Flying to Manila Again: Airport Beer, Ostrich, and a Surprise Party

It’s a little past nine at night and I’m already losing my voice. We’re back at the airport, headed back to the Philippines. This is part one of the summer trip, and it’s a big one. Philippines first, then South Korea, then back to Japan.

We’ve still got about three hours before the flight and we haven’t eaten dinner yet. So the plan is simple. Find food, kill time, get on the plane.

Leaving from Ontario

We fly out of Ontario for these trips. It’s not the big airport, but it’s the closer one, and China Airlines out of here is the only flight to Asia that makes sense for us. So just like last year, the route is Ontario to Taipei for a couple of hours, then down to Manila.

There’s a lounge here, but last year we got turned away because we didn’t have the right ticket, so I wasn’t holding my breath on that one.

On the walk to the gate you notice things. There’s an area set aside for pets to relieve themselves. And then there’s this.

A Skittles Remix machine where you pick your own flavors into a bag. It’s the same idea as the M and M’s store in Las Vegas, just smaller and standing in the middle of a terminal. I didn’t buy any. I just thought it was cool.

Quick TSA note for the parents: my son brought a Polaroid, and they had to hand-inspect the film even though it was still sealed. His phone takes better pictures than that camera, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Airport Dinner at Brewery X

There’s a Brewery X in the terminal with beer, burgers, and pizza. You already know how airport prices go.

A whole pepperoni pizza ran about $26. I grabbed a pint of a Mexican-style amber ale to go with it. Not a bad way to start a red-eye. The drink helps, honestly, when you’re getting on a 14-hour flight at midnight and you’re already tired at 10:30. I’m talking through my little clip-on DJI Mic Mini here, which is about the only reason my dying voice is intelligible on this one.

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The Long Flight and Taipei Layover

My two tricks for a long-haul: I download YouTube videos to watch without internet, and I pull some movies off my home server before I leave. That’s the whole strategy.

Fourteen hours or so later, we land in Taipei. Turns out Computex is going on in the city while we’re passing through, and I’m stuck in the terminal missing it. Oh well. There are vending machines with boba and the snacks I remember from Japan, and I spent a minute wondering whether Apple Pay would even work here before we had to board.

Airplane Food

The flight was long but not rough. Two meals stood out enough to photograph.

Dinner was seafood and rice, with a shrimp and shiitake situation over greens. For breakfast the choice was an omelette with sausage or a baked turnip. I went omelette. I feel like that’s the correct call at 30,000 feet.

Landing in Manila

We land, and the first thing the Philippines gives you is the heat. There was one more meal on the almost-two-hour leg down from Taipei, some kind of noodles and chicken that I couldn’t name if you paid me. It was weird. We grabbed our bags and headed out.

SM Mall in Santa Rosa

First real stop is an SM mall, the Santa Rosa branch I’m pretty sure. If you’ve never been, SM is a mall chain here with locations everywhere, and people still come out to them to shop, eat, and mostly just cool down in the air conditioning.

This one even had a skating rink, a kiddie train doing laps through the concourse, and the usual food court with a Coffee Bean. We needed food and a quick grocery run.

Ostrich and Duck at Mesa

We ended up at a restaurant called Mesa, and the menu is where it got interesting.

There’s a whole duck section, and under it, ostrich. Drunken ostrich for around 495 pesos, which is roughly nine dollars depending on the exchange rate. You do not see that on a menu back home.

We ate. Rice, grilled meats, a shared pot of sinigang, the kids digging in. A good first meal to land on.

A Surprise Party at Home

Then we pulled up to the house and ran into this.

It was a surprise birthday for Abby, whose birthday had been the week before. Everyone was surprised, us included. Tented tables, red roses, lumpia, grilled fish, a whole roast pig looking right at me, and of course there’s rice. At this point we hadn’t slept in over 24 hours, and we still had to change into something and show up for it.

The Next Morning

I did not make it far into the night. Everyone was hanging out and I just got knocked out, then woke up around two in the morning because that’s what 24 hours of no sleep does to you.

But we made it. That’s the thing about these trips. The travel day is always a slog, the food is always a coin flip, and you always land somewhere hot and tired. And then there’s a table full of family and a roast pig waiting for you, and it evens out.

This was just leaving. Next up, we actually start the trip. Stay tuned for the rest of the Philippines 2025 series.

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This post is based on our travel vlog. Watch the full video below for all the moments, reactions, and footage from the trip.