Arrival in Manila

The flight over was pretty painless. I have to say that I really liked the Premium Check In as there were no queues at all. Poor Anthony had a tough time though as it turns out that he needed a visa for the length of time that he is staying. They were not going to let him on the plane and he had to change his return flight. It all got sorted in the end though.

Our seats were not quite as great as I thought they would be as they were RIGHT next to the emergency exit which meant that we didn’t actually get a window. However there was HEAPs of leg room and there was a leg rest AND a foot stool which made a big difference to the comfort levels.The food on the flight was delicious and travelling through the night was good too (although I didn’t sleep at all as always).

In Hong Kong we had to travel for what seemed like miles to find the transit lounge and it turned out that since the duty free people in NZ hadn’t put my Malibu in tamper proof bags I had to through two bottles away!!!!! That hurt!!!!

The flight to Manila was uneventful. Upon arrival we were met by an airport rep who took us through the diplomatic lines, helped us to get our luggage, whisked us through customs and delivered us to our waiting driver, Mike. It was very, very hot outside (29 deg and very humid) and we were ever so grateful to be hustled straight into the air conditioned van.

Manila is a very busy place. The driving seems completely chaotic. There are horns blaring, no indicating, people changing lanes without warning, jeepneys and yet it all seems to work!!! It was stress free. We passed a very poor area on the way in with a community of people living in corrugated iron houses all piled on top of one another under a bridge. There were also an inordinate number of roosters hanging about under that bridge.

The Discovery Suites are really nice, they seem to be a bit of a home away from home. My room looks out over the local shopping malls (I can see three from my window, including the SM Megamall). My room also faces the sunset. J

Upon arrival we found that we were too early and that only Sheetal’s room was ready so we all headed there for a short sit down. We then had a quick tour of the hotel (and actually managed to get lost!!!??? It turns out that some lifts service the offices above and not the hotel, it was very confusing but I think we have it sussed now). There is a great gym, a pool (that is unfortunately a bit small for doing lengths) a Jacuzzi (where we turn to stew!!!) and two restaurants. After our tour it was still to early to get our rooms so we headed across to the mall across the road.

They have Leonidas chocolate!!!!!!! Wohoo!! That ain’t gonna help the diet!!! Actually, the diet is going to be haaaard as there are some really nice food shops/restaurants around.

What was a little disconcerting in the mall though was the fact that I got stared at a lot. I look a LOT more foreign than the other two and I have to say that is was quite uncomfortable. Everyone has been really friendly though.

We stopped at a little foodery place that sold a mixture of food styles and was really REALLY cheap. I was pretty hungry as the little breakfast on the plane was a LONG time before. I had an iced mocha and fish balls with sweet chilli sauce for about $5. While we were sitting there an amazing thunder storm hit, it was really, really cool!!!! (Although I was a little put off by the local waitress who was scared……hmmmmm… I guess it’s not the common occurance I thought it might be.

After our bite to eat and the spectacular light show we came back to the hotel and got our rooms. I have now had a shower (YAY!!!!! I really needed it), have unpacked my bags, watching the sun set, am avoiding ironing everything and am awaiting my complimentary shoulder massage that is due any minute.

All and all, at this stage Manila gets a big thumbs up!!