Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan
Iniwanan at iba ang pinuntahan
Parang babaeng ang hirap talagang malimutan
Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan…

Yes, that’s how I feel everytime I visit Manila. Like Ally McBeal, I hear this song (by Hotdog) playing in my head when the plane is about to touchdown NAIA. Then, you get off the plane, step into the terminal and you read “Mabuhay! Welcome to bird flu free Philippines!” Everyone is rushing to get through immigration, some make a stop at the Duty Free shop but before we get there, we had to go through this camera which checks for signs of potential bird flu infections. I line up among the immigration counters and notice the “SEA Games” counter. Hmm…I then realised that Philippines is hosting the 23rd SEA Games. Then, I wait forever for my luggages. I even thought that someone had picked up one of my suitcases by mistake and would only realise that it wasn’t theirs only when they had left the airport! But thankfully, it was only a similar case. Phew! Coming out of the terminal, I met my high school friends who were kind enough to give me a lift home.

We had dinner at the Seafood Market by Roxas Blvd before driving me home. It was literally a wet market of seafood where you buy them and have them cooked the way you want. We had king prawns cooked in butter, miso soup, grilled pusit (octopus) and crabs. But you know what I enjoyed the most? Itlog na maalat! Yes, salted eggs! Maybe because I ate a lot of seafood already when I was in Indonesia (limited options due to bird flu) so I wasn’t that excited anymore. After dinner, we had coffee at Cafe Adriatico in Malate. It was my first time there…actually, my first time to be in Malate, not just the cafe. I found the area okay but it wasn’t my thing anymore – bar hopping, I mean.

Anyway, I got home at around 2am!

And the rest of the story, I will continue in another post.

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