Last Day in Manila...ever.

---

We had decided to spend an extra day in Manila just because we loved our hostel so much, could use the extra time to plan our multi-leg trek to Boracay and still had yet to see the sights of Manila since we lived in a gated outskirt.

So we woke up early on Wednesday with ambitious plans of seeing the city centre. In particular there was a park with monuments and all that. Since we had had enough of scamming taxi drivers, (one guy demanded a 50 peso tip!), we decided to take jeepneys downtown. It was 11am and rush hour was still in full force.

I need to take a moment and talk a little about traffic in Manila. Picture the traffic of the 401 in Toronto being transported into downtown Wolfville. Then take all those vehicles and put a crack addict with anger management issues at the wheel. People get so irate that rules that maybe never existed in the first place are broken. Five cars cram into three lanes, motorbikes blast up the tiniest cracks, risking death by side-view mirror. The words that came to mind were "stampede of steel". Furthermore, Jeepneys are open, so it was stiflingly hot. Since you invariably get stuck behind an accident, vendors swarm the jeepneys selling everything from water to garlic. The radio blasts Filipino radio which, as a country with both an American and Spanish colonial history, seems to have taken the most irritating elements of both. And amid all this chaos is an incessant chorus of horns beeping. And the most reckless kamikazes of the whole lot are the taxi drivers. Our guidebook actually calls Manila cabdrivers "minions of Satan". After two hours we had only gotten halfway downtown so we bailed on that idea and decided to check out a nearby local market. But it wasn't very tourist friendly. After 20 minutes of urine inhalation we had had enough of the slums and did what all white people do when they get scared, we went to the air-conditioned mall.

As it turns out, it wasn't such a bad idea. The Mall of Asia was close enough to walk and in one of the amphitheatres in the middle there was some national martial arts competition called Wuchu. I don't know what it is, but it involved kick-boxing and another event that resembled dance/gymnastics/prancing around and jabbing the air with a big stick. I was lost, but impressed nonetheless. We later wandered over to the skating rink (yes, the Mall of Asia has an indoor rink) and watched the only hockey I'll get to see this playoff season. Sure it was only kids under the age of 10 and about half of them were white, but I got into it anyway. I fell in love with the little Filipino girl in the Canucks jersey. So much so that when she had a breakaway and one of the big kids tripped her off the puck I wanted to jump up and scream for a penalty shot. I think my fury would have confused the locals watching the game.

That evening the jeepney ride back was far more civilized, only an hour. We met up with Akil the Musician and went out for some dinner. That evening we just sat around with bottles of San Miguel and a deck of cards. We said bye to Akil and made him promise he'd come up Toronto for a show so we could feel cool.

We left early the next morning and caught a 3-hour bus to Battangas. I watched the bad movie they were showing with delight. From there it was a 2-hour ferry to Calapan on the island of Mindoro. Then a 3 hour van-ride to Roxas, in which I sat next to a young woman with a baby who seemed fascinated by me. It turns out her father is Australian. I couldn't help but wonder if she sees pale and thinks "Dad".

We got to Roxas at 7pm after having left Manila at 7am. We boarded a ferry for Caticlan on the island of Pasay and got in there at midnight. We got an over-priced room that was more like a prison cell, but it was late and I was too tired to look for something better. After a sleepless night ruined by an air "conditioner" that was more like an asthmatic smoker coughing hot air on you all night, we boarded a little skiff for the island of Boracay.

I've been here 8 hours and love it already. It is true island paradise. I went and talked to the local kiteboarding guys and got something lined up for tomorrow. Also, we got a room at far cheaper than we payed last night and this place has two big double beds and a semi-private balcony for lunch. Spent the afternoon swimming and singing my skin to a fine crisp.

Gotta go though, happy hour starts in 20 minutes!


Happy Birthday, Mum!

---

Comments

[Vince]

Boracay
Ah, Boracay. The proverbial paradise island. You know, you could have just flown straight to Caticlan without causing you an arm and a leg for a little under an hour. Have fun in Boracay!

[Jordan]

I have fallen behind in my reading a bit so I took today to procrastinate a bit and catch up on your posts. I must say they are highly entertaining. I second Matt's post from a while back...jackets are a must, I would personally like a large map on the back with a little dotted line showing where you went and also little symbols representing where you lost all your possessions along the way. Happy travels!

[Scott]

Melting Pot
When you said "the most annoying attributes of both" Spanish and American radio, I immediately pictured Dr. Laura talking over a mariachi band. And I cringed. Happy belated birthday, Mrs. Ash.