It's Sunday night and I am recovering from the long-winded flights and a whirl-wind Saturday here in Manila. We got in after midnight, and by the time we received our luggage, went through customs and drove to the hotel, it was after 2am! But the weariness did not stop us.
After only a few hours of rest at the hotel, we woke up and the adventure began. Myra, a previous student's mother who is native here, and a few of her adorable young cousins and I ventured to one of the markets in Manila. Getting there was half of the fun! We took the LRT, or train that runs above the city streets, which was very convenient to our hotel. For only about 50cents, we rode it into the heart of Manila. After we deboarded we caught one of the indigenous jeepneys, a jeep with two long benches in the back that can fit about ten people comfortably. We jammed into this very decorative vehicle along with 20 others for the brief ride to the market. I don't know if it is the christmas lights on the ceiling, the sign that read, "You may get away with not paying for this ride, but God knows if you don't pay", or just the way the passengers pay the driver that made this such a fun experience. Probably all of the above. We were just glad to get a dry ride to the market, out of the rain.
We get there and it is a typical Asian outdoor market selling everything from fruits from the farms nearby to Hello Kitty panties. Myra and I grazed through the fruit stands trying and buying everything: leechies, rambutan, santol, and coconut water. Yummy! They bought so much stuff, they had to buy an extra-large plastic bag to transport everything back to the hotel.
Later, we had lunch at the Mall of Asia, an impressive place that is the 3rd largest in the world. Talk about contrasts....it was the complete opposite of the outdoor market we had just visited. KFC, Duncan Donuts, Calvin Klein and Guess were just a few of the American brands that were ubiquitous in this sterile and fancy place. Security guards are at every entrance equipped with a drumstick to poke inside your bags, apparently looking for ammo or something. Regardless, it was safe, clean and all too familiar. We had lunch with some of Myra's high school friends and headed back to the hotel.
A brief nap and a shower later, we were out and about once again. We met more of her friends for dinner at an area of town appropriately named, "Seafood City." It reminded me of pulling into the U-shaped streets of Puerto Nuevo, Mexico. Eager waiters attacked our taxi, in hopes of bringing us into their restaurant for dinner. We were led out under the shelter of an awning of one of the dining establishments while we waited for "The Boss" to show up and guide us the right direction. The Boss appeared and swept us past all of the hustle and bustle farther down the street to the best of the countless places.
While her cousins sat and reserved our table at the restaurant, the rest of us went across the street to the seafood vendors. It was paradise! Whole snappers, tuna, squid, shrimp, live crabs, mussels are just a few of the boundless choices of the freshest seafood available. The Boss bought some of everything and we returned to the restaurant, where they prepared and served it to us in less than 30 minutes. Here I enjoyed sampling the delicious filipino-style seafood available, while listening to a live band play music for us. Divine:)
The night was capped off with THE thing to do in the Philippines....KARAOKE! I was expecting a bar with a big tv and a microphone stand, like in the states. But no, this was a different level of singing. We had our own living room to sing our hearts out to all types of music, mostly 80s love songs:) We sang for hours laughing and enjoying ourselves. In fact, it was after 2am when we finally called it a day. Phew! What a way to start a trip!
I am very blessed to have Myra and her comrades share with me, the tourist, the real way of life here.
