Immediately there is an announcement saying the cold air will come once we are up in the air. It’s beyond hot in here. Completely gross and made worse by having to wear a mask.
When the air finally arrives, I definitely wouldn’t call it cold! But at least there is air movement.
The views out over Coron are amazing! Such a stunning part of the world. Now come on cold air, we have been flying now for over 5 minutes.
It’s a tad bumpy landing into Manila airport where we are informed we have landed 25 minutes early. Great! Now let’s hope everything else goes smoothly once off the plane.
We burn up some of the early arrival by taxiing to our bay. From there it’s a bus to the terminal. Thankfully it’s not too long a wait for the bags and within minutes I locate my Grab driver (thank goodness for airport Wi-Fi).
Exactly one hour after landing I’m sitting in the club lounge of the Sofitel hotel - my next part of my trip begins!
On arrival at the hotel I was brought straight up to the Club Lounge reception - check-in was nice and easy. They have even extended my room to 3pm tomorrow. Amazing!
I have a chilled couple of hours in my room.
Just before happy hour begins, I head down to the pool to take a look. Need to know where to go tomorrow 😊 There are people everywhere! I definitely need to arrive early.
Happy hour is in full swing when I arrive. Many snacks but also what I would say proper dinner food. For now a drink, I’m deciding between bubbles or wine when I’m advised they have cocktails too. The second one they say is Cosmopolitan, perfect!
I have a few hours engrossed in a show on Netflix and snacking.
Earth Hour is 10 minutes away - time to head back to my room. I’d had issues earlier in locking the safe so I asked reception to send someone to my room. Unfortunately it was user error……hey ho! I also asked how to switch the balcony light off. I’m informed it’s on until 11pm at night. Hmmmm not good. Especially for Earth Hour.
I wake around 5am on Sunday 26 March - far too early! One advantage is seeing the sun rise.
Thankfully I manage to go back to sleep for a good hour. More sleep is needed but that will need to wait.
I decide to have breakfast in the Club Lounge rather than with the crowds downstairs! It’s definitely nice and peaceful up here.
I have a couple of hours at the pool. While it’s sooooooo much busier than the pool in Coron it’s nice to be surrounded by trees and shade.
As it gets hotter the families start to leave. In turn the noise level decreases a lot.
I enjoy a light late lunch (and an English scone) in the Club while checking out.
My Grab arrives within minutes of ordering. It’s a hot half hour drive to the airport. I lose count on the number of times I switch sides to get out of the sun.
On arrival at the Cathay Pacific aisles there is a long line to get in. Surely this isn’t for business class. Someone tells me it is. Hmmm. I join the end of the line then ask the security man. Nope. Great, I’m straight thought to the check-in counter.
Getting through immigration is a breeze with an APAC card! And thankfully security is much much better than it’s been in the past.
Unfortunately the Cathay Pacific lounge isn’t open yet (post Covid), instead I was given a pass to another one. The time passes by quickly with Netflix.
My time in the Philippines has come to an end. It has been a great week, I shall return!
Ooh the sunset!!
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