January 8, 2008 - in Manila again

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I spent the whole day in Tarlac today. I got up at 6:30am, took the light rail to EDSA station and from there took a Victory Line bus to Tarlac to see some relatives. The trip was shorter than I thought, 3 hours as opposed to 4. I had lunch there at a great restaurant owned by my cousins. From there we spent some time hanging out with more family members, then for a couple of hours hung out at this monastery on this mountaintop. Great scenery. There was a giant statue of Jesus overlooking the mountain like the one in Rio de Janeiro.

Coming back was a bit stressful. My idea was just to have some coffee with relatives, but it ended up with a 10 person dinner at Max's fried chicken. I took the Victory line back and got in Manila around 11pm. I was counting on the bus to make its last stop at the place where I picked it up. It didn't. I happened to notice it on time and got off. The light rail stopped running so I was out on my own. I took a taxi to Malate. A 15 minute ride for 150 pesos ($3). I'm sure I got ripped off again, but then I was tired and desperate. I had been on my feet all day. I found a better hotel at Rothman Hotel, for $42 or 1,700 pesos.

Tomorrow is my last day here. I miss the beach already. Manila is OK. It has nightlife and everything, and stuff to do but I really miss Puerto Galera.

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