- San Fran to Hawaii - 5 hours
- Layover in Hawaii - 1 hour
- Hawaii to Manila - 10 hours
- Layover in Manila - 13 hours
- Manila to Melbourne - 8 hours
- Layover in Melbourne - 1 hour
- Melbourne to Sydney - 1 hour
- Layover in Sydney - 10 days (just kidding)
Add in some unexpected delays of about 3 hours all up and you'd think it was the journey back from the states from hell - especially considering the Qantas/United flight back can be done in 13 hours straight.
Instead it ended up being fine. I got an exit row for the trip to Manila, which was a big relief (even though I was between two, um, big guys and the in-flight entertainment didn't work in colour), then the stopover in Manila - where I will spend nearly two weeks after Christmas (From 28th December to 9th January) was actually a lot of fun ... instead of the initial (dumb) idea of just waiting at the airport, I decided it would make the most sense to plonk myself at Makati shopping mall, about 20 minutes away!
... whilst initially the taxis that greeted me were a little scary:
I found Manila's shopping malls (where I spent most of the day) to be pretty similar to malls back at home ... (see this big concert thing)
... with lots of Australian stuff to comfort me:
... interestingly titled night clubs ...
... and Spanish-style chicken! (reminds me of Mozambique!)
... all at, of course, unbelievably cheap prices; especially considering my tolerance for price has been inflated due to my time in expensive San Francisco!
Which meant that, to "recover" inbetween my 10+ hour flights both ways I spent a few pence getting:
- A back massage
- A footspa massage
- Lots and lots of food
- A "lip facial" at this beauty parlour
- A haircut
- When the plane was delayed an hour: Another 90 minute massage at a massage parlour conveniently located in the departures lounge ... ah, it was the best flight delay ever! =)
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