Return to Manila and farewell to Jezzy

With our departure from the Fort Ilocandia hotel set for 11.00 am we had a leisurely start to the day. After a small breakfast (we were aware that lunch would be early) we had a stroll around the grounds. The hotel was huge and the buildings, especially the lobby area, rather grand and well-maintained. The gardens too were cared for and pretty with bougainvillea and other flowering trees and shrubs. But some parts were rather faded and scruffy, such as a terrace by the large swimming pool. We could see the sea beyond the small golf course but decided against walking to the beach as the sun was already hot and we would see nicer beaches elsewhere on the trip.

Back in the room we finished packing and made the most of the hotel wifi to be up to date with emails etc. Then we met up with Jezzy and Edwin and they took us to Jollybees for the quintessential Filipino fast food experience! Chris’s burger and my chicken nuggets were on a par with McDonald’s and other similar US chains. However Jezzy also bought some of the local favourite, Jolly Spaghetti, for us to try and that was less to our taste, being too sweet and too soft, much like Heinz tinned spaghetti! But we did enjoy another Jollybees classic, the peach mango pie.

Once we'd eaten it was time to head to the nearby airport where we said goodbye to Edwin. He faced a long (14 hour) drive back to Manila while Jezzy was flying with us. The airport was small and it was quick to drop off our bags and clear security. However I’d forgotten that while travelling by car I’d been packing my small back-up point and shoot camera in the suitcase and I was called back to remove it – oops!

We boarded on time and had seats near the back, across the aisle from each other, with Jezzy behind me. There was an air traffic control delay in taking off but a relatively short one – Laoag is after all a very small airport. A snack was served, but I was disappointed to see that it was a small bag of dried peas and dried mango, and although I love the latter I dislike peas intensely! Despite the short delay on take-off we landed on time but had quite a long wait for the bags.

Exiting the airport we were met by driver Marlon who took us through the sometimes manic Manila traffic back to the City Garden Grand hotel where we had stayed at the start of our trip. Jezzy rode with us so we said our final goodbyes there before Marlon took her on to her bus stop.

We checked in and got a room on the 25th floor with a bit more of a view than previously. There wasn’t really time to do much exploring and in any case we hadn’t found this part of Manila especially appealing so we just chilled in the room until dinner time.

After a week of often (but not always) tasty Filipino food we were in the mood for a change this evening. So we went to the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar, Firefly, where Chris had a decent pizza and I had a nice mac ‘n' cheese. After the meal we sat in the outside area for another drink. My mojito was cheap but a bit weak; however the city lights looked great and the temperature was very pleasant.