We were all really excited to go to The Philippines except for one thing.... there was a super typhoon on the loose! When we arived at Singapore Airport, we were looking out for the "delayed" sign next to our flight number on the TV screen, but suprisingly that didn't happen! Although it did lead to an extremely bumpy arrival into Manila and some shrieks from terrified passengers.
The Super Typhoon was mentioned in all of the news!
We did have another small emergency however. Unfortunately one of the bags containing the clothes that were donated had a huge tear on it so we had to quickly find some tape to make it secure.
We arrived in Manila to rain and heavy winds. They sky was errily pitch black. We were nearly blown away! That may sound like I'm exaggerating but I'm not! We took a taxi to our hotel and rushed to the shopping mall in as we neeed to get supplies. You couldn't walk fast because the very strong wind kept pushing you backwards hard.
When we got to the mall we discovered that all the shops were closing! We needed food, water, gum boots, and a cooler bag for the Combantrin deworming chocolate squares so that they don't melt in the heat. We asked a secuirity guard why all the shops were closing so early and he said it was due to the typoon and people wanted to go home before the peak of the typoon struck. We were at the supermarket when an announcement was made over the loudspeakers that it would shut abruptly in five minutes. We ran back as fast as we could to our hotel in the pelting rain and strong winds.
This is the view from our hotel balcony which is on the 26th floor. Due to safety and lack of facilities, it was not possible to stay at the slums overnight, so we are staying at a very basic hotel in the heart of Manila..
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