The time had come for a little family trip to the big city! We had to make our way to Manila for a very specific reason: renewing passports for me and my boy, Liam. It wasn't just a quick "in and out" trip, though. We decided to make a few days of it so we could relax, do some shopping, and just enjoy a change of scenery.
The journey started early—and I mean early. We were up and on the road by 2:15 AM to make our 5:30 AM flight. I was doing my best to stay awake behind the wheel while Jessa kept me company. We made it to Mactan-Cebu International Airport with plenty of time to spare. The domestic terminal there is small but has everything you need—a bit of coffee, some snacks, and a place to wait. Liam was such a trooper, even though he was clearly a bit tired and curious about the whole "flying" thing.
The flight itself was smooth, and we had some beautiful views as we lifted off and eventually descended over the cloudy Manila skyline. Once we landed, I had one very important piece of advice for anyone visiting Manila: always take a Grab. I cannot stress this enough. Stay away from the regular meter taxis at the airport—it’s just not worth the hassle or the risk of being overcharged. We headed straight for the Grab booth at Bay 20 and got ourselves a ride. It’s reliable, the price is fixed, and it just makes life so much easier.
Since we were a few hours early for our hotel check-in at Dream World, we spent some time at SM City North EDSA. It’s a massive mall, and luckily we found "Dino Land," which was a huge hit with Liam. He was a little scared of the big ones at first, but he eventually warmed up to them! After finally checking in and getting some much-needed food at Jollibee, we pretty much just collapsed. I think I’d been awake for something like 32 hours at that point!
We spent our third day just taking it easy at the hotel and the mall across the street. We’ve been so busy lately that it felt great to just "do nothing" for a bit. It was the calm before the storm, because the next day was our big appointment at the Norwegian Embassy.
On our final day, we headed to the embassy at 9:00 AM to handle the passports. With that mission accomplished, we decided to visit the Venice Grand Canal Mall. It’s like a little slice of Italy right in Manila, complete with gondolas you can rent! We also made a stop at Market-Market because Jessa realized she needed a new outfit after sitting on something white in the mall—classic Jessa!
One of the best parts of the trip was meeting so many of you. We must have taken hundreds of photos over those few days. We never say no to a photo request unless we’re literally running for a ferry or a flight, because without our followers, this channel wouldn't exist. Thank you, Manila, for treating The Dahl Family so well. We had a blast, got our paperwork done, and headed back to Cebu feeling refreshed. See you in the next one!
