Away From Home on a Weekend: Manila

Months before December, while waiting for our flight to Kuala Lumpur, my boyfriend's family, together with their friends, were planning a 3-day trip to Manila. The boyfriend immediately asked me if I wanted to come with them. Since I was too focused with my studies for the past three years and I wanted to finally enjoy life after school, I gave my big yes.

Then came the day where I had to pack my stuff in preparation for our early morning flight. Though I've been to Manila (and have actually stayed there for nearly two months), I still felt extremely excited; I don't know, but maybe because I get to visit new places with people I'm finally comfortable with. I may be excited, but sad to say, we missed our flight to Manila and it's truly annoying to hear how much the rebooking costs (overpricing, indeed).

Inside the plane, I got to witness the sun rising and the clouds gradually getting more visible. Such a delightful morning, indeed.

After spending almost an hour inside the plane, we've finally reached the land of Manila.

Day 1

We started the day going to their doctor, Dr. Lao, since it's mainly the reason why this trip happened. While they were having their annual check-up, some of us grabbed the chance to take a nap.

After their appointment with Dr. Lao, we went to SM Mall of Asia and had dinner at Buffet 101, then to Resorts World Manila for some ice cold beer. The highlight of the day? We got to see Mitoy from The Voice perform on-stage.

Day 2

Left the busy streets of Pasay and headed straight to Laguna and stayed at El Cielito Hotel. After placing our things in the room, we immediately left the hotel and went to Paseo de Sta. Rosa.

We hopped in the van after lunch and went to Enchanted Kingdom. I don't know if I should feel happy or exhilarated after spending almost an hour lining up for Rio Grande Rapids just to get extremely wet for less than 10 minutes. One thing's for sure, I'm never considering that ride if ever I get to visit EK again in the future.

Spending the rest of the day at EK was fun, though it's really quite bothersome to wear my wet denim shorts for the rest of day.

Day 3

For our last day in Manila, we first went to Splash Island for a swim. I've always dreamed of visiting Splash Island back when in was in 2nd grade. I guess the 8-year-old me is so happy now that I've personally seen the place and make the most out of their mild to wild slides.

Since I was too busy enjoying the place, I failed to document my experience there. (Lame excuse, I know.)

Next stop was Nuvali. Nothing to fret, though, since we still had enough time to shop for ourselves and for our manito/manita. (It's almost Christmas, guys.)

When we got back in Pasay City, we stayed at Resorts World while waiting for our flight. Luckily while roaming around the place, my boyfriend's sister found the perfect pair of slippers for me from World Balance. Of course, I immediately bought it since it's so hard to find this pair of slippers that perfectly fits my cute feet.

Photo taken at home.

Since our flight to Cebu got delayed twice, we just played games while waiting – and eventually fell asleep since it was already past midnight.

I'd like to thank my boyfriend's family and friends for adopting me (again) for three days. I will forever be grateful for allowing me to join your trips within and outside Cebu without any trace of hesitation.