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Published: February 19th 2008
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We can tell you now that Manila is not the place to be. There are no rich parts of Manila, just a mix of poor and even very poor parts. Though there are some better buildings, but they are few and mostly hidden away among the poor areas. You also have to keep a close eye on your wallet, anyone is guaranteed to try to rip you off. We did, however, meet an Australian who planned to see the Philippines from his newly bought motorcycle and he said "...not even the other Filipinos like Manila." so we're putting our hopes in the rest of the country.
After spending 5 hours on the Pu Dong airport, and experiencing the best cakes we've eaten in China, we boarded the plane to Manila. Immediately on the plane we were given some of the most disturbing information so far; the customs declaration form. It said really scary things like "under penalty of law" and "no pirated DVD:s". Our sweating and averting of eyes when we tried to get out of the airport were unnecessary though. We were treated with casual 'mañana mañana' all the way through.
We caught a cab and went to the hostel. The driver took us for fools and tried to pull the ususal "I don't have any change' trick". We perservered though and got our 40 pesos (roughly 6 SEK, and the whole ride cost us 60 pesos). We got the last two beds in the unair-conditioned, extremely humid dormatory. As soon as we had sneaked into our beds an evil bastard turned the radio on to a program that really reminded both of us of the movie "Good morning Vietnam". We were both coldly surprised by the shower when we finally got up just before noon. We were completely starved when we got up and staggered into the hostel dining room and had lunch for 60 pesos each.
Daring the MRT (Metro Rail Train) we headed out for T-shirts and shorts. On the way we went to the Swedish embassy to get some up-to-date information about staying alive in the Philippines. Hannes thought it really disturbing that the embassy lady, at the mention of the NPA-guerilla (the communist guerilla), didn't even recognize the name. Also a little worrying was the demonstrations in Manila against the president that took place last friday. She said that we shouldn't have any problem avoiding it though.
After a lot of looking and a bit of shopping, we got a pair of shorts each and Erik got a belt. It was surprisingly hard as they mostly had really big sizes, which is strange since the Filipinos are even shorter than the Chinese. On the way we got an amazing mango smoothie and a very good "1800 silver Margarita".
Today we packed up and moved to a better guesthouse, this time also getting the last two beds (though with air-condition and in a private room). After yet again showering cold we trotted off for some sightseeing. We went to Intramuros, the only thing we thought seemed interesting in the whole of Manila. We got a look on the first church yet in the very Christian Manila. We then went to Fort Santiago, though since the Japanese and the Allies bombed it to smithereens there weren't much to look at other than the beautiful park and the quite still standing wall.
After we got our cultural fill, we tried to walk to the harbour. We realized it was too far and there were no restaurants along the road so we took a very lethal motorcycle taxi. We actually arrived safely at the, as we soon noticed, wrong pier. So we took a bicycle taxi that didn't seem as lethal, until we got out on the main road. It took us to a jeeney, a rebuilt American WWII jeep, which finally took us to the right pier where we bought tickets to Cebu. Also worth mentioning is that we had a maybe-all-too-soon-to-be memorable lunch. Let's hope not though. Crazy Erik actually finished his plate while Hannes picked at it.
Since coming to the Philippines we have had the best mango we've ever tasted. In comparison to Swedish mangos, the mangos here are completely yellow. We've also tried a entirely new melon, Honeydew, and maybe some other stuff during lunch (we couldn't possibly tell...).
At 1.45 pm tomorrow we'll be leaving for Cebu (pronounced ceboo) on a superferry and the next time we write we'll hopefully be on Bantayan, just arriving from the beach.
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Father E.
non-member comment
Steel stomach.
Sad to hear Manila to be a disappointment - i thought it would be better. Be careful with the food - or have you already got steel stomachs? -there is always a risk of catching something that lasts a longer time! Hope you will have a really good, lazy time Cebu. Best to you both and hope you will find some new good friends on your way. Father E.