Have Perut Will Travel...: MNL Day 2 │ Mitsukoshi • Inkvictus Tattoo!

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Thursday, 27 August 2026

MNL Day 2 │ Mitsukoshi • Inkvictus Tattoo!

A Slow Manila Morning

It’s our second day in Manila, and I was already up by six, easing into the quiet of our One Uptown studio. While the city outside was still stretching awake, I dove into editing our Phuket footage — the backlog nagging at me, the timeline filling up. But I kept reminding myself: we’re here to travel, not to stress over uploads. Manila deserves our attention more than Premiere Pro.

By 10:30am, we finally stepped out of the apartment and crossed over to Mitsukoshi Mall, only to find it wouldn’t open for another half hour. A tiny hiccup, but it gave the morning a nice, unhurried rhythm.

Brunch at Key Coffee

With time to burn (and hunger creeping in), we slipped into Key Coffee and turned the wait into brunch. We ordered:

Banana Walnut Oat Bowl
Horje San Truffle Egg Katsu Sando
Sagada Honey Lavender Latte
Matcha Ichigo Latte

A fragrant, Japanese leaning spread that hit all the right notes. The bill came to PHP1,116.50 (≈ MYR73/USD18/EUR16) — a gentle start to the day.

A Quick Spin Through Mitsukoshi

By the time we finished eating, Mitsukoshi had opened. We browsed its compact layout and picked up:

Daiso provisions — PHP1,226 (≈ MYR80/USD20/EUR17)
Footcare products from Mitsukoshi Beauty — PHP807 (≈ MYR53/USD13/EUR11)

Truth be told, Mitsukoshi was tiny — charming but limited. Apart from Nitori, there wasn’t much to explore. Then a sudden perut churn hit, sending us speed walking back to the apartment.

Once everything was… sorted, we reemerged and hailed a Grab to our next stop: Inkvictus Tattoo, fare PHP109.18 (≈ MYR7/USD2/EUR2).

Inkvictus Tattoo — Meeting AD and Troy

At Inkvictus, AD welcomed us warmly and introduced us to Troy, the artist. While Troy began sketching, we chatted with AD — a seafarer who had travelled to Malaysia and absolutely missed our Twisties Chipster. He recommended a few local dishes and eateries we should try later.

Meanwhile, Troy quietly worked his magic. I had originally wanted a simple Sampaguita framed in a postage stamp to commemorate this Manila trip. But in just ten minutes, he produced a sketch that blew me away:

A Sampaguita, a beautifully detailed Bahay Kubo, and a stylised rising sun inspired by the Philippine flag — all framed within a postage stamp. Culture, heritage, symbolism, all fused into one stunning design.

I booked my tattoo appointment for Sunday at 1:00pm, the day before we fly home — my usual ritual.

Off to Venice Grand Canal

With everything settled at Inkvictus, we hailed another Grab to our second mall of the day: Venice Grand Canal. The fare came to PHP169.95 (≈ MYR11/USD3/EUR2).

A new vibe, a new location, and a whole new chapter waiting.

Catch the next video to see what happened once we arrived!