Manila The Philippines

After a near two-hour flight direct from Taipei we arrived into sunny and hot Manila on a Monday afternoon. We had a wonderful view of the city as we landed, due to our plane needing to stay in a holding position over the city. You could see the highways and buildings below but it still could not give you a real sense of what was happening on the ground as it all seemed reasonably peaceful. Just the beginning of our Manila The Philippines adventure. Upon landing we made our way through immigration and first stop was an ATM. I won’t go into my banking issues in this blog but will be writing more in-depth soon. To sum it up my awful bank back home have limited international daily transactions, effectively leaving us with very little cash each day. As a result, we needed to withdraw more frequently, and surprise surprise large banking fees apply. They will of course say it’s all in the name of security but that is just lies, it’s to cash in, simple.

Anyway after taking out little over one hundred Euros, we made our way to a taxi. Many official looking men and women will usher you into their office vying for your business. After many visited countries we both know how varying taxi prices can be, especially for first time foreign visitors. We gave our hotel address and were given a price, “1,850 pesos” the salesman said, “very good price, he said”, alarm bells go off when I hear those words. Immediately I said “OK” as I calculated it to be about 4 Euros, as he was confirming the transaction I re-calculated and came up with closer to 40 Euros!! wait a minute, Paula immediately said “no way that is too much”. Without skipping a beat the guy said he could give us a reductio,n so the price promptly came down to 1,000 pesos or 20 Euros, still we disagreed and asked “were there any other taxis?” He said “no” so we decided to keep looking anyway. We took the elevator to the next exit level and surprise surprise there were more cabs. We looked at taking a regular cab but found the coupon taxis further down.

In the end we accepted the price of 400 pesos or 8 Euros, still we probably got ripped off, but at that stage we just wanted to get to our hotel and it was much better than the 40 Euros first quoted. Again a lesson learned, yes us foreigners are “rich” compared to many locals but at times they just take the piss and attempt down right robbery.

Manila The Philippines Poverty and Pollution.

After a short drive of about 10 minutes we arrived at our hotel at the side of a busy road. When we say busy we mean busy, we started to wonder what had we done coming to the midst of all this madness, pollution and dust. That evening we walked close by to the local 7 11, all eyes were trained on us by the curious locals. I could sense Paula felt uneasy but we just kept walking, done our shopping, and went back to our room. Paula told me later that one guy in the shop was paying close attention to her engagement ring. That is not to say the people are all criminals, far from it, many in fact were full of smiles and welcoming, but again a silly mistake by us. We are in a less privileged part of the world and flashing jewellery in front of people who live on very little each day is not a smart move. As the motorbikes, jeeps and loud cars whizzed by outside we finally got to sleep that first night back in the balmy air we had missed since Kuala Lumpur in December.

The next day we asked reception “where should we visit in the city?” They told us to visit the nearby mall, we hadn’t come all this way to go shopping in a sterile mall so I had seen a taxi fare advertised to the Intramuros area, or the old town. For 400 pesos our driver would take us to the old town and on the way we passed through Roxas Boulevard, the main thoroughfare, where the navy are based, a nice port area and many statues dedicated to national icons. One monument we were particularly impressed by was the Rizal Monument, built to commemorate the executed Filipino nationalist, José Rizal.

The monument consists of a standing bronze sculpture of the Rizal, with an obelisk, set on a stone base within which his remains are interred. Even more impressive is the fact that the perimeter of the monument is guarded continuously by the Philippine Marine Corps’ Marine Security and Escort Group, the changing of the guard having become a daily ritual, similar to Buckingham Palace.  It may be the same routine as London but the weather certainly isn’t, with the guards impressively standing in the hot sun.

Back in Intramuros we got off at a nice church in the old town, reminiscent of Havana due to the Spanish influence. We walked through the streets with locals again having a good look at us but in turn very pleasant welcoming us and saying hello. The only nuisance were the many tuk tuk drivers asking us did we want a tour but many left us alone when we refused. Intramuros is located along the southern bank of the Pasig River and was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century and is the oldest district in the city of Manila.

The  name is taken from the Latin, Intra Muros meaning, within the walls. It is certainly worth a visit and you may want to take a guide as the area is vast. We took some pictures as the blazing sun refused to abate and then made our way back onto Roxas Boulevard. It was sad to see many homeless sleeping beside the street and the tons of rubbish strewn everywhere but it is just a harsh fact of life here I suppose. We took our lives into our hands trying to cross the boulevard to the other side as car after car, bike after bike and truck after truck seemed to appear out of fresh air. Finally we made it to the water side and again were struck by how pleasant the people were with many more welcomes directed our way. At one point a young kid no more than ten asked us for money for food, I asked him how much he needed? 20 Pesos, less than 50 Eurocents. Without hesitation we gave it to him and he seemed very grateful. We are on a tight budget ourselves but 50 Eurocents wouldn’t even get you a can of Coca Cola back home and here it made a lot of difference to this young kid.

It was nice to be able to help but we wish we could do more. Not to get too deep but when you think of how much money is wasted in the world and how much per second people like the Kardashians earn for nothing. If they came here with one thousand dollars and gave ten families one hundred each, the difference it could make to somebody’s life. Instead it is wasted on material crap, we are guilty of it too but we did feel such shame witnessing such awful poverty. Corruption in government is alive and well here too by the looks of it.

After almost melting in the strong sun it was time to go back to our hotel, we flagged down a local taxi and in no time were back. Later that evening we again headed back onto the streets, again all eyes on us but this time we were more relaxed and familiar with our surroundings. We ate in a traditional Filipino restaurant,…McDonald’s, yes McDonald’s. Sometimes you have too. With CF it is about keeping up a high calorie diet and to be honest we weren’t too impressed by Filipino cuisine so far with us eating awful food in the hotel restaurant the night before.

Yes the golden arches supply crap food too but I suppose you know what you are getting (maybe). We walked back to our hotel with the seedy side of the city on show with hookers and the odd “guilty” westerner hanging about. Sad but true. The next day we would make our way to the airport for Cebu before one last drama. We have never missed a flight in our lives, never even been late so as our flight was at 12.25 pm we were confident of having plenty of time leaving at 10am. Sure enough we arrived two hours before take off at terminal 3 only to be told by security that AirAsia domestic left from terminal 4 and we would need to take a taxi. We were annoyed as our hotel told us terminal 3 but again we had time on our side and terminal 4 couldn’t be too far away, could it? It turned out it wasn’t too far away but that is without traffic. There is much redevelopment work going on and due to the fact that the airport is located in the city, it creates chaos. As far as the eye could see were red brake lights, with cars weaving in and out. Our poor driver sensing our apprehension tried in vain to move, at one point he even hit the car in front. After a brief chat with the other car it was all ok as there was no damage. In Ireland there would be a massive insurance claim! After 45 minutes in traffic we finally arrived at terminal 4 with five minutes left to check in. We raced to check in relieved that it was still open. It was also Paula’s birthday today so we were happy our plans weren’t ruined.

So that was our brief stay in Manila`the capital of the Philippines and setting for the famous “Thrilla in Manila” back in 1975. The city certainly does pack a punch with the fumes almost knocking you out and the noise beating your ear drums.  Overall not the most picturesque city with visible poverty a real worry.  In the end, as I have mentioned, so many times it is the people who make a place and despite their hardships the Filipino people are amazing.  We have known and met many before so it wasn’t a shock that their fellow countrymen and women could be so pleasant. Next stop is Cebu and Mactan island and a more tranquil setting in the countryside. Hopefully we get to sample some of the amazing beaches the country possesses.  Keep following to find out.

Manila The Philippines