Manila Philippines

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Someone described Manila “It's not paradise. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Or (good, undiluted) coffee. It's dirty here and there.

We arrived in Manila late in the evening and took an Airport taxi to our guesthouse. Pretty sure he pulled a fast one and drove by the guesthouse so he could do another loop and make the meter go higher. He was a very unfriendly guy. We told him we had the phone # of the guesthouse but he said something was wrong with his phone, though a few minutes later he called a coworker on it, and then tried the hotel and said the # didn’t work. When we got to the guesthouse we showed the hotel guy the # and he said it was fine. Anyway, after a long day we got some sleep and woke up to start our first day in Manila.

On our way to the China Embassy we had another taxi problem. We wrote the address down to the World Centre, and the driver took us to the World TRADE Centre. Luckily there was a security guard and Tris was able to ask if we were in the right place. Of course we weren’t, and had to drive another 20 minutes to a different district. We went to the China Embassy so we could apply for our China visas. I think half the country is getting visas to go to China, the place was packed. After 2 hours we finally got to hand in our applications and now we wait a week to see if we are approved.

Tris and I decided that we wanted to try couchsurfing.org so we contacted a local a few weeks ago and he accepted our request. And for our third taxi experience… it took probably about 5 cabs until we found one that would use their meter. Then on our way he started telling us how is wife has no job and that we should give him a big tip. In the end we gave him the exact change and left.

We met Lex and his girlfriend at a coffee shop and they took us to one of their favorite restaurants for a good Philippine meal. It was a really cute with simple décor, it felt very artsy. Driving along they explained about the areas and told us stories. We went to a local chain called Mary Grace which is famous for its desserts. I tried a local delight called sansrival; a biscuit like cake with a butter cream icing, sprinkled with cashews. It was more salty than sweet. Lex and Marielle had to drop off a project at a friend’s house so we got to tour a bunch of neighborhoods. They got lost and entered a few different villages until we found the right one. A lot of the neighborhoods are gated, and have security guards; they call these villages.

Metro Manila is made up of a bunch of districts and we are staying in the largest called Quezon City. A few other things we learned: Children live with their family until they are married. Lex asked if he could move out and his parents were against it. We told them it’s the opposite at home, parents try to kick us out as soon as we turn 18.

I think we are going to be hooked on couch surfing. I like to think of it as Culturing. Yes its free accommodation, but it is more about conversing with locals, learning the city first hand by people that have lived here their whole lives. We learn a new culture, taste new food, and learn old customs. While travelling it’s the people you meet that make the best memories and that is why I think ‘culturing’ is a better term for it. We are very fortunate that Lex said yes to our request. A lot of people turn requests down if your newbies. So Lex, if your reading this, Thank you thank you thank you! Our time in Manila is going to be just THAT much better.

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Photos

Flying to KL
Onward to Philippines