in Malata, Manila, Philippines

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I'm staying at Friendly's Backpackers Pensionne, here in the middle of Malate, Manila. It's OK. You certainly get what you pay for, in this case $19 worth of room and comfort. I'm not sure I'm going to stay here another night though. The toilet is broken, gotta manually pull the string, there is no cold water unless I just haven't figured out the taps yet and I'm a bit concerned over the safety (it's just a regular bedroom door lock). But I think I'm just paranoid, or have gotten too soft. There are quite a few Westerners staying here. Last night a bunch of Swedish tourists were talking to the owner about their New Year's Eve plans here in Manila. Some Germans checked in this morning and this American girl woke up early to use the kitchen. Anyway, we'll see...

The flight here was non-eventful. The first leg was from JFK to Narita/Tokyo. 14 hours straight. In Narita I hung out for a couple of hours then took the 6:25 JAL to Manila. I got here at around 10:30. I was getting anxious upon landing, I've never been on my own here. My strategy was to speak Tagalog, easy enough, but speak it with no accent. That way no one will know I'm not from around here. But after going through customs I was paged! My aunt and two cousins had come to pick me up. So much for being on my own.

Manila is hot and steamy. The traffic was ridiculous. We had a late late dinner at this place near the hostel. I had a burger and it was really good (take that Jollibee!). Upon arriving here in Malate, you can tell the Philippines is a second world country. The area was filled with clubs and bars and tourists. But you can also see whole families, laid out in the sidewalk, sleeping on cardboards (another test to see how "soft" I've gotten?). Overall I was glad I'm in the middle of it. The first thing I did on my own was to go to the 7-11 and buy toothpaste (they confiscated my Crest at Narita!).

Manila has a certain smell to it. Not in a nasty way, like a plant or an herb (no, not that kind of herb) or something. I noticed it last summer, I'm noticing it again this time.

I slept for 4 hours. It got chilly with the a/c on. I walked around the area and it looked like everything had just shut down and people are starting to clean up. The family sleeping on the sidewalk's not there anymore. There was a mother and 7 kids that looked like they were all under 5. I got up too early. I'm looking for an alternative place to stay. One other choice the Malate Pensionne looked more comfy. They still had my reservation for last night. I might move there or at least keep my bags there. I don't have much to steal anyway, unless they want to use my old underwear. Some are so ragged Skid B Gone won't be use for them. The valuables, passport, keys, wallet, and camera, I'll always have on me.
I'm packing as if my big knapsack is dispensible. They can keep my T-shirt and shorts. I'm leaving my ipod nano too. If that gets stolen I guess I'll have to get the new model, darn!

Just killing time. Trying to figure out how much I've gotten soft with city living. Nah, I can still rough it. Now only if the Starbucks down the road would open already! I want to get my vente skim latte!!

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