Leaving on a jet plane

Even though I am writing this 2 weeks after, I can still remember how sad I felt to be leaving Tacloban, maybe because I still miss it and want to go back!

We woke up early that morning to pack our stuff and spend some time with the family, most of whom were at the house instead of the store which was nice. We had a feast for breakfast, including my favourite vege spring rolls, I have got no worries about eating non-breakfast food at this time of the morning anymore!

We had some small gifts for the kids which they seemed to really like, colouring books and pencils, toy cars and play-doh. We also left behind lots of clothes, some at the orphanage, some with the community centre and some with the family.

Nanay Marlyn, Jec-Jec, Twinkle, Shay-Shay, Chic-kay and Kelly all came to see us off with Ethel and her little boy. Unfortunately they couldn't come into the terminal with us so we said our goodbyes outside.

Then we were on our way to Manila, we had been in Tacloban for 3 weeks but it had felt like just days and both Joy and I wanted to stay :o(

The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, when we got to Manila we had no trouble changing from the domestic to international terminals, unlike the way in. We had to hang around for a while before checking in but it was better than the mad rush we had before!

Did some last minute souvenir shopping but still couldn't find a thimble - sorry Mum!

Arrived at Singapore at about 9:30pm, and it was time to say goodbye to Joy. I walked her to her gate and she only had about 10 minutes to wait so I made her promise to text me when she got on the flight – but I couldn’t hang around as I had to claim my luggage. I am really glad Joy decided to come with me, it was a great experience to share and I’ll think I’ll miss her after spending everyday together for 3 weeks!

As I got in a taxi to the hotel, I was worried about leaving Joy before she had got on her flight but she text me not long after I had checked in and got to my room so I was able to relax! The air conditioned room felt far too cold for me and I had to sleep with several layers despite the fact the temperature was the same as in the Philippines, around 34 degrees. Even the hot bath didn't do much to warm me up but it was nice to have one!

I set 3 alarms clocks for 6am the next morning so I could go and meet Mark off his flight at 7:45am.