Hi there! 🙂 I’ve been back for over a week now but have been in a bit of a vacation funk. Rob and I had SUCH an amazing time that it’s been pretty depressing getting back to normal and going back to work. I haven’t even completely finished unpacking or done any laundry. Like I said, L.A.Z.Y. But I’ve abandoned the blog for far too long and I want to share some pics and of course, the tales of our adventures.
I found the forums at Fodors and TripAdvisor to be a HUGE help when planning this trip (especially when I decided to plan it on my own rather than use a travel agent). When posters would get back from their trips, sometimes they would post “trip reports” to help others through the planning process. And also to prolong the feeling of being on vacation! I loved reading them (it also helped pass the time when I was still anticipating the trip) so I hope to do the same…
So a month ago, back on Fri 7/31 (I can’t believe it was that long ago), we were packing and the living room was an absolute mess. Clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc were all over the place. But luckily we had a little helper…
The week heading into our departure was insane. I stayed up past midnight most nights trying to wrap up my work. I didn’t want to leave too many loose ends. I almost pulled an all-nighter on Friday night but discovered that all workstations are automatically logged off at 3am. I had no idea! I woke up early on Sat 8/1 to finish packing and then continued working right up to about 3pm when we had to leave for my dad’s house so he could take us to the airport. Vacation finally began as soon as I sent that last email. YES.
Here I am at LAX waiting at the gate. Our flight to Manila was delayed. Of course. Delayed flights are nothing new with us.
Flight was pretty uneventful. They did show Star Trek, which was cool. But Philippine Airlines planes are pretty old so the TVs were really small and far away. Oh well. They also treated us to the same filipino movie 3 times. Awesome.
We received an amenity kit when boarding that included a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, eye mask, and socks. This is what Rob did with the socks. Heh. A flight attendant walked by and totally laughed at him.
During the 15+ hour flight, we totally skipped over Sun 8/2 and landed in Manila on Mon 8/3 at about 8am. The first thing we noticed was the HEAT. OMG. It was about 90 degrees with 80% humidity. ICKY. My uncle picked us up from the airport, took us to my Lola’s (grandma) house where we would be staying for the next 3 days, and after our second breakfast and some conversation, we promptly fell asleep. WE ARE SUCH AWESOME VISITORS. !!! We didn’t do much that first day besides lounge at home, visit one of my older cousins, and EAT. OMG, we ate so much in the PI. Just that first day we had breakfast on the plane before landing, a second breakfast when we arrived, lunch after we woke up from our nap, a “snack” at Shakey’s Pizza around 3pm and then dinner later that night. We were so stuffed the entire time we were there.
On our second day, we went to Tagaytay, which was about a 40 minute drive away. My Lola has a house there that she wanted to show us. We had breakfast at 9:30am before leaving the house, had another “snack” around 10:30am at Jollibee (fast food restaurant) on the way, and then after looking at old photo albums for 2 hours, Lola wanted to eat lunch and it was only 12:30pm. OMG. I TOLD you we ate A LOT.
We had lunch at a yummy filipino restaurant overlooking Taal Lake and the Taal Volcano. It was a little foggy and windy that day (though still hot) but the view was still beautiful. That’s my uncle and Lola in the pic with me. She’s 91 and can’t really walk on her own anymore but she’s still one of the most independent and stubborn people I know. I mean that in a good way.
That night we went to my cousin’s house for his 40th birthday. There was lots of drinking but not for me. Somehow my cousins got Rob to try balut!!! It’s basically an Asian “street food” — a duck or chicken egg with a nearly fertilized embryo that’s boiled and eaten the same way you would eat a hard-boiled egg. I tried it once when I was younger and didn’t know any better. Never again. It’s considered a delicacy but it creeps me out. Depending on the age of the egg when it’s cooked, it can sometimes be developed enough to have feathers, claws, etc. Um, no thanks. Rob didn’t eat the “chick” part so I guess he kinda cheated.
For our last full day, we went to Pansol, an area known for its hot springs. My Lola has a condo there with a huge pool! YES. It rained on and off while we were there but it was actually really nice. It cooled the weather down a little bit.
The grounds of the property are really gorgeous. For some reason, I forgot to take a picture of the pool. ARGH. Well, trust me, it’s huge. Definitely a great way to get a reprieve from the heat.
That night we went over to the local Starbucks with my uncle to get some coffee and hang out. I know it’s so stereotypical American to be checking out American chains while abroad but it’s a thing. I love it (later we even go to McDonald’s while in Australia, heh). Plus, I can try the various local specialties that aren’t available in the states. In the PI, their special drink was a Dark Roast coffee frappuccino with jelly (more like a jello). It’s pictured on the right. I thought I would try it. The coffee was gooood… much darker and richer than here. But the jelly was WEIRD. I like those tapioca drinks so I thought it would be similar. It’s not. The texture’s like slime and it just oozes down your throat. Very strange feeling.
The next day, Thurs 8/6, we were headed for Melbourne! Our first stop in Oz. We pretty much “lost” this day to travel because it’s a 10 hour flight from Manila to Melbourne (includes a stop in Sydney) and Australia is 2 hours ahead of the PI. They showed Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (cute, even Rob thought so) and The Soloist (no interest) so the rest of the time we were bored and took random pics of ourselves. Heh.
AT LONG LAST! MELBOURNE! This was my view from the window during landing. It’s crap, I know. I don’t know how to take very good photos at night. :/
Immigration and customs were a breeze and we hopped in a taxi for the half hour trip into the city center. It was BIZARRE seeing the taxi driver get into the car on the RIGHT side. And my heart practically skipped a beat when we made a right turn from the LEFT lane. Eek. I learned not to pay attention after that. 😀 We finally made it to the Westin, which ended up being our favorite hotel of the entire trip. Mmm. Comfy bed, huge bathroom, tons of closet space… loved it.
More pictures on the Flickr:
Packing + Flight
Manila
Flight to Melbourne
Up next: Melbourne!
