We were back in Manila on the fourth night as we had to be at the airport just after lunchtime for the flight to Palawan. I had already pre-booked Sogo Hotel for the solitary night but wrongly booked the Sogo Hotel in Buendia rather than the one closer to the NAIA in Pasay.

Going by first impressions I was pleasantly surprised by the Sogo. It had a large spotless lobby and a couple of comfy sofa's. Something not really associated with a 1100 peso-per-night hotel in the Phils. Around the corner were these three sided cubicles that housed amorous couples while they waited to be assigned a room. I didn't know until later that Sogo was popular with guests who only wanted a room for a few hours, but to be fair I can't recall seeing anyone who looked remotely sleazy so I must have stood out like a sore thumb.

The room itself had no windows but it was clean and spacious, contained a nice TV and had a decent AC unit. Not long after arriving the hammering started but it wasn't the amorous couples who were culpable - it was workman. The hotel reception is situated on the ground floor and all the rooms are located on the fifth floor with various establishments sandwiched in between and all around. To get to the fifth floor you had to use this ancient lift which was constantly manned 24/7. It was that old it was probably there before the Spanish.

On top of the hammering, we could hear a band playing in the nearby mall so the noise of Sogo Buendia really took the shine off a nice cheap room for the night but sometimes you do have to accept that you get what you pay for at times. Anyway, tomorrow Palawan beckoned and it was farewell to manic Manila for at least two weeks.