In Manila

Finally made it to the Philippines. The flight with Cebu Pacific Air was fine, I was at the airport nice and early to book in and was fortunate to get my favourite seat (Exit Row Aisle) and even luckier to have the complete row to myself.
Hooked up with a couple of blokes from the plane to share a cab into the city. Stayed at a lovely old hotel but it was a bit on the expensive side for my travel budget and also in a pretty seedy part of the city so I moved to Makati this morning. Found a very cheap hotel close to the dental clinic and then went shopping for food. Bought a copy of "Philippines Travel Guide" by Jens Peters to assist in planning my trip and will get into some serious reading tonight and tomorrow.

Philippine Dental Services

Courtesy of a combination of accidents resulting in smashed teeth, poor personal dental hygiene practices and a lack of good dental services in 1960's Darwin I ended up with a partial denture from age 12.

Living with a denture is not the end of the world and pales into insignificance when compared to the ailments and challenges faced every day by so many of the people in this world, however I never felt comfortable with it. When Dental Implants came on the scene several years ago I saw this as a way to turn the clock back and get permanent teeth again. I waited for the technology to be proven over several years before making tentative inquiries at dental clinics in Victoria. The result was that I would need to mortgage the house and get a second job to even consider starting the long process.

Later when we moved to China I again inquired at the private hospital on the estate where we lived and this time, while the cost was very affordable, my level of confidence in the skills of the dentists was equally low so I opted out once again. We are after all talking about drilling and screwing things into my skeleton here!

Last year a friend of my sister in-law went to Thailand for dental implants and was pretty happy with both the cost and the level of service so I started researching options again. Without going into too much detail here as to the whys, I ended up choosing Erlinda Dyson in Manila to go and have a consultation with. Google DYDENT to learn more about how to contact them. The main reason I chose the Philippines is that I had read that the level of Dental Services skills there was the highest in SE Asia

Erlinda proved to be a gentle and caring lady dentist who in my experience at least is very skilled and thorough in her work. I ended up having much more work completed than I originally set out to do, but it was all my own choice based on cost and quality. The end result is that I have had a complete makeover, just like on the TV reality shows for tens of thousands of dollars less than the same work would have cost me in Australia. American friends I've spoken with have suggested the same work in their home country would have been upwards of US$100,000.

To date I'm very happy with my choice and with the makeover, I'm still becoming accustomed to having a mouth full of permanent teeth and expect that it will take several months for them to feel completely natural.

Ooops!!

Japan is such an easy country to live in, once you've been here for awhile. There's a wonderful system of buses or as they call them here “Airport Limousines” to take you in splendid comfort from the major airports to somewhere close to home and vice versa. Oddly the buses around Kobe that take us to KIX are called “Salad Express” and are adorned with painted fruit characters smiling and dancing, presumebly happy to either be going on a trip or to be arriving safely home. Luckily for me I managed to experience this bus ride twice in the same afternoon. Somehow with Joy's flight arriving on Monday and me going into Osaka on Tuesday to arrange for her China visa for the Spring holiday, I've managed to lose a day and came to the airport a full day late. While the bus to the airport was just about empty, the return journey is packed out with barely a spare seat.

Thankfully the flight to Manila with Cebu Airpacific is cheap, as even though I took out travel insurance, I doubt I'll see any of the cost returned; I don't think they compensate for stupidity!

So, got back home for one more night and booked a new flight for tomorrow, e-mailed the dental clinic in Manila to beg forgiveness and to ask for another booking. I'll put it down to a practise run, so should get it perfect next time.

From the cold to the warmth

Just had a great week in Niseko trying to improve my snowboarding skills and getting into the Onsen culture and now looking forward to beaches, palm trees, lots of fresh seafood and clear waters to snorkel in. Have booked my ticket with Cebu Airpacific from Osaka to Manila and on my way tonight. Haven't booked any accommodation in Manila but hoping to get a bed at the Green Mango Backpacker lodge when I arrive. The loose plan is to visit my dentist tomorrow and then to catch the Super Ferry to Coron in Palawan on Friday.
Kobe is cold and wet today, Manila will be hot and humid, nothing like a bit of contrast to keep life interesting.
Joy just returned on Monday morning from a workshop in KL and bought me a great little book on the Silk Road.....But that's a future adventure...