Thursday morning we woke early, again, and headed down for our last breakfast at the hotel. The head waiter knew that it was our last morning at the hotel and he went above and beyond to make us feel pampered. I absolutely recommend Hotel H2O to anyone visiting Manila that wants to stay in the heart of Luneta. The employees made us feel like family and it was so hard to say goodbye. The only thing that made it easier was knowing that we were going to stay with F’s family in Imus.
My sister-in-law, Ate N, and her driver, J, came to pick us up and we headed to Imus with a quick stop at Mall of Asia (MOA). I was unable to visit that mall on our last visit as the APEC Summit was being held right next to MOA and the traffic was insane. This time, the traffic was still bad, but not as bad as it had been before. We found a parking spot without too much trouble and headed inside. I have been on a mission to find a pair of dress boots to wear to work for over a year and I was hoping that I would be able to find some here. We started at ShoeMart, but were unsuccessful. As we walked along, Ate N stuck her head in each shoe store and asked if they had boots; however, most stores either didn’t or they were way out of my price range. We then found a souvenir store and I was able to find a Christmas decorations made out of shells for my sister. Then, when I was ready to throw in the towel, Ate N suggested that we try Forever 21. Not only did I find one pair of boots, but I was able to find two pairs, one in beige and one in red. I was over the moon. By this time we decided it was time to head towards “home”, stopping first at the Robinson’s Mall in Imus where we grabbed some groceries and I also got my nails done with Ate N. I realized that it was about time that I got a manicure as several people had commented on how long my nails were. Ate N got a pedicure instead of a manicure. While we were having “girl time”, F and J hung out and chatted about basketball.
After our pampering, we heading to the house. I am so glad that J was driving as I’m sure I would have gotten lost if we had to make our way here by ourselves. Kuya M, F’s brother, was still at work but the kids were at home and I was introduced to them. Nanay was also there and was glad to see us. While we waited for Kuya M to come home, we sat around and chatted. We also gave Ate N and Nanay the T-shirts that we picked up for them in Tofino before we left Canada – I was so glad that I picked the correct sizes. Then F and I went for a walk around the area. As we walked, we greeted people on the street – I am sure that there were a few that were surprised I was able to say hello and such in Tagalog.
Once Kuya M came home from work, we had dinner, which included bangus (milkfish). This was my first experience with having fish that was still attached to the skin and although I normally don’t like fish, I quite enjoyed it. We then went outside to chat. Although it had cooled down, it was still in the high 20’s and quite muggy. I am trying to get used to the heat, but my body is still not sure about it. Luckily, there is aircon in the bedroom which helped greatly with sleeping.
Friday morning we had champorado for breakfast. It is basically a warm chocolate rice porridge that you put salted, dried fish on top of. I enjoyed it quite a bit, however, I opted out of the fish on top.
We then headed to the palengke (outdoor market) on two tricycles – Ate N and Nanay rode inside of one and I rode on the back of it and F rode on the back of the other, while Kuya M rode inside. It was my first tricycle ride and it was a blast – the drivers swerve in and out of traffic and I don’t know how I stayed on, but I did. When we reached the palengke, Kuya M headed off to work and we explored we market. We bought pakwan (watermelon), mangga (mango), saging (bananas), sampalok (fresh tamarind) and also longganisa (sausages). F also picked himself up a pair of flip flops.
When we returned from the palengke, we had lunch. Nanay made a salad with pomelo, called ambrosia, and we also rice, soup and some of the fruit. The afternoon was spent relaxing at the house as well as another walk around the neighbourhood. On our walk, we saw papaya, mango and tamarind trees. It is definitely different from back home where it’s currently hovering just above freezing.
When Kuya M returned home from work we had dinner. It was a combination of longganisa, lechon (roast pork), rice and some more fruit. Nanay also prepared a dish that was ground beef and cooked cucumbers which tasted great on top of the rice. For a snack, we had some fried bananas – I can’t believe I never had them before – man they were tasty.
We also planned the next day’s adventure which was a drive to Batangas, via Laurel. I know it sounds silly, but when I found out that there was a place called Laurel (my first name) in the Philippines, I knew I had to visit it. We also planned to visit Eagle Point, a resort in Mabini, that has diving and snorkelling, so we could decide if that was where we wanted to stay for a couple of days next week.
We turned in earlier than usual as it had been a busy couple of days and the outing to Batangas would be a full day adventure.
I have included some pictures of the palengke as well as ones of us on the tricycles.
Thank you for reading and I will talk to you soon.
L