When I first visited Manila seven years ago, I travelled there by budget airline and stayed in a cheap area of the city.

This time I opted for the luxury Manila experience. I flew there by business class and stayed in Makati, a very modern area of the city, in a 5 star hotel.

Before booking my flight ticket, I made sure to check that the aircraft I was flying on would have a lie-flat seat. Not every business class ticket with Thai Airways or Philippines Airlines between Bangkok and Manila guarantees you this type of seat. Some aircraft just have the wider regular seats. In that case it wouldn't be worth the cost of a business class ticket.

The airport experience with Thai Airways, flying from BKK, was a smooth one. As Suvarnabhumi Airport is the main hub airport for Thai, they are able to provide fast track immigration and security for business and first class passengers. So that took just a few minutes.

The Royal Silk lounge was very nice, clean, spacious and the food was awesome. It was also right next to the gate for my flight, which I could see through the lounge window. That meant I was able to wait until I saw the flight was boarding before leaving the comfort of the lounge.

The business class seating arrangement on the 787-900 Dreamliner was my favourite type, the "herringbone." With this type of arrangement, if you are flying solo then you can have a single seat with no neighbour next to you.

The food onboard was very good. I enjoyed a tasty Thai beef green curry and lemon meringue.

Immigration at Manila airport was smooth. Only a few minutes queuing and no cost for the visa. Compare that to when I flew to Jakarta, Indonesia and had to wait 2 hours and pay $35 for visa to enter the country. I feel grateful that Philippines makes it easy for tourists to visit their country.

I picked up a local SIM card at the airport, which wasn't cheap at $30. I'm sure I could have gotten one much cheaper in the city but it's always less hassle to get the SIM card at the airport. I've wasted whole days in that past when travelling to Pakistan, Indonesia and Turkey trying to get a SIM card in the city, as most shops there are unable to register a foreigner.

There is a pickup point for Grab cars right outside arrivals at Manila Airport. Very convenient. No need to bargain or deal with scammy taxi touts.

I stayed at Somerset Central Salcedo Makati hotel, costing $130 per night. A bit expensive but hotels in Manila are pricy compared to other cities in South East Asia.

My room had a small kitchen area with washer/dryer, so that's something I usually don't have and was much appreciated. The gym and swimming pool were awesome. The location was perfect, next to a park and walking distance to a few nice malls.

I couldn't find much to complain about at this hotel, other than the in-room safe was too small to fit a normal sized laptop.

I visited Greenbelt, a fancy mall with several sections spread around a big garden area. I was there looking for Filipino food, but went on a side mission to have an AI chair massage.

I see these massage chairs in malls quite often, where you can insert some money and have a relaxing massage for 15 minutes or so, to take a break from your shopping adventure. This place was a shop that was actually selling the chairs for people to put in their own home. I got to try out their best model, and I loved the experience. I'd definitely buy one if I had somewhere to put it.

Feeling relaxed, I visited a Filipino restaurant in the mall to enjoy some Pinoy cuisine. The mall had mostly international restaurants like Italian, Chinese and Japanese but I had to try Pinoy Food for my first day in the Philippines.

I was specifically looking for Sisig and this restaurant had it. Sisig is a well seasoned dish made from chopped pork jowls, ears and belly, and chicken liver.

From one fancy mall to another. I took a Grab from Makati to Bonifacio Global City to visit the Venice Grand Canal Mall, to enjoy a Gondola ride and some Pinoy desserts.

Again, most of the restaurants there were international, but they did have a branch of the famous Filipino fast food restaurant, Jollibee. So I enjoyed a Jollibee Peach Mango pie with Mango Graham Ice Cream to end my day on a sweet note.

0:00 BKK Airport
8:57 Thai Airways Business Class
17:43 Arriving in Manila
26:03 Makati Hotel
43:18 Makati Mall
53:37 AI Massage Chair
1:03:37 Pinoy Food (Sisig)
1:14:05 Grab Ride to BGC
1:21:11 Venice Grand Canal Mall
1:26:13 Gondola Ride
1:38:32 Jollibee Desserts


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