48 hrs in Manila: ups and down

We had an amazing time in Manila! Original plan was 36 hrs, but it got extended to 48 hrs. We packed so much into it.

Saturday:

Our flight was 7:55pm. We had dinner at the lounge and had our first flight to Singapore, 1.5 hrs. 3 hours layover and we departed 2am. We tried to nap in the lounge, but only Lizzy managed to sleep.

Sunday

We arrive Manila 6:40am. We were picked up by my friend K’s driver. He took us to K’s condo for some rest around 7:30.

We had pan de sal from Pan de Manila, an old favorite of the girls, for breakfast. We rested a bit, I tried to sleep but couldn’t. So we packed up and left the condo 9:30am. First, we dropped Sofia at her friend Amber’s place, a friend from school since 2nd grade. Then I dropped Lizzy at our old condo where her friend Yiyi lives. Lizzy had a blast.

Sofia also had a great playdate. She was sad when I picked her up, that the best part of the trip was over.

Then I went to meet with my former boss and mentor. We had a great chat from 10:40-12:55. Listening to him brings me so much joy. Such a beautiful person and always so candid with me. He reiterated the values we should prioritize above career ambition (although he’s very well regarded by the highest management within our organization), that is family and doing the important work for people. 

I then picked up the girls from their respective play dates and headed to Sofia’s piano recital. 

1:45-4pm: piano recital. There were 22 kids that performed, all from the same teacher. It was nice to watch performance from others kids. Some beginner and some very advanced. 

4-5pm: drive to K’s out of Manila house, recently built.

5-9:30pm: hangout with K’s family and then dinner with K and my mentor and his wife. They are my favorite people from Manila!!! Time spent with them is precious as I don’t get to see them often, and there’s nothing better than casual conversation lingering over food. Girls played with K’s 9 years old boy, like they’ve known each other forever. That was super nice. 

10pm: finally got a proper sleep after 48 hrs surviving on naps.

Monday

7am: got up, had breakfast with K’s family, including their newborn. 

8am: depart to my eye check up. Lizzy stayed with me while Sofia went to her piano teacher’s house for a in person meeting. 

9:30-1:30pm: 4 checks and consultation with my doctor. All good! 

2pm picked up Sofia, received a call with my boss, work drama continued and escalated. Gosh. I met with few friends from work in Starbucks, before having to move to office as WiFi was not working and I had to join a call meeting at 3pm.

3-3:40pm: call and work. 

3:40-4:20pm: continued the chat with my colleague friends in the office, which meant I had to say hi to more people. It was all good but felt a bit rushed. At least I was able to give few hugs to my beloved friends. 

4:20-5:15: on route to the airport. 

5:20-6pm: check in, go through immigration, when we noticed our flight got cancelled. The immigration officer consulted with someone and told us that was an error, our flight was not cancelled. Then we went to the lounge, had dinner and rested a bit. Then I saw in the monitor again that our flight was cancelled. I rushed to ask someone, confirming it was cancelled and rebooked for next day evening. I was mad! 

I picked up the kids and had to go through immigration again to invalidate our exit stamp. As I walked out, I checked if I could book another flight. Internet was not cooperative so I asked my friend K to check. No flight tonight but there’s a flight next morning through a different airline. I asked him to book for us. Meanwhile, I had to find a hotel, get there, to spend the night. 

9pm: finally got checked in at the hotel, across the airport. Found out about transportation to the airport, withdrawed cash to pay for the taxi as we used up all the pesos at the airport. Finally got to close myself eyes 10pm, stressed out. 

Tuesday

Alarm went off 4:45am. We left the hotel 5am, got to the airport 5:15. Check in went smoothly. 

5:45am: we arrived at the lounge. Girls had breakfast while I had to continue to work due to work drama saga. 

7:45am: we took off. 

That was our 48 hrs trip.

Favorite moments: chat with my mentor and dinner with K and my mentor.

Bump: flight delay, work drama.

Convenience: 100%. My friend K gave me his car and driver to driver us around, and prepared a lovely room for us, as well as the family style breakfast we had. He took care of us sooooo well. The best host I’ve had.