Adventure
 
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I didn’t know much about the Philippines before I went there which is an interesting way to travel.  It was completely different than I expected even though I didn’t know that much.  Here is a very brief history on the Philippines for those of you who know as little as I did before I went.  The Philippines is made up of 7,000 islands which were largely independent from each other before they were conquered and occupied by the Spanish. King Philip decided that he should name this group of Islands after him and now around 500 years later even after the country gained independence, the name has stuck and the country is called the Philippines. The name Manila means blossoming water where plants grow which is appropriate as lily pads were everywhere.

Not surprisingly, there is definitely a noticeable Spanish influence on their culture.  The bathroom of the appartelle where I stayed was almost exactly like the bathroom of the flat in Barcelona where I stayed last summer.  And there were countless times when I looked around and was surprised at just how…..Spanish everything felt. When you barter there, you used Spanish numbers.  Aside from that though the official language is Tagalog and then on top of that, everyone I encountered spoke English.  It was refreshing to be somewhere in Asia and be able to communicate easily with people and to be able to read signs, food labels, and magazines, etc.

One curious thing I realized is that the country name is of course spelled with a Ph but when you use are referring to a person or thing from the Philippines, you change the Ph to an F and drop one of the p’s in the middle so the adjective form is Filipino or Filipina, I am not sure why. 

 
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Metro Manila is really a metropolitan area and within metro Manila is the city of Manila, the city of Makati, and Intramuros, the old walled city as well as other cities within the metropolitan region.  Metro Manila has about a population of about 10 million people though it is fairly spread out and there are not nearly as many skyscrapers as in Shanghai. I found the Filipino people to be incredibly welcome and friendly.  People were helpful and outgoing an also very polite saying ma’am regularly. 

I found getting around in Manila very easy with the abundance of cabs, pedi-cabs, and Jeepneys, a unique method of travel in the Philippines.  They are a sort of hop-on, hop-off mode of transport that is operated by individual drivers.  Each driver owns their vehicle, chooses their route, and decorates their vehicle as they choose which makes the Jeepneys unique, colorful and fun!  Plus they are only about 15 cents to ride.

 
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The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country and also very poor and you see a lot of children in the street.  One of the big problems in Metro Manila is children sniffing glue.  Basically, if they sniff glue they don’t feel hungry so it is a way of appeasing their hunger pains.  So while it was tempting to give money to the children that approached me, I was told it was better to carry snacks with me which I did.  I carried little cookies and packs of peanuts to give away.  It made me feel lucky to have grown up with everything I had.  Despite these challenges, the people seemed happy and I was struck with how many people have so much abundance in their lives and yet are unhappy.
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I spent my time exploring the city.  The old town was beautiful and a reminder of the challenges these people faced when they were ruled by the Spanish.  In the Intramuros grounds are a dungeon that looks peaceful now but many Filipinos suffered in their quest for independence there.

I also had many visits to the many malls in the area including Mall of Asia – the biggest mall in Asia of course.  It was interesting to be in place where mall culture is thriving whereas I feel that it is on its way out in the USA.  I also went to a food and Beverage expo with some of my newfound friends which was quite funny.  The food there was more pleasing to my palate that a lot of the food I have had in China.  Then my new friends went to a wedding expo so I went to.  It was really beautiful but quite funny as everyone was asking me if I was the bride!
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One of the favorite things I did though was go to the zoo – while some of the animals seemed a bit forlorn (the tiger especially)there were plenty of healthy looking snakes, an elephant, and lots and lot of birds.  At the end, I couldn’t help but go into the petting zoo are where for a $1 you could pose with a snake, a monkey, parrots, and even an alligator (I decided against the alligator, hopefully he wasn’t offended.

All in all, it was a great experience. Now that I have been to Manila and met some wonderful people I would love to go back to some of the legendary beaches that can be found on some of the other islands.

 
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Christine
9/23/2010 06:35:00 am

It is great to catch up on your blog. Great shots and wonderful narrative. It makes it so much fun to follow your travels. Cute monkey shot!!!

Cheers!

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Rob
10/1/2010 07:09:23 am

Great post! How do you know if the alligator is male? :)

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THX for info

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1/27/2012 09:36:07 am

Nice post dude

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3/26/2012 12:45:20 pm

good post

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3/29/2012 04:35:41 pm

good post

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6/12/2012 06:04:00 am

THX for info

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7/14/2012 11:06:18 pm

good post

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8/21/2012 04:00:59 pm

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9/26/2012 05:11:00 am

Good info bro

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