An interesting week....

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well...I've been here 2 weeks now and still loving it! Last week was definately interesting. We were threatened my a super typhoon (it missed Metro Manila but hit the northern provinces pretty hard) had a 5.0 earthquake and a rogue senator held a siege at the five star Manila Peninsula hotel in an effort to overthrow President Arroyo. This is the third time this particular senator has tried a coup, and all have been unsuccessful. This latest attempt was over in about 7 hours without any casualties! I must say the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) did an amazing job of locking down the Makati City area where the hotel is and trying to prevent any casualties. Security has been beefed up considerably and there are now armed guards and K-9 units everywhere! Besides all that I still feel pretty safe and REFUSE to live in fear.
I still recommend Manila as an amazing place to visit, but, obviously, in a third world country you must keep your wits about you to be safe, and recognize anytime you travel there are risks.
As far as foods this time I've had the usual sizzling sisig, deep fried pig ears (I don't remember what it's called) and also tried isaw (not sure if I spelled it right) but it's basically Chicken or Pig intestines threaded onto a skewer and barbecued. I know...eeewww right...well actually it's pretty tasty and the vinegar/chili pepper sauce that it's served with is out of this world! I recommend that anyone visiting here try Balut to get the true Filipino experience, but I will admit it's hard to eat a duck egg that has a 10 day old embryo in it...make sure you've had plenty of Red Horse beer before the attempt!
The weather here this time of year is pretty nice...I'm gonna have a WARM Christmas...only minor rain most of the time, but the rain helps to control the pollution. I can look out my window and see ships on the ocean in the distance...it's very cool!
I'm trying to learn a bit of the language here so magandong gabi (have a good evening) and mahal kita (love ya)
ingat (take care)
J

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