Manila: An Exciting City

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So to Manila I flew to spend a long vacation. March 8 I left San Francisco on a direct flight to Manila. It was a mixture joy and anticipation, fatigue and discomfort to stay in the air inside a huge airplane for 14 hours as it travelled in high altitude and at a fast speed in order to reach our destination. Were it not for the amenities offered to all the passengers by its flight attendants, it would have been a bore. We watched two full-length movies, offered two meals and snacks, were soothed in our sleep by well-selected stereo music of all varieties piped in to your headphones. The restrooms were clean and a courteous staff looked to our every need and request the rest of the flight. So the long hours of flying over the Pacific Ocean came and went. The plane touched down smooth at the airport in Manila named after an honored and illustrious senator, Senator Benigno Aquino. We clapped our hands to celebrate the safe touchdown as well as the smooth flight.
Manila pulsates with life. Even at 4 a.m., the airport vicinity is a beehive of activiy, of people coming in and going out of the airport. Traffic was heavy already. You see them everywhere: taxis, private vehicles, public transport of all kinds, horns blaring from vehicles, security guards trying to add a semblance of order to an otherwise chaotic assemblage of people and traffic in front of a busy airport. The city is a favorite tourist destination for foreigners trying to see and experience far-away places to add to their lists of journeys in their lifetime. Manila, while a tourist destination in itself, is also a hub for other beautiful and exotic tourist places of this beautiful island-country the Philippines. Manila, though, is the "mother' of all tourist destinations. It's luster as a tourist haven has not been diminished by time. The sun still sets glowingly in the horizon at the Manila bay. The coastal area itself is lined with huge hotels and business buildings, while embasies and restaurants and offices offering all kinds of job offers overseas dotted the area. The convenience of converting your dollars to pesos has never been as easy and simple as in the area known as Ermita. There, block after block, along street corners, there are hundreds of money changers that will service you in an honest manner. Although, you still need to be aware of the possibility of being duped when exchanging your money to the local currency.
One thing youl'll notice as you start to mix with the people plying all kinds of trades and servicing the curious tourists and visitors is their utter courtesy. They look at you as someone visiting a far-away place and therefore needs the courteous attention and interaction, that you sometimes think you are someone special. At night, music is everywhere at the tourist belt. It is never boring while you walk along its sidewalks, as you mingle with the large crowds that usually have only one reason why they're there: to seek fun and excitement at this popular tourist detination.
A week in Manila is not enough to experience the sights and sounds that it offers. And then you realize there are other tourist areas to visit like Puerto Galera, Boracay, Zamboanga, Banaue rice terraces, etc. And that's another time and opportunity to look forward to.

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