Manila

Well, it's been rainy out, so I didn't get to do as much exploring as I wanted. I did walk around the park next to my apartment a little, but it's starting to get dark, so I came home. I promised a post about Manila, so here it is.

First, I'd like to mention that I broke the LDC screen on my camera while ice skating in Korea, so I was blindly snapping all of the photos you see here. That's why some of them are oddly framed or blurry (also because my camera is a piece of shit).

Day 1

When my plane arrived in Manila, there was a slight delay because, according to one of the stewardesses, "Someone on board committed a crime." Once she said that, everyone who could understand was looking toward the back of the plane to figure out what the hell had happened. Soon, a couple of police officers boarded the plane and, predictably, escorted two drunk Korean men off the plane. They looked pretty disheveled, so they must have been fighting or something. It's really a wonder that Koreans don't have worse reputations around the world as drunken idiots.

Once I got into the airport, I was ready to exchange money, so I went to some sort of desk that had a sign for a bank behind it, so I figured that was the place. First, I asked if I could exchange money there, and they said yes. Then, they asked me if I needed a taxi, and I said yes. Then, some Australian guy came out of nowhere and advised me to get a metered taxi elsewhere. I figured he knew what he was talking about, so I told them I had changed my mind. When I asked about exchanging money, they said, "We have no money for you." What? I asked again, and he repeated that they had no money for me, so I went along to a metered taxi. The driver said he could take me to place to exchange cash. Along the way, I noticed that his meter was acting funky, but I thought that maybe I just confused. Anyway, when I got to my hotel, he charged me 500 pesos (about 10 bucks; it should have cost maybe 200 pesos), which was obviously a number that he had just pulled out of his ass since it was nowhere to be found on the meter, but it was 1:30 AM, and I really had no choice but to pay him.

My hotel was called Royal Isabelle Suites or some shit, but it was a dump. It didn't matter, though, because I only stayed there one night.

Day 2

One strange thing about the Philippines is that you can't call cell phones from regular land lines (at least, as far as I could tell), and they're much more expensive to call from pay phones. So, after some confusion, I found a pay phone and called the guy I had planned to couch surf with. I can't remember the last time I had used a pay phone. So, I talked to him for one minute, and we made plans to meet, but then the call got cut off because I wasn't ready in time to put in more money. Anyway, I figured I had all the information I needed, and it wasn't really necessary to call him back to confirm.

We were supposed to meet at a McDonalds, and I had a little time to kill, so I walked around and picked up some breakfast (pork and stuff in a plastic bag). It was damn good.



Finally, I made my way to McDonalds and waited a bit. About 30 minutes later, he still wasn't there, so I started to worry. I began trekking around, looking for another pay phone but was unable to find one, so I had to walk 10 minutes back to the one I had originally used. When I got ahold of him, I explained where I was, and he said that he was at a different McDonalds, so he would go to that one to meet me. Okay. So, I went back to the Mickey D's and waited. Still, no show. So, I went back to the pay phone. This happened about half a dozen times. And it was hot. Plus, I was carrying my big ol' backpack with everything I needed to live for the next few weeks. Eventually, I realized that he was in a completely different part of town. So, I took a taxi there and everything was fine. But, god, what a way to start a trip. I guess we should have thought about the fact that there are literally hundreds of McDonalds in Manila.

My couch surfing buddy was named Mark, and it's really thanks to him that I had such a good time in Manila. He's a very talented full-time artist who knows Manila inside and out. So, if you're reading this, thanks again, Mark!

One thing I really like about Manila is that public transportation is very cheap and convenient. I mostly traveled around the city on jeepneys, which are old American military jeeps that have been decorated and converted for public use. They follow regular routes and are generally easy to use as long as you know where they're going or are with someone who does.





In the afternoon, we just walked around town a bit.







That night, Mark and I attended his friend's art opening. There was free booze and food, so that was awesome.

After quaffing a few San Miguels, we made our way to the next destination - some more art openings and a "hipster party" inside a kind of shopping center.

But first, we stopped so I could be initiated with the Philippines' most notorious food: balut. Balut is a fertilized duck egg, complete with feathers. You eat it with vinegar and salt.

Mark's friend (whose name I cant remember) showed me the proper procedure. First, you've got to drink the juice.



I honestly thought it was delicious. Imagine a combination of a hard boiled egg and a roasted chicken.





The "hipster party" ended up being a lot of fun. I met lots of cool people (mostly artists) and drank a boatload, including a Filipino liquor made from coconut called lambanog.





Toward the end of the night, a local Filipino "indie" band called Meiday played. They were pretty good, as far as I can remember.



Day 3

Mark and I went to a cock fight. I guess it was interesting but ultimately pretty stupid and cruel. However, the room certainly had a pretty intense energy about it, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least a little exciting.









This is the station where the injured but still living roosters were sewn up.



This is the station where the losers were prepared for the kitchen. Nearby, you could buy lunch. Guess what was on the menu.

That night, Mark and I went to a bar called "Hobbit House" where all the servers are midgets. It was gimmicky and really expensive, but they had cool Tolkien-inspired paintings on the wall. We had one beer.



We went to Chinatown and ate frog legs at some point. I think it was around this time.

Then we spent the night in, drinking beer and watching American Idol and The Merriam Story, which was a really horrible made-for-TV movie about a Filipino politician. It was corny as hell and good to watch while you're slugging down a Red Horse beer.

Day 4

Mark took me to the lechon (whole roasted pig) district, where we ate a really delicious lunch.



I liked that every component of the meal except the rice involved pig - lechon, pork liver gravy, pork broth, and veggies cooked in pork fat.

As we were eating, we could hear pigs squealing as they were slaughtered, so once we finished, Mark (being the exceptional guide he is) asked the owner if we could check out the area where the pigs are prepared. The owner graciously agreed.







After pigging out (sorry), we sauntered over to a strip of secondhand stores. The first place was an American surplus store, which was basically the same as any thrift store in the states.





I rummaged through the picture frame section and came across some strange pictures. I wonder how one's middle school yearbook photo ends up in a secondhand store in Manila.





Next, we went to a Japanese surplus store, which was really cool, and if I hadn't intended on traveling so lightly, I probably would have bought a lot of junk.

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any decent pictures there.



Then, Mark and I walked around the old Spanish district. I guess there was some cool buildings, but I don't really understand or care about architecture. Here's an old cathedral that's famous, I think.



We did a lot of walking.





I ate some cheese and mango "dirty ice cream" that was surprisingly really good.



We walked to the "Little India" area of Manila and decided to check out the Sikh temple, which turned out to be a very cool experience. We had to take off our shoes and wrap our heads (they provided the cloths). Then, we got a free dinner of lentils, naan, yogurt, and some really tasty spiced tea. I felt like the other people in the temple were giving us dirty looks (especially after I dripped yogurt on the floor), but maybe I was just being paranoid.



That night, Mark and I met his friend, Mimi, for some drinks and a snack of pig ears and chicken asses. These chicken asses were grilled, though, and much better than the ones I ate in Korea. Mimi is a film programmer at a theater in Manila. Obviously, she's really cool.

After our initial round of drinks, we ended up in a videoke bar. Mark and Mimi kept pressuring me to sing, but it was really crowded, and all of the other people performing were really good! Finally, we decided to back to a different place that we had seen earlier that was empty. By the time we got there, it wasn't empty anymore, but there were only a handful of people, and they were horrible singers. We'd found our kind of crowd.





Day 5



I actually got these mosquito bites at the art opening, several days before, but they just kept getting bigger and darker. Actually, I had bites all over, and I realized that I had never done any research about malaria in the Philippines. Turns out malaria is only a risk in rural areas in the Philippines, not Manila. Phew!

My friend, James, who I met in Korea, also happened to be in the Philippines, so we made plans to meet up. This is kind of strange because we did the same thing in Thailand. Anyway, we got together and went to a mini-casino (or something) where we played Texas Hold 'Em. That was my first time ever gambling with complete strangers. It was fun, though, because the people were all friendly, and the stakes were low. In the end, I won $10!

Another kind of bizarre food: one-day-old-chick. This is exactly what it sounds like. This chick was born and then immediately killed and deep fried. Pretty evil, huh?



Anyway, you eat the thing whole - head, innards, bones, and all. It tastes okay, but the innards are sort of bitter.



That night, I met up with Mark again, and we went back to the location of the "hipster party." There's a bar/movie theater there called Mogwai (after the gremlin, not the band). They were showing "Hump Day," which I enjoyed.

After a few brews, we stopped at a little street-side stand for some rice gruel.



Cool folks: Nii, Con, and Mark.



Day 6

The next day, I did a little shopping and ate at a Filipino fast-food chain called Jollibee. I can't remember what else. It was a pretty uneventful day because we'd already been pretty much every where in Manila.

That night, we met up with Mimi again, had a few drinks, and then called it an early night. I had to be at the airport at around 4 the next morning.

I got ripped off again on my way to the airport because the taxi driver had no change (at least he told me this as soon as I got in; I was his first client of the day, supposedly), and the smallest bill I had on me was 500 pesos. No big deal. In all, I only spent about $100 in the Philippines.

Then I spent a whole day traveling and missed my plane in Chicago. It was a nightmare, but I'm not going to go into it.

In Texas, I ate delicious food, saw amazing friends, and spent time with my wonderful family. Now I'm back in Korea writing this bullshit.

THE END.