MOA Trip

[OnMyWay]

Our oldest daughter was on school break last week and we decided at the last minute to take a staycation in Manila, around Mall of Asia.  I'm sure most members have been to MOA so I will try to be brief.  Usually we head up to Baguio for a family visit, but the little ones were sick last week and we didn't want to expose them to the cold Baguio weather.

The drive from Subic to Manila on Thursday was uneventful.  I stayed on EDSA for the trans-Manila portion as I have found that the easiest way for me to avoid being pulled over by a crocodile looking for a meal.  We left Subic at 11 am and got to the hotel at around 3 pm.  Same on the way home Sunday; no issues.

We stayed at the Microtel for the 3rd time but will probably not stay there again.  The prices have been going up and my family is too big for the tight room, even though there are two queen beds.  Our 1.5 yo and 3.5 yo have extreme sibling rivalry now and the room seemed to get smaller and smaller each night.  We stayed 3 nights.  Their breakfast buffet is not nearly as good as the first time I stayed in 2013.  The rooftop pool area is nice in the evening and we had the kids swim once.  They have a free shuttle to MOA which we used a few times, but we also walked a few times.

We spent most of our time in MOA and the boardwalk amusement park area.  The weather was a bit rainy some of the time.  I actually did not mind fiddling around in MOA Thursday and Friday.  Usually my feet hurt when I get near a shopping mall, but I enjoyed watching the kids do some rides and enjoyed the exercise.  We bought a few things here and there, but not much.  It was nice to have a much better selection of goods and I found an Olympus TG-5 UW camera at Cyberzone, but they wanted p27,000, so no thanks.

Saturday was of course more crowded but not bad.  Abby's sis joined us and we ate at a really tasty Thai food place for lunch, then went for a ride on the MOA Eye ferris wheel.  That was nice but it was rainy so we didn't have a great view.  Our 13 year old is extremely afraid of heights, and she bravely white-knuckled her grip on a rail and my leg for the whole go round!  She was able to laugh but she was shaking!  The two little ones whooped it up and thought it was great fun.

As I mentioned in another thread, ASEAN summit was gearing up in the area so there was a large police presence around the new Conrad hotel.  I think normally we could have looked around this impressive hotel but they had tight security, so I didn't even try.

Here are a few pics:

My 3.5 yo daughter's favorite thing was riding Pinkie Pie in front of Toy Kingdom.  She is a big My Little Pony fan.

Evening view from the Microtel roof deck

 

Rooftop pool with full moon on the horizon, and evening MOA fireworks from the room.

 

Our almost 1.5 yo loved the slides at a place place.  Some of the other parents were amazed at how brave she is because their older kids were not so brave.  She takes after her older sister in this video, giving the camera a good slap at the end!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uNHPVVzkblJQxU5H3

 

 

 

 

[earthdome]

7 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

we ate at a really tasty Thai food place for lunch,

Up on the second floor towards the bay side? Can't recall the name but we enjoyed the food there also.

[OnMyWay]

13 minutes ago, earthdome said:

Up on the second floor towards the bay side? Can't recall the name but we enjoyed the food there also.

Yes.  Jatujak, 2nd floor corner next to outdoor stage area.  Everything was tasty and the kids even enjoyed some dishes.

[earthdome]

7 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Yes.  Jatujak, 2nd floor corner next to outdoor stage area.  Everything was tasty and the kids even enjoyed some dishes.

That's it!