Advertisement
Published: August 4th 2008
Pimp My Ride
This is the first Jeepney I saw in Manilla. They are all over and are decorated in an over-the-top Fillipino fashion.I arrived in Manila nice and early at 5:30 am from Jakarta. I headed straight to the hotel and took a nice long nap. I woke up in time for lunch and thought I would explore a bit outside. That is when the heat hit me like a slap in the face. The combination of heat and humidity makes being outside at mid-day unbearable, and I quickly had to retreat to the confines of an air-conditioned building.
While I was on walk-about, I got to see my first jeepney. Jeepneys are all over the Philippines and are probably the cheapest form of transport. They are based on an elongated old military jeep design. Passengers file in the back, on top of the roof, or hang off where possible. The jeepneys are usually made of a shiny stainless steel, but are decorated in an over-the-top fashion with messages for god to "bless this ride", which isn't very encouraging. There doesn't seem to be a formal public route system, so you just have to read on the side of the jeepney where it is going and pick the right one.
Thelma was ariving from London that night, so I went to
Thrilla in Manilla
This is the Manilla Hotel. An institution in itself. General MacArthur resided in the penthouse suite at the top when he lived in Manilla. the airport to meet her. I found Manila airport to be a major disappointment for a capital city. The airport itself consists of 3 terminals, but they are not close together. Not even on the same plot of land. There is a free shuttle bus that takes you betwen them, which is more than I can say for Sydney's airport. On the way out of the Philippines, Thelma and I tried to leave our luggage some place so we could kill 5 hours in Manila. This turned out to be harder than I thought as their international terminal does not have a left luggage area. The most unusual part of the airport is the arrivals area where people wait. I quickly learned that visitors are not allowed in the airport, only passengers. Visitors must wait outside, across the street, behind a fence, underneath the appropriate letters of your passenger's surname (so that they can find you). But the classic part of all this was that I had to pay 20 pesos for the privelidge of waiting outside!
The next day we went on an excellent tour of Intramuras, the historical area of Manila. Our tour guide, Carlos, was highly
San Agustin Church
This is the first church to be built in Manila. One of the few to survive the bombings of WWII. It lies in the historic Intramuros district. The building is a simple structure with detail painted on the stonework inside to make it resemble an elaborate European church. recommended and put on quite a show. In less than three hours, he had run through the entire history of the Philippines in a fun and slightly camp way. He even brought along his own theme music on a small boom-box.
He had an interesting slant on the traditional history, and I learned a lot; as did Thelma. His view was that the Philippines were not colonized and controlled by the Spanish so much as by the Catholic Church. His evidence proved that the local friars held all the real power and not the temporary Spanish Governor Generals who would rotate every year. Manila was a long boat ride away from cosmopolitan Madrid and the posisition of Governor General of the Philippnes was an appointment reserved for people the King did not like; not for his best and brightest.
The local friars were shrewd and encouraged the Fillipino people to continue practicing their hundreds of local dialects. They did not want everyone speaking Spanish, which might have allowed them to unite. The friars preferred to keep the people fragmented.
The Spanish were kicked out by a dual assault of a Fillipino rebellion and an American assault. Spain
Manila Tour
Here is our tour guide, Carlos, taking us through the American Colony portion of Filipino history. then sold the Philippines to America after their defeat in the Spanish-American War. Aurthur MacAurthur, Douglas's father, became the first Governor General of the new American colony. It was during this time that Manila and the Philippines thrived. A group of women school teachers, called Thomasites, came over and established the first ever mandatory nationwide education program, which taught English. Carlos joked at how the first school textbooks, brought from the US, contained easy to relate to sentences such as "See Dick and Jane play in the snow."
Whereas Spain tended to have more of an extraction mentality to their colonies, America poured investment in; particularly in Manila. It was the first city in Asia to have a water and sewer system. American food, music, and movies were also imported, which the Filipinos eagerly consumed. At one point, before a refrigeration plant could be built, ice was being imported from Boston! Manila was a decompression chamber for businessmen sailing between America and China. They coudl stop in Manila aon the way there and back to get clean, relax in a hotel with American food, beer, and movies. Manila came to be known as the "Pearl of the Orient," although
Jose Rizal Memorial
Rizal was an intelectual who wrote a few books that didn't speak too highly of the Spanish. They ended up executing him and he became a bit of a marter; serving as a catalyst for rebellion against the Spanish. He is their national hero. I have heard that term applied to about 4 cities in Asia now.
The Japanese caught General Douglas MacAurthur sleeping a few days after Pearl Harbor and destroyed almost the entire airforce at Clark Airforce base. The Japanese soon invaded. FDR promised troop reinforcements to MacAurthur, which he never intended on sending. This forced a retreat down the Bataan peninsula in what some have called the best executed military retreat in history. MacAurthur was close to capture or death when FDR finally ordered him out of battle and down to Ausralia. Before he left, he famously declared, "I shall return!"
Return he did, and in a dramatic fashion; typical of the general. There is a famous photo of him returning back to shore with his men. There is even a stature of it now at the exact place. Carlos was quick to point out that the photo needed to be take three times. Douglas fell on his face during the first take. The second photo was acceptable, but upon learning that Life magazine was sending a photographer the next day, General MacAurthur ordered everyone back on board so that they could re-create the moment the next day in
Hut with a view
This was our accomodation by the rice terraces. the presence of the Life photographer. The general was even better at public relations than he was as a military tactician.
At this point, the accolades for MacAurthur and America faded. In an anxious thrust to rid Manila of the Japanese, MacAurthur ordered bombings that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Manila was destroyed, and a lack of capital ensured that it would never be rebuilt to resemble its former glory. Since WWII, the Philippines has become completely independent with an almost identical form of government to the US (president, senate, house of representatives, etc). There is, however, much more corruption here than back in the US, and the people I met are frustrated with the inability of the government to advance the nation that has so many obvious advantages. Since independence, the US has distanced themselves from the Philippines, which has been a disapointment for most Filipinos. At one point, it was looking very likely that the Philippines, and not Hawaii, would become the 50th state.
In addition to history, Carlos taught us about quirky things in the Filipino culture, which were new to me, but provoked giggles from Thelma and the other locals. He explained
Breakfast View
This is the view from our breakfast table every morning in Banaue. how Fillipino moms have a clean kitchen in their house that they use maybe once a year, and a dirty ktichen (sometimes outside), where they cook everyday. Since Fillipino cuizine includes a lot of frying, this can cause a lot of splatter. He also let us know that Fillipinos can't stand the smell of body odor and must shower up to 4 times a day. In the colonial days, the servants would be super clean, but their Spanish masters might only have a bath once every 4 months!
That night, we headed for a particular establishment that I had read about in a abook. When I was in Melbourne, my firend Emma lent me a book entitled
"Don't tell my mom I work on the rigs (she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse)" by Paul Carter. It's a very funny book about one man's life working on oil rigs, both on and off shore. He describes the places he goes, the people he meets, and the stuff they get up to. Anyway, in the book his friend takes him to a bar in Manila called "The Hobbit House". It was completely staffed by dwarfs. There was even a bit of dwarf tossing mentioned in the book. The places still exists, but it apears to have moved to
Hanging House
I can't imagine what this guy's homeowner insurance premium is. a new location down the street. It seems to have gone more commercial. The place is much bigger than I imagined and the walls depict scenes from hobbit villages in the Lord of the Rings. There are still little people, but both the bartender and the one-man-band were full size. There is even another location on the island of Boracay. Basically, the dwarfs have sold out. The whole place came up a bit short in my expectations.
From Manila, we took an overnight bus up to Banaue. Banaue is the site of the famous rice terraces. These teraces are on par with the great wonders of the world (if you talk to the Filipinos) and are a UNESCO world heritage site. The terraces were built more than two thousand years ago by Chinese immigrants. That makes them over twice as old as the ones that Sean and I saw in China. Thelma and I stayed in a traditional Ifugao wodden hut and woke up each morning to an amazing view of the rice terraces. The rice was past the seedling stage, but not yet ready to be harvested. This allowed for beautiful views of lucious green tiers.
We
In The Terraces
Thelma and me at the rice terraces. went on an all day hike to see some of the more famous sections. Half way through, we took a break to swim under a refreshing waterfall. We were able to make it through pretty much the entire hike before the rain came. I thought the rain might be brief, but it kept up the rest of the day. The roads there are far from paved, although the government gets plenty of money from UNESCO to pave them. The money somehow always seems to go missing. Transportation options consisted of either a jeepney or a tricycle. The tricycle is another one of those "only in the Philippines" type of transport. It is essentially a motorcycle with a sidecar attached, capable of holding two people, although I have seen up to six hanging off of one. The close poximity to the engine means you get to enjoy its sound and smell during your entire journey.
After Banaue, we embarked on an epic journey to reach Thelma's Auntie who lives near Clark Airport. Generally, in the Philippines, older women whom you are close to are called your Auntie, or Tita, regardless of relation. Likewise for Uncles, or Titos. Our journey consisted
A View to Die For
This is a farmer's crypt overlooking the famous rice terraces. of 2 tricycles, 3 buses, and 15 hours. Two of our buses broke down at some point. During one such breakdown, everyone was on the side of the road having a rest while the driver looked over the engine. We were near a town and I could see a giant arch over gthe road with the word "Mabuhay" across it. Thelma was on the phone with Tita and I pointed it out to her to let her know where we were. "Tell your Auntie we are in Mabuhay" I exclaimed. She just ignored me until after she finished the call. At that point she replied, "Mabuhay means Welcome!" What a funny name for a town I thought.
I was suprised to see Thelma communicate in Filipino almost as soon as she landed in Manila. She left the Philippines when she was ten years old and I've never heard her speak it in London. There are still a number of different dialects across the islands, but Tagalog has sort of achieved the de-facto standard for natives. it is most widely spoken in and around Luzon. Thanks to the Americans, English is widely spoken across the islands. In fact, while India
Taking a Rest
After working up a sweat climbing the rice terraces, it was nice to refresh with a swim under this waterfall. is the location of choice for British call centres, The Philippines has become the prefered spot for US call centers. The two languages have merged to form a mutated language called Taglish. The Philippines is broken up into 3 main areas: the island of Luzon in the north, the island of Mindanao in the south, and the Vesiah islands in between. Vesiah is the region where Thelma is from, and that is also the name of the language that she is most familiar with. She appeared to be getting on well enough with her Taglish though.
After a brief stay with Tita, and extremely full bellies, we were off to Clark airport. This airport was formerly Clark Air Force Base, where MacAurthur was caught sleeping and his air force destroyed. For a number of years, it served as a US Air Force base, but recently the Philippine government decided not to renew the lease for America and it is mainly used as a civilian airport now.
Our destination was the picturesque island of Boracay. It is one of the best beaches in the Philippines, and some say one of the best in the world. Long shallow turquoise waters
Rice is Nice
Here's another amazing view.... give way to white sandy beaches shaded by tall coconut trees. There had been a cyclone that hit the island a few weeks prior to our arrival. The same one that had capsized a ferry off the coast of Manila. There was some damage to the island, but not as much as I had feared. Luckily fo us, the side we were staying on did not appear to be impacted too badly, other than some erosion from the beach. The damage on the other side looked to have beached some boats and cracked the pavement, but most of the building still seemed in tact.
Boracay isn't just beautiful above the water. Underneath is colorful coral and friendly fish. Thelma did an intro scuba lesson to allow her to do a dive with me. The dive master had a hold of her the entire time and we stayed shallow. It was a fun dive and the divemaster brought some bread down with him. When he took it out, fish came from everywhere to eat it right out of our hands. I think Thelma still needs to get used to the gear though. She was still getting all of her gear
The Natives are Restless
Thelma and a local woman in the traditional clothes of the local people. together on deck when she fell off the boat and into the water. She had just straped her BCD on and was sitting on the edge of the boat with her tank hanging over the side. The divemaster let go of her to grab something, and the unexpected weight of the tank sent her back and into the water without her mask yet on. She laughed it off quite well, but I think the instructor knew he would have to keep a firm hand on her during the dive.
Another thing that Boracay is well known for is kite surfing. The high winds and the shallow waters make it a perfect place to learn. It's another one of those things that I have never tried before, and I wanted to tick it off of my list. The course I signed up for though, as I was to find out later , was only to learn how to control the kite in the water. Another day would be needed to add the board on. I was a bit disappointed because we needed to leave the next day to catch a flight. I ended up being pretty good with controlling the
Bearing it all
The towns people in the village of Banaue create a number of different crafts including silverwork and woodcarvings. kite and dragging my body. I only crashed it a couple of times. Hopefully I'll get another chance to complete my training in Thailand.
After my kite lesson, we went to explore the rest of the island. the best way to get around is by scooter. I was a little aprehensive because my scooter experience is not as vast as Thelma's back-seat driving experience. Truth be told, my only experience on a scooter was driving my buddy Rob's scooter down his front street in his hometown back in Illinois for about 5 minutes.
My lack of qualifications was not a deterent to hiring a scooter though. I assured the owner that I knew what I was doing. He pointed out all of the controls to me, and after a few practice runs up and down the street, and a very worried look on his face, we were off. Thelma kept her screaming to a minimum and I actually enjoyed the freedom that came with being able to motor around whereever I liked. We visited some less known beaches and a few bat caves. At the northern end of the island, we passed a few new hotel and condo
Boracay Island
This is one of the "stations" where all of the boats moar up. developments under construction. They seemed way too big and completely out of place. This included a HUGE "Eco Lodge", which was being constructed entirely out of concrete. Unfortunately, the small island feel of the place is being eroded just like the sand from under the coconut trees on the beach. Next stop on our itenerary was Thelma's hometown, Valencia.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.324s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 10; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0883s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
H U N T E R
non-member comment
what a trip!
well, im very happy you had a wonderful stay in the philies... i just want to comment a lil bit about that "Pearl of the Orient" thingy... i guess those 4 asian cities you've known about using that moniker could have been too envious about naming their places of such close association with the philippines for it sounded just amazingly beautiful for tourism advertisements, but i should tell you this that even though how many countries will use the title, world history will still identify the name to the philippines. For the philippines, "the pearl of the orient seas" is beyond natural beauty, but its HISTORY which other 4 asian places you said doesn't have... it's even included in the philippine national anthem translated into filipino as: "perlas ng silanganan..." also, about vesiah islands...there's no such thing as vesiah islands, it's visayas islands, a group of islands sliced between luzon and mindanao and these places speak the visayan language of which there are 3 major languages spoken: cebuano, waray and hiligaynon and other varying degrees of similar languages. thanks