Manila Sunrise

After an amazing few weeks in Oz, it’s time to embark on the next stage of our family adventure: South-East Asia.

I’ll readily admit that I was feeling a bit nervous about this transition, after such an easy time in Australia. Claire and I have traveled in the region before, but that was over a decade ago. Things went pretty smooth back then, but I am the kind of guy who’re likes his routine, and knowing generally how things work. I knew this would push me a bit out of my comfort zone… but that was always part of the point.

So after an eight hour flight, and many, many movies (I finally saw Barbie!) we landed in Manila. We managed to get our bearings pretty quickly, make it to our hotel, and grab some delish Filipino food nearby. After just a couple of hours amidst the bustling streets, the smell of street food, and the thrill of crossing the street without getting run over, I can say that the nervousness has shifted to excitement!

This morning we woke up with the sunrise and the meowing of stray cats, and headed out the door to explore. I’m happy to say that the kids have fully bought-in to what will surely be our new routine: wandering around the streets trying to find the best cart or hole-in-the-wall serving something that will function as breakfast.

As an aside: how did people travel before smartphones? I mean, we did it going around the world back in 2012, but how? Was it just using those grainy maps in the guidebooks, our own wits, and the kindness of others? This time, upon landing in Manila, we got a SIM card at the airport, and hailed a ride with Grab (think Uber). It sure did seem to make things easy!