Staying true to my blog's name Jen Never Blogs, I'm a month late doing a 2016 recap. Here it is still.

This is the most times I flew out of the country that Changi airport became like an extension of home. I made new friends, and ended a friendship. I shot almost exclusively in film the entire 2016. I became serious with learning how to pole dance and finished two courses higher. I opened a stocks account and got brazilian laser hair removal. It was bookended by two of the most physically painful things to ever happen to me.

So many things happened last year that sometimes I don't know where I got the time. To add to that, yes, napakarami kong hanash sa buhay.

My last trip to the Philippines was already last week ago and I have so much I want to write about if my time permits. While it's hard to decide which day/topic to do first, I decided to just go with it chronologically. In this post, you'll see Day 0 of my Manila trip. More specifically, my inadvertent discovery of another backpacker hostel, just a street corner away from my usual home hostel in Makati, Junctions Hostel.

I learned this at the worst way possible--I arrived in Makati at an ungodly hour, only to find out that my booking with Z Hostel apparently did not push through, If it was my usual luck, it would have been easy for me to just book right there and then but they were fully booked.

You see, I was booked for three nights at an Airbnb. Thing was, since I was arriving at the wee hours of the morning, I didn't want to pay for an extra night at full price, when I can just sleep through the morning for a fraction of the price at my go-to luxury hostel before checking in at my Airbnb. At the time, it seemed like a solid plan to me.

Slightly defeated and extremely tired, I went outside Z trying to calm myself down, while partly blaming myself. I wouldn't have to go through so much trouble had I not been stingy.

I was furiously Googling for possible accommodations when a barangay tanod (village patrol) tricycle passed me by. They were asking where I was trying to go, and if I wanted them to accompany me. I was very, very tired so I told them if they would be so kind to drop me off at the nearest hostel they know of. They said, "Oh there's one down the road! We'll take you there!"


Okay, that was a long, drawn-out intro but I felt the need to share that with you. You have no idea how "saved" I felt when I quickly checked-in to a female dorm and got myself on a bed, a plush and comfortable one at that. I went to bed as soon as I got my affairs in order. (Read: Affairs, as in selfies/videos etc hahalol)


The Amenities
I've had my fair share of staying in backpacking hostels, and I got to say this hostel is one of the typical "hip" hostels that you stay at when you're going to spend the entire day wandering around. It will have everything you'll ever need, but don't expect 5-star service and amenities. Service-wise, the staff was very accommodating, and made sure all my needs were addressed. Special mention to the receptionist, Ms. Aiza for letting me use their kitchen freezer, but that's a story for another day.

It's the first time I have seen Rule #4 explicitly written out, and good that it is. It has always been my pet peeve when roommates hook up and have no disregard to other people in the room with them. People are trying to sleep!


There is a common area where the dining tables are. There is free wifi but always feel free to interact with people here. There's this unwritten traveler rule that makes people a lot more receptive to human interactions. As someone who has mostly been introverted, even just this aspect of traveling amps up the experience.


They serve no-fuss food here, but take note that they won't be in their normal Philippine prices. You can place your order from the Truck, which is just right beside the Reception. It looks like a mobile cart and will be hard to miss. They serve food until 10pm, or until after the chef closes shop.


I got the adobo for P150. Relatively an okay price for me, but when there are carinderias (local eateries) right outside the hostel, where you can get a more authentic street Pinoy scene at a fifth of the price, it can be an interesting decision to make. Without a question though, the food would taste good and guaranteed to be clean.


Still at the common area, there's a cocoon/garden where you can lounge around. Right in front of it is a Pinoy pool table (Note: It looks like this) and beside it is a TV room where you can watch whatever's showing that night, and the desktop computers you can use at your convenience.


They also have a self-service kitchen. The rule is CLAYGO: Clean As You Go, and I have seen all the guests were following this.

On the right side is a common toilet and the laundry area.

Speaking of common toilets, I was roomed at the second level, and it had three operational, communal bathrooms. Usually it gets very tricky to use the toilet and the showers since there's a lot of rooms to share it with, but that has never been the case during my stay. For some reason, I think the people there were waking up a lot later than usual, and so there was no rush hour at the showers in the morning.


For the ladies, you'll be pleased to know there are not just one, but THREE hair blowers available to blowdry your hair. I didn't use it, but I liked the idea of them being there in case I needed it.

The Cost
So there goes our short tour of Junctions. I took as many photos as I can but I didn't really stay there too long to see any more good or bad things. I paid P795 for a bed a the Ladies Dorm, and I must say it was money well-spent even for just my short time there.

If you want a place that's a bit more hip and rugged, I recommend this place as another hostel you can stay at if you're in Makati City, Metro Manila.

Makati Junctions Hostel
Annex Matheus bldg. General Luna St. cor., Don Pedro
Makati, 1210 Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63 2 501 6575

For Christmas, I got myself a new compact camera. I didn't plan on buying a new one, but my 8-yr old DSLR already died on me. Piece by piece, it was getting crushed. (Yes, really. The external plastic pieces kept on falling apart.) Plus, there's also that part of me that wanted to bring a small digital camera when I'm traveling, as a backup to my film camera.

No lengthy write-up, just some photos I took from today's photowalk. Every photo is straight out of camera, meaning no post-processing was done, and for some photos, I utilized the in-camera effects.

Now, I want to buy an external viewfinder since I prefer doing the composition that way. That and I'm not used to the lightness of this camera, which consequently takes somewhat shaky photos during lowlight situations. Aside from that, I like it so far.

For those curious, it's a Ricoh GR. I stuck with my 8-yr Pentax/Ricoh glass family. and since I name my things with cheesy, obvious names, I christened it as "Ricky The Great." *fading laughter*