So we’re closing in to the next departure. Tomorrow we go to Batangas with GM Rodel. Today is packing day, ordering tickets etc. for the coming travels.

As I still walk around as a zombie on Prozac, Katja is more alive and went out for yoga. I tried to get tickets to Yangon via AirAsia’s web, but found they have problems with their payment solution. Well, back to bed then.
I got back up a half hour before Katja came back and did some writing and organizing. Still no luck with AirAsia, so we ended up on Malaysia airways instead. So we do now have flight out from the Philippines to Yangoon, Myanmar, in December. Before that there’s a lot to be done and seen, so we’re far from finished with this country yet.
We got out for lunch and went back to the nice cafe Satinka Naturals, that we visited a few days back. Their chicken was just amazing and we wanted something good. We ordered each a chicken dish, and are now waiting to get served. In the meantime we catch up with friends in the digital sphere and write the days blog post (so far).

I have earlier written about City of Manila and Quezon City, Makati City etc. All are part of the Metro Manila and it’s not simple to see the bigger picture here.
Metro Manila is the greater area around Manila. The city has grown so large it has swallowed nearby cities. This makes Manila a huge city in areal and with a rather confusing naming. What normally would have been city districts are in reality cities with their own administrations. These administrations have power over their area and that makes a larger project for Metro Manila, that touches different cities, a nightmare to get organized. All the cities are thinking about themselves and not necessarily of the whole larger city. Road and railway projects are examples of such nightmares.
There are currently 17 such cities in Metro Manila and its predicted to extend even further (especially south) in the coming years. It’s not gonna make things easier.
The food was excellent once again and we enjoyed a cup of coffee afterwards. We read up on Myanmar and found a great blog onourownpath.com that told us a lot about Myanmar. Among the things recommended to know before entering the great Pagoda in Yangoon is the day of your birth. As there are 8 Buddha statues for every day of the week. Can’t get the math to add up? That’s because Wednesday is divided in morning and afternoon. Guess we’re gonna write more about this when we get there. But we did find the day’s we were born. I’m on Friday, Katja on Monday. On each side of the weekend. As I go into the weekend happy and lucky, Katja starts every new week with a clean sheet. Matches us pretty good.
We talked about the upcoming trekking a found we need to upgrade the size of Katja’s daypack. We therefor headed to Mall of Asia again, after a internet search of backpack models and stores there. We found Deuter and was pleasantly surprised by the staff there. The model we bought is 6 liter larger, and that amounts to 25% of the size.

This will probably make us travel with only the small packs and leave the big ones at the airport when we go to Palawan. Easier and cheaper. We’ll use the days in Batangas to restructure the packing to fit our new goal.
When we’re already here we also visit the AirAsia travel office. Maybe they can help with our booking. But no. As it turns out the system is off line and thereby no booking for us.

Time flies and suddenly it’s 17:00, 10:00 back in Norway. We have a Skype date with Katja’s ma and one of our nephews, Even. We struggled quite a bit to get enough WIFI coverage to get a connection, but we finally got through. It was really cool to see Even again. Torild also, but we do more frequently speak to our parents.
We are proud of all our nephews and nieces. They all perform their hobbies, studies and games in different matter, and they are all nice people. That is the most important thing, to be nice to those around you. Right now Even is dancing in the National Ballet performing Romeo and Juliet. Even is studying at the School of Ballet after his normal school days. He’s been invited back season after season and are now impressing us with his moves. After this show he will, for the third consecutive year, be a part of the The Nut Cracker. We are very proud of you, Even.
Then we went home to pack.

We went to get our laundry, but it was not finish yet and they promised to deliver it to the hotel. We packed all we could without the laundry and went out for dinner on the market square one last time. As we went back to the hotel a local lady approached us and asked if we’re Norwegian. She had lived four years in Norway and could talk a little. We had a nice chat before going back in, she liked so much to hear the Norwegian language again. Then we waited for the laundry. Supposedly it should be delivered at 20:00, it came 21:55. Then we could do the last little packing puzzle and go to bed.

One who corrects others, must be able to correct one’s self first.

– Confucius