Day 12

Day 12 began with us all being woken up by the alarm at 2.30am in order for us to leave the campsite by 3.00. This kind of went to plan and after waiting a little while, the final car got going at about 3.40. The drive between Malaybalay and Cagayan de Oro did not get any easier for some of us (namely Aaron and Huntz) even though it was the other way and in the dark. Some very interesting things can be seen on that road at that time of the day. After getting to the airport and boarding the plane, we were on our way, leaving Cagayan for Manila at 6.20am.

We were all very tired as some of us hardly got any sleep the night before, so the rest on the plane was much needed. At 7.40 we arrived in Manila, only to find Simon’s case was still in Cagayan. This was quickly sorted out and we headed straight for the nearest McDonalds for breakfast.

It was decided that after breakfast, we would all head to the Greenhills Markets. To get there, we had to negotiate our way through the Manila traffic and our thanks must go to Rollie our driver for his incredible work. For some of us, this was our first real taste of what Manila is like and it was an eye opener. Some people got some interesting things at the markets and the bargaining was certainly in full effect. Lunch was then had at a nice Italian restaurant named Fazolis.

This then brought us to the highlight of our day; the Corinthian Day Spa. We ended up staying there for about four hours, enjoying the spas, pool, showers, steam room, sauna and massage. After a week of hard work, it was nice to relax and unwind. After letting the cat out of the bag and admitting he was single, our friend Chris had an immediate marriage proposal from a masseur. This provided a bit of laughter for everyone on the way to our accommodation for the night, the guest house at the KIM base in Manila.

A very eventful day.