First Trip Back to Philippines in 34Yrs Complete!

Greetings to all,
Made my first trip back to the Philippines in 34 years and it was as good as I could hope for. To recap somewhat, my wife and I have been married for 32yrs and she is from the Philippines. She has gone back home various times during our marriage but I have not. I have been retired for 1.5yrs and we were planning a trip back there last summer but things changed for us and it was postpone. Due to some positive family matters on my wife’s side, we made an abrupt decision to go there in mid November which at that time was less than 2 weeks away!
To recap a little more, My family and I used to live from 1979 – 1986 where I went to high school at the International School which was located in the Bel Air section of Makati. So we spent the first 5 days of our trip in Manila, visited the Elks club a few times, saw some old high school friends, and did some light sightseeing and shopping. Found a decent AirBnB right by Green Belt Park for about $30/night, not too bad!
We then headed down to Siargao to visit my wife’s family. She’s from the northern end of Siargao which puts us out of the surfer and tourist business going on down there. we were down there for 3 weeks and it was quite an nice visit. I have to say, We bought a one-way ticket to Siargao because I wasn’t sure how long I could last down in the province. All considering, things went quite well. Took a boat trip to Surigoa City and came back the same day around 5pm. Turns out the area had an earthquake around 10:30pm that same night, with many tremors following on the next day or so (to include another quake up in Luzon). We didn’t feel anything, but others did say they felt it in our barrio. Anyway, we made it through a handful of parties and dancing and riding a scooter around Siargao, which was very enjoyable. We also stayed in a very nice and small resort in Alegria, Sta. Monica (N. Siagao) called DaRosa del Mar. It’s owned by a couple (US/Pinay) that lived in San Diego and retired in the RP and built this resort. For the price, and the food quality (good!), and the solitude, it’s pretty hard to beat. I have to admit that this resort ended up being about 1.5 miles from my wife’s house, so I was pleasantly surprised and so we booked a couple of nights before we left Siargao.
Our trip ended with a few more nights up in Makati with some more sight seeing, American Cemetery, etc.
Things have changed so much in Makati that I could be standing right in a place I stood some 30+ years before, and I wouldn’t even recognize it! Who moved my Shakey’s, my San Mig Pub, Shoe Mart, etc, LOL!
I initially thought that Manila would be the most expensive location for us, from the hotels and restaurant scene. However when you are living with the “family” as we did for 3 weeks, you find sooo many things to buy to help them out with that it’s very easy to go overboard and spend too much. We really had to keep an eye on that.
I would I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed in the people, they were as warm and friendly as they were when I left there many years ago. My wife’s family was also great, we are very fortunate. My wife and I do hope to get back there together soon, maybe in two years.
It’s been great getting a chance to read some of the posts on this forum to help me get ready to visit there, lots of things to think about. My hats off to all the folks that can make the RP their home, it’s not for everybody, but it is for some! Cheers to all and Maligayang Pasko!