Traveling on the first day of the year is probably the best way to kick it off. After a late night on the 31st, a very messed up sleep was probably going to be a good thing for Jet lag even though we were just traveling 2.5 time zones. We had a Malaysian Airlines flight with a long KL layover to buffer for possible fog delays out of Delhi. There were no delays and the day hotel in the airport at KL was sold out. We spent a poor sleep night on the flight and then couldn’t sleep much at the airport. The second flight wasn’t very long and we landed in Manila by the evening.

Just as we landed, I realized that there was some QR code that had to be generated for immigration. Could have been done before boarding but the airline forgot to announce. A scramble to generate the codes aside, the immigration, etc was smooth. I easily found a cab on Grab, but it was getting dark when we got to our hotel in the BGC area of Manila, the Grand Hyatt. A truly grand hotel with an amazing location. We had a room on the 52nd floor, with some spectacular vuew of the city and a very swanky room to add to it.

This was when I got the first SMS for the delay of the Airswift flight from Manila, from 7 pm to 10. I promptly extended the room another half day and then booked a cab pickup at El Nido – the city sleeps by 9, other than the hotel pickup there was no transportation. Given the little extra time for day 2, I booked a half-day city tour starting at noon. In the middle of the tour came the second SMS, moving the departure to about midnight – they wanted us to have dinner in Manila. Later I discovered that Airsiwft was just coming back from near bancrupcy and they operated only one ATR aircraft.

For now, lets talk about the the first evening. After a quick change of clothes, we had a choice to make – a rooftop restaurant at the hotel or walk around and find something interesting. I wanted to explore a bit, so chose the later option. It was less than 5 minutes before we came across a mall that housed one of the concierge-recommended restaurants – Manam. It was quite a swanky mall with a musical fountain at the entrance with not just lights and sound but also pyrotechnic displays. The food was modern filipino and quite delicious. A solitary cat kept us company during the meal and was a little disturbinng while we ate. The grilled fish was fabulous and there were a number of small dishes in addition to the rice. The filipino cuisine is not very lavish, but quite delicious.

A good meal later, we walked back to the hotel and crashed. The next day was now going to be interesting and a little uncertain. I had booked a half-day city tour since we had more time due to the flight delay. While the booking was made, they didn’t give a pickup time. Only in the morning did I find out it was noon. I also extended the hotel room for half a day, just to get an option to relax.

Breakfast in the hotel was incredible, with many options and some yummy pho. There wasn’t much to do, so we walked to a nearby mall and just window-shopped. The pickup for the city tour arrived at 12 and we were soon on our way to view the city’s history and try some food. I had very little idea of the Philippine history and a trip to the Intramuros was exactly what I needed. Intramuros means ‘walled city’ and it is exactly that. A small historic area from the 16th century built by the Spaniards. It now houses a couple of historic churches and many small cafes and restaurants, though they all still carry a distinct Spanish charector unlike the rest of Manila that has modernized.

We started with Paco Park, a small recreational park that used to be a municipal cemetery. The park is small but well-maintained and there are some really good photo spots with a closed church on one side and a dry fountain in the dead center. The boundary walls are tall and have a walkway on top. It is a good place to just walk around and you will likely see locals getting their wedding pictures or just clicking selfies. There is also some history here. Three priests known as the Gomburza where killed and buried here in an unmarked grave my the Spanish in 1872. The Philippine national hero Dr Jose Portasio Rizal was exumed after his burial and relocation to a grave here.

The next stop was the Manila Cathedral, right at the city square. The church was closed to visitors due to a wedding but I got a good glance. The inside was quite the usual grand church interior, but there were some interesting projects outside. A metal statue of ‘homeless Christ’ caught my eye – Christ sleeping on a park bench just outside a Church somehow expressed a poetic irony of how we are treating our world and its most beautiful things.

We walked into the market area to the San Augustin Church, the oldest stone church in Manila built in 1607. As luck would have it, this was also closed due to a wedding. The route included some marine navigation shops, souvenir stores, and several cafes. We took a quick meal break at a restaurant – the location was amazing the food was average (like all tourist places). On the way back I also got a glimpse inside the church as the wedding proceedings were winding up. We walked around to see some other historic landmarks showcasing the history of the area including the beating it took during the second world war. Then the final stop was Fort Santiago.

This is a 16th-century fort built by a Spanish navigator and governor, Miguel López de Legazpi. This was a defensive fort to protect the then newly established city of Manila. It is not a large fort by Indian standards but it is not small. Not much remains, except for the boundary wall, some stories, and a nice view. We walked around the boundary walls, saw some torture cells for the slaves and convicts, and walked past some rusted canons. Overall, a good experience.

The tour ended on a good note but by then I had a lot more free time as my flight was now going to be past midnight. We used it to go up to the rooftop bar in our hotel for a drink and a wonderful view. There was still time left and in every touristy city in the world, there seems to be a mall with a Venetian canal. We chose to go to one such mall in Manila. There wasn’t much time and we ended up at a Spanish restaurant (don’t ask me why). The pizza was just okay and the Paella was slightly below average. Finally we made it back to the hotel and then to Terminal 4 of the Manila international airport.

I had expected a slightly busier airport, but it was probably the most empty airport I had ever seen. There were only a handful of flights left for the night and all were on ATR planes. Just before midnight, we walked to our plane, just after a cold box of something called food was given to us. This was the meal traditionally served on the plane, just served before we boarded. It was a small ~40-seater ATR that got us to Palawan just around 1 am. I ususally book a seat in the front of the plane, for faster disembarkation. I shall now remember that some planes only have a door in the back.