MANILA'S HUSTLE AND BUSTLE

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Outside the Centennial terminal of NAIA I tried to hail them white taxi cabs, they quoted 750 pesos so i walked away and tried to flag from the street, I asked a couple of security guards and they told me to Makati it should only be 200 pesos, they directed me to the area where i can hail a cab, took awhile walking in this humid heat though evening still sticky, have to get used to it again. I flagged a white taxi, someone was already on it but also headed my way so we shared the taxi, a dude from Indonesia studying in Manila, halfway through the trip the taxi told us 350 pesos per person, we told himk to f..k off and we asked to be let off at that instant and we paid him 100 pesos, just another thief taxi driver, i have had it with these guys, anywhere in the world they are the worst ripper.

I hailed another cab and explained our predicament, this man was more understanding and quoted us 150 pesos for the both of us so we hopped in, we dropped off the Indonesian dude's stuff in his apartment then together with his friend we dropped off my stuff at the condotel Ed my host lives in Makati, then we had dinner at this cool noodle place, ahh food is so cheap here and delicious, yay Philippines! We ordered a few things and in the end the boys paid for it even if I protest and offered to share, such kind hospitality from my Indonesian brothers. I came back to the condotel, Ed who is coming from Singapore at 11pm is still not home, I walked around the red light district, i did not even know Makati have a red light area! lots of attractive girls in skimpy outfit, hard to ignore!

I went back to the condotel and waited for Ed outside and when he came we went up to his pad, small but enough space for the both of us, really nice guy this Ed a travel afficionado himself he writes for a travel magazine as well am hoping to get some tips from him to make extra money. we chatted for hours then went back to the dimsum place i had meals with the Indonesians and we had another round of food. Then we walked around the area at 4am, still buzzing. Had a good sleep, Ed left me to go to work and I have the day to myself walked around to find a Jollibee place for breakfast, pinoy style. Then walked to the Rockwell mall and went to see a movie, Avatar, good one.

Ed was home when I came back to his place but he left again to go to this party, i had a great crab dinner at a Thai restaurant near the mall, cheap and oh so delicious then walked around and checked out the bars and had a few sips of beer. Coming back to Ed's he is already asleep. the next morning we went to Chinatown, he will review 4 restaurants there for his article, sweet I am so excited, we took the jeep and the LRT and MRT train system, it is all crowded with locals shopping for Xmas, lots of colors around perfect for photos. We initially tried to get of the boats plying the Pasig river but it was delayed and we cant wait any longer. Anyway in Chinatown we wasted no time in taking fotos everywhere, people are more than happy to pose for you. The vendors, fruits stalls, street kids, the smell, the noise how i love being back in Manila.

After a better part of the day spent tasting food we were stuffed and we headed towards Malate to see if i can find a hostel to stay in, Friendly's GH has a an a/c dorm room for 375 I took it, first we have to get my things at Ed's place, no taxi would take us because of traffic, Ed was pissed and he threatened to report them to the authorities, finally we got in one after the security guard at a nearby hotel told us to just get in and not tell where you going until the taxi is moving, so we did. The traffic was bad in Makati so we got off and walked. We got ready for the CS party and i packed my things and we took a taxi again for Malate, dropped my pack in the hostel, my Argentine roomate was in the elevator with us and is in a cranky mood,Ed asked him where he is from and he gave this sarcastic reply"why does everyone needs to know where I am from?"
the first asshole Argentino I met! I told Ed to ignore him, he's a total loser.

We try and get a taxi to the CS party in Quezon City but failed everyone refuse to take us so we took the train and then a very slow and dangerous public bus then a taxi, pheww!! we were 3 hours late in the ole typical Filipino fashion and there hardly is any food left for us and we were starved! We started beer and heaps of them to compensate, then they brought a few more food, good! Met lots of folks nice CS people they raffled off 2 package vacation deals for Boracay, damn i did not get picked. After the party is over Ed left me and i went with a group of people to have something to eat at this Persian kebab place, I had enough of them in Yemen! But I ordered kebabs anyway because I am hungry. I took a taxi with some people and i got dropped off at my hostel 5am! off to bed quick and slept for 8 hours, then walked around for lunch and found a great Max's restaurant and I stuffed myself with Pinoy food for $7 only!

Back at the hostel, Mark one of the Cs people a Pinoy who is now living in Spain chatted with me, nice fella, likes to travel as well. Chilled out and tried to call my next host but failed. Mark and I split dinner, I went for a walk and found a local carinderia where they sell very cheap food but delicious, between the 2 of us we only spent 110 pesos, bargain! The hostel is very crowded, noisy, lots of drunk Latinos from Cuba, Argentina, Mexico and Spain. In the dorm we have a new roomate, Alain from France, we had a chat and we ended up agreeing to do Taal hike tomorrow, I did my homework by asking Benjie the owner how to get to Taal.

Alain and I took a taxi to get to the Partas bus station in Pasay to buy tickets for our next destination, him to Clarke airport, me to Vigan. We queued up only to find out we cant buy the tickets, we have to show up half an hour before we depart! My bus leaves at 9pm tonight and was assured there will be space, ok, we shall see.. We had a local breakfast at a small eatery, i had rice and pork adobo and squid adobo as well, Alain tried the paksiw na bangus(milkfish) he loved it and then had his favorite squid. He is willing to try dishes and that is good. Again the girls at the eatery were asking me about Alain, so I told them to ask him straight, they can speak English so they should practice.

They gave us tips on how to take the MRT and LRT or jeep to get to Intramuros. Alain is impressed how clean it was. We got to Intramuros and went to the Manila catedral, people offering calesa rides, we decided to walk to Fort Santiago, we have to pay entrance fee, walked around for a good hour, been here many times in the past, it has improved a little bit now, interesting exhibits and written translations of Rizal's Last Farewell" both in Slovak and in Romanian, how odd.. no other language?? Rizal is the Philippines' national hero, able to speak I think 17 languages fluently he was a genius and fought hard against the Spanish regime that is why he was executed. Anyway moving on outside, it started to drizzle, we walked slowly out to explore the rest of Intramuros dodging the rain and sheltering in old buildings, very nice old houses. Then we found a place to eat and chill, a restaurant area near the wall.

Then we walked back again and tried to find a way to eat out of here all the while encountering interesting things, museums, more old houses etc. We tried to hail cab none would take us to Chinatown, then the rain got stronger. I asked around from bystanders the best way to get to Binondo, they pointed to the jeepneys we need to take, and indeed it took us to the area, only we went straight to Binondo not Chinatown so we have to backtrack, it's so crowded with people shopping for the holidays and ts street is wet from the rain. We passed this church handing out gifts to the poor people, then in Chinatown it took us awhile to find the restaurant I wanted to eat in, I was confused where to turn, took us awhile but found it and Alain ordered Peking duck and we shared siomai and filipino fried lumpia so Alain can have a try.

Both satisfied and full we took the LRT back to our place, on the way stopped by Robinson's to check out movie times for Alain who wish to see a movie after I left. back at the hostel chilled and had a few beers then I took a cab to the bus station.

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Comments

[port80]

Great photos! I miss Manila -- the food, the shopping...!