The Philippines- Part 1

Back in Japan from the Philippines! There were a few changes to the master plan, but overall, I have to say I left with fond feelings for the Philippines and it is definitely a place I would return again. If I was to compare it to another place I've been, I'd probably say certain aspects of the culture or landscape reminded me of Cambodia, but there was definitely a strong American influence (obviously...) and - even though I am returning a bit ill with bronchitis - I also feel really refreshed and am glad to be back. There was some stress along the way, but this trip was the break I needed, way more than I realized.

THE TRIP
So I went to SE Asia with a group of 6 others, mostly teachers and all friends. We had originally decided we wanted to go to Korea, but when we found the insanely cheap airfare on Cebu Pacific Airlines ("less than the price of tickets to Tokyo for a warm location?... hello Philippines!!"), we were swayed to changed location plans. The trip lasted 12 days in total and we visited several cities, including the capital city of Manila, the rice paddies in Banaue, beautiful Boracay and (briefly) the bussling city of Cebu.

MANILA
The trip started with me leaving for the airport straight from school on a Tuesday, with only my little school-style backpack and a purse in hand. I met the rest of the group at the airport and we checked in and headed to the gate. The flight to Manila took a little less than 4 hours and there were a few other acquaintances on the plane ride over (no surprise as cheap tickets are making the Philippines a hot spot this year), but we were all really impressed by the cheap beer and food on the plane (at least compared to Japan). The journey didn't seem that long as we played cards for most of the ride over (sort of funny with a group of 7 on a plane). I would definitely recommend Cebu Pacific to others.

When we arrived at our destination, Manila, we exchanged money (the rate was the same pretty much everywhere in the airport & even the rates in Japan weren't actually that much worse) and then looked for our pick-up to get to the hotel. The guy was sitting on the chairs right outside the arrival gate and had a tiny sign with our names on them, but it was actually over an hour (and a phone call to the hotel) before we connected with the driver and loaded into two cars to take us to Malate, the area of Manila we were staying in.

When you drive into Manila for the first time, things you may notice immediately are the lights - bright, multi-colored and everywhere, the variety of stores and restaurants (food from everywhere!) and the perplexing automobiles zooming through traffic that look like a taxi-meets-jeep-meets... submarine (?) hybrid, jeepneys.

The jeepneys (which, in my mind, are almost a symbol of the country) are an evolution of the surplus of jeeps that the Americans either sold or gave to the Philippines after WWII. The front looks like a jeep, but the extended-back more like a covered vegetable truck sheethed in metal (pretty much the car version of a mullet). The jeepneys operate like buses (going certain routes) and it would be an understatement to say that each one has personality (let alone it's own name, like a boat, always proudly displayed on the side).

The stay in Manila was actually really nice. I liked the city. Our hotel was located in an area called Malate, with a lot of restaraunts and clubs, located near Manila Bay, the CBD and Intramuros, the old walled city. I got the lodging recommendation out of the LP and was pretty pleased. The woman running the place told me the house was built before the war (rare for a city that was essentially leveled) as a city apartment for a very wealthy family with 5 children. They even had a parking garage and staff quarters, all of which have now been converted into hotel rooms. I especially loved the wood everywhere, and while it hasn't been confirmed, I was also sort of excited when the women told me the building was also the local headquarters for the Japanese military during the war. Pretty cool.

We only had a few days in Manila did a fair bit while we were there. We got in sort of late the first night and landed at the pub across from where we were staying, but it turned out to be an amazing American-style bar, with good music, fun customers (people were so relaxed and would sing along, etc), excellent food and good beer (bottle of Red Horse for about 80 cents and you could get it in a bucket of ice). Loved it... we even went back several times. We spent one day checking out Rizal Park and all the monuments, although I think a few of us were disappointed that the Butterfly and Orchid Gardens were gone. We also went to the National Museum for the History of the Filipino People, basically the national museum and probably one of the most well-presented, thorough and interesting museums I have been to (on par with the National Museum in Shanghai if you've been). I especially liked an exhibition showing artifacts from several recovered shipwrecks and an interactive athropological exhibit talking about sub-cultures, regions and traditions in different parts of the country (amazing prep when you've just arrived). The building was also the old Ministry of Finance and had been restored to it's prewar state... stunning! 

Other highlights included, well, food (land of buffets!), the Manila Zoo (got to hold a crocodile and a python!), the Mall of Asia (Mall of America has it beat, but was still cool to see an American-style mall again)...