2026 Trip - Day 143: Beach and Empanada

Today was another day in the The Philippines, and my 16th day in the country.

I woke up feeling incredibly tired. The bed was so comfortable, and I had the fan pointed directly at me, which made it even harder to get up. The dorm has six beds, but at the moment it's just me and one local staying here, so it's nice and quiet.

Eventually, I dragged myself out of bed because I was craving one of those chicken BBQ buns from 7 Eleven. While I was out, I also looked around for somewhere cheaper to stay. The place I'm in now feels a bit expensive, so I checked out Circle Hostel, but surprisingly it was even more expensive. That made absolutely no sense to pay so much for a bed.

In the end, I went back to my current hostel and tried negotiating the price. The local guy staying in my dorm encouraged me to ask because he had also managed to get a discount after staying there for several days. Luckily, it worked, and I got the rate down to 510 pesos for tonight. Yesterday I paid 571.81 pesos (about AUD 13.26), so it wasn't a huge saving, but I'll take every little win I can get.

My hostel in San Juan

Honestly, I didn't feel like going anywhere for most of the day. It was just too hot. I spent hours lying on the bed with my laptop, trying to figure out where I should go after the Philippines. One thing I'm sure about is that I'm ready to leave. I've had a good look around, but I don't really want to stay any longer.

Around 5:00 p.m., the other guest in my room came back from work. We decided to head to the beach at 5:30 to catch the sunset.

The beach was full of locals enjoying the evening. The waves were surprisingly strong, and there were quite a few dogs running around. Unfortunately, some owners didn't bother cleaning up after their pets, which completely put me off relaxing on the sand.

We chatted for a while. He's a barista supervisor and trainer who is here for work and will be leaving in a few days. He told me a bit about the local economy, the average salaries, and how expensive everyday life can be for many Filipinos. It was interesting to hear his perspective and gave me a better understanding of what life is like for people living here.

After that, we wandered over to the night market. It was much smaller than I expected, with only five or six street food stalls, but it was enough. I spotted a stall selling empanadas. I always thought of empanada as a Spanish snack, but they have their own Filipino version here too.

Filipino Empanada

Deep fried empanada

Just a few stalls but enough

I ordered one for 45 pesos, and it was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a second one to take back to the hostel for later.

We walked back after dinner, and I spent the rest of the evening lying on my bed, laptop open, still trying to figure out where my next destination should be.

Today spending:

Accomodation: 510 Pesos
Chicken Bun from 7 eleven: 52 Pesos
Espanada: 45 x 2= 90 Pesos
Soft Drink: 45 Pesos