Today I got up at 3am to take the bus back to Puerto Princesa. Since only 5 people were going back to Manila at that time, I got the front seat. This driver was much better than our last and sitting in the front rather than the back made a huge difference. This ride didn't seem bad at all compared to the way there. I was able to sleep most of the way.
Once I got to Puerto Princesa, I flew to Manila. Once landing I got a taxi to the Kimberly hotel to pick up my belongings I left behind when I left for Palawan. Everything worked out great. I had a really nice cab driver who waited for me to get my things and then took me to the Heritage Hotel where I am staying tonight with Sarah. The Heritage is a really nice hotel and we got a good last minute deal. My roommate Sarah and I are going to share a room to split the cost. Sarah was in the group leaving at 9am in the other bus, so she wasn't going to be arriving in Manila until the evening.
I had the afternoon to myself, so I went swimming in the outdoor pool and soaked up some sun. I also worked out in the fitness center. It felt amazing. I needed that really bad. I feel like I have not exercised in ages.
I thought Sarah would be arriving around 6pm, so I waited for her in the room and started packing my bag for tomorrow. At 8:30, she still hadn't arrived and I was starting to get worried. Turns out her flight to Manila was delayed and she arrived around 9pm at the hotel. Neither of us had dinner yet, so we decided to get a taxi to the Mall of Asia. We thought there would be lots of food choices there and we wanted to see the mall. It is the 4th biggest mall in the world. It was huge! So many western stores, lots I didn't recognize. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun just window shopping. We wanted western food so we chose Pizza Hut for dinner and the food was great.
Once we got back to the hotel, I finished packing up and got some sleep.