I know. That’s such a weird mix of a title for the blog post but I didn’t have enough photos to dedicate a blog post for each topic. So since this is the final post in this Philippines series, and I’m going to squeeze in a mixed bag of photos from different dates and talk about different things.

January 9, 2023

After finishing my work, I decided to head to Ermita via Pasay.

In 2011, when I first arrived in Manila, I stayed in the Pasay area at the famous Kabayan Hotel. Although a hectic area to be in, due to its proximity to Manila’s airport, Pasay is a convenient location if you want to get around via the city’s metro network; you can hop on the LRT 1 (Green line) and MRT 3 (Yellow line) from Pasay.

Since I arrived in Manila, I was hoping to catch the sunset by Manila Bay. But unfortunately, since arriving in mid-December, the skies in Manila had been grey and cloudy. Manila Bay — and the Philippines in general — offer some of the best sunrise / sunset views!

I was drawn to their shawarma section:

I was craving good shawarma from people who knew how to cook it right, so I went in. What I mean is, I had shawarma once from a Filipino chain and found the chicken meat mixed with some sweet-ish sauce — bleh!