A while back, we booked some super cheap tickets to the Philippines – Shanghai to Manila for just over half the cost of bus fare from Toronto to Montreal.

So, the day of the flight, we did some quick packing and headed to Shanghai Railway station to catch the airport bus. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain. Even more unfortunate, the rain didn’t stop all the annoying touts outside the railway station trying to coax us into taking unlicensed taxis to the airport, first with promises of cheap fares, and then with stories of the bus not coming. Eventually it came, and we arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong International airport about 90 minutes later.

Cheap has its costs though, and the flight left Shanghai at 12:30 am and arrived in Manila at 4:00 am.

I’ve spent my fair share of time at Pudong’s airport, but this was the most deserted I’ve ever seen it.

And because I figured, we’ll just sleep on the plane (even though I can never sleep on planes) I decided to book a connecting flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa (a city in Palawan, the region we were visiting) at 8 am.

I knew nothing about the Philippines before arriving, other than a few preconceived notions – mainly that it was poor, cheap, and tropical. Basically, I was expecting a cross between India and Thailand.

The airport in Manila was surprisingly nice though. The staff were friendly, there were no touts or people desperately trying to separate you from your money by any means possible. It was also incredibly clean, quiet, and orderly.

The view outside was also not what I expected. Skyscrapers, cranes, paved roads and infrastructure. I barely saw any skyscrapers in the major Indian cities I visited, and it’s always touted as the next up and comer following China.

Exhausted, we sat around waiting for our flight in the upstairs waiting area, and ate Yellow Cab pizza, drank Mister Donuts coffee, and watched the sun come up over Manila. There was a giant crucifix on a hill in the distance.