By far the least prepared for an overseas holiday I have ever been, we bundled into the taxi at 6am for the short drive to Canberra airport to start our Filipino adventure. Yes, I didn’t start packing until after work the night before but I am still yet to equal the feat of a former housemate who was still suffering so much from a big night, that a bunch of friends packed his bags for a two month jaunt to South America.

The best thing about flying with Qantas from Canberra is that the international check-in (essentially a bag drop without the Qbagtag) takes about 10 minutes. The place is so automated and there are so few international departures from here that you usually don’t even have to queue. From here it was what has become an overseas flight tradition – the Qantas Club – albeit usually with a glass of sparkling – not really the done thing (or available) at 7am on a weekday, surrounded by the business day-trippers – carryon in hand.

Qantas had left only an hour’s gap between our flights which concerned me a little, especially since our flight was on the tail end of Canberra’s fog season which results in long departure delays. As it happens, our flight landed in Sydney early which was a good thing as it took the best part of the hour we had to get to the International terminal and make our way through the very busy Border Force area. We went through outgoing smartgates for the first time, which was a slower process than the people operated gates. No time for the Qantas Club here – when we got to the gate we had only enough time for a toilet stop before boarding.

Nine hours on a plane is a lot less daunting than 14 and the Qantas in-flight service, particularly the catering has improved in recent years. Plane food is never gourmet because of the way they have to prepare it but my chicken with roast vegetables was good and the Weiss bar is a nice Aussie touch that no one can complain about. Dan was happy he got to enjoy the mini hot dogs (which we both missed on the Dubai flight while we were trying to sleep.)

We were dreading the three hour layover in Hong Kong (with no lounge access) but it passed quite quickly. We called my sister on arrival but she was just about to get on her flight to Manila. Like most of the busy airports in the world, Hong Kong airport has realised it can charge premium rates from a captive audience. While the rates in the McDonalds and some similar fast food places were a bit lower, we chose to blow the Hong Kong dollars I had stashed on my travel card from my China trip and have a sit down dinner which was a great decision. The Yum cha service had just stopped but we chose char sui pork, green beans with some kind of mince topping, rice a big pot of green tea and sat there happily enjoying our dinner in comfort after we worked out that if you didn’t order when you first sat down, you basically had to grab someone. (Pinned Down – The Creatures – deconstructed post-punk from Miss Siouxsie Sioux and co. I saw these guys in Brisbane about 15 years ago and they were mesmerising.)

We had somehow managed to get two window seats, with me behind Dan, for our final flight to Manila. The guy sitting beside me graciously offered to swap which gave him a single seat in the exit row. The two hour hop on Cathay Pacific was a breeze although the food – kind of burrito mix in a latticed pastry was pretty ordinary.

Customs and immigration was a lot less laborious than I was expecting in Manila. There wasn’t much of a queue at immigration and Customs was similar to the way it operates in Europe – based on an honour system where you walk through the nothing to declare lane. Bag collection was fairly swift too. We were met by my sister and stepmum at the customs entrance – the first time I have experienced that abroad. It actually made for a much more relaxed arrival – no looking for the taxi queue or trying to work out how to get in a regular metered taxi rather than end up in a garage somewhere with some shady character and his jalopy. The uncle of my brother’s bride-to-be had graciously waited hours to take Dan and I (and my sister, Cass, who arrived two hours before us) to our hotel. And there was quite the welcoming party with my stepmum, Tess, brother, Dean and his bride to be Shan, all at the airport to meet us. Three things became obvious in that journey. 1. The heat – Manila is hot and sticky (which was of course exacerbated by us coming from the cold of winter). 2 – The traffic – Everybody had told me the traffic was bad in Manila but it is something to behold. Granted I haven’t travelled in Asia and Manila has been described to me many times as a big chaotic South East Asian city which is reflected in its traffic. And then some. It’s combination of slow crawl, maniac speed and a loose relationship with the idea that any of the lines on the road mean anything. Forget not indicating for a lane change. Here, despite the markings on the elevated roadways suggesting 3 or 4, there is only one lane and the question of where in that lane you are at any given time is a matter of how good your ability is to swerve between and around the other traffic. Even at 11am we spent parts of our journey in a traffic jam. 3. The poverty – the gaping divide between those that have and those that don’t is glaringly obvious in Manila. Just a few kilometres from the airport there were people sleeping on the median strip of the freeway. A bit further on we encountered what I can only describe as shanty towns where people are living in dwellings constructed from corrugated iron surrounding muddy lane ways. Yet in complete contrast the area surrounding our hotel in the central business district of Makati, was full of plush hotels and upscale malls. There were security guards in front of every ATM, boom gates with mirror checks of cars at the entrance to any hotel and mag wanding and bag checks before entering the hotel. Did I feel guilty? Yes. Did this change where I stayed? No. I told myself that I would make sure that I asked for receipts so the taxes on what I spend are guaranteed to end up in the local economy but I’m not sure there are enough checks and balances here for that to be the case. We resigned ourselves to tipping the taxi drivers and service staff we came in contact with. Curiously on our journey to the hotel I didn’t see the most Filipino of all Filipino things – a jeepney (but I probably wasn’t looking hard enough). On arrival at our hotel, New World Makati, we bade our farewells and checked in. we were again talked into the special deal Club package with breakfast and room upgrade. The room was quite impressive with a separate shower (rainfall head) and bath and a Japanese style screen that opens the bathroom up to the bedroom. And fabulous air conditioning to aid a good night’s sleep. (Atlantic Romantic – The Models – distinctly 80s but the Melbournians still stand up)