Tour of Shrewsbury today... a great town with an average football team (although they seem to be able to punch above their weight by beating Oxford United every season!). The best thing about Shrewsbury is that it is home to the greatest pub in the country, nay the world. I give to you.... The Woodman. Yes the curtains are always closed and the plastic flowers in the window could do with a hoover but this place is fab. The beer is awesome, the landlord and landlady are very friendly and the place has proper character (wooden panelled walls, roaring fire in the winter etc). Its not just my opinion, it came second in 'Pub of the Year' CAMRA Awards not so long ago. Sod Cambodia, go visit this pub and drink! ....................................................................................................................

Where do two people who have visited 10 countries head to next?... Telford of course! As the local TV advert used to say 'Come to life, come to Telford'! Pic 1) Matheson House, looks a bit like a Vietnamese Reunification Palace or something; Pic 2) This appears to be the heart of Telford... a lively market where people come to hang about and rob stuff. Plenty of tracksuits so clearly the locals are into fitness training; Pic 3) The local transport is not that interesting here although this dude is pretty cool. Apparently the 'best bike in Shropshire' will be hitting the streets soon... if he can get the bugger started!! ................................................................................................

Our longest flight yet.. a monster 13 hrs 55 mins to Amsterdam, a short wait looking at clogs in the transfer lounge and then a 55 min flight to Birmingham. Nice to be back and driving on the correct side of the road. Does it end here or do we continue to other far flung desintations?... will decide after jetlag, stay tuned

Can't believe no one got it right... or maybe I miscounted . So here is the answer: Helen had 39 bites, we had been to 10 countries (includes Dubai), we walked 15 Great Wall towers and I befriended a total of 5 monks as per the pic. ---> 39-10-15-5 = 9. I will keep the very expensive prize...... oh and coincidentally, 9 is also the number of World Championships Valentino Rossi has won. Pic 1) Nine times World Champ; Pic 2) Elbow down, every time I see this pic I still get excited; Pic 3) I *heart* 46. .............................................................................

The storm had caused serious flooding east of where we were but we managed to avoid the worst of it... in fact we managed to get an earlier flight so the easiest travel day of the lot. Pretty windy in Boracay as you can see but just plenty of rain in Manila... you know like England (except warmer)!

Tropical Storm Juaning please be kind to us! Hoping to follow the storm back to Manila today. Currently 'Signal 2' here which is 40-65mph winds and 'Signal 1' (up to 35mph) in Manila but it's moving north so that is likely to go up. Bedford van then boat, plane and finally taxi. Game on Mother Nature!

What is the answer to the following equation: The number of mosquito bites we found on Helen MINUS The number of countries we have been to so far MINUS The number of Great Wall towers we walked MINUS the number of Monks I befriended? Good luck.... and remember, the answer is in the blog

Tis a bit windy here (we're on the edge of a storm apparently) but plenty of us tourists still on the beach. Nice weather for kite boarding! Pic 1) Willy's Rock (there are no jokes here, move along); 2) Getting air; Pic 3) If those nuts fall, its gunna hurt!; Pic 4) Its amazing how seaweed randomly washes up on the beach. .....................................................................

Pic 1, 2 and 3) The beach... 30 second walk from hotel; Pic 4) 6,679 miles from Telford; Pic 5) Helen on her birthday... not a bad place to be!; Pic 6) Big fish lunch... super nice