Home Sweet Home-Good to Go, Good to come Home!

I flew into Manila very early in the morning. I thought I would have coffee at the airport and try to regroup before forging on, so my first task after landing was to find an ATM machine. Manila is the biggest city in the Philippines, I think, and modern, so it should have ATM’s. Someone pointed me in the right direction and off I went, limping along. The airport was quite tranquil at this hour and I was in no hurry. At the far end was the ATM. Put in my card, entered PIN and amount(had to think in terms of Pesos now, not Dong), and waited. And WAITED, and WAITED. I could hear the machine working but nothing was happening. Finally, the machine actually shut down and restarted itself. This took at least 10 minutes. And NO money came out. So now I worried a bit that the money actually might have been deducted from my account, so I wrote down the phone number to call for later. At least, the machine spit out my card. I found another machine that looked better and actually worked. (at my hotel later, I looked at my acct. on line. The first ATM actually deducted money but then credited my acct so that was good). Now, I relaxed a bit at the coffee shop before looking for a taxi.


The hotel I booked online looked acceptable as I checked in. Because I was early, the room wasn’t ready so I just left my bag behind the desk and decided to try to accomplish another task. I brought a netbook computer with me and I need to give it to Jimmy, a guy who is in a college north of Manila. I didn’t think we could meet because of his schedule, so I decided to leave the netbook at a Catholic church near the hotel. After walking for a while, I found the church and waited until Mass was over to talk to the deacon. The deacon took me to the office where the secretary agreed to store the netbook until Jimmy came to pick it up. Mission Accomplished!!

My room at the Casa Bocobo was fine except for the heat. It is very hot in Manila and the room had AC but it was still quite warm. So, I asked them to bring a fan in too, which then made it tolerable for sleeping at night. The hotel room came with breakfast which made the mornings easy. After breakfast, I tried to do some exploring around Manila. One day, I visited the National Museum. I was surprised as it didn’t have a lot of artifacts or memorabilia. I also visited a wonderful Oceanography museum. Here there lots of tanks filled with stingrays and sharks and other fish native to the country. It was quite interesting and the information was all in English. One evening I went to a great cultural dance performance that included dinner. College students performed during dinner, singing and dancing in some period clothes. In the end , they asked people in the audience to come on stage and dance. The program director wanted me to go on stage, but I knew my leg was still a problem and jumping over those bamboo poles just wasn’t doable for me now. I had seen a similar dance in Vietnam.

A unique thing about Philippine people is that they don’t mind standing in line. In the mall, at the ATM machines, it is no exaggeration to see as many as 25 people waiting in line to use the cash machine. I was amazed, especially when you could walk a short distance and find another with a much shorter line. Also, at the airport and outside the mall, people would wait in long lines for a taxi. Again, the line could have 40 people or more. On my plane trip back from Davao, I landed in Manila. I walked outside to get the taxi. I see a line of about 50 people. I thought this is unreal. I decided to then leave the airport and go to a nearby neighborhood street. I knew this was a bit sketchy, but I thought it was worth the risk. Outside the airport, there were taxis waiting and no people. haha! So after talking with one guy, I took his taxi. It worked out fine and actually cheaper. Taxis, that is another thing. There are all metered but they always offer you a flat rate. The first few times , I took the flat rate thinking it was cheaper. Not so!! The meter is actually better. But live and learn .

Another unique thing about Philippine people, is that they are very polite and hospitable. If I looked confused or lost on the street, someone would immediately speak to me, asking if I needed help. Many people try to sell you things on the street, like watches, jewelry, drugs, sunglasses, and a plethora of American Silver Dollars. Each time , I would say No Thanks and they would gladly accept my response, yet still ask me again the next day. haha! But always very pleasant about it. As to the drugs and sex that I was constantly offered, it is a complete mystery to me. This is a very religious country, with churches filled with people. I even saw people praying at the Mall or at the beach. I found it quite a contradiction but that is the Philippines.

I flew to Davao, which is a southern city and stayed a a nice small hotel in the city center for a few days. From there, I traveled to the a place called Paradise Beach, a small island near the city. I took the ferry to get there, but it only took about 30 minutes. At the Beach, a lot of locals come with their families to enjoy the day. The beach was nice, lots of food for sale, and some rides and games, a good place to relax and rest. There was a nice aviary with some exotic birds. I had to ride on the motorbike to get there through a semi-remote area. After that I flew back to Manila, and waited to meet up with Jimmy, who had emailed me and said he could get to Manila on his day off. Great!

In leaving Manila, I checked with the front desk of my hotel, inquiring about the cost of the Taxi and time to the airport. The receptionist told me about 200 pesos and one hour. Later, I asked again at the desk and this time they said 300 pesos and about one hour. Also, I should take the hotel taxi which was better because they use the meter plus 50 pesos. I decided that was a good idea. So, I took the hotel taxi. When I got in, I asked the driver about the cost. He said 700 pesos! Wow! So I immediately told him what I was told by the receptionist. He then said 300 pesos. hahaha! I got to the airport in about 25 minutes, which was fine. To enter the airport, you have to show your passport and they immediately check your bags. Then I found the Asiana Ticket counter, another long line, but it moved efficiently. It was far better for me to be early than on my previous frantic rush program!!

I really enjoyed the Philippines this time even though it was terribly hot. I hope I can come back again. My flight home was good. Transferring in Seoul, I only had 55 minutes but made it with plenty of time. Incheon Airport is very efficient and well organized. In Seattle, I had more time but it took a lot longer to get to my Horizon gate, so again not much wait time. I left Manila at 12:40 pm Thurs. and arrived in Portland at 4 pm Thurs. Weird! Now, to get over my jet lag.!! hahaha.

Take care all. Hope it wasn’t too boring. My next trip?? I would love to go to Cuba but don’t know if that is going to work out. Peru in late July.. beyond that , who knows. Happy Trails!!