OMG! I found a whole shopping mall with my name on it! Now if that isn’t an invitation to shop I don’t know what is!

I gave it my best shot as the prices were amazingly low. For example, this dear little angel tree decoration was 99 pesos or about 25cents.

I was in full swing when Dave clutched his back pocket and gave a strangled cry … “My wallet!” The last place he remembers having it was our recent port of call, Puerto Princesa, when he did a walk to the local beach and village. I knew he wouldn’t rest until we got back on board to search the cabin so my enthusiastic shopping expedition came to an abrupt – and probably financially beneficial – end.

We stopped to grab a bite to eat before boarding the shuttle bus back to the Westerdam.

It was hard to know what things were but we settled on some tasty barbecue pork sticks and they were ‘finger lickin’ good.

Back on board we searched high and low and there was no wallet to be found. A call to Guest Services revealed it wasn’t in Lost Property but, just as Dave was about to call the bank to cancel his credit cards, the cabin phone rang.

“Mr Apple-bye, your wallet was found on the gangway and handed to us at the checkpoint as you leave the ship.”

It must have come out of Dave’s pocket when he got his check-in card out – we have to show them every time we enter and exit the ship. Talk about relief 😅 We had one very happy man … and me? Well, think of all that money I saved when our shopping spree came to an unexpected end.

Somehow I feel I have unfinished business in Manila!