Today we were getting a small taste of Manila, which in my mind was always a bit of a scary (but boring) place. Most tourists never did anything in Manila anyway, but we had some things in mind. Then we were off to Donsol in south-east Luzon, before “hopping” to the next island.

It was Sunday morning and we were rudely woken up by people singing karaoke at 6 bloody AM. Turns out it was coming from next door, it was so loud and echo-y. They didn’t sound horrible but it was karoke after all.

Robinsons Supermarket

We finally left the hotel at 10AM for Robinsons Place, which we walked to. At the entrance of the mall was some token security guards that asked you to open your bags. Security theatre. The mall was quite large and full of brands we recognised. I noted that there weren’t that many people walking around, but then it was the Easter weekend.

We had no cash yet but was able to buy some things at Robinsons Supermarket. There was no self checkout. The check out ladies worked slowly. There was additional process for purchases made with card. It was so manual.

I needed to go to Uniqlo (also in Robinsons Place) for some shorts as I had accidentally left mine back home. The prices weren’t cheaper here, it was basically on par with Aus, give or take a few dollars, unless something was on sale. I ended up buying two pairs of shorts as they were quite nice!

We finally left Robinson’s for some sightseeing, which involved us walking out in the heat. It was so hot, but not much could be done about that.

Rizal Park

On our walk, we passed dozens and dozens of street sellers and their stalls. From the looks of some of the stalls we saw some of them presumably also lived at some of their shops. The poverty level of this part of town is quite stark. We had to keep our head down and give them a wide berth as desperate begging is very real. At the entrance to Rizal park they had security, and presumably this kept the beggars out.

Rizal Park was a very large park with historical connections. Unfortunately it was too hot to really explore it properly. The national museums I would not end up seeing were located here.

At the supermarket, I had found Ovaltine/Ovomaltine, which was one of my favourite things. I bought a small sachet (PHP15.75) to try before committing to a larger container, as well as a tiny thing of Carabao milk (250ml for PHP99). I had never heard of Carabaos before, but it is a type of Filipino water buffalo. They are typically used as farm animals for rice farming. A told me a story where as a kid, he once rode a cart pulled along by a carabao. He later discovered it had a large nose ring, which was how it was being controlled. It upset him, prompting him to inform the adults he was with, who were also disturbed by this realisation but nothing could be done…

We sat down on a bench at Rizal park so I could try the Ovaltine. I drank a bit of the milk before pouring most of the sachet in, then shaking it up. The milk was actually quite delicious, better than cows milk. It was thicker, so had better mouth feel and it was creamier and almost sweeter. Simply, it was an upgrade to cows milk in every way! With Ovaltine it was even better!!!

I later found out (back home) that there was are companies that makes carabao milk ice cream in the Philippines, so devo I didn’t research this earlier!! (Acre Dairy, Milka Krem) Sounds bloody amazing!

Intramuros

This was the old town established by the Spanish colonialists, where they set up the colonial government. Unfortunately nothing was original as it was bombed to hell during WWII, but plenty of restoration and rebuilding was done in the decades after. We were there to walk around and have a look at the numerous buildings and to see Fort Santiago at the north end of Intramuros.

At this point, I must stress that it was really really hot. We had to basically move from shade to shade to shield us from the unrelenting sun. Fortunately we were walking down a street that was closed to traffic so we had a bit more room and air to breathe.

Partway down the street they also had some market stalls setup but it did not look too interesting, and the food stalls were not following food safe procedures.

San Agustin Church

After walking down the street for a bit we came across the San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church in The Philippines. Construction finished in 1607 and is in the baroque style. We didn’t go inside as it seemed there was mass going on or something and the museum demanded money for entrance. This is one of the few buildings in Intramuros which is not a reconstruction.

This particular church holds some sentimental value to A as there’s a picture that exists of A as a baby with his grandmother (Lola) holding him outside this church as it was this very church she went to every week.

Close to the church was Plazuela de Santa Isabel, where there was a Manila 1945 Memorial, dedicated to all innocent victim of war but specifically the people killed during the Battle of Manila 1945 (WWII). There was also a bunch of information boards explaining this event and the aftermath.

Manila Cathedral

Afterwards, we continued walking and arrived at the Manila cathedral, or more formally, The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. First built in 1581 but damaged a lot over the centuries (earthquakes, typhoons, fire, war - umm acts of god you could say); this is the 8th reconstruction of the cathedral on this spot dating from 1954. Walking inside, it was immediately apparent that this was a bit more modern than your typical cathedral. The stained glass windows were impressive and there was also an elaborate wooden carved crucifix in one of the adjoining rooms. Fortunately there was no entrance fee to look inside, but there was security that we had to pass through.

Fort Santiago

Unfortunately Fort Santiago was cash only! . We didn’t do our research on this nor were we initially planning on travelling cash free. We could have bought tickets on Klook online, but they were not available on the day of visit which is kinda silly (you had to book ahead).

We were running out of time to have lunch. A’s relative was coming back to drop us off at the airport for our flight to Lagazpi at 2:30PM, so we walked back to Robinsons Place which wasn’t a very exciting prospect. All the restaurants I had pinned were too far for us to go to. Again, it was hot. We saw a small slum area within Intramuros on the way out. It was covered with posters for political candidates, as if there was an upcoming election. Later, we found out that there was no election, and these posters are up all year round as they get some money for it. We saw little kids, barefoot, running around the streets. Why weren’t they in school? We saw young mothers with children. It was a sad sight.

Back at Robinsons Place

Back at the mall, we were trying to find something interesting to eat but aware that we did not have the time to visit a restaurant. So what “fast” options were there? Of course, there were the usual Mcdonalds, KFC, Denny’s and Pepper Lunch. Ramen and Pizza. Tim Ho Wan, lol. There were Filipino chains like Kenny Roger’s chicken, Shakey’s, and… the one and only Jollibees. I refused to eat Jollibees. It didn’t look good. It was commonly known that the reason they had yet to come down to Aus was because they refused to inform our food authority what was in the food (or what the ingredients were). That seemed a bit dodgy to me. Spoiler alert: I bite my words here.

Eventually we decided on… Yoshinoya. I am not proud of this decision, but there you go. And no, we did not have Yoshinoya on our last JP trip lol. I usually avoid these chains but last time we did go to Masuya.

We had a “yakiniku” bowl and beef gyudon with an extra egg. We also ordered a Yuzu drink which was very sweet, even for Japanese standards. It was ok… I did not take a photo, that would be silly.

We quickly walked back to Hop Inn and met A’s two relatives. We were dropped off at the airport with promises that all we would meet up again for another meal before we left the country.

MNL -> DRP (5J319)

Cebu Pacific flight 319 to Lagazpi (Bicol International Airport) was serviced by an A321 Neo. It was delayed but otherwise unremarkable flight, apart from the awesome view of Mt Mayon, the Philippines’ most active but pretty volcano. I thought I saw a nicely conical volcano the last time I was in Japan, but no, this had nothing on this one. (Spoiler alert: We got closer for a better view later!)

To Donsol

At the airport, after baggage drop off, you exited into a mob of taxi drivers. They looked quite organised, however, with cars in rows and drivers in a basic uniform. There were a few guys near the door doing triage, and they all held the same price list. Getting to Donsol was going to be a bit of a challenge, as we were supposed to get a van into town and then get another van down to Donsol. It was getting on in the arvo, becoming evening, and doing all that might be challenging. We didn’t know what time the vans stopped; there wasn’t much info online. So, we were open to taking a taxi.

Looking at the price list, Donsol was PHP2000 (AUD55.20), which I didn’t think was too bad, as we would be comfortable in a car with air con, and it would take us directly to our accommodation, Elysia Beach Resort.

Karl was quite professional and a good driver. He was safe and used his indicators and did not drive too fast or too slow. His overtaking of others was done safely and correctly. The road was not in a good condition but it was indeed a comfortable journey. He knew where Elysia was, of course he did. I was able to nap for a little bit as well. It took him around 1 hour 30 minutes, which was fine. I was pleased and at the end I asked him if we could contact him for a ride back to the airport, or Legazpi. He gave me his card and told me to WhatsApp him.

Donsol

Elysia Beach Resort

At first glance, Elysia looked nice. There were a string of huts surrounding a swimming pool with palm trees dotted all over. Each hut comprised of a room or two with a bathroom. From the swimming pool, there was a view of the sea and beach, although it was not really suitable for swimming.

Upon closer inspection, there were some flaws. The bathroom needed an update, and there was no shower screen, meaning water did kind of go everywhere. Water pressure was low. The room comprised only of a bed, fridge, 2 chairs and a small table. There was plenty of room for more furniture, in particular, a “real” table. There were lots of ants and we had to be careful of mosquitos. The room clearly had gaps.

Outside, the pool was only superficially cleaned. Staff would fish out leaves and rubbish every morning but there were algae all over the tiles.

There were some pros - excellent AC that worked when I needed it to, it very quickly got to work (yes, it was hot and humid). It was close to the whale shark centre. There were nice beach chairs around the property and at the “beach” for sunset viewing. The 4G worked very well.

That all said, this was possibly the best accomodation in town. So there is room for competition. The other hotels looked quite rundown and old. But this was the best there was…

Baracuda Seafood and Cocktail

For dinner we walked to the nearby Baracuda seafood restaurant. It was basically a large shack amongst lots of palm trees, including a sign that warned you to watch your head.

The owner/hostess Juliette was quite friendly but also a bit eccentric. It seemed all the guests here tonight were banyaga, but that was ok, it was to be expected for a place like Donsol.

The menu was simple:

Juliette brought out the fish she had left. It all looked amazing and unfortunately I did not take a photo. In the end we picked (from L-R):

• Trevelly fish grilled whole. Yum. Just a smidge overcooked, a smidge past perfection. But that was not a real complaint from me.
• Potatoes seemed like a lame order but it tasted really nice with freshly cracked pepper, which Juliette said was just “normal” black pepper from the store, when I asked her about it. Wow.
• “Pasta in red sauce cooked in white wine” was fine, although it appeared there was no red sauce and it was more like “rustic chunks of tomato”, I couldn’t taste the white wine either. It was okay though, a little simple and a little sweet.

For drinks - A got a pineapple juice and I got a calamansi juice which came with a small bowl of Muscovado sugar to allow you to choose how much sugar you wanted to add to your drink. The sugar was delicious but also came with ants. I had to get a bag of Muscovado sugar before leaving the Philippines! (It’s wayyyy cheaper here than back home.) It was a great choice over your regular white sugar.

The calamansi was great! I just used the sugar very sparingly. I liked how it was tangy and tart but not super sour, it was better than lime! I was looking forward to more calamansi on this trip! A was not too much of a fan of calamansi.

Obviously this was a more satisfying meal than the mediocre lunch we had! 7/10 #ipinions

I overheard a European tourist say she saw 6 whale sharks today!!! Fingers crossed for tomorrow!