Manila

Our flight had to get diverted to Clark Air Force Base which is 20 minutes flight from Manila due to bad weather and we spent an hour and half on the runway before we could fly to Manila. We arrived in good shape and it is great to be back in the Philippines!!!!!!

The first thing on any visit for Ryan is to get a solid Filipino meal in of adobo, sinigang, garlic rice, and whatever else he can find on the menu. It was interesting during the return meal that the waiter gave us a sample of the sinigang broth and asked us if we'd like it more or less sour, Filipino cuisine if finally going upscale!

Our place of lodging is again at a serviced residence in the Makati business neighborhood and although it's an upscale place for under $200 USD/night, the size of the residence is enormous at over 3000 square feet, much bigger than we need but there was nothing smaller.

The first full day back was begun with an early morning wake up call from our friend Reggie who arrived back in the Philippines at 3am the same day from San Francisco. Ryan met Reggie in a Beijing hostel in 2001 and they've been great friends and travelmates since.

We opted for a slow day and that included a visit to the third largest mall in the world, The Mall of Asia. Reggie's friend was kind enough to lend his car and driver so transport logistics were very easy for us.

After a lazy day catching up with each other, we met Reggie's cousin Lloyd and financee for another Filipino meal in the Ortigas district and called it an early evening after many rounds of beers. Tomorrow morning we have the car and driver again and will head out for a day trip.

Sorry again no photos but tomorrow we promise them!