Philippines 2024

A quick recollection of our 3-week holiday in the Philippines.

Day 1 - Jun 30

• Flight at 10:30am
• Landed in Philippines just before 6pm local time
• Met Lani, Ann, TJ and Xavy after we cleared immigration and got our bags
• Travel to QC to Teng's house, our home of the next 3 weeks
• Met with Epifanio clan to celebrate Nanay's 85th bday
• Sleep at 1am (3am for me because of work)

Day 2 - July 1

• Breakfast at home
• Work Meeting at 12pm
• Late Jollibee lunch at SM North Edsa
• Then Wendys, Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen and Cinabon, Mozarella Sticks
• Home at 6pm
• Nap, then basketball with Kuya Mike from 8-10, while Lani and kids exercised on the treadmill

Day 3 - July 2

• Sudden decision to checkin at Okada Manila - one of the premier hotels here. 
• Arrived at hotel past 12pm
• Room is only available at 1pm so we spend time eating pastries and sandwiches at the Lobby Lounge
• After getting photoshoots in room, we went around and visited every corner of Okada
• After some rest, at 4:30pm we headed to Mall of Asia
• Dinner at Shake Shack, then desserts at Dairy Queen 
• Lani bought some pasalubong from Kultura
• After a lot of walking, we went back to Okada at 8pm
• Watched the 9pm and 10pm fountain shows, and resting in the room in between
• Late night spa bath in the room, then sleep time at 1am

Day 4 - Jul 3

• Early rise for a 7:30am work meeting 
• Then sumptous breakfast at Medley Buffet
• Swimming at the Coral wing pool
• Checkout at 12pm 
• Taxi to SM Aura
• Cinnabon snack, then watched Despicable Me 4
• Met with Donnell and Marty at 3:30pm
• Snacks, Dinner at food court
• Kids went mini golfing
• Home at 8pm

Day 5 - Jul 4

• Rest day
• Laundry in the morning
• Brgy facial, ear candling and wart removals
• Worship service in the afternoon at local of Capitol
• Andoks dinner at home

Day 6 - Jul 5

• Gateway mall to meet the monreals
• Food court lunch
• Timezone
• Fiesta Carnival where the younger kids played in the Arcade, while Ethan and Yuan played billards
• Shakeys Dinner at home
• I started feeling sick with fever and diarrhea 

Day 7 - Jul 6

• Diarrhea continues
• Met with Lani's college friends for late lunch at Supersam
• Then home at 5pm
• I was feeling sick still so I slept
• Jollibee dinner

Day 8 - Jul 7, Sunday

• Worship service at Local ng Cubao
• Lunch at the Coffee shop in front of church
• Travel to Bulacan to visit mama and papa
• Visited Philippine Arena and the Gardens
• Drove to Commonwealth 
• Dinner with Jr and Juvy at Ever Commonwealth 

Day 9 - Jul 8, Monday 

• Breakfast at Bonchon, Ever 
• Back to accomodation for Lani's work meeting
• Then left for Eastwood Mall
• Snacks at Yayoi  japanese restaurant 
• Dinner with LFE, Donnel, and Marti at CYMA Greek Restaurant 

Day 10 - Jul 9, Tuesday 

• Pancit canton breakfast at commonwealth
• Then packed up to checkout at 10am
• Went home to Pallasigue house to drop our stuff 
• Then out again to Trinima to meet the parents of the Sanchez and Ilao kids
• Very heavy lunch at Hann Mann. Im finally feeling good so I was happy to be eating again. Ordered my favourite Maki Mi. 
• After the long lunch, we walked around the mall a bit. Bought some delicalies and JCo donuts before taking the grab back home

Day 11 - Jul 10, Wednesday 

• Cooked the tocino and tender juicy hotdogs that we bought from SM
• Then spent the day at INC Museum
• In the afternoon, we went to SM North Edsa for another food trip before heading home

Day 12 - Jul 11, Thursday 

• Early 5:45am worship service at Local ng Araneta
• Then back home to pick up the rest of the family to head together for buffet breakfast at Steak and Sizzles. 
• Loved the Pinoy bfast spread
• After, we spent the rest of the day at Ongpin Day to look for jewelries
• It was a trip down the memory lane for me seeing familiar places from my childhood - my grandpa's furniture shop, my uncle's electrical store, the restaurants we ate in, the department store where my mom and dad met, the mcdonalda where my sister first worked (and I had to pick her ip at night), and so much more. Surprisingly, I still know the place really well. 
• And buying stuff that I really loved back then - sugar cane juice, and lumpiang sariwa (they're actually popiah). 

Day 13 - Jul 12, Friday

• Enchanted Kingdom Day
• Our hosts were kind to lend us their car so we had wheels to drive the 50km trip from Manila to Sta Rosa, Laguna
• Arrived just past 11:30am, and the place just barely opened
• Bought the express pass which gives us access to priority lanes for about twice the price of normal tickets. Still cheap though at Php2,200/person or about $60 each. 
• No queues at all thanks for the pass
• We tried all the extreme rides in the first hour we were there
• Erin liked the Anchor ride so much, she went on it 6 times
• Take out dinner from Kowloon House

Day 14 - Jul 13

• Lani, Erin and I took a tricycle to Frisco so Erin can attend CWS thanksgiving
• But we were 1.5hrs early so we went to nearby Jollibee for breakfast
• I then left them and went home to finish the laundry, dry our shoes (wet from Enchanted Kingdom), and fetch Ethan
• Took the tricycle with Ethan to Jollibee. He thought it was an experience to remember. 
• Breakfast at Jollibee while waiting for Lani and Erin
• Then we all took a grab to Cubao to meet with the Lugue family
• Lunch at their house, kids went to playroom, then we all headed to SM Store Cubao to play in the arcade
• Hang around a bit and ate Turon, Yakult, and Potato Corner fries
• Parted ways past 5pm for our next meet up
• Arrived past 6pm at doc Patty's house to meet Lani's college pals
• They have a billiards table so kids and I spent our night doing that
• Lani and friends caught up over dinner
• Then we left past 10pm as the kids were tired
• Lani stayed behind for late night karaoke with her friends 

Day 15 - Jul 14

• 10am worship service at Cubao
• Then coffee and smoothies at the shop in front of the chapel
• Went home as ka Narsing, ka Bang, ka Dario and ka Christie were coming
• Andoks BBQ lunch at home
• Napped for a bit
• 4pm trip to UP Sunken Oval for some recreation 
• 6pm met with Lani's high school friends at Nono in UPTown Mall
• Kids and I roamed around, ate fries, sugar-coated fruits, and gelato
• Then met up with An, TJ, Jobs and Mico for dinner at Chillis
• Met with Lani's friends again for photo and farewells
• Lani wasnt feeling well so we went home and sleep around 10pm

Day 16 - Jul 15

• Lani was still sick with the flu, so we stayed at home mostly
• Erin enjoyed Tocino breakfast
• Started packing our 6 bags for our journey home
• In the afternoon, the kids and I went to SM North Edsa to buy their pasalubongs
• Kids ate cookies, cotton candies, ice creams, and whatever they can find
• Went home at 8pm 
• Wendys dinner at home

Day 17 - Jul 16

• departure day
• Woke up early for our last batch of laundry so we dont bring home any dirty clothes
• Kang came by and we had our last lunch with the Pallasigues
• Erin asked for Tocino again
• Left home at 5pm for the airport, thanks to TJ and An
• Checked in and finished immigration and baggage checks by 6:30pm
• Our flight was at 10:30pm so plenty of time to burn
• Kids went to look for food while Lani and I waited at the gate. lani was still sick
• After half a Subway sub (ethan) and a hotdog sandwich (erin), kids declared that they were still hungry
• Erin was still craving Tocino so I found her a store selling it. She was happy
• Ethan settled for another subway sandwich 
• After the meals, we all just waited at the gate for our plane back home
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