Last Day in the Philippines: Liliw Farewell, Manila Airport, and a Taipei Layover

Flight day. We checked out, said our goodbyes, and started working our way from Liliw, Laguna toward Manila — then Taipei — then Ontario, California. One of those days that’s mostly logistics, broken up by the people you see before you leave.

Ate Baby’s Farm

The last stop before heading out was Ate Baby and Kuya Ferd’s place in Liliw. They run Ai-She — a footwear brand they own, make, and sell out of the property. The factory is in the back; the family lives up front. Liliw is well known across the Philippines for footwear — it’s been the center of sandal and shoe production in Laguna for decades — and this is one of those family operations that’s been at it for a long time.

Ate Baby is Kuya Joel’s sister — Kuya Joel, the Owner Type Jeep. Her oldest daughter is one of my first godchildren. My mom is the youngest of six, which put me on the younger end of my generation on her side. A lot of my cousins are older than me, and their kids ended up only about ten years younger. I became their godfather. These are the ones I drink with now instead of their parents.

We didn’t stay long. There’s a flight to catch and a lot of hours ahead.

The Church

Before leaving Liliw, we stopped at the church. I lit some candles and said a prayer for safe travel. That’s the move before a long flight — same as it’s always been in this family.

Manila Airport

We got to Ninoy Aquino International Airport with enough time to use the lounge before boarding. The food was fine — not memorable, but there.

Routing was Manila → Taipei → Ontario, California. Manila to Taipei is about two hours. After the Taipei layover, another 12 hours back to California.

I was tracking our inbound aircraft on the Apple Watch — the Taipei connection was running 18 minutes late departing, but was projected to land in Manila on time. Which it did.

The Manila-to-Taipei leg had one meal: shredded chicken with rice and vegetables. Standard economy. The flight was so short they were still doing the service when we started descending.

Taipei Layover

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport gave us about two hours. Our gate was D1 — small, still closed when we arrived, possibly a pre-gate with stairs down. There was a Gundam statue near gate D2. There’s always a Gundam somewhere in this part of the world.

I went looking for food. My son got a burger. I found beef noodles, which turned out to be genuinely good — firm noodles, proper broth. And then boba, because Taipei is where boba milk tea comes from and I was not going to miss that. Abby pointed out the oolong used here is different — you can tell. Better. Worth getting it at the source at least once.

The Taipei–Ontario leg was 12 hours. One of those flights where you sleep in pieces and wake up not knowing what timezone your body is in.

Home

We landed in Ontario, California. My oldest got randomly pulled for extra screening — even minors, apparently. Then the drive home, the garage, the dogs, the cars.

The two Teslas had been sitting untouched for a month. The Model X was at 77%, the other at 81% — each had lost about 4% over the entire trip. Sentry mode off, vents cracked, no climate protection running. For anyone who asks: charge to 80–85%, turn off sentry, leave it. It’ll be fine.

That’s Philippines 2024. Six weeks, two islands, Palawan to Batangas, family I see once every few years, a Sony camera from Japan, a lot of food, and a property in Liliw we’re still figuring out what to do with.

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If you’re just finding this series, it started with the flight from Ontario, California to Manila. The full Philippines 2024 run is in the series navigation below.