San Francisco to Manila

Final packing up in San Francisco went surprisingly smoothly and we finally got to the airport about 9pm Monday for what was the start of the most uneventful journeys ever! Hopefully a sign of things to come.

The flight to Hong Kong was full but bearable…no first class, no economy plus, no exit row (think I’ve become spoilt over the last few years), in fact no space at all, but we managed to slot ourselves in and settled down for the flight. I have vague recollections of flying Cathay Pacific before and it being quite good, however I found it distinctly average and the food was terrible. However, as Kim predicted, I was fast asleep within the first five minutes of the first movie I tried to watch (apparently a common occurrence!). She also slept for most of the flight.

We had a brief hour stopover in a very wet and windy Hong Kong,...just enough time for a coffee and to gather a pocket full of “Hong Kong” coins that can’t be used anywhere else (why does that always happen!).

Flight from Hong Kong to Manila was empty and uneventful, just an hour and half. I sat there dreading the hustle and bustle of Manila airport immigration and customs and trying to prep Kim for the inevitable wait in lines for both…but seems that we lucked out…plane to hotel room in an hour and a half!

Manila is the typical busy Asian city. “Jeepneys”, motorcycles and taxis everywhere, somehow managing to muscle their way through the back streets and alleys. Hotel is crap, but I expected no less and we did manage to sleep for about 14 hours last night which is good! Off to see the city today.