Quarantine is more fun in the Philippines

It took three plane rides to travel from Karratha, Western Australia to Manila, Philippines. The first flight was from Karratha to Perth which took two hours followed by an international flight from Perth to Singapore which took about five hours. And lastly, Singapore to Manila, a three-hour flight. We had to break up our journey in Perth to accommodate the required pre-departure RT-PCR tests the day before our international flight.

(Manila skyline from the 23rd floor of Ascott Makati)

Our arrival experience at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was quite a pleasant surprise. I had been bracing myself for a stressful arrival process as I made sure all our forms were filled out and all our documents were in order and within easy reach in my backpack before our plane began its descent. But really, the process went very smoothly. A designated officer met us upon disembarkation. He had a list of names of all the passengers coming off the plane. He gave us a brief overview of what we needed to do and where we needed to go and as he waved us on, he mentioned that he would meet us on the other side, at the baggage collection carousel. Airport personnel gave clear directions and waved us through the arrivals area with friendly smiles as we fumbled our way through with four little suitcases and two children – growing irritable by the minute – in tow. We had to go through the quarantine queue first where the helpful officer in military uniform scanned our Philippine One Health Pass QR Codes which we received via email after filling out an online form (https://www.onehealthpass.com.ph/ , we had to answer a few questions and upload our negative RT-PCR test results which we completed the night before). Then we went through immigration where a pleasant lady officially welcomed us and checked our passports and other documents. As a Balikbayan or returning former Filipino who is no longer a citizen (naturalised in another country, in my case, Australia), I had to provide my birth certificate, expired Filipino passport, marriage certificate and the birth certificates of my two children. She stamped our passports and waved us through without any issues.

(Longganisa -- tasty local sausages served with fried rice and eggs, waffles, pancakes and sausages, corn on a cob, boiled peanuts, fried plantains topped with grated cheese)

As we descended the escalators, I noticed that the airport staff who had met us at the plane was downstairs waiting for us. He had all four of our check-in suitcases and two guitars already stacked neatly on two trolleys. He directed us towards the Department of Tourism counter where more staff in military uniform scanned our QR codes again and made sure we had a confirmed booking for an approved quarantine hotel.

(Living room and dining space at our quarantine hotel)

After that, our helpful airport attendant directed us to the money changing kiosks where I exchanged my Australian dollars for some Philippine pesos. He then pointed out where I could get a Philippine sim card and I got myself a local number with 122 gigabytes of data in less then five minutes. That bit was incredibly easy. I just handed the lady behind the Smart (local provider) counter my phone and they replaced my Australian sim card with a pre-paid Philippine one and loaded it up. I paid for my sim card and handed her a two-dollar Australian coin as a souvenir, a small gesture of appreciation for her assistance and for making the experience so quick and easy.

(Supplies sent up by my dear Uncle Manny)

My new Philippine sim card allowed me to call our hotel and request for our pre-booked ride to come and fetch us. Twenty minutes later, our transport arrived and all the suitcases, guitars, and backpacks were stacked like Lego into the back of a mini-van. I discreetly handed our helpful airport attendant a nice little tip as I climbed in after the children and he flashed me his widest grin. Then he walked off, back into the arrivals area to help more passengers arriving that evening. He had guided us through, and waited with us, and made sure we had a ride, with such a positive attitude the entire time. When I asked him earlier if assisting arriving passengers past immigration was part of his duties, he had informed me that it was not and that he just wanted to help seeing that we had so much luggage with us and two small children. We were so grateful for his help.

(Marinated Milkfish with a fried egg, garlic fried rice and pickled onions)

Our two-bedroom apartment at Ascott Makati (https://www.ascottresidencetrust.com/portfolio/philippines/ascott-makati) was very nice and check-in took all of fifteen minutes. The list of approved quarantine hotels was quite long and suited every budget. We chose this particular hotel because of its close proximity to the airport and for its central location. We also decided on a two-bedroom accommodation, instead of two adjoining hotel rooms, so we could quarantine comfortably in a unit with lots of space, a functioning kitchen and one that has a washing machine and dryer.

(Bacon and eggs)

Our accommodation came with breakfast. Every evening we would fill out a form with our breakfast choices from a selection of dishes and leave it on a tray outside our door. Hotel staff would then come and pick up our breakfast order and in the morning someone delivers it to our room. We decided against getting all our meals catered for by the hotel because we really wanted to sample all the different food from the abundance of restaurants in the area, all delivered directly to our door.

(Beef noodle soup)

That first night, I immediately downloaded a couple of food delivery apps on my phone, ones similar to Uber Eats. I downloaded Grab and Food Panda and hastily figured out a way to order food for our first dinner. Our first meal did not disappoint! For about AUD$32 (one of the more expensive meals from our days in quarantine), we had a big plate of bagnet (crispy pork belly), a plate of fried chicken, a plate of pinakbet (a tasty dish of eggplant, okra and other veggies) and a mountain of rice. It was delivered to us within thirty minutes, accompanied by a loud ‘DING - DONG’. As we filled our bellies, we knew right away that we were about to have a very good quarantine experience.

(More amazing breakfasts!)

The breakfasts, provided by the hotel restaurant, were delicious. We had pancakes and waffles topped with whipped cream and sliced bananas. We tried the beef noodle soup with dumplings (it was Chinese new year and this particular dish was a seasonal special). We enjoyed the ube (purple yam) champorado (sticky rice porridge), warm, sweet and filling and reminded me of my childhood. We had chicken turmeric adobo (chicken braised in soy sauce, vinegar, lots of garlic and onion) served with garlic fried rice. There was bangus (milk fish) marinated in vinegar, crushed garlic and loads of black pepper also served with garlic fried rice and pickled onions. We absolutely loved the beef tapa (thin beef strips marinated in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic) served with, you guessed it, garlic fried rice and an egg, sunny side up. There was also the more typical breakfast fare of bacon or sausages and eggs with fresh rolls served with butter and marmalade. Each breakfast came with a cappuccino each for myself and Donovan and hot cocoas for the children, fruit drinks (orange and lychee) for everyone and some fresh fruit. We thoroughly enjoyed our daily breakfasts those first few mornings in our new home country.

(Donuts from J. CO Donuts and Coffee)

My dear uncle, who worked close by, was kind enough to bring us fruits like mangoes, bananas (the kind for eating and the kind for cooking) and apples. He sent us a box of supplies filled with dishwashing soap, laundry detergent, toiletries, a few bags of our favourite corn snacks (Boy Bawang Cornik for the win!), cartons of milk and pineapple juice, two kinds of yogurt drinks and of course, a few bottles of Red Horse beer especially requested by Donovan.

(Chow mein with wonton)

We had such a great time in isolation! We entertained ourselves by watching movies, playing video games on the Nintendo Switch and on-line, on our laptops (yep, the kids were even able to play and chat with their friends back in Australia and a good friend who lives in California). We drew pictures in our sketchbooks, we made music by practising our guitar-playing, there was hide and seek and plenty of places to hide in (closets, bathrooms, behind curtains and doors), we mastered our Karate kata in our pajamas, and spied on neighbouring buildings using our spyglass.

(Lazy afternoons)

Our apartment had wide floor to ceiling windows in every room and I would catch the sunrise in panorama on the mornings that I woke up early. And we would make sure to sit in direct sunlight every day where the sun sent a light well of warmth and nourishment through one side of our bedroom at around three in the afternoon. Sunsets were always spectacular from our vantage point, the sky scrapers silhouetted dramatically against tropical, amber skies and the city lights glittered and winked at us at nightfall.

(A selection of kakanin, Filipino sweet rice and cassava desserts)

(Cheesecake Purple Taro with grass jelly from Macao Imperial Tea)

Mealtimes were always something to look forward to as we scrolled through different restaurants in close proximity, usually delivering within half an hour of hitting the ‘order food’ button on our phone apps. We had bucketfuls of the tastiest and crispiest fried chicken from Jollibee, the most popular fast food franchise in the country. We tried sisig (sizzling chopped crispy pork with fresh onion, chilli peppers and calamansi, our local limes) from three different places; we were trying to figure out which restaurant served the best one. One time we had these amazing umami burgers that disappeared all too quickly; they used fresh brioche buns and high quality beef patties. There were boxes of assorted donuts and milk tea of different flavours and toppings. We sampled a variety of Philippine sweet rice and cassava desserts, all too familiar and very delicious. It was a struggle to restrain ourselves from going over the top as there was so much to choose from and everything was very cheap compared to what we were used to back in Australia. Quarantine really is more fun in the Philippines.

(Plenty of gaming)

It was truly an enjoyable eight and a half days. We got plenty of rest, rest that we needed after three months of anxious planning and packing. We slept soundly every night in our big beds and took the opportunity to decompress after such a stressful time. What an amazing experience it was to have a valid excuse not to have a daily schedule; nothing to organise or attend to (except for a load of laundry every other day), nowhere to go to, no one to see. And for the first time in a long time, we genuinely felt carefree.

(Manila sunset)

“It’s more fun in the Philippines” is the official slogan of the Department of Tourism and from our experience, it rings true. Even during quarantine.

(City lights)