I made it to the Philippines!

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

22 hours ago, John & Rose said:

H2O is where I always stayed on visits before. It is awesome but a little pricy. Well worth it if you have kids. They will love the fish tank walls. I believe the ocean park is back open now but with limited numbers of guests. Great choice of restaurants there too. Overall probably still my favorite place to stay. 

We just booked a flight MNL-CEB for Christmas week.  Flying out on Christmas Day and returning on New Years Eve in the afternoon.  So we decided to stay in Manila for NY Eve and maybe the next night too.

 

It appears that H2O is quarantine only, as their calendar says they are booked until March.  Manila Ocean Park is open to kids now.  We will probably end up in an Air BnB condo around MOA.  We have done that before and enjoyed them, even though they are usually small.  Nice pools, etc.

[John & Rose 7,239]

Yes you can quarantine together. Hopefully by March you won’t have to. If your destination is Mindanao I recommend avoiding Manila completely if you can. You would have to quarantine in Manila and then again in Cebu.  Try flying straight to Cebu or Davao. Thinks are changing again. Manila is fighting the face shield requirement (which few follow) and are talking about goggles instead…LOL. Only in the Philippines. 

[PWB 213]

On 11/7/2021 at 6:08 PM, John & Rose said:

It was an interesting journey.  It does work though.  There are a few things I've learned that I would like to share.  

 

My quarantine is 7 days because they do not accept the CDC card from US citizens.  I got my shots done at Walmart because they offer a QR code so the vaccinations are verifiable. They didnt care.  My wife had the same card and it was accepted.  Her quarantine is 5 days, mine is 7.  She said she will stay with me anyway.  That may be because the Hotel is nice and our view is of the US Embassy compound and Manila Bay.  

 

I forgot our Marriage certificate so they were refusing to allow me to board in Guam.  There was another American former Philippine citizen who was also stopped because he didnt bring his naturalization certificate he got over 30 years ago.  He also didnt have his old passport.  Not sure what happened with him.  Last we saw he was told to find a hotel and try to get the paperwork.  Now back to us, luckily I had my laptop with me on this trip since I will be working remotely.  I had a photo of the certificate on it and we found it 4 minutes before the plane pushed off.  We were the last to board but we made it.

 

It was as to be expected at the airport but it was obvious they are trying to make it all flow better.  One interesting thing was they gave all passengers face shields in Guam before boarding.  We were told to wear them always in the Philippines.  The first thing that happens when you get off the plane is you walk by the temperature scanners and they require that the shields be removed.  So that was the last time we had them on.  Many of the Coast Guard and Red Cross have face shields on but just on their heads not over their faces.  The vast majority didnt wear them at all.  

 

They never checked our marriage license at NAIA and entry was smooth.  The fact that CDC was fine for her and not me is just another indication that they have some work to do on their process.  

 

She forgot her ROC NOA1 to extend her green card but my son sent a scan of it.  I assume it wont be a problem as the pending removal should show up when they check her green card at arrival.

 

BOQ can allow delivery of food to the quarantine hotel if you send a letter to the front desk requesting it for allergy or health reasons.  It has to be approved by the Hotel and the Coast Guard.

So glad to hear that the good times have returned to the Philippines.  Hope you will be able to leave.

[John & Rose 7,239]

6 hours ago, PWB said:

So glad to hear that the good times have returned to the Philippines.  Hope you will be able to leave.

I'm not worried about leaving.  Getting in had its challenges.