I woke up at about 8:30 AM. When I climbed down from the top bunk, Franky was still sleeping, and the Chinese girl who had been arguing over the room temperature was gone. Although I wanted to take a shower, as usual, there was a guy who had been in the bathroom for a long time, so I gave up, took my personal journal, and went downstairs. I brushed my teeth on the same floor as the reception and wrote in my journal. When I came out of the bathroom, I happened to meet Franky, who was getting ready for the movie we were going to watch that morning. She had the same reason I did for not being able to get ready in the room because a guy had been taking a shower for a long time. She also had to come downstairs to get ready.
When I went back to the room about 15 minutes later, he had finally gotten out of the bathroom, so I took a shower immediately and changed my clothes. Since we still had some time before leaving, Franky got some breakfast somewhere and started eating at a large table on the same floor as the reception. We chatted for a bit before leaving the hostel.
We took a taxi, and the driver asked if it was okay to use the Skyway (a toll highway). Franky said it was okay, although I was not sure about it. Even though the driver took the Skyway, which cost us 260 PHP ($4), we were still late for the movie. Part of the reason was me because I wanted to buy something to eat before entering the theater. After getting my hostel deposit back at check-out, I bought a small ube croissant with cash. When I arrived at the theater, Franky was waiting for me in front of the entrance. I apologized, and we went inside. The movie had already started, even though we thought there would be advertisements beforehand. We managed to find our seats and started watching.
It had been quite a while since I had last watched a movie in a theater. I honestly do not remember the last time I did. Although I had a hard time understanding the English without subtitles, I was still able to follow the story, so I enjoyed it a lot. The temperature inside the theater was so cold that I pulled my hands into my shirt so my skin would not be exposed to the air. The fact that Franky was doing the same thing was funny. Another interesting thing was that we were given complimentary Lay’s chips and a bottle of water, which was the first time I had experienced that. Although the movie lasted for three hours, it did not feel that long, which Franky and I both agreed on.
After watching the movie, we ended up at Starbucks to relax for a while because she wanted to drink some hot tea. She really loves tea. She got a large mug of tea, and I got a large cinnamon Danish, which we shared. After about 30 minutes, we left and went to a post office in the same mall so she could send a postcard to Germany. She also wanted to buy a magnet from Manila, so we took a Grab taxi to a souvenir shop on the way back to the hostel. She luckily found the magnet she wanted, so she looked happy, even though she was exhausted after spending so much time in the mall.
We returned to the hostel and relaxed on the couch near the reception. We talked more about relationships, the kind of topics that high school students probably enjoy talking about. At one point, I asked her, “How would you rate me out of 10 as a guy?” She answered that, in terms of looks, I was a 7 out of 10, and overall, an 8 out of 10. I was not sure whether she genuinely thought so, but it made me happy to hear.
After relaxing on the couch, I bought dinner from a sandwich shop and a convenience store. Since I did not like the sandwich, I gave it to Franky because she wanted something to eat. At 8 PM, we said goodbye, gave each other a hug, and I left the hostel. She was great company during my last two days in Manila. Without her, those two days would have been much more boring. If I had not started talking to her, none of those experiences would have happened.
After leaving the hostel, I took a motorbike taxi through Move It. Right after I got on the motorbike, it started raining so heavily that we had to stop and put on raincoats. I had no idea that a typhoon was coming that night. I think it was one of the heaviest rains I have ever seen in my life. Although the ride to the airport was only about 10 to 15 minutes, my pants, socks, and sandals were completely soaked by the time we arrived. The young driver was so kind that he guided me to the terminal where I could avoid the rain while taking off the raincoat. I thanked him, and he rode back to where he had parked his motorbike.
As soon as I entered the airport, I changed out of my wet pants into a pair of shorts. I settled down inside a bakery and coffee shop called Paris Baguette and killed time until check-in. During check-in, my baggage was overweight, so I had to pay an extra $40. That made me feel so disappointed that I stayed in a bad mood for the next few hours.
The flight took off on time. Surprisingly, I did not see many Japanese passengers on board, although all of the cabin attendants were Japanese. Even then, it still did not feel real that I was finally going back to Japan after three months of traveling.
