Wow! Philippines!

---

As we checked for our $15.00 flight from Saigon, Vietnam to Manila they asked for proof that we were leaving the country. We had a return ticket but not a printed out copy. Being the typical unfriendly authority figure of Vietnam they wouldn't let us open the email in order to prove ourselves telling us we'd have to buy more flights. We put up a huge fuss. Time was running out but persistence finally payed off when we tried to bribe a lady to let us use the net rather than buying another $100.00+ last minute ticket. At the end of it all we were able to board the flight with minutes to spare and the lady was even nice enough to not accept the money we offered.

We arrived in Manila at 5am, hopped in a taxi that charged us 5 times what it should've cost. We didn't care though because after 22 hours of traveling from Nha Trang, Vietnam to Saigon to Manila we were exhausted. We found a hotel in an area the Lonely Planet says there are plenty of budget places to stay. The Philippines compared to the neighboring countries is expensive, maybe 50% to double the price. The one thing we do have going for us is that it's typhoon season and therefore nobody travels here at this time so we can negotiate deep discounts, at least in theory. Our hotel it seems is in the ghetto. A real rundown part of town full of street gangs, prostitution bars everywhere, pickpockets, homeless families and children all over the street. It seems every entrance to any business big or small s guarded by a security guard with a machine gun. The dirty streets are full of stagnant water and open sewers. It's a sketchy place and doesn't seem like the rest of South East Asia. The overall poverty is appauling. It's really the first and only place I didn't feel safe and ensured that I didn't pull out my camera at any point as there looks like a serious risk of being robbed.

I've never been to Los Angeles, California but to me it seems very similar to a rundown Spanish neighborhood from there. The Philippines is an old Spanish colony and they left there mark here on the language and the overall culture. Which makes things really interesting to see and experience as it's one of a kind to have a Latin American vibe in an Asian country. It's actually really cool. We woke up around 1pm for a bit of sightseeing around the old interesting colonial districts and then Makati. The first thing we noticed is it seems like most of the city is rundown, however the infrastructure is great and the traffic problem isn't as bad as Jakarta. We had a bit of trouble getting a taxi driver to turn on the meter but we finally got one. We drove about 3km when we noticed the meter was out of control and had charged us so far for 26km. I got pretty upset and demanded to get out of the cab right where we were. I payed him what I thought is a fair price and to my surprise he took it without complaining and gave a big smile. Disorientated Sully and I walked around in a neighborhood that made the area we're staying at called Mabini Street nice. The hotels around here are rented by the hour and there are plenty of prostitutes out already. The place is full of what looks like street gangs and people you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Prostitution in The Philippines is huge with about 400 000 of them roaming the country. 400 000! That's bigger than the Canadian Army! The sad reality is that about 20% of them are children.

We asked around and found our way to a MRT (Skytrain) station and quickly found our way to the high end district of Makati. This place surprised us. It's beautiful and very developed. Looks similar to Vancouver or Singapore. The streets are safe and it put us at ease a bit. The one major thing The Philippines has going for it is it's people. No matter if we were in the bad area or the nice area everyone speaks perfect English and is ready to help us out however they can. They're known as the nicest people in the world. Any time we needed direction we'd ask a guy holding a machine gun and he would not only offer assistance but walk us to where we wanted to go. Even the taxi cab driver who tried to rip us off was really nice about it haha
And although our neighborhood was rundown, it was still overall pleasant. There's not a lot of tourists in this country so a lot of people are surprised to see us and are quick to smile and offer conversation. Manila is pretty rough around the edges, even more so I think than Phnom Penh is Cambodia, but still I think it's far from a place that one would want to avoid. I'm planning to come back sooner or later this month.
We went out for a few drinks at a bar nearby, which was interesting to say the least and passed out early as we were still tired from traveling.

The next morning we took a 5 hour journey to a beautiful beach resort town called White Beach in Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro. A sigh of relief ensued us as we arrived. The beach is a bit rocky but the clear water makes up for it. We sampled some Filipino food such as Adobo and SiLog. Drank San Miguel Beer which and relaxed the day away. The place is full of local Filipino tourists from places such as Manila. Sully and I found a bar at night pumping loud music. We sat side by side and we soon joined by a few ladyboys. Naturally it was a bit strange to us but by now being in Asia for so long we're used to seeing them as it's a big part of the culture here. After a while there was a gay guy dancing in front of us, and hitting on poor Sully. He never asks to be hit on and offers no interest what so ever but it seems over the last few months they really chase after the poor guy! He asked him to play chess, if he wins he takes him home. We quickly realized we were sitting at a gay bar! We let them know we were straight and liked girls only. As gay guys do best they pranced around all excited and said he wants to hook us up with some straight girls.

He ran to the next table full of Filipina girls and said we wanted to meet them. It was pretty akward but we were glad to escape the gayness. The girls were actually on vacation from Manila and all were quite friendly. We became instant friends. They all thought we were gay and it took a long time to convince them otherwise. After a while there was a big group of about 15 or so of us guys and girls, drinking until the early morning hours. At one point I thought it would be a great idea to go for a swim. It was dark and nobody was around that I could see, and it was pouring rain out. I didn't go to far or too long, but it was long enough for someone to go through my shorts pockets, open my wallet, steal the money and then ditch it. Grrrr!!! It was only about 600 peso's ($15) but usually I'm so much more aware of that. It's the first time anything has been stolen from me. Oh well, live and learn! At least they were nice enough to leave my wallet on the beach with my ID and bank card in it.

We intended on heading to the next beach called Sabang about 20km up but since we went to bed at 7am we slept long and late choosing to do nothing but hang out on the beach the next day. We met all kinds of friendly local people some of whom invited us to join them for a BBQ dinner. It consisted of a giant plate of BBQ Pork and rice, my third meal of the day without vegetables. They're seriously lacking greens in their diet for some reason! We spoke about Filipino life and Canadian lives. They were astonished that the Catholic Church doesn't play a bigger part in Canadians lives and they looked at us as if we need to be saved. God plays a big part in most Filipinos everyday lives and you can see the evidence of it written on most vehicles and buildings. The jeepneys are all named from people from the bible or Salvation etc, sayings on buildings say things Jesus loves you. It's really great to see. Coming from a Catholic Family, I think my Mother would really enjoy it here. It's really easy to meet people here and as I said before, I believe every heartbeat opens up a new world of possibilities and adventures. So far the Filipino people have been nothing short of amazing. I'm excited to experience the rest of this beautiful country and it's people. Wow! Philippines!

---

Photos

Jeepney
1000's of these pollution mobiles plough the streets all over the Philippines. Usually beautifully painted to represent Filippino culture and the Catholic Religeon.

Manila Street scene
Pedicabs line the streets waiting for passengers

Makati District
The contrast between the rich/middle class and the poor is very evident as you tour the city from the slums to the upper class district of Makati

Arriving at White Beach
in Puerto Galera, by pumpboat

White Beach
Puerto Galera

White Beach
It's a bit rocky, but it's still quite a pleasant place to escape to after Manila

Jeepney
up close and personal

Jeepney
from the side. Jeepneys are used in place of buses. They've got a certain charm to them

Comments

[Aim]

Kid theung mak mak mak mak
" I believe every heartbeat opens up a new world of possibilities and adventures. " I totally agree with you. and as ur openness truly widens my eyes to the world. Ting tong, you should be more careful about leaving things ok? As u said, " Live and Learn"!!! Being joined by ladyboys there is not ur experience now but something u are already used to eieieiei Hope ur ass is still alright :P Take care and enjoy ur next trip Kid thueng Dave mak mak ka

[jeanette]

hi, i've been reading your entries on the phils. since i'm from the phils, just curious on how foreigners think and experienced on their trip to our country, find your blog entries very interesting. and that you're a very cool person in that you dont let bad experiences discourage you, on the contrary, you try to find some humor on them. i kept laughing at some of your stories, like the taxi driver incident, etc. i was also touched by the hospitality lyndie and her family extended to you. the filipinos are really one of the kindest and friendliest people in the world, its not that i'm bragging, bec. i'm a chinese who lives here, not a filipina. if u do encounter bad people, thieves etc, its because of extreme poverty that drove them to do it.... so i hope you will still come back here next time :)

[discovery]

Ladyboy
Great ladyboy club on P burgoes st called shampoo (the birdie cage ) nice girl and lts of fun

[Peter]

Hey
Hey there.I hope if im there in manila that I can see it al .Im there in manila for good to living there and want to see it so much al of it.Bye bye