Woke up on the earlier side, around 5:45AM. The sky was cloudy but you could see that the sun was soon to start poking through.

Went onto the porch and Y&M’d for the last time with the ocean as my backdrop. Made my way over for one final buffet breakfast and said goodbye to Lindsey, Daniela, and Emil. Such wonderful people.

Went back to the room and gathered my belongings. Walked outside and said one final thank you and goodbye. The place was magical, but I knew it was my time to go, I could feel it, I was ready.

Made my way to reception to settle up and then was taken back to the airport. I took a couple of these on the way to show you the lush vegetation. You would have these tiny tiny communities or essentially shanties on the side of the road. People would live here and do whatever they needed to make their living and continue daily life.

 

Made it to the airport and had couple of delays, but finally got on board to head to Manila!

Got to Manila and it was…raining! But not too bad. In fact, after I got off the plane the rain subsided. Took a while to get my back, but once collected, I exchange WhatsApp messages with my driver, Pipo, who would take me to my hotel. After a short wait due to traffic, he scooped me and we were off.

Pipo was a G! What a cool and wonderful man. We chatted about everything from personal lives to political climates and daily life in the Philippines. He gave me some recommendations and eventually dropped me off at my hotel.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with the hotel, but the Pan Pacific Manila was AMAZING. All these floors, incredible hospitality service, so many dining options in the building, just really an experience. I was wondering how I could go from an island get away and get better, and somehow, it got better. These were the views from the elevator.

Got checked into my room. Once I saw the bathtub, it was gonna be time to bath. I did a little Y&M that had me feeling so energized and full of love. Got into the tub, then showered, shaved, got cleaned up, and made my out to The Aristrocrats that Pipo recommended as a spot for authentic Philippine cuisine.

I ordered this BBQ chicken, these spring rolls (that I shouldn’t have because there were so many and it was OD, but oh well), a tamarind and veggie dish with shrimp, and some ice cream. The vanilla was like your vanilla, but the “Ube” was the purple one. I can only describe it as tasting like a waffle cone in some ways. I mean, It was ALLL so good and I felt soooo full.

Made my way back to the hotel and started writing one of the previous posts. Started falling asleep as I was writing it so put it to the side and knocked out…with the TV on playing Oceans 11!