That’s a picture of an airport food court a couple of hours before dawn. I was in the airport en route to the Philippines for work, and I was in the food court because, well, I don’t have any lounge status any more. Quelle horreur!

But I have lifetime status with Marriott, so I splurged for my overnight connection room at the Manila Airport Marriott and was rewarded with an upgrade to a super deluxe room overlooking the golf course. There was a spectacular thunder and lightning show off in the distance.

While I was enjoying my free dinner in the concierge lounge, the solicitous barman introduced me to lambanóg, a distilled palm liquor that the Philippines is trying to turn into an export product. It is powerful and delicious. I slept like a baby (or a drunk, tired traveler…).

In the morning I had time for a swim in the giant pool and a massive buffet breakfast before heading back to the airport for my flight to Boracay.