Saturday, June 5, 2010

Manila part 1

So, I had some bullshit to deal with regarding my visa and ended up having to fly all over the Philippines, but most of the time, the trip was great. While I spent my first night in Cebu, I pretty much got to my hotel, checked in, passed out and flew to Manila the next day.

I reserved a room in some shitty "hostel" my first night in Manila. I'm fond of hostels not only because they're cheap, but they tend to have a more friendly atmosphere where you can mingle and converse with people if you're traveling alone. This hostel, however was just a cheap place with no character and no other guests.

It was okay, though. I was in the exciting center of fun and tourism in Manila. I was in Ermita. I had arrived in the early afternoon after getting a full night's rest, so I was ready to go out and see the sites. I wandered around a bit and took some pictures. Here are a few.







It was a pretty exciting, vibrant city. It was busy, but not like Seoul. No one was rushing around. People were everywhere, but they were doing everything at a leisurely pace. I had been to Thailand before, but only in smaller cities, never Bangkok. This was like a strange mix of Thailand, Mexico and something entirely new.

After wandering around for a bit, I was approached by several people who wanted to either scam me or sell me something. The first guy offered access to girls, guns or anything else I wanted. I kindly declined. The next person who approached me was a hermaphrodite. H/She said "Hey, I've seen you around here. I think you're very sexy. Why don't you take me up to your place?" I told him that I wasn't interested, and then he/she insisted that he/she wasn't a prostitute, but I continued on my way. Finally, a skinny old guy came up to me and offered me a carriage tour of Intramuros and China Town. I said, no thanks. He said, "Oh no. I don't want to sell you anything. My tours are 50 pesos. That's it."

I asked him, "50 pesos?" and he confirmed it. So, I took him up on his offer.

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