When I tell people I spent one week in Manila the reaction from people who have been there is similar across the board. "What? Why? What did you even do for a week in Manila?"
As much as I was not looking forward to going to the mountains at first, I did have a good time and I'm glad I went. It was also definitely a relief and a welcome break from the toxicity and monotony of Manila. I won't go on about the state of the ocean any more because I think I covered that in my first Philippines post. The city is massive and everyone and their mother tries to rip you off. I blame the Americans. There are so many of us there that the country- Manila in particular- has become accustomed to charging outlandish prices and the tourists not even blinking an eye because it is still cheaper than in the US (although not much). At least the Chinese were honest about it- the Filipinos will spin some tail as to why it is so much. Puh-lease. (However, Filipinos are incredibly nice people). The traffic is horrible- the maniacle driving, the sheer number of vehicles on the road, the noise, and the pollution. My God, the pollution!
Now I'm sure my most dedicated readers are thinking, What about China? Isn't Beijing traffic awful and isn't it, like, the smoggiest city in the world? Yeah, Beijing was bad, but Manila felt worse. Maybe because there wasn't as much to do in Manila or because it was closer to the sea, so it was hotter and more humid and more miserable (not to mention the torrential rains), or maybe it was the constant scamming, or possibly the fact that I chose to be in Beijing. The plan was never to spend half of my time in the Philippines in Manila. Or just a combination of all of the above. Also, the food was much better in China. So there's my rant on the city of Manila. Thanks for sticking with me
But you were still there for a while, Maggie. What did you do to pass the time, Maggie? Well, I spent quite a lot of time at the night market across the street from my hostel. I made new friends, too.
When I came back from the mountains I went to the night market with CJ (he was stuck in Manila for even longer than I was) and some friends he had made- Emma (English), and Kevin and Lisa (Canadian). I signed up for a walking tour of Old Manila the next day.
In the morning I went to the post office with Lisa and Kevin to mail some post cards. We took a jeepney and it took us exactly where we wanted to go. That was exciting! I had a very nice massage from a place just down the road from the hostel. Then I canceled the walking tour because I was too relaxed and couldn't be bothered to spend hours walking around a God foresaken city (which is ironic because the Philippines are 95% Catholic). Then I met Dom.
Dom is hilarious. He is English and has been teaching in Australia for the last year. He is quite well-traveled. Dom was at the end of his Philippines vacay (yeah, I used "vacay") and was only in Manila to catch an early morning flight to Perth. He had spent some time with a Filipino family in a northern village. They took him to a Zumba class at the mall and he won "Most Enthusiastic." Oh, also, Dom is well over six feet tall, and has a blonde ponytail. He showed me a video from his Zumba experience and he was definitely head and shoulders taller than every other participant (mainly midde-aged, all Filipina women). I got on really well with Dom. We went out for lunch at Yellow Cab Pizza Co. down the street from our hostel.
I try to have local pizza from every country I visit. Japan was hard to find, so I settled for Shakey's, Japanese style. I'm not sure if the Chinese pizzeria was Chinese or a franchise from someplace else, but I will pretend it was Chinese. Yellow Cab was delicious. I figured it was probably an American chain I had never heard of, so I was pleasantly surprised when I looked it up later and learned it was started in Manila. It has widened its horizons to inlude the US.
So I think I like Dom so much because when we went to Yellow Cab he told me he has traveled so much that he tries to go as long as he can without asking someone new he has met the same four standard questions. I ought to give them a name... The Fatal Four? The Frequent Four? Maybe my eight faithful readers (yeah! Eight! My numbers have dropped drastically) can come up with what I should call them. Regardless, they are as follows:
As much as I was not looking forward to going to the mountains at first, I did have a good time and I'm glad I went. It was also definitely a relief and a welcome break from the toxicity and monotony of Manila. I won't go on about the state of the ocean any more because I think I covered that in my first Philippines post. The city is massive and everyone and their mother tries to rip you off. I blame the Americans. There are so many of us there that the country- Manila in particular- has become accustomed to charging outlandish prices and the tourists not even blinking an eye because it is still cheaper than in the US (although not much). At least the Chinese were honest about it- the Filipinos will spin some tail as to why it is so much. Puh-lease. (However, Filipinos are incredibly nice people). The traffic is horrible- the maniacle driving, the sheer number of vehicles on the road, the noise, and the pollution. My God, the pollution!
Now I'm sure my most dedicated readers are thinking, What about China? Isn't Beijing traffic awful and isn't it, like, the smoggiest city in the world? Yeah, Beijing was bad, but Manila felt worse. Maybe because there wasn't as much to do in Manila or because it was closer to the sea, so it was hotter and more humid and more miserable (not to mention the torrential rains), or maybe it was the constant scamming, or possibly the fact that I chose to be in Beijing. The plan was never to spend half of my time in the Philippines in Manila. Or just a combination of all of the above. Also, the food was much better in China. So there's my rant on the city of Manila. Thanks for sticking with me
But you were still there for a while, Maggie. What did you do to pass the time, Maggie? Well, I spent quite a lot of time at the night market across the street from my hostel. I made new friends, too.
When I came back from the mountains I went to the night market with CJ (he was stuck in Manila for even longer than I was) and some friends he had made- Emma (English), and Kevin and Lisa (Canadian). I signed up for a walking tour of Old Manila the next day.
In the morning I went to the post office with Lisa and Kevin to mail some post cards. We took a jeepney and it took us exactly where we wanted to go. That was exciting! I had a very nice massage from a place just down the road from the hostel. Then I canceled the walking tour because I was too relaxed and couldn't be bothered to spend hours walking around a God foresaken city (which is ironic because the Philippines are 95% Catholic). Then I met Dom.
Dom is hilarious. He is English and has been teaching in Australia for the last year. He is quite well-traveled. Dom was at the end of his Philippines vacay (yeah, I used "vacay") and was only in Manila to catch an early morning flight to Perth. He had spent some time with a Filipino family in a northern village. They took him to a Zumba class at the mall and he won "Most Enthusiastic." Oh, also, Dom is well over six feet tall, and has a blonde ponytail. He showed me a video from his Zumba experience and he was definitely head and shoulders taller than every other participant (mainly midde-aged, all Filipina women). I got on really well with Dom. We went out for lunch at Yellow Cab Pizza Co. down the street from our hostel.
I try to have local pizza from every country I visit. Japan was hard to find, so I settled for Shakey's, Japanese style. I'm not sure if the Chinese pizzeria was Chinese or a franchise from someplace else, but I will pretend it was Chinese. Yellow Cab was delicious. I figured it was probably an American chain I had never heard of, so I was pleasantly surprised when I looked it up later and learned it was started in Manila. It has widened its horizons to inlude the US.
So I think I like Dom so much because when we went to Yellow Cab he told me he has traveled so much that he tries to go as long as he can without asking someone new he has met the same four standard questions. I ought to give them a name... The Fatal Four? The Frequent Four? Maybe my eight faithful readers (yeah! Eight! My numbers have dropped drastically) can come up with what I should call them. Regardless, they are as follows:
- Where are you from?
- How long have you been traveling?
- Where are you immediately coming from?
- Where are you going next?
Oddly enough, "What is your name?" is not one of the most commonly asked questions while abroad. Unless you're speaking with an American. We really like to know what you call yourself. Which is really silly because quite often we (Americans as a whole, not I) promptly and inexcusably forget it. Sometimes travelers can go days, become best friends with a person, learn everything about each other... except their name. It just doesn't have the importance Americans tack onto it I suppose. Anyway, I am digressing.
Back to Dom. He said he tries to go as long as he can without asking the Familiar Four, but with me he just couldn't resist he said. However, to his credit, he did act like it was a chore to ask me these questions. (Though I could tell he was really interested because, comeon, I'm awesome). Somehow we got on the subject of Pepsi v. Coca-Cola and I told Dom about the Coca-Cola Challenge we had had at our house last winter (the identical to the Pepsi Challenge, save for the name), and he told me he read that when a third option is added it makes the challenge much more challenging (i.e. two Pepsis, one Coke or two Cokes, one Pepsi). We decided to try it later. Exciting stuff in Manila, eh?
After lunch I had a nap, worked on my blog (believe it or not), and went to dinner with CJ, Julian (American), and Alan (old Australian). Alan is extremely opinionated and will try to argue everything anyone else says. It's really annoying. CJ, Julian, Alan, and I had been in the common room and for the most part I was staying out of it, but I could tell CJ was abou to let loose the fiery blaze of pure fury that resides deep within every ginger I have ever met. I intervened and asked CJ if he wanted to grab dinner. We felt bad abandoning Julian to Alan, so we invited him as we were out the door, but Alan, old as he is, is a quick bugger. He came, too. We were going to go to the night market, but it was closed because of poor weather so we went to an Italian restaurant instead. It was all right, if overpriced.
Back at the hostel Dom had returned. He had gone to the mall because his new boss in Australia sent him an email and said there was a new, stricter dress code. Dom had set out to get smart work clothes, but just came back with some snazzy T-shirts instead. Dom hadn't suppered yet, so I went back to Yellow Cab with him, but just had a beer. After dinner we wandered around for a while not wanting to back to the hostel, but there weren't really any bars in Makati. Instead we settled for buying a Pepsi and a Coke from 7/11 and going back to the hostel.
For this Coca-Cola Challenge we decided one had to A) Identify the odd one out, and B) Identify if if was Pepsi or Coke. Dom went first and failed. There was a French guy shaking his head and said "That is so easy. I can tell the difference no problem." The French guy went first and he failed. What was funnier than his absolute cockiness was his refusal to admit that he was wrong. He was saying there must have still been some Pepsi in the cup I told him was Coke or I must have gotten the cups mixed up. I went next and failed. I identified the odd one out, but said it was the wrong one. Julian went last and he passed. Although he admits he guessed on if the odd one out was Pepsi or Coke and guessed correct. Just shows how similar they really are.
Before bed when we were brushing our teeth Dom asked if I would be up in the morning to say goodbye or if I would just see him in Perth. He informed me he was leaving at 6:30AM and I said, "Ha! See you in Perth." Unbeknownst to us at the time, I have decided to cut out Australia from this trip, so I won't be seeing him in Perth after all.
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