Vacation in the Philippines

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Day 1

I was bouncing to go at 5 in the morning. Greg was nervous because he didn't have a multiple-entry visa back into Korea. I'd much rather be stuck in the Philippines I think. We hop on the bus to the airport and the closer I get to taking off, the happier I am. We asked the woman at information if Greg needed to get a re-entry stamp, she adamantly says no. We get to the check-in counter, the woman says he needs to go to get a re-entry stamp. That's Korea for you.

We also manage to buy some pre-packaged sealed kimchi for our hosts in Manila. We stop over in Hong Kong where I manage to catch some lunch. I was SO happy to be eating! I was so excited I wanted one of everything on the menu. Good thing the pricey tags stopped me.

When we arrived in Manila, we headed straight for the mall. Greg had nothing appropriate to wear, no swim trunks, no sandals, nothing. There are lots of goodies at the mall that you cannot get in Korea and even though I didn't go to the Philippines for shopping, I should have. The malls there are fancy and enormous. My eyes were as big as discs ogling all the food options. I could eat again.

We waved down a cab and having Liliane tell us that it's about 200-250 pesos (less then $5) to get to her place, we think it must be pretty close. It was an hour drive, at the very LEAST. We ended paying the guy 400 pesos because he didn't turn on the meter. We thought it was fair because we were in the cab for SO long. It wasn't until the end of the week when we took the cab back to the airport from Liliane's place, we found out we had been overcharged. The ride back was during rush hour in the morning and it took even LONGER and the meter only read 270 pesos. Not anything to complain about really. That ride would have been at least $150 back in Canada.

We get to Liliane's place and her security guard answers the door. She's not home. I start worrying a little. But I spoke to her on the phone and the cleaning ladies let us in. We got settled and cleaned. The ladies made us a snack. She even remembered that I was vegetarian! Greg put his bags down and immediately went back out for beer. He found his happiness in San Miguel, which he proceeded to drink throughout the rest of the week. Pilsen or Light? Pilsen. Whatever that means. I drank light. More alcohol content, less calories.

I was somewhat worried that I had inconvenienced our host but Liliane graciously sent her driver to come get us and brought us to where she was. We met her friends at this small organic food cafe. I was in heaven. I wasn't hungry but I ordered and ate anyway. We were in this small section of Cubao, with open bars and patios, and live music. Even grumpy old Greg was enjoying himself.

HIGHLIGHT: The girls tricked him into trying a "local delicacy", which looked just like a boiled egg but turned out to be duck fetus, formed and all. DISGUSTING. He bit into half of it and then realized that there were eyes staring back at him. VOMIT.

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Photos

Manila
Cubao X