It's 21:27 (Philippine time). I am exhausted. I keep going in and out of being excited & nervous but I'm happy to finally be here. 5 flights, 47 hours and 2 mild breakdowns later I am here. I almost missed 2 flights. Quick tip: leave a MINIMUM of 2 hours for a layover in Dubai. My flight was delayed by 30 minutes which only left me 1.5hrs and when I tell you I RAN. I don't run but I wasn't about to loose ~£220 on a new flight. But I bloody made it.
A few things to note:
Cebu pacific don't take card. So make sure you have either dollars or Philippine Pesos (PHP).
They also don't have on flight entertainment so make sure you download everything you want to listen to/watch beforehand.
In Manila airport they accept card & PHP (my card temporarily stopped working so no food for me for flight number 5.
Make sure to get some PHP for arrival too. Maybe in Manila its different as its a bigger city but I flew to TAG (Bohol–Panglao International Airport) which is a small island off Bohol
TAG is small and there’s not really anything on the way out - no currency exchange open when I got there (8pm)
No wifi at the airport so I had to settle for one of those scammy taxi people - spent 10$ to get to my hostel about 6 minutes away which isn’t a lot but for here it is so would definitely have planned an airport pick up if I had internet so I'd suggest getting a sim or portable wifi
I could cry at literally any moment it's hilarious. My nerves are exuding out of me. I keep having to remind myself that 1. 3.5 months is really not that long. 2. It's amazing for me to be out of my comfort zone. That's how you grow. I'm proud of myself for doing this.
First impression of my hostel - Adrianas Place - it’s super cute, clean and there are people here. I feel that’s always a worry of mine that it would be quiet and empty. Having people around that also aren’t from here makes it more comfortable. I got a LOVELY stir fry for 200PHP (£2.99/3.4€) and a cold beer for 65PHP (0.97p/0.83c). I feel like I’ve been travelling for years so it’s nice to sit down and eat some yummy food with nice music. It’s also 26 degrees. So yay.
Another note to self- my bag is fucking heavy. Me and my mum went through it twice and only managed to remove the most insignificant things 😂 I think it’s my laptop that is doing the most but ya gal has gotta workkkk 😭 I also forgot shower shoes. We’ll see how the trip goes and what I could see removing in the future. Will keep ya posted.