Hello, Philippines!

Of family, weddings, and beaches. Let’s make this trip back home sweeter the 2nd time around 🇵🇭 Read more

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Trip start
May 2, 2025
Hello, Philippines!Us The Whites
Laters, England!
May 2, 2025 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
This is it!! Philippines, here we come 🇵🇭

Running on few hours of sleep - what a busy week it had been at work for us!! But we’re both very excited for what the next few weeks has in store.

Early start today! Off to the airport ✈️ Booked an Uber cause, to be frank, we really CBA taking public transportation (#NotToday) 😂Read more
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Leg 1: London to Riyadh
May 2, 2025 in England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
First stop: English breakfast at the Spoons. Also catching up on sleep at the observation deck lounges (quite comfy!)

Second time flying with Saudia, we’ll have a connecting flight in Riyadh to Manila. Delayed flight on this leg so stuck in the airport for +3hrs, but it came with a good surprise - we bumped into Jec (an old friend from high school!) who’s apparently also in the same flight. Time well spent catching up & laughing at the turn of events that led us to our lives in the UK. ☀️

Hoping for a smooth and safe journey home ✈️Read more
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Leg 2: Riyadh to Manila
May 3, 2025 in Saudi Arabia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
Touchdown Riyadh! 🇸🇦

Thank the heavens for a smooth flight earlier! Delayed boarding meant reduced layover time at KKIA, which is a welcome bonus. Killing time now with a quick burger fix, and then off to a gruelling 8-9hr flight to Manila. We’re getting there! #LetsGo

Thanks to our new Turtl neck pillow (great investment!), we are able to get a decent snooze whilst up in the air. With absolutely zero neck pain (a win!)Read more
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Touchdown, Philippines!
May 3, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C
Finally we have now landed in Manila!🇵🇭
We arrived in a 30+ deg weather - so yep a very warm welcome indeed! (Pun intended)

Trina’s parents and sister (+very cute nephew Bembi) greeted us at the airport, and drove us to our family home in Rizal where we had a much needed Filipino food fix (pansit/noodles, longganisa, and of course RICE - all home cooked, thanks Berns!)

First 6 hours home involved attending/hosting a bridal shower for my bestfriend, Alex. Fun was had by all 🫶Read more
Such posing penguins [Tita sue]
5/3/25Reply
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Sunday at Casa Candelaria
May 4, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
📍Taytay & Angono, Rizal
Started with: a good Sunday brunch. Feat. pan de sal (that dad bought from the local bakery) with peanut butter jam, and dried squid, longganisa, sunny side eggs, and special egg fried rice. (Alex has adapted so well to our brekky style 😂)

Ended with: a visit at CaFelicity with the Gonzaga cousins. Supporting my aunt’s small coffee business! Alex instantly became part of the cafe marketing tactics (watch out for this space😆)

And everything in-between: Went to SM malls to buy new luggages & Filipino treats to take home, sorting out Alex’s local sim, and most especially, buying the SPF150 sunscreen (we are gearing up for the HOT beaches next week). Mum craved for Pad Thai & Pizzas, so she treated us all at The Tavern.Read more
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Alex & Gab’s Wedding
May 5, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C
📍Hatch+Hoolman Studio, Taguig
It’s Alex and Gab’s wedding! We have roles for today: we’re doing the cords at the ceremony, and Trina delivering one of the speeches at the reception. Our call time was much earlier at 1pm to help with the set-up.

I had my HMU done at home, thanks to my last-minute “fairy godmothers” for making me look decent 😆 Then off to our hotel in BGC to drop off our overnight bag before heading to the venue.

It was very hot and humid for a garden wedding (!), but it eventually tapered down right before the 4pm ceremony. It was the most colorful wedding we’ve been in 🫶 Alex looked DIVINE in her dress & with her laid down hair. Gab looked extra dapper. What a joy to see my best friend marrying the love of her life.

First wedding attendance as husband and wife. So proud (and thankful) to have Alex as my +1. He met Alex’s family (who I practically grew up with) and all our other friends from church. Just an amazing day!Read more
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Errands & chill in BGC
May 6, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
📍Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

We’re back in Trina’s previous work hood, one of the main business districts (more upscale) in Manila. So much time and memories spent here!

We checked in at The Hotel 101 (Fort) since the wedding to save traveling to and from Rizal. Main agenda in BGC: sorting out some life admin. ‘Twas a productive day being able to sort out bank stuff that I cant do digitally, whilst Alex is out and about exploring the area and doing some more photography. We loved the fact that this area has everything you need, and has in general more order/efficiencies unlike most parts of the Phils, so we both thought we could live here if we choose to move to the PH. Bonus points that most foreign expats choose to live around here, so Alex wont find it hard to find a community ;)

Bonifacio High Street is just around the corner, so we MAY have done some more shopping….Read more
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Catch-ups at The Fort (BGC)
May 6, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
📍Fort Bonifacio, BGC

After doing some life admin (ie. errands and shopping), we met up with Unilever friends around The Fort Bonifacio area. First with Len over dinner at Keizo (authentic Japanese) — fun talking about how life has been since our wedding & some much needed reminder about balancing work/life healthily. And then with Mark & Caitlin at Cerveseria for after-dinner drinks — catching up over changes since we last left the Phils.

Caitlin is moving to London in 3 months to also study her MBA (how very exciting!), so Alex and I gave her insider tips & advice from first-hand experience. Cant wait for her to join the London crew. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Read more
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Intramuros: The Walls & Baluartes
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
📍Intramuros, Manila

Intramuros, literally means “within the walls”. It is a historic fortified city in Manila. The oldest and most important district back then, and serving as the centre of Spanish colonial rule (est 1571).

We explored the Philippines’ rich past with the newlyweds Alex & Gab. Gab did his thesis about Intramuros when he was taking Architecture in uni, and so he stepped up and played tourguide. (He was great! it’s like stepping back in time & seeing it with fresh eyes!)

Amazing architecture — from universities, churches & cathedrals, heritage homes, forts, museums, and more. Love to see Alex immersing in Philippine history!Read more
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Centro de Turismo Intramuros
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
📍Centro de Turismo Intramuros

Great opportunity to brush up on our Philippine History! 🇵🇭 Happy to see contemporary and more modern museums in the country. It is a successful attempt to keep up with the times and other more developed countries. It had been hot outside too, so bonus points it’s airconditioned ;)

Trivia: the name “Manila” originated from a Spanish inquiry about the location of nilad plants (a flowering shrub). Locals believed to have answered “Doon may nilad” which meant “there’s nilad there”. May-nilad >> evolving into “Maynila” and then “Manila” had been since adapted by the Spaniards & the world. Originally “Manila” is just the walled city of Intramuros. However it expanded to cover other ‘arrabales’ (surrounding districts) under American rule.Read more
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Barbara’s Restaurant & Casa Manila
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
📍Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant and Casa Manila, Intramuros

For lunch we treated Alex & Gab out to Barbara’s, a heritage restaurant popular in Intramuros for classic Filipino dishes & cultural experience.

Food was great — we loved the seafood paella, callos, pinakbet, and lechon kawali. Company (and conversations) was even better! It then started to pour outside, luckily we’re indoors already. Whilst waiting for the rain to stop, we killed time and visited the connecting Casa Manila, where we saw how typical houses look like for wealthy Filipino families during the Spanish times. Pretty cool how they preserved all of it.

Today marks many firsts for Alex & Gab as husband and wife, and we’re glad we’re with them in this 🫶Read more
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Intramuros: The Churches & Cathedrals
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
📍San Agustin Church & The Manila Cathedral, Intramuros
Also visited the popular churches found within the former walled city. Key tidbits:

• San Agustin Church: oldest stone church in PH. It had withstood many earthquakes and even the Battle of Manila during WWII. Baroque architecture with trompe-loeil ceiling paintings (making it look like 3D when it’s actually flat!)

• The Manila Cathedral: the premier church & seat of Archbishop of Manila. Built in 1581, but had been destroyed & rebuilt multiple times due to earthquake, fires and wars (a “fake old” structure). A Romanesque Revival with stunning stained glass windows. Loads of celebrity weddings happen here!

Both look stunning at nighttime too.Read more
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Visiting the landmark Fort Santiago
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
📍Fort Santiago, Intramuros

Fort Santiago (built in 1571) is a historic Spanish fortress in Intramuros. It served as a military stronghold under various colonial powers. National hero José Rizal was imprisoned here before his 1896 execution—his final footsteps are marked on the grounds. An iconic landmark today and a symbol of Filipino history and resilience.

Later we found this amazing café just outside Fort Santiago, Papa Kape. We enjoyed the fun and unique drinks menu over quality conversations. Highly recommended.Read more
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Dinner & views at La Cathedral Café
May 7, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
📍La Catedral Café & Restaurant
Ended the day with a dinner at La Cathedral Restaurant topdeck. We enjoyed the nighttime views, overlooking the lit up Manila Cathedral just around the corner.

Then it’s home time — the #Fab4 ordered a taxi to take us all back to Rizal. We got dropped off at Alex’s parents’ house in Taytay (my second home as I’ve done loads of sleepovers here back then!), where we stayed for a bit waiting for dad to come pick us up.

An absolute great day with The Briosos!Read more
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Errands & chill in Rizal
May 8, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Woke up late to find that dad had been waiting for us both so we could have breakfast together! He volunteered to chaperone and drive us around today (thanks dad!) whilst mum and Alli are back to biz.

Today is life admin day. Needed to go to SM Masinag to have my postpaid plan converted to Plan Zero, which will help keep monthly bills down (for 6 years i was paying full price monthly for a postpaid plan, just to keep my mobile number for OTPs!) We found ourselves shopping again…. We bought more collared shirts for Alex, portable fans - perfect for traveling in hot countries, and loafer shoes for Trina.Read more
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Early Mother’s Day Celebration at Lanai
May 9, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We took off early for this family roadtrip to Tanay, Rizal. We had a lunch reservation at Lanai — a very good restaurant with bloody good views! Good to come here on a weekday, as this place gets packed during weekends!

We treated mum out for an advance Mother’s Day celebration. A smaller family affair as my 2 other brothers werent able to leave for work.

And as usual, with places that have good views, we have squeezed in a bit of photoshoot 😂 So pardon the poses!Read more
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Karaoke at The Naughty Chicken
May 9, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ 🌙 31 °C
Not a trip to the Phils without karaoke! Had a fun get together with P12 & friends from church at The Naughty Chicken 🫶 Thanks for making time for us balikbayans, gang!

There was a live band outside our karaoke room. When we were about to go home, the band asked if we’d like to sing and jam with them on the stage. Alex, as usual, didn’t hesitate!! What can I do other than be a supportive wife? 😂

Last night in Rizal before we set off for our island adventure 🌴Read more
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Kicking off our island escapade
May 10, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
✈️ Local flight #1: Manila to Coron (Busuanga Airport)

Woke up early to grab a taxi to NAIA Terminal 2. We’re flying with Philippine Airlines, booked for free through mileage points. Frequent flying in the past has definitely paid off!Read more
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Touchdown, Coron!
May 10, 2025 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
📍Busuanga Airport, Coron, Palawan

We’re kicking off our island adventure in Coron—a tropical paradise known for its dramatic limestone cliffs, crystal-clear lagoons, and vibrant coral reefs. Located in the northern part of Palawan, Coron is a haven for nature lovers and divers alike. We will explore hidden lakes, soaked in turquoise waters, and experience some of the most breathtaking island scenery in the Philippines. 🌴Read more
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Trip end
May 17, 2025