My journey from the US back to the Philippines was a rough one. I tested positive for COVID (possibly a false positive) and had to push my flight out a week – that was a week of hotel quarantine and at-home tests.

The silver lining was some extra albeit unplanned time with my mom and awesome take-out food. Little Lucca offers crab sandwiches on Fridays!

I finally managed to get on a plane on March 8th, and it would be the first of three. I had a similar flight (in reverse) for my trip going to the States, with a few hours in Guam that turned into a few more hours in Guam as our flight to our next stop – Honolulu – was delayed. This delay meant that I basically had to run through the airport to get on my next connecting flight, which would bring me to my final destination, San Francisco.

This time around, I didn’t have to run. In fact, I had more than 12 hours of downtime. My favorite cousin booked me a hotel, and after a bit of hassle with paperwork, I took a Lyft over there, showered, and passed out.

Breakfast the next day was a bright spot on a long and dizzying trip. My Lyft driver recommended Duke’s. I walked there from the hotel and was pleased to discover that it was right next to the beach. I filled up on pancakes, eggs, sausage, and a lot of fruit at their breakfast buffet. The waitstaff was lovely. The lady who showed me to my table said, even though she sees it every day, she enjoys the view.

Despite my paranoia about missing my connecting flight (I had more than four hours, but still), I allowed myself a few minutes on the shore. Another recommendation my Lyft driver made was Diamond Head, a volcanic cone you can hike up. Locally, it’s called Lē‘ahi, which translates to “forehead of the ahi (fish)”. I didn’t have time to go see it up close, but I did get a glimpse of it from my spot by the water.

I got to the airport on time (i.e. early) and made my flight to Guam. Unsurprisingly, it was a few minutes delayed. I was full of breakfast food and sunshine. I didn’t mind.