Philippines Trip: 2008.

I returned to the Philippines this past January (2nd-24th). It was quite an adventure this time though. In Philadelphia alot of flights going to Chicago were canceled because of snow and my flight was delayed until 9am. By the time I got to Chicago I only had 45 minutes to get to my next flight when I was supposed to have a 3 hour delay there!

When leaving Chicago the plane stopped on the runway because the air conditioning unit fell off the plane. They had to return to our gate to fix it. We were delayed nearly 3 hours just sitting on the plane before we took off. I was late getting to Hong Kong and I was supposed to have a 4 hour delay there but when I got to Hong Kong it was already 8:30pm and my next flight was boarding at 9:20pm. I had to rush throught the airport to make it to my flight!

During my flight to the Philippines the stewardess asked me if I would give up my seat for a mother and child so the child could sit next to her mother. She ugraded me to first class! That was an interesting experience I've never been in first class! The seats were like lounge chairs. They put a table cloth on your pull out food tray & they even had real dishes and utensils. I had salmon on the plane (yummy!) and they had this fancy cake for dessert and they would keep refilling your water glass!

I arrived in the Philippines around 11:40pm. I met F.B. & his Mom in the waiting area outside the airport. They were holding a red 'Sarah' banner this time, so I could find them. We hugged & I didn't say anything stupid this time around, lol! (See: You're not so short!) He had flowers for me in the car. We got back to F.B.'s house around 1am. When I arrived at his house his family had made me another welcome sign. F.B. had rose petals scattered all over the floor of his sister's room that I was staying in. So sweet! Hehe!

We spent a week in Makati City this time. We stayed at the Best Western Astor Hotel again. We got to spend time in Greenebelt again and Glorietta Mall. We also spent alot of time at Mall of Asia in Manila. We had our 1 year Engagement Anniversary on January 10th. We went to Saisaki Buffet for the occasion! Saisaki is our favorite Japanese buffet! I got a cute stuffed horse/donkey? with F.B.'s iced tea. Saisaki always does that. Last year I got a purple stuffed dog, hehe.

We also visited the Ayala musuem while in Makati City. Where we saw Philippine History Dioramas and Philippine Art. On January 9th I got to meet up with my friend Gayle whom I met on myspace. We got together at a Starbucks in Glorietta Mall. F.B. & got to see a play on the 11th in Greenbelt. We saw 'Tuesday's with Morrie.' (My first play!) And we went to see a 3D movie at the Imax Theater at Mall of Asia.

I caught the cold his family was passing around when we were in Makati City. I had it pretty much the whole trip. F.B. gave me some vitamin c pills to take and some medicine. The one afternoon at the hotel he let me sleep in. And I got to visit 7 Eleven in the Philippines and bought some Gatorade.

We visited alot of malls during my stay. Sta. Lucia and Big R. Trinoma Mall, Mega Mall, Market Market, Glorietta, Mall of Asia. And got to eat at all my favorite Filipino places, Gerry's Grill, Chow King, Tokyo Tokyo. I also got to try Jollibee this time. (Basically a Filipino Mc Donalds.) And Yellow Cab Pizza became one of our other favorite places to eat. I finally got to try Wendy's in the Philippines, that's my favorite fast food place at home. And Starbucks... we must have gone 9 times in 3 weeks! I'm addicted now! Help!

I got to try Goat for the first time when his family had a family reunion lunch. The dish was a bit spicy for me. My favorite Filipino dishes are Liempo, Pansit, Chicken or Pork Adobo & I love Corn & Crab soup with Quail Eggs. Yummy!!!!

I also got to go to my very first Basketball game in the Philippines. We went to the Cuneta Astrodome on January 20th. We were just behind the courtside row. There was a lady reporter there filming, I kept ducking because I didn't want to be on TV, haha! F.B.'s mom & Aunt said they saw F's hair on TV! We also took some amazing sunset pictures at Manila Bay outside of Mall of Asia. The year before it had been too cloudy for sunset pictures.

The one night the power went out at F.B.'s house around 11pm. He tried playing around with the fuse box but that wasn't the issue. So I had to take a shower by candle light that night. Then we sat outside on his porch talking and having s snack of dried mango and some pringles. I saw a lizard climbing up the porch wall. And we also saw a bat flying over one of the palm tree's. The power didn't come back on until about 9am. It was hot without the fan so F.B. fanned himself and me while we tried to get some sleep that night.

F.B. & I had such a nice time together. It was sad when we had to part after the 3 weeks again. Got to the airport in Manila around 6am on January 24th. F.B. and I said our goodbyes. We were both crying outside the airport. Luckily I was at the smaller airport again just for Philippine Airlines so he was able to watch me through the windows. We waved to each other until I had to go past customs.

I arrived back in the USA on January 24th after a 24+ hour grueling travel day. The lines were really long for customs in the Philippines and I almost missed my flight. The airport tax changed from $12 up to $18 now! You have to pay the airport tax to leave the country.

I got to Hong Kong for my 15 hour flight, but got stuck next to this crazy Asian lady. The guy on the aisle seat was going to Philly also, and we kept giving each other these 'looks' when the crazy lady did stuff. She was like hanging over the guys food tray talking to people in the aisle, she accidentlly split beer on me. Thanks and when I was sleeping she kept taking snacks and stuff from the stewardess for me- poke me when I was sleeping and I'd have to say, "I don't want it. I just want to sleep."

Got to Chicago and had a 1 hour delay which was not enough time to go through customs- wait for my baggage hand my baggage back, take the tram car, go through more security and get to my gate- the entire waiting area was empty everyone was on the plane, I barely made it. I got back to Philly and guess what? No baggage! My luggage was missing! 5 people including me that were on the Hong Kong flight to Chicago and then back to Philly lost their luggage because our flight left. Luckily United Airlines returned my baggage later that same night.

F.B. kept a journal the entire 3 weeks. At night he would briefly write down everything we had done that day. When I got home he mailed me the original and made himself a copy. That was really nice, because now we can look back on our trip and read about what we did on each day.

Please check out all the photos from my Philippines Trip in January by clicking here!