March 12th

Today we go touring around Metro Manila.

Cousins Lito, Hilda, and Andre are my companions for the day. First stop was Lito’s townhouse in Cavite. We see his cute little boy, Andrew.

Next, we drove about an hour and a half to Tagatay. At a restaurant overlooking Lake Taal, we ate bulalo, which is a beef and bone marrow soup. Tasty.

After lunch, we took a two hour drive to Los Banos, where my dad went to the university. The University of the Philippines at Los Banos is a really big campus. I stopped by the College of Forestry, his major.

The school is also where Andre’s girlfriend studies. We left Andre there so he can study and cuddle.

Last stop of the day was at the Mall of Asia by Manila Bay. Lito says it’s the largest mall in Asia. I did some shopping and we had dinner. By the time we were done, it was night and we left the mall to walk along Manila’s Baywalk. Baywalk’s nice. It’s got a Hooters.

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Chicago. I am definitely coming back. Next time, I think I’ll spend half the time in Pandan and Boracay and the other half at my dad’s province Samar.