Here safe and sound... eventually.

Well the trip was mostly uneventful but long and tiring. I flew JHB to Singapore then had a three hour layover there before the final leg to Manila. The Singapore airport rocks! I couldn't see why anyone would rave about Dubai airport when I went there, but Singapore! There are twice as many great shops (I didn't buy anything - I don't shop!), plenty of quiet, comfortable spaces to sit and chill, gardens inside the airport, a theatre showing free movies, a free 1-2hr tour of the city from the airport (maybe next time) and like 300 PC's connected to the internet for free scattered around the airport. If I have to do a long layover I would choose that over Dubai anyday!
From there it was supposed to be a short 3h30 flight to Manila and then a ~2hr, 120km taxi ride to Subic. Turns out Manila is as bad as 3rd world congestion gets and Friday afternoon traffic was ridiculus! 120km = 5 HOURS!!! Amazing. Anyway, I made it.
I met a few of the team and went for a quick bite with Caroline Koll and Jocelyn Wong, who have been here 1 and 2 months respectively. They gave me the scoop on what to expect. No big surprises. Bring it on.
Turns out Brett is away for the next three days (until Tuesday) so I will be tagging along with the others for whatever they do while I recover from my trip and try no tto get sick. Seems everyone here is getting sick cos the hotel windows don't open and you cannot turn off the aircon. Recycled bad air. Beautiful.
I must get my bike built and shower (for the first time in over 36hours!). Riding an easy ride at 7am tomorrow (BTW, the time difference is 6hours) and it is already 9pm and I haven't slept in over 36 hours either! And battery is low cos I don't have a plug that fits these sockets yet either so more news later...
J :)

The journey begins

Just a short note to say goodbye.
I am sitting in JHB airport all checked in and waiting for the bording gates to open. THe flight up from PE was painless enough. I managed to sit next to fellow triathlete Russell Meyer so at tleast there was someone to talk to. SAA rushed me R178 for excess backage - but some fat 120kg guy didn't have to pay a cent extra... don't get me started!
Check-in in JHB was painless though with no excess baggage charges. My bike box only weighs 25kg which is under the limit - cardboard is the way forward!

Will blog again as soon as possible, but may only be in a few days.
Philippines, here I come!
J :)

So begins the blog...

Welcome to my blog! Soon this will be situated on my personal website, but until then you can track it here. I aim to fill it in regularly so you can track my progress and travels as I chase my dreams (and achieve them hopefully).