May 4,

We were up and about by 0700. Jeff did not sleep well – he has my cold for sure. We were able to leisurely get about. We had our Javas and breakfast of Muesli, yogurt and pan toast with PB and Nutella. Then we packed, readied, and checked out of our place by 1200, because that is the latest we could check out. Our flight is not until 1905 tonight. We were able to leave our big bags with security and went to the mall across the street from us to kill a couple of hours. We took turns walking about the mall so we didn’t have to walk with our carry on bags. After we each got some steps in, we went to Das Bürgery for lunch. We each had a hamburger: one was called Lorenzo’s Way, having caramelized onions, mushrooms, cheese, special sauce and lettuce; the other was Pork Barrel, topped with bacon, cheese, special sauce, lettuce and tomato. We shared a Das Fries, which was fries topped with homemade aioli, a cheese sauce and bacon bits. I had a Coke Zero, and Jeff had a Sprite.

At 1400, we went back to Amaia Steps Capitol Central for the last time; collected our bags; and E-hailed a Grab taxi. Our destination: Palmas de Mer. It’s a resort area.  This is where the GCBacolod meets at three. We arrived and found the meeting hall. There were around twenty people and we were warmly welcomed; spoke with the minister, his wife; and other members. The service began a bit late, but was a good one. A fellow member gave the sermon. We were able to stay through until the last song, but we had to cut out to get to the airport. Jeff had E-hailed another Grab taxi. As we were waiting, we thanked the minister who accompanied us out to the taxi. We left around 1650, which was 20 minutes later than we should have.🤐

By 1730, we were at the airport and checking our bags. We found out our plane took off 40 minutes late from Manila, so our lateness worked out. We went through security, in like ten minutes! This airport is very small – like 4-5 gates only – also there was not a lounge. But there were a bunch of people here, I mean a bunch. There were hardly any seats available to sit in! We finally found some when another plane started boarding, and people vacated some seats. So we sat, and waited for our boarding call. With this delay, we were able to post yesterday’s blog.

Our plane arrived around 1840, but the last passenger did not meander out until 1901. We finally, started boarding, with the door closing at 1927. Then the plane backed out late at 1935, which was 35 minutes late. So not much time was made up. The flight was a full one, and a quick 50 minute one. It seemed like we just up at altitude and then getting ready for landing. We were over Manila city for quite awhile, with it’s lights all twinkling. I noticed some large lightening arrays brightening the sky, and big banks of clouds were highlighted, so there must be a rainstorm going on. We landed at 2042 – only 12 minutes late – so made up quite a bit of time.

Welcome to Manila!

We were on the tarmac; and by 2100, we were and taken on a bus to an airport entry area. Then we arrived at baggage claim to wait, and wait. Finally by 2134, we had collected our bags and called for a Grab taxi. But Jeff said the Grab app just spun and finally timed out. There were a lot of other people trying to get Grab rides as well. Jeff gave up when he found another service. So at 2145, we were in that taxi going to our place. It cost us more – total of 870 PHP, which is $15.60 (Grab would have been 550 PHP or $9.86). It was worth the extra six bucks! We arrived at our place, Pacific Bay Grand Suites. We checked in and went up to the 33^rd floor! It was 2204. We unloaded, talked with our church at home, & crashed.