Manila

Before Sam and I head to any new place we try to minimize our expectations. I have mentioned this before, but it really is a theme of our trip. We had high expectations for Bali, and we were somewhat let down. We had no expectations for Malaysia, and we were pleasantly suprised. Before coming to Manila we both had zero expectations. Manila has turned out to defy every non-expectation we have had.

Our friend who lives in Cambridge and grew up in Manila put us into contact with his buddies. One of his friends, Jerry, owns a hotel in the area Makati. Jerry and his family have been so kind as to put us up for the week. The hotel is right across the street from the most amazing mall Sam and I have ever been to (it even shames Singapore's malls). Between the crystal chandeleers, the hundreds of dining options, and high to mid end shopping (LV, Prada, Hermes, Top Shop, etc.) it's an amazing space to observe. That, and a majority of the mall is outside. It's a beautiful space. Very well thought out. (there is even a church in the middle of it!!! Talk about shop and pray).

Manila appears to be a city of "haves" and "have nots". Some people are very wealthy--they drive fancy cars, live in condos near the malls, and wear genuine Hermes. Others appear to be very very poor, encouraging their children to begg, sleeping in parks all day, and even bathing in the public fountains.



(Jerry, "King of Balls" was pretty funny, but we also liked this one)

Sunny and Jerry are friends of friends and on our first night here we went out with them and had a blast. We dined at a Japanese BBQ resturant, and laughed for hours about Phillipino tendncies, mutural friends (you know who you are), and American culture. We had so much fun and are looking forward to returning the favor when they visit the states.

Our second day we did a bus tour, to help us get our bearings straight (it wasn't a doubledecker tour so it wasn't quite as good as the one we took in Singapore) but we still had fun seeing the different neighborhoods and walking around the old city. We also learned that one could walk about 2km through 5 malls!!! Which we of course did. All of the various malls near our hotel connect.


(Jollibee... Sorry Manila, it's not better than McDonalds. The fries tasted like fish, and you don't even serve fish on the menu)

Day three, dum dum dum... GREENHILLS!!! Ultimate shopping complex. Okay, so Greenhills is pretty amazing. And they do have a ton of selection at good prices. But compaired to the rest of South East Asia it's "Same Same". All of this crap comes from China anyway. While shopping in Asia, one must always remind themselves that knock off Prada's are a dime a dozen. And the longer you wait, the better they get.

Sunny was kind enough to take us on a fieldtrip to the Taal Valcano/Lake. The Volcano was beautiful, and included a nice little hike (which was much needed after all of the tasty eats). We enjoied the view and chatted for a few hours at the top before heading back down. That night for dinner we enjoied authentic Phillipino cusine, which was very tasty!

Our trip is at an end. And Sam and I are completelly dreading the flight home. We would rather just live here than have to endure the 25 hours of flying. The thought of getting to see Mikey will help us get through it!