Candelaria to Manila

Going home was a big production. *sigh* I would have preferred a quiet exit, but since Mom was with me, I suppose Auntie Eying felt it was necessary to give us a big send-off.

We were woken up on Sunday morning at 3:45am by my aunt, knocking on our door. I quickly took a shower (Mom took hers the night before) and we all hurriedly finished packing. The van had arrived at 1am from Manila to pick us up.

By 5:00am, we were piling into the van. It wasn't as full as it was when my cousins went back to Manila, but it was still full. The driver Benny came with Zaldy's right-hand Mator, who sat in front with Boyet. Mom, Auntie Eying and I sat in the middle row. JJ sat in the back with the luggage.

We picked up Auntie Baby in Amungan an hour later. She had been waiting since 5am with Uncle Use and her son Jeffrey. And off we went.

Well, when you have Mom, Auntie Eying, and Auntie Baby all in one vehicle, don't expect to get any sleep. They were chatting and joking and laughing all the way to Manila, reminiscing about old incidents, telling funny stories about schoolchildren (both Auntie Eying and Auntie Baby are grade school teachers), retelling familiar jokes.

We stopped at the JollyBee in SBMA (Subic Bay Military Area?) for breakfast, then we were off again. We arrived in Manila close to lunch.

On Friday, I made reservations online for Rothmann Hotel where I stayed last May. Unfortunately, they couldn't process my reservation for two business days. I just assumed they would have an opening. So when Zaldy et al arrived, I asked him to confirm my reservation, and it turned out that they were full. (I later found an email where they responded to my question but no confirmation of my reservation.) They recommended the hostel across the street.

So, we drove to the hostel and they luckily had vacancies. But the rooms were very small. It's about half the size of a regular hotel room. But, at least, there were private bathrooms. The clerk gave us "deluxe" rooms, which were slightly bigger, for the same price as regular rooms. And they allowed us to have three people in each room, so we only had to rent two rooms. The price was PhP1900 for each room with breakfast for two, plus PhP450 for an additional person and PhP200 for an additional breakfast. Then I purchased a 16-hour internet access card for PhP965.

They had a small dining area in the front of the lobby where the cousins laid out the food they brought with them. Judith brought several boxes of buko pie; we took two. I ordered 200 pieces of yema from Sonia, but she refused to charge me for it. She even made extras for us to eat right there. And they were better than the ones I brought home in May. She made them with finely ground peanuts, which adds a unique flavor to them. I'm gonna have to learn how to make them.

Two days prior, Mom had ordered some pastillas from a local maker and they were very good too. They are softer and a much better quality than the premade ones that are sold at the bus depot and other roadside stores. Then she asked Auntie Baby to buy PhP1000 worth of linga, which is sweetened sesame seed sticks. We were snacking on them on the way to Manila.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure we made such a ruckus at the hotel with all the little children running around and arguing about a video game. It was already 3pm when the last of the cousins left. Mom and Auntie Baby decided to go shopping at the nearby Robinsons Mall. I went upstairs to work.

In the evening, Auntie Eying, JJ and Mom went back to Robinsons for dinner. Auntie Baby stayed behind until I finished work and we headed out to search for them. We thought Boyet was with them, but it turned out that he got left behind. When we found them, they were at a restaurant right next to Goldilocks and they weren't happy with the food at all. Auntie Baby and I decided to go to Goldilocks after hearing that review.

We ordered bangus belly sinigang, laing (gabi leaves cooked in coconut milk), barbequed pork on a stick, and sago at gulaman for drinks. It was a very good meal. When Mom, Auntie Eying, and JJ joined us, we ordered halo-halo for dessert. I was stuffed.

Then we headed home and I worked some more, while Mom and Auntie Baby went over to the other room to play cards. We all went to bed by 9pm, but I got up around 2am to prepare for the burning of a virtual temple. A little after 4am, I took a nap for a little over an hour then got up again around 5:30am. The temple burn ended at 7am.

Everybody had already woken up and were clamoring for breakfast. Boyet had left very early in the morning for his 5am flight. Mom and Auntie Baby took a shower before I did. I was having problems with the preparation for the second burn, so I said I'd follow them downstairs. They were able to claim their free breakfast tickets and I asked for my breakfast to be packed. I rushed back to the room to keep working. JJ delivered my breakfast soon after.

The hotel's wireless network proved to be less reliable than the internet cafe. Thankfully, I had some help. The second burn ended at 7am, but I took care of a few things before signing out and taking another half hour nap.

The hotel allowed half-day rentals, so I extended our room for a half day so I could take a nap. Auntie Eying and JJ had to go to the Veterans Administration, then they checked out of their room and moved their things to our room. Mom and Auntie Baby left for lunch while I was taking a nap. They came back with very good food that they purchased from a turo-turo (literally "point-point", it's a small eatery or cafeteria where you point at what dishes you want). I had tinola (a chicken dish with broth and green papaya), lechon kawali (pan fried pork), and rice. I set the dried fish aside for Auntie Eying.

Then I alternated between napping and using up my internet minutes. I was able to show Auntie Baby the YouTube video of my nephews, and another of my niece and sister.

At 5:30pm, we got ready to leave. We said goodbye to Auntie Baby, Auntie Eying, and JJ in front of the hotel as our ride arrived.

There was traffic as we expected. We decided to go with the hotel's airport transportation for PhP700. They said a cab would have cost us PhP300. (I'll have to check how much it cost me last May.) But for our safety, we decided to go with the hotel car. Mom was chatting with the driver the whole time. And we were lucky to get a glimpse of the infamous sunset over Manila Bay as we turned into Roxas Boulevard.

Check-in was fairly easy. As I expected, we went through security three times. But there was a porter who helped us with our luggage from the car to the check-in counter.

We just got through the third and final security and documents check before we board, and we're waiting fohr our flight. Two more hours....