November 15 — 29, 2026
Japan & the Philippines
Fourteen nights across two countries and four stops: Tokyo, El Nido, Siargao and Manila. The whole trip is on this site, day by day, with the boats we take and the places we sleep and eat.
The shape of it
One enormous city, two small islands, and a city to come home to.
Tokyo comes first, while we all still have the energy for it: four nights in a house of our own. Then we head south to El Nido, the postcard, with vertical limestone, water the colour of a swimming pool and a different lagoon each day. Siargao has the opposite temperament. It is low, green and salty, built around surf and coconut palms. Manila closes the trip on family ground.
Day by day
Fifteen days, in order
Four days in Tokyo, one long hop south, three days of boats in Palawan, three on Siargao, then Manila.
- 15NOV · SUN0Tokyo/Arrival
Shinjuku after dark
We land mid-afternoon and the house opens at five, so we keep the first evening small: one stop up the line to Shinjuku. We walk through the lantern smoke of Omoide Yokocho, catch Godzilla roaring over Kabukicho (the last roar is at 8 PM), eat wagyu at Jojoen, and do one lap of Don Quijote before the jet lag wins.
Yoyogi HouseOmoide YokochoGodzilla HeadJojoen wagyuDonkiSee the detail→ - 16NOV · MON1Tokyo/Full day 1
Shrine, sweets and the scramble
We start in Meiji Jingu’s forest while it is quiet. Harajuku comes next for soufflé pancakes and Takeshita-dōri, then Ginza for a wagyu lunch and the Sanrio flagship. We finish in Shibuya with sushi at Midori at six and the crossing once the lights are on.
Meiji JinguHappy PancakeTakeshita-dōriGinzaSushi no MidoriShibuya ScrambleSee the detail→ - 17NOV · TUE2Tokyo/Full day 2
Tokyo Disneyland
Nine in the morning to nine at night, in the middle of the park’s Christmas season. We ride the Keiyō line out to Maihama, reach the gates before they open, and come home after the lights parade.
MaihamaBeauty and the BeastPooh’s Hunny HuntChristmas paradeDreamlightsSee the detail→ - 18NOV · WED3Tokyo/Full day 3
teamLab, Toyosu and Asakusa
We take the first slot of the day at teamLab Planets and wade barefoot through knee-deep water, then eat sushi beside the fish market at Toyosu. The afternoon is across the city at Sensō-ji: the great red lantern, Nakamise’s snack stalls before they shut, and tempura or ramen for our last dinner in Japan.
teamLab PlanetsSenkyaku BanraiSensō-jiNakamiseSansada or IchiranSee the detail→ - 19NOV · THU4In transit/Transfer
Breakfast in Tokyo, dinner in Palawan
We leave the house before seven. The travel day is long and it ends well: we reach El Nido by evening and check in with the limestone cliffs outside the window and three days of boats ahead.
Early startTravel dayCheck in, El NidoSee the detail→ - 20NOV · FRI5El Nido/Full day 1
Tour A — the lagoons
The famous one. Big Lagoon by kayak with the cliffs closing overhead, the squeeze into Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon’s little limestone keyhole, then grilled lunch on Shimizu and an afternoon on Seven Commandos.
Big LagoonSmall LagoonSecret LagoonShimizuSeven CommandosSee the detail→ - 21NOV · SAT6El Nido/Full day 2
Tour C — hidden beaches
Further out into the bay and better under the water. Snorkelling off Helicopter Island, the swim through the crevice into Secret Beach, the clifftop shrine at Matinloc, and starfish in the shallows at Star Beach.
Helicopter IslandSecret BeachMatinloc ShrineHidden BeachStar BeachSee the detail→ - 22NOV · SUN7El Nido/Full day 3
Our own boat, our own island
No joiner tour, no schedule. Charter a private bangka, leave before the fleet, and spend the day on one quiet beach — swim, eat, nap, repeat. The one day of the trip built around doing nothing well.
Private boat charterIsland daySunset returnSee the detail→ - 23NOV · MON8In transit/Transfer
Across the archipelago
A late-morning start and we are on Siargao by mid-afternoon — the two islands sit on opposite sides of the country, so the day is spent getting there. General Luna in time for a swim and dinner.
Travel dayCheck in, Bayay DhyanaDinner outSee the detail→ - 24NOV · TUE9Siargao/Full day 1
Naked, Daku, Guyam
Three islands in one easy day out of General Luna. A bare white sandbar with no shade at all, a big palm-shaded island where lunch gets cooked for us, and a tiny postcard islet you can walk around in four minutes.
Naked IslandDaku IslandGuyam IslandLunch on the beachSee the detail→ - 25NOV · WED10Siargao/Full day 2
Sohoton Cove & Bucas Grande
The longest day of the trip and the strangest landscape — a tide-gated cove you duck under a rock arch to enter, pitch-black caves, and a lagoon that holds stingless jellyfish. Worth knowing: jellyfish numbers are seasonal.
Sohoton CoveJellyfish lagoonHagukan CaveMagkukuob jumpSee the detail→ - 26NOV · THU11Siargao/Full day 3
Tidal pools & Sugba Lagoon
Magpupungko’s rock pools only exist at low tide, so the tide chart writes this day’s schedule. Add the emerald water at Sugba Lagoon, the bent coconut palm over Maasin River, and the palm-forest viewpoint on Coconut Road.
MagpupungkoSugba LagoonMaasin RiverCoconut RoadCloud 9See the detail→ - 27NOV · FRI12In transit/Transfer
Back to the mainland
We leave Siargao in the morning and reach the city, and its traffic, by mid-afternoon. We check in at the loft and at Seda in BGC, and eat something nobody grilled on a beach.
Travel dayCheck in, BGCFirst city dinnerSee the detail→ - 28NOV · SAT13Manila/The full day
Navotas in the morning, Manila after
The school, the cemetery, the old house — a morning in Navotas retracing where the family comes from. Then back into the city for the afternoon: Intramuros or Binondo, realistically not both.
The schoolThe cemeteryThe ancestral houseIntramuros or BinondoSee the detail→ - 29NOV · SUN14In transit/Departure
Pasalubong and passports
Last morning for whatever got missed, one more meal, and home.
Last breakfastPasalubong runHead home
Watch first
What it actually looks like
A few films worth two minutes each before we go.