Tiny In Toronto

I can’t believe we’re here. This is “Day 15”, otherwise known as the official last day in the Philippines. It was definitely a day full of family and spending as much time together as possible before we had to be at the airport at 10:30PM.

We all met at a huge buffet/restaurant to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday! We also celebrated Anikah’s birthday because anyone with a birthday in October got to eat for free! There were so many options at this restaurant. I had like, 3 full plates of food.. plus dessert. Don’t ask because I don’t even know where all that food went. I must have a hollow leg or something (?). After the buffet, we went shopping! Yes, more shopping lol. We went to the Galleria mall and then Ayala (again). It was a lot of last-minute souvenir shopping.

While at Ayala, we had pizza for dinner. They have garlic shrimp pizza in the Philippines. Maybe it’s not just a thing in the Philippines.. do we have it here? I’d love to know because it’s surprisingly delicious! After eating we said bye to grandpa. This was so emotional and so hard to do. I love my grandfather. My mother’s dad is one of my favourite humans, and saying goodbye/not knowing when I would see him again really broke my heart. Shortly after we said bye to grandpa, we left Ayala to go back to the condo and finish packing our stuff. Saying bye to grandpa really opened the floodgates. I was feeling really sad while my cousins were helping us pack (I HATE GOODBYES!!!). I wish they could live closer to us. We made a quick stop at my Uncle Nelson’s because the rest of the family wanted to come with us to the airport. They had shirts made for us which was SO CUTE and SO SWEET. They also gave us these super sweet gifts and it was all too much. I think I cried. I probably did.

When we got to the airport, I cried some more. I want to say that to anyone that has family in another country that they haven’t met: MEET THEM. I am so happy and so thankful that I had this opportunity to get to know and spend time with family I was always wanting to meet, but never had the money or time to make it happen. I’m telling you that it’s allllll worth it! I feel fuller and happier, and I can’t wait to go back to see them again!

To my family in the Philippines: Thank you ever so much for making our stay so amazing. Thank you for being a part of our family. I think it is safe to say that on behalf of my family, we are so lucky to have all of you. We love you.

Oh my. “Day 16”. The dreaded day of flying back to Canada. Fortunately, we only had ONE layover instead of two on the way back. One 5 hour light, then a thirteen hour flight. I was well-rested before this flight (I didn’t try to pull an all-nighter this time lol), so I was able to comfortably stay awake and watch like, a million movies/TV shows. I watched:

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again – It was SO GOOD. I love musicals. Absolutely LOVE them. I also love Lily James. She’s STUNNINNNGG.

TAG – It was freaking hilaarrrious. I can’t believe it was based on a true story. Grown men playing this never ending game of Tag? Wow lol.

The Spy Who Dumped Me – Kind of weird but still enjoyed it. I think I watched it because of Mila Kunis. (Again, I don’t have much to say about any of these movies/shows because I’ll definitely just give it all away).

Violet Evergarden – I finished this show on the plane! It was so good! I hope there’s something similar that comes out on Netflix soon. It was so different and refreshing compared to all the other stuff I’m used to watching.

Tangled – I think this is a favourite movie of mine. I’ve watched it way too many times. One that I’ve been shy to admit. I know all of the words. The songs make me super happy.. but honestly speaking, if you don’t love this movie, you’re whack. What’s not to love?!

Not only was this trip more comfortable (it still wasn’t exactly comfy but it was better than before), but the food was better! They had Korean pizza! I literally danced in my seat when they were handing it all out.

It was really sad to arrive in Canada, especially with it being so cold. Obviously I missed my best friends, boyfriend, and my job. It just felt like I was coming back from a dream, you know? For the first couple of weeks, I felt a little depressed. But I know I’m going to go back so that’s what’s keeping me going!

I hope you guys enjoyed reading all these blog posts about my trip. Not only do I want to go back to the Philippines but I most definitely want to see the rest of the world now. My desire to travel the world has never been stronger. I want to travel and blog my adventures everywhere!!! But first, I should probably save some money lol.

I hope you’re all having a great week!

– Tiny ❤