Once I got to the Coron airport, the airline asked if I would be willing to give up my seat and stay an extra day. I HAD to play the birthday card. “Nope, this trip is for my birthday so I NEED to get on this flight.” (For those of you who know what’s coming, maybe this was my karma). The airline had already rescheduled the flight for two hours later, so I wasn’t going to delay it any longer. PLUS this trip had been planned for my birthday three years earlier! Yes, remember when it was going to be my 30th birthday and I had booked flights to the Philippines for April 2020?? This had been a long time coming! So I checked in and they weighed my bag, but luckily offered free checked luggage for anything over 7kg. I went through security and waited for boarding. While waiting, the flight attendants then started going up to everyone individually, and once again asked if anyone would be willing to give up their seat. It seemed like they finally found someone but when it was finally time to board, we still didn’t have a plane. And when it was finally time to leave, we STILL didn’t have a plane! I went to ask what was going on and the flight attendant said that they were just told that everyone was currently boarding in El Nido, so the plane hadn’t even left the other airport yet! Luckily the flying time is only 25 minutes, so we were able to start boarding about 40 minutes after our scheduled time. We started preparing for landing pretty much as soon as we got up in the air – they didn’t even turn the seatbelt sign off! Once I landed, I had to wait for my bag, and the bags were literally carried through the door one by one – it was pretty comical! I got a tuktuk to my accommodation, which was Rosanna’s Pension. I decided to treat myself for my birthday, and I got a beach-front room with a balcony overlooking the water. And I arrived just in time to see the last of the sunset! I went downstairs to book a tour for the following day (Tour A), and then I went for dinner. I went to a place called Maa’s Grill, and I got the Coconut Adobo Chicken with rice. I knew that this wouldn’t be gluten-free since adobo typically has soy sauce, but I decided that I needed to try it. It was good, but again I couldn’t finish it! I headed back to my room to enjoy the air conditioning, and chilled before bed.

The next day, I got up and headed to the cafe that was attached to my hotel. I got sweet meat with eggs and rice, along with a coffee. I then waited to get picked up for my tour at 8:30. There were a few other people from my hotel who were going on the same tour (a group of 5, who were Filipino or from Toronto, or a combination of the two). They were all really friendly, and were so excited when they found out that it would be my birthday the following day. We were all planning to do Tour C the next day so we could celebrate. We started off by going to Secret Lagoon. This involved swimming under the water and through holes in caves in order to check out the other side. I was a bit uneasy about it at first (and I probably wouldn’t have done it if there was a strong current), but the guides were really good at keeping us safe. The guides with this tour were the best that I’ve had so far – they were a lot of fun, and made the tour really enjoyable! Next, we went to an extremely small beach to have lunch. There was already a tour group there, and there were only a few logs to sit on, but the food was really nice!

After lunch, we headed to Big Lagoon, which is where the kayaking portion would take place. We could rent a kayak for 300 pesos, and go through the lagoon. I went with Janine, one of the Filipino girls at my hotel, and we also went with Mark, one of the tour guides. Again, the views were spectacular! There’s something about limestone cliffs against bright blue water that is truly breathtaking. And kayaking through the caves was really cool to see as well! There was a shallow sand bar in the middle of the lagoon so when we got there, we all got out of our kayaks and swam for a bit before heading back to the boat. Unfortunately, once we left the lagoon and hit open water, the waves were super choppy and I started feeling nauseous once I got back to the boat. I don’t think I was the only one because I saw one of the couples instantly start mixing up electrolytes. For the rest of the tour, I felt really off.

We stopped at the Seven Commando Beach and all I wanted to do was stay out of the sun so I found some shade, got a coke to help my stomach, and lied down. The Filipino group came and asked if I wanted to join them swimming so I did, and we hung out in the water until it was time to go.

We got back to El Nido at about 5:30 and I walked back to my hotel, feeling worse and worse as I got closer. I felt so nauseous and felt like I needed to throw up, but my stubborn self (who HATES throwing up) wouldn’t let it happen. In hindsight, I probably should have just done it because maybe I wouldn’t have struggled for so long. I felt so out of it – I was so exhausted and I felt like my mind wasn’t working. I showered just to get all of the sand off of me, and then crawled into bed. I pondered whether I should get something to eat but every time I thought about sweet meat, I felt even more nauseous (needless to say, I didn’t have anymore sweet meat for the duration of my trip!). I also pondered whether I should go downstairs and book Tour C for the following day, but once I was in bed, I didn’t want to get back up again. I checked my email and found out that my flight leaving El Nido would be delayed by two hours, which meant that I would miss my connecting flight to Manila. It was the last thing I wanted to deal with and the flight office closed at 5pm, so I’d have to wait until the next day to sort it out anyway. By 6:30pm, I had already turned off the light. I got up at 10:30pm and still felt nauseous. I hadn’t eaten dinner and wasn’t particularly hungry, but I remembered that I had a full package of rice crackers with me (that I had bought in Australia and had been carrying around for two weeks. I was getting to the point where I was about to throw them out cause I wasn’t sure if I’d ever eat them). I forced myself to eat the entire package and then I went back to bed.

I woke up at about 6:30am – it was my birthday! Still didn’t feel great.. I sat on my phone for a bit and then fell asleep again for another two hours. When I finally woke up, I just had to continue lying in bed. I tried going out to the balcony but as soon as I felt the heat, I felt more nauseous. I was running out of water and I knew I’d have to leave the hotel to go buy some more, but it took about two hours for me to finally convince myself to get up and go. I also called the airline, and they were nice enough to offer me a direct flight from El Nido to Manila, so I wouldn’t even have to transfer! I hadn’t eaten a proper meal in 24 hours (unless you count those rice crackers) and I knew I should eat something. Literally every food I thought of just made me feel sick. I figured I should just stick to a smoothie. I went to a place called Taste and got a smoothie bowl. It was good, but it took me so long to eat! I’d take a couple bites and then sit and digest for a couple minutes.

As soon as I left the restaurant and felt the heat, I instantly felt nauseous. I saw a pharmacy and went in to buy some electrolytes and then I stocked up on water. The walk to my hotel was only about 5 minutes but the more I walked, the more nauseous I felt. TMI Warning: To the point where as soon as I got to my room, I was instantly sick. So I spent the rest of the afternoon lying in bed, enjoyed reading some birthday messages, and reflected on how ironic it was that this birthday had been planned for three years and it STILL didn’t happen. Oh well, life goes on. At around 4:30, I finally started feeling hungry for the first time since the day before, which seemed to be a good sign! All I wanted was hangover food (even though I wasn’t hungover), like pizza or fries, but again, gluten-free pizza seemed to be non-existant. I went to a place called Vibes and ordered a grilled chicken kebab with fries. I ate those fries so fast, you’d think I hadn’t eaten in days (which I guess was kind of the case). The food was really good! I still didn’t feel GREAT after, but I felt better than before. The couple that I met on my tour in Coron were also in El Nido and asked if I wanted to to meet up for my birthday, but I knew I’d have to decline. I passed out early again (about 9) and woke up the next morning at 5:30.

Instantly, I already noticed a difference in just my mind! I felt so much more alert and felt way less sick. However, I was going to hold off eating for as long as I could because I was scared what would happen. I sat on the balcony until I had to go to the airport and then left the hotel at 8am. Surprisingly, they didn’t book me a shuttle or anything, but when I stepped outside, I was able to wave down a tuktuk to take me to the airport. I checked in my luggage for free again, got a coffee, and then waited to board. This flight was an hour and a half, so I got to the Manila airport at 11:30am. I requested a Grab to take me to my hostel and the driver told me about his wife, told me how beautiful I was, asked how old I was, and said he could be my personal driver around the Philippines. Quite interesting! I stayed at the same hostel that I did the last time I was in Manila (Abraham Manila), and they let me check in early! I was starving, so I searched the nearest Wendy’s, which was less than 200 metres away. I was finally able to eat my hangover food! I ate the fries so fast again, and the burger was great! The Frosty was (you can probably guess what I’m going to say) way too sweet, which may have brought my nausea back (along with me deciding to take a motorcycle ride into the city). The only thing I wanted to do that day was get drumsticks from Hard Rock Cafe, which I get from every place I travel. It was a long trip, but I finally made it there! I asked where they were (even though I already knew they’d be at the front desk), but this time, they were kept in a glass case. She handed them to me and I saw 4 numbers, but only noticed the first two: 2500. “Wait… is this the price?” I wasn’t able to do the conversion quick enough in my head but I knew it was expensive because I was only expecting to pay around 1000. “They’re very expensive!” “Yes, ma’am.” I said I might come back later, and I went to check the conversion on my phone. $70AUD! What??!!!!! Normally, they’re 25-30. How could they be more than DOUBLE here?! I decided that I’d have to skip getting drumsticks in the Philippines (and maybe everywhere if this is the new normal!). I went to Tim Horton’s to get an iced capp – again, too sweet and probably didn’t help my stomach. Then, I walked around the Mall of Asia so I could take advantage of the air-conditioning in the 42-degree weather. I tried to decide what I should do for dinner. I was craving a Greek salad, but those seemed hard to come by. I also felt like I could handle Mexican food, but most places seemed to only have wheat tortillas. The only other thing I felt like my stomach could handle was pho. Which is odd when it was so hot out, but I just needed something light and easy. I went to a place called Pho Hoa and got some chicken pho (nothing like chicken noodle soup when you’re sick!). The pho was really good, but I did start to feel nauseous again, which lasted until I went to bed. I got a message from one of the girls I met at the hostel asking if I wanted to join the rest of the room for drinks but again, I had to pass. I called a Grab to take me back to the hostel, showered and got ready for bed.

On Saturday morning, I woke up when (I think) one of the other girls came back at 6am. So I decided to get up, have some breakfast, and relax before I’d have to pack everything up. Again, couldn’t finish the breakfast – my stomach was still very picky with what it wanted to eat, and eggs wasn’t one of them. I went back to my room at about 10 to quietly pack since everyone was still sleeping, and then checked out. I requested a Grab, but it said that no drivers were available, which has never happened before. I kept requesting over and over for about 20 minutes until a driver FINALLY accepted. The traffic was so busy, so I didn’t get to the airport until just after 12pm. I had to check in so this time, I made sure that I packed my pockets so that I wouldn’t be charged for overweight fees. And they didn’t check the weight! So it seems like it’s only when I stuff my pockets that they decide not to check. And believe me, I was NOT comfortable wearing my warm clothes in such hot weather!! I got through immigration and security, and was really hungry! I found a place that served a quarter of roast chicken with some really good butter-chive roast potatoes, and I stuffed my face. My body seemed to be one extreme or the other – I’m starving and I’ll eat everything NOW, or I can’t eat that and I’m going to reject it. So hopefully it goes back to normal soon! I found a place to sit until I boarded my flight to Japan, which will be in the next post. Love always

I got up nice and early in Loboc since I had a tuktuk ride scheduled for 6:30am. The drive to Tagbilaran City was about an hour, but as we were driving, I saw something out of my peripheral vision that was on my seat. I looked down and realised it was a huge spider (that almost looked like a twig)! Trying not to freak out too much, I casually stood up in the moving tricycle. The driver was confused and pulled over, but the spider had crawled back into my seat. The driver grabbed a stick and squished the spider before proceeding, which I was kind of grateful for or I would have been staring at the hole in the seat for the duration of the trip. I got to the ferry at about 7:30, but it wasn’t scheduled to leave until 8:20am, so it gave me plenty of time to check in and get a coffee. This time, I got to sit in the air-conditioned part of the ferry, which was quite nice! We got to Cebu at 10:20 and then I requested a Grab to take me to the airport. Traffic was quite bad and when I asked the driver if it was normal, he said, “Nope, just today.” Lucky me! I got to the airport and avoided the check-in counter so that they wouldn’t weigh my bag. There was no way I’d be wearing my heavy clothes in 30+ degree weather! However, I was in for a surprise because when I was about to go through security, there were some flight attendants who ushered me to the scale. Shoot, well what do I do now? I can’t exactly say, “Be right back” and change all of my clothes. I walked up to the scale and hoped for the best. 8.3kg. Dang. “Okay, you’re good!” the flight attendant said. “Really? Okay!” I definitely lucked out! Once I got through security, I looked around the airport searching for food but again, I didn’t see any stand-out options that were gluten-free, other than a sad garden salad. But suddenly, I heard an announcement for final boarding for my flight! I quickly rushed to the gate and had to get on a bus that transferred us to the plane. We left a half hour early and arrived to Coron a half hour early as well (after a short 1hr40min flight) – so far, I was really impressed with Filipino airlines! When I got to Coron and exited the airport, there was a desk with people asking you to pay 200 pesos as an environmental fee. I guess you couldn’t leave the airport if you didn’t pay! After that, there was another crowd of people offering shuttle rides. Luckily, this time it seemed a lot more organised, as certain shuttles went to certain accommodations. I found the right shuttle and we waited until everyone else had left the airport. Only one other person went in the same shuttle as me, but she was going to a different hostel. I had originally booked a different hostel, but after spending three nights in accommodation by myself (and seeing that my new accommodation would also be quiet, AND not have air-conditioning), I made a last-minute decision to change hostels to somewhere that had air-conditioning and seemed like it would have more people. However, I was sorely mistaken. There were a few people, but the hostel owner said that this should be their high season. Normally people couldn’t even extend their stays because they’d be fully booked every night, but now, they didn’t have any new bookings until May. When I finally got settled, I was starving and needed to get a (late) lunch since it was nearly 3pm. I found a place but was a bit shocked by the prices, as everything seemed more expensive than everywhere else I’ve been. However, I was too hungry to keep looking, so I ordered Pork Belly with rice, which was really good, but also really sweet. I’ve noticed that this has been one of my main issues with Filipino food. This is not something new to me – I tend to always avoid sweet-flavoured meats, as I 100% prefer when it’s savoury. I don’t like barbecue sauce on my burger (or on anything), I don’t like teriyaki sauce, or honey garlic, or sweet chili (on meat). And a definite no to maple-flavoured bacon. Save the sweetness for dessert, please! So when PRETTY much all of the meats are sweetly flavoured in the Philippines, I realised I’d either have to grin and bear it, or try to find something else. I found it very difficult to finish most of my meals though, as my stomach couldn’t handle it. Anyway, after I finished eating (and researching tours to take), I went back to my hostel to book a tour for the following day: The Ultimate Tour. I’d be picked up between 8 and 8:30 the next morning, so it would be another early morning. I got everything organised, and then chatted with one of my dormmates for a bit. One of the reasons I chose this hostel was because apparently, they serve free rum and pineapple juice every night as a way to get everyone to meet each other. When I went up at 7, the lights were out and nobody was there, so I headed back down. Most people started going out for dinner by that point and finally right before 8, the hostel owner said he’d be starting drinks. I went upstairs and it was only me and another guy with the hostel owner. I just stayed for one drink and they told me about a restaurant that I’d have to try for dinner, so I headed there. I still wasn’t completely hungry since I had eaten such a late lunch, but I knew if I didn’t eat anything, I’d be hungry by the time I went to bed. I ordered chicken curry, which was good, but again I couldn’t finish it. I headed back to the hostel, got ready for bed, and chilled out before going to sleep.

The next morning, I got up at 6:30, got ready for my tour, and went to find somewhere that would be open for breakfast at 7am on a Sunday (which was quite difficult). Luckily, I found a place called Follow Your Taste, which I also ended up going to the following two mornings. I just got an easy bacon and eggs with a latte, and then I headed back to the hostel to wait for my tour. The tricycle came, and there were already four people in it (plus the driver). I squished in and they drove us to our boat. I sat next to a girl from Quebec and she was with a guy from Switzerland. Apparently they had randomly met during a hike a year ago while travelling and just decided to meet up again in the Philippines, which I thought was so cool! We also sat with a guy from Perth who has been living in Singapore, so the four of us hung out throughout the day. Our first stop was Kayangan Lake. They dropped us off on the shore and to get there, we had to go up about 180 stairs and then back down another 180 stairs. Between the two sets of stairs, there was a viewpoint but the lineup was so long so we decided to check it out on the way back. Honestly, I didn’t love the lake but it was probably due to the overwhelming amount of people in it. Our tour guide hadn’t given us any times, so we had no idea when we were supposed to be back. After what we thought was a sufficient amount of time, we headed back towards the boat. This time, the lineup to the viewpoint was longer but we decided to wait. It took so long and once I got closer to the front, I realised that it was because every person was doing about ten poses in front of the viewpoint. I wasn’t sure if the entire boat was waiting for us so I just decided to take a picture from where I was and head back to the boat. However, when we finally got to the boat, I saw that we were the first people to arrive – I guess we could have continued waiting!

Our next stop was the Twin Lagoons, which were absolutely gorgeous and way less crowded! The lagoons were surrounded by limestone rock and the colour of the water was unreal. Oftentimes, we felt like we were the only people in the lagoon! After this, we were wondering how we were going to fit more things in the day since it was already 1 and we had only went to two places!

We headed to Smith Beach, where we were served lunch. We had some fish, some clams, and got to try some of the local seaweed, which was different but I actually really enjoyed it! The seaweed had balls of liquid that would pop in your mouth, like roe. After lunch, we were able to enjoy the beach for a bit and then we continued on our tour. By this point, most of us were already pretty exhausted! We stopped at a place to do some snorkelling, and then our last stop was CYC beach, where we could also do some snorkelling, as well as sit on the beach. By the time we got back to Coron, the sun was already starting to set! I got a ride back to my hostel, showered, and waited for my laundry to come (the hostel had been doing it that day). By the time I finally got it, it was about 8 so I headed back to the same restaurant as the night before. This time, I got butter garlic shrimp, which I figured would just be butter and garlic (savoury) but I was wrong haha it came with a very sweet sauce. Towards the end of my dinner, the power went out! (Which apparently is quite normal on the island). I headed back to my hostel to see that the power was out there as well, but luckily it turned back on about 15 minutes later. Earlier, a friend had told me to go to the Black Island so I asked if I could do a tour there. Unfortunately, none of the tour groups were going there because there wasn’t enough interest and they’d need a minimum amount of people. Instead, I decided to do “Beach Escapade C2.” That night, the hostel ran out of water, which isn’t great when you have 8 people sharing a bathroom. Luckily, the place across the street let people shower, and then they filled up buckets of water to use for the sink and toilet. Quite an interesting experience – I felt like I was camping again.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 6:30 and did the same thing as the day before. When I got dropped off at the port, the tour guide said that my boat was the last one along a long chain of six boats that were connected from front to back. This was probably the most stressful part of the day, as I was so scared that when hopping from one boat to the next, I’d slip and fall into the water with my phone and camera. I was so relieved when I got to the boat, and I was the first one to arrive! This time, I sat beside two solo travellers! We were all able to relate (and somewhat vent) about how most travellers in the Philippines were couples, and how difficult it’s been to find other solo travellers. I remember it being like that when I was in Thailand as well, and I remember being so relieved when I got to Vietnam and it was pretty much all solo travellers. So I hung out with Katie (from the US) and Adi (from the Philippines) the entire day! On this tour, we only had three stops but the first one took between 1.5-2 hours to get to. My butt couldn’t handle sitting on a wooden board for so long – I was seriously struggling! Our first stop was Ditaytayan Sand Bar, which was absolutely stunning! You could walk along the sand bar and have water on either side of you. Apparently it was high tide, so I’d be interested to know what it would look like during low tide. We spent a lot of our time doing some snorkelling, and then headed back to the boat after our 45 minutes were over.

We then headed to Coco Beach, which is where we’d be served lunch. While waiting, we snagged one of the elevated huts to do a quick photoshoot. This lunch tasted even better than the one I had the day before! After lunch, we got some coconuts and then enjoyed some time on the beach before we had to go back to the boat.

Our last stop was Malcapuya Island. The boat had to stop on the other side of the peninsula (since boats weren’t allowed on the beach), and then we walked up and down a hill to get to the beach. We were told that if we paid 100 pesos each, a boat would take us to look at giant clams and since none of us had seen them before, we signed up! It was a cool experience because the boat had a rope along the side, so we just held onto the rope and snorkelled while the boat pulled us along. It was much faster than kicking! The clams were huge – I’d say they were bigger than a basketball. After we finished, our time on the beach was almost done so I enjoyed the last few minutes in the water.

Then, we started the long journey back to Coron. After about an hour, we saw another tour boat in the distance that was stopped. They had been wrecked, so all of their tour members got onto our boat while the drivers stayed behind with their boat (we were still about an hour from Coron, and the sun was setting!). We finally got to shore and got into our shuttle, which dropped us off at the restaurant that we planned to go to. It was an Italian restaurant and while the pizza smelled AMAZING, gluten-free dough and gluten-free pasta doesn’t seem to exist in the Philippines. My only option seemed to be a shrimp salad, but it was actually much better and way more filling than I expected! After dinner, we said our goodbyes and then I headed back to my hostel to shower and get ready for bed.

On Tuesday morning, I did the exact same thing as the previous two days. This time, I stayed at the cafe longer to work on my blog for a couple hours. I had also gotten an email the night before that my flight from Sri Lanka to the Maldives had been cancelled, so I needed to sort that out. The flight was 1hr40, but my options were to go the same day but take a 13-hour trip (with a long layover somewhere), or leave a day earlier. I opted for the earlier day, but had to shuffle some things around since I’d be getting one less day in Sri Lanka. I headed back to the hostel to book a shuttle to the airport for 1:30 and then went to grab a quick lunch. I got back to the hostel right at 1:30 and the driver had already been waiting for me – oops! So I grabbed my things and we drove 30 minutes to the airport, so that I could fly to El Nido. But that will be for another post! Love always

Last Friday, I arrived in Manila just after 10pm. I quickly got off the plane and arrived at a booth where everyone was showing their phones to an officer. Confused, I went up to the counter to see what they were asking for – I specifically remembered reading that I wouldn’t need a visa to enter the Philippines. Apparently, I still had to apply for an electronic travel authorisation and show them the QR code. They pointed me to a corner and told me to apply on my phone. I wish I had known about it earlier, as it took so long to fill everything out! Once I finally finished, I was able to pass through the counter, and then I had to wait in the long line to go through passport control. Even though I had renewed my passport in 2019 (when my last passport had filled up), and despite this being the fourth country that I’ve been to since that time, this was the FIRST stamp that I got in my passport! By the time I finished everything, it was already after 11pm and I was exhausted. I bought a SIM card with unlimited data, and requested a Grab (the Philippines equivalent to Uber). As soon as I got to my hostel, I remembered how superior most Asian hostels are compared to Australian and New Zealand hostels (and for a quarter of the price!). My hostel had a privacy curtain, a shelf with my own plug-in, and lockers to put all of my stuff in. At some of the Australia hostels, we were lucky to get one plug-in to share between 6 or 8 people, typically never got a shelf, and rarely got a locker, AND paid minimum $40 for it. I think I got to my hostel just after midnight, so I had a shower and went straight to sleep.

The next morning, I got up and went to have breakfast at the hostel. One thing that I didn’t do at the airport (because nothing was open) was exchange some of my money. Since the hostel wouldn’t accept US dollars, I had to walk around looking for a currency exchange. As soon as I stepped out of my hostel, I was overwhelmed with the sights, smells, and noises. I had forgotten that Asia was complete sensory overload! A lot of places weren’t open yet and wouldn’t open until 10 or 10:30, but I was finally able to find a place that could exchange my money. And of course, someone was outside waiting for me so that they could ask if they could have some! I HAVE noticed that a lot of the people here are quite in-your-face. I feel like other places in Asia were like that, and maybe I’ve forgotten about it. Or maybe my patience and tolerance levels aren’t as high now (thanks, teaching!). But there seems to be a lot more people who want to sell you stuff, whether it’s a ride on a tuktuk, or food and drinks. My most common words that I use everyday are, “No, thank you!” Anyway, I went back to the hostel to have breakfast, which as soon as I said I couldn’t have toast, they suggested a salad. I was staying in an area further out from the city centre (Makati), but I made the brilliant decision to walk to the city centre. It was ONLY an hour and a half, and surely I’d see more if I walked, right? That was true, but I also didn’t realise that it was “feels-like” 39 degree weather, and that my body was still used to dry weather with zero humidity. I started off strong! Everyone was quite friendly, and if I had to estimate the amount of ‘hellos’ that were said to me, I would say about 83. My first stop was (of course) Tim Hortons. I ordered an iced latte and holy smokes, was it ever sweet! It was good, but I’m still not used to the amount of sugar that is included in some of the food and drink here. I continued my walk, but I noticed that as I got closer and closer to the city centre, the ‘hellos’ became less frequent, and there were more people who just wanted to sell me stuff. After an hour, I was sweating and felt slightly nauseous, so I stopped at a McDonald’s to get some fries and a cold drink, and then I continued on my way. I walked through the Intramuros area, and then I walked to Binondo, which is apparently the oldest Chinatown in the world (since 1594). I stopped to get a bubble tea and enjoy some air-conditioning (again, SO sweet), and then I tried to decide what I was going to do for dinner. Already, I knew it was going to be a struggle to get gluten-free food. No one seemed to know what gluten was. I could say I can’t eat bread, but how was I going to avoid soy sauce, noodles, oyster sauce, etc.? I decided that I was just going to test it that night, just to see what would happen. But if I was going to eat gluten, I wasn’t just going to get ANYTHING to eat. I was going to get my favourite dumpling, xiao long bao, which I haven’t been able to eat in years because I’ve never been able to find any that were gluten-free. Not only was I going to get xiao long bao, but I was going to get the BEST xiao long bao in Manila. So of course, I researched and I settled on a place called Cafe Mezzanine. I got there and the line-up was going down the stairs from the second floor. But I was determined. So I waited and waited and waited. In a hot, humid staircase with no air conditioning. And started to feel more and more nauseous and more and more dehydrated. But I finally made it to the front of the line and was able to order my xiao long bao! They said the food would still be about a half hour wait, which was fine as long as I could chug some water – I wasn’t going to change my mind now. I finally got them and my mouth gladly welcomed the taste. It was completely worth it! It was so nice to finally have my favourite dumpling again! I decided to head back to the hostel, but this time, I took a Grab home (I wasn’t about to walk an hour and a half again!). After about an hour, I started to feel a bit itchy but I decided to hold off for as long as I could. Ideally, I wanted to see what would happen if I didn’t have a Benadryl. But after two hours, I could physically feel a rash on my chin and I was so uncomfortable, so I took the Benadryl and went to bed. I felt okay the next day, but the rash was still there. I realised I wouldn’t be able to eat everything that I wanted… I felt lost, as I had never done a trip to Asia without gluten before.

The next day, I was going to the airport to fly to the island of Cebu. I had only decided to stay in Manila for 2 nights/1 day, which was more than enough for me. There was a girl in my dorm that was also going to the airport at around the same time (but to a different terminal), so we asked our accommodation if they could book us a Grab to drop us off at our terminals. The Grab came and told us he’d go to her terminal first, so off we went. We stopped at the terminal and she confirmed, “This is terminal 4?” He said yes, so we wished each other well, and she left. Then he drove ten minutes to my terminal. As soon as we pulled up, I instantly knew that he had switched the terminals around because I saw a big sign that said terminal 4. I got out anyway, asked if there was a shuttle to terminal 3, and was told that they never know when it comes. So I booked another Grab to take me back to terminal 3. I still got through security quite quickly, looked for something to eat, and decided to pass on eating since I wasn’t sure what would be gluten-free. The flight was only about 45 minutes, and we actually left a half hour early and arrived a half hour early. Once I got to Cebu, I walked to the buses, and hopped on one that would take me to the North Bus Terminal. I was trying to get to Moalboal, which would leave from the South Bus Terminal, and the only way to get there would be by taxi from the North terminal (so confusing). Since the North Bus Terminal was connected to a mall, I decided to get food there. Sushi seemed like a safe bet since I could say no soy sauce. I got a salmon and cream cheese roll but interestingly, they also added mango and raisins. And I was unexpectedly delighted with the flavour! Who would have thought that all of those flavour combinations would be so good?! By the time I finished, it was after 3pm, so I figured I should hurry since I still had a 3-hour bus to catch (which had no set times – it just leaves after the next one comes). I went to use the washroom, but the line-up was so long, so I just requested a Grab to take me to the South Bus Terminal. When I got there, I asked where the bus to Moalboal would be and coincidentally, it was JUST passing by (leaving the station), so everyone yelled at me to jump on. The bus cost me 209 pesos ($5.05CAD), and even though it was only about a 90km journey, it would STILL take 3 hours. After 2.5 hours, the bus stopped for a bathroom break. I was so relieved since I still hadn’t gotten to go, and I ran off the bus. However, I saw that there was a man collecting money to use the toilet and it would be 5 pesos. I only had a 100 bill with me and asked if he had change, but he said no. I then went to the food vendor to ask and they said no. I later realised (after 3 days of being on the island) that everyone was VERY reluctant to give change and break their bills. They wanted exact change for everything, which made it extremely difficult to buy things since most of us would only have 1000 peso bills from the ATM. I went back to the bus after I realized I’d have to wait to use the washroom at the hostel. So note to fellow travellers: always use a toilet if there’s one around, and always carry around change just in case. I finally got to Moalboal and was hounded by people asking if I wanted a tuktuk. I agreed to take one to my hostel and he charged me 150 pesos ($3.62), which I realised later was pretty steep. I got to my hostel (Pig Dive Hostel), and it was honestly one of the best hostels I’ve stayed at. The staff were so friendly, the place was absolutely spotless, and it was only about 12 bucks per night! I walked towards the town to find somewhere to eat, but since it gets dark by 6pm, I was pretty much walking in darkness due to a minimal amount of streetlights. Surprisingly, the first restaurant (Thailicious) I passed had a sign that said “Gluten free options available” so I went in. I asked what the gluten free options were and they said Pad Thai, but with sweet and sour sauce. It was interesting! Not quite pad Thai, but it was still good. I then walked back to my hostel and got ready for bed.

On Monday, I got up quite early and had breakfast at the hostel. I wasn’t too sure what I was going to do that day, but when I went to the front desk, I saw that 3 people were signed up to go canyoning in 20 minutes. The trip was 1500 pesos ($36) for a 6-hour day (lunch included), which seemed like a pretty good deal to me. I asked if it would be possible if I joined and they said yes, so I quickly went to get ready. A vehicle came to pick us up at 9am and there were already quite a few people in it. In total, there were 6 girls, and I think 4 or 5 guys. We drove for quite awhile and then stopped at a tiny building, where we would drop off all of our stuff. We were all kind of lost, wondering what we should bring. We were told not to bring anything (“Even water?” “No.” “Even sunscreen?” “No.”) So I just took my camera, and we were given helmets and life jackets, and told to get back in the car. They drove us to the beginning of the trip, where we were told we could take a zip line for an additional 600 pesos, or we could walk 45 minutes. Five of the girls opted to walk (including me), while the rest of the group opted for the zipline. This was when all of us started regretting not bringing any water or sunscreen. The walk ended up only taking about 15 minutes (they must try to scare you into paying for the zipline), and we actually beat all of the people who were doing the zipline. They told us to wait at a table, and all of us were sitting there, sweating profusely – the humidity was something none of us were used to. I think the guide sensed that he might have 5 girls passing out, so he asked us if we’d rather go wait in the water, and of course all of us were more than happy to go. When the final girl finished her zipline, they separated us girls from the guys (which was fine with us!), and we started. In my group, we had Annik and Hannah from Germany, Daniella and Cecilia from the US, and Jadene from the UK. The water was so refreshing, and had such a beautiful blue to it, and the sights were gorgeous! We started by going through some caves and then we got to our first jump, which was 4 metres. I was already nervous, and got even more nervous when I was told that it was the smallest of the jumps. I survived, but I inhaled quite a bit of water multiple times throughout the day haha it was such a fun day, and I had a great time with my guides and with the girls! One of the guides basically just took my GoPro from the beginning and became our personal photographer for the day. I didn’t get my GoPro back until the end! The last jump was 11 metres, and we were told that we wouldn’t get our lunch if we didn’t jump. I saw some people hesitating when they went to the edge to jump, and I saw some people just running for it. I decided to run for it because as soon as I saw how high it was and I questioned doing it, I was already in the air and I couldn’t turn back. It was much easier to jump when I didn’t have to know what I was jumping into – I should have done that for all of the jumps! We also did a rope swing, which was so fun! It was a great day exploring Kawasan falls, and I’m so glad that I made the last-minute decision to do it! After the long walk back to the building, they served us lunch. There was a lot of fried chicken, noodles, and spring rolls, so I was kind of concerned, but I didn’t want to make a fuss. Plus I was incredibly hungry (it was about 2:30 by that time) so I just ate. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel anything from this meal, so I wondered if the more gluten I had, the less that I’d react to it. We shall see – I’ll continue to experiment! We went back to the hostel and showered, and then I decided to walk into town. I caught the very end of the sunset, and then met up with Jadene, Daniella, and Cecilia for dinner at a place called Venz. I tried the chicken sisig, which is a sizzling Filipino dish with rice, but I don’t know what kind of sauce it came with. However, I DID start to feel itchy after eating this, so my body must just pick and choose when it wants to react. After dinner, we walked back to the hostel (which is about 20 minutes), and then just hung out until going to bed.

On Tuesday, I knew I wanted to check out the sardine run. I found out that Daniella and Cecilia were planning to go as well, so I joined them. We found a place that did snorkel rentals and they charged us 200 pesos ($4.83) each – so cheap! I was so shocked when I finally got to where the sardines were. There would have been millions of sardines swarming together – it was really quite magical! It was so cool watching them swim in different shapes. However, the current was quite strong so we kept getting pushed down the beach. When we tried to swim against it, we just kept wearing ourselves out, so we swam back to the beach and got mango smoothies (obviously). We decided to go back to the hostel for a bit, then went out for lunch. We went to The Three Bears, and I got a chicken curry. It was probably one of the best curries I’ve had in a long time – it was different from other curries as it was really creamy. It was almost like they put a can of mushroom soup in it – I loved it! After lunch, we took a tuktuk to White Beach. It was quite a long ride and when we went to pay our driver, we were surprised when he told us that we could pay him when we return – that he would wait for us at the beach! We met up with Jadene there and enjoyed a few hours in the sun. Compared to the Western Australia beaches, I didn’t think it was THAT great – the sand was a lot coarser and unfortunately, there was a lot of litter surrounding the beach and in the water. There were also stray dogs everywhere. But it DID beat the beach that was in town, and it was just nice to be by the water. We headed back to town right before 6, walked back to the hostel to shower, and then looked for a place for dinner. We found a place that looked amazing and served seafood, but they said that they had an hour and a half wait time, so we settled on somewhere else. There, I tried the Chili Garlic Shrimp, which was quite spicy, but it was still really good! After dinner, we walked back to the hostel and then chilled before bed. Conveniently, we were all planning to go to the same island the following day, so we prebooked our breakfast for the next morning and booked the shuttle for 8am. And that was my time in Moalboal! So much to see and do, and I loved it! Love always