's some evidence that the hills are verrrrry steep in the Philippines: our brake pads have holes in them!

Toads in shower — Showering with toads in the Philippines! One of these toads is actually as big as a clenched fist...

Tondo dump site manila — Welcome to our worksite for the next couple of weeks! It's a slum in Northern Manila. During our stay we're putting together a kindergarden, doing a bit of playing with kids and hopefully some film making too. Fun times ahead!

Videoke Philippines — Videoke (karaoke) is HUGE in the Philippines. In fact, people are more likely to have a videoke machine than they are a functioning shower! The machines are normally the loudest things in every town, but the great thing is that they bring people together.

Painting a Childcare Centre at Smokey Mountain, Manila — We're REALLY HAPPY with how our kindergarden mural is coming together! Who knew we are artists?! It is located right in the centre of a rubbish dump, amongst slum housing, and will hopefully give the children an opportunity to step out of poverty, thanks to Young Focus!

The people we meet are too kind to us! We mentioned that our Steripen water filter had stopped working to Adrian, a fellow traveller, and soon after he had given us his very own Steripen to take on the road!!! Very kind of you!

Bad food aisles — Chip, chips... imported chips. The Philippine people don't eat too well. In every supermarket are multiple aisles of these unhealthy snacks! It's actually quite hard to find healthy food to eat - luckily we cook for ourselves on 9/10 occasions!

We're putting our skills to good use at Young Focus in Manila, creating short films which encourage fundraising and will showcase the brilliant programs being implemented!

Biggest take-away pizza — Yesterday we helped eat two 36 (90cm) pizzas!!! Have you ever seen or eaten a bigger pizza?

Wall mural, smokey mountain, tondo — A week ago, we stared at blank walls at this kindergarden located LITERALLY on a rubbish dump. Today, we put the finishing touches on its walls! So... what do you think of the result?!

Co-motion cycles tandem — Tan-Nay-Nay the Co-Motion Cycles tandem becomes a jungle gym all over the Philippines!

Dangerous power situation, tondo — Things we don't love: the power situation in our area of the Philippines...

Water purification in the Philippines — One of the best things about the Philippines is the abundance of clean water stations - you can find them everywhere! People don't buy plastic bottles, they just refill what they have. The water is as low as a few cents per litre too! Sustainable and awesome.

Ferry manila — We just spent 20hrs on a ferry in the Philippines! What is the longest boat journey you've ever done, and where was it between?

Dinagyang festival Iloilo — Today we were guests of honour (alongside a congressman, the mayor, police chief etc) at a school performance competition in Iloilo! The children are incredibly talented at performance arts in the Philippines... you will see in our next film!

Power lines down — This is what happens when you don't manage your power lines properly!

What's the strangest form of transport you've taken travelling? We've been catching tricycles lately which can somehow fit almost 20 people on them!

White beach, boracay — After a couple of weeks volunteering, it is time to relax on White Beach... which has been voted best in the world! Life is great.

Dinagyang festival Iloilo costumes — The Dinagyang Festival in the Philippines was an incredible few days of parades, food and dancing. Unfortunately we missed the 10 different tribal clans of warriors perform, as the crowds were so packed!

Author

Alee Denham

Alee is a bike and travel addict who has cycled through 100+ countries and doesn't really have any plans of stopping. Along the way, he creates technical resources, in-depth reviews, inspirational videos, how-to guides and more. If you've learned something from him, you can support his mission to create the best bike travel content HERE.