Manila, Philippines – 15 to 23 April, 2007
We arrived in Manila from Singapore on Singapore Airlines in late afternoon. We only wish we could fly Singapore Airlines when we return home in a month’s time as their service is outstanding and a cut above Lufthansa and United who we are scheduled to return on. Clearing immigration and customs was uneventful and on exiting the terminal we were greeted by the usual touts pushing rides to the city. We opted for a private car, and were soon at our hotel in the Makati City area of Manila.
When we arrived at the hotel, we were surprised to see a security guard sitting outside the lobby complete with 12 gauge shotgun. It soon became evident almost every business including 7/11 and McDonalds had an assigned guard, most of whom were also carrying the same model of 12 gauge. The shotgun is basically a pistol with a long barrel as there is only a hand grip on them and no stock as seen on normal shotguns and rifles. I wouldn’t want to fire one of them as your hand and arm would take all the recoil instead of being more firmly planted on a shoulder.
As it was dusk when we arrived and it looked like a hunting camp around, we decided not to do our walkabout until the next day when it was light. The next morning we were just getting ready to walk out the door for our Makati walkabout when the phone rang. It was the sons of a couple D works with in the US who had asked their sons (we will call them S&S to maintain privacy) to show us around Manila while we were there. We agreed to meet at the hotel, and a short time later we met in the lobby. We spent the rest of the day with them starting with a buffet lunch of many traditional Philippine foods, and then moving along to Intramuros, the old city in Manila. In Intramuros we visited Fort Santiago and the Rizal Park.
After visiting Intramuros our new friends introduced D to the Philippine national dessert of Halo-Halo. From there we walked along Manila Bay past the US Embassy to an area called Bay Walk where there are many restaurants and bars. It was now dusk again, and the restaurants and bars were just opening up with the music and bands starting. We stopped for a beer and a snack of Sisig and Chicharon, two popular snacks/appetizers in the Philippines. We won’t go into detail, but they are both pork dishes and one of the reasons the Philippines has a lower life expectancy than much of Southeast Asia, with a high percentage of deaths attributed to heart disease due to cholesterol. From our snack on Bay Walk we walked a few blocks to one of S&S’s favorite restaurants for some more local dishes. They explained to us Filipinos eat about six times a day, and almost everything involves meat in some form. J was happy with the focus on meat as our recent travels have involved more rice and noodles with limited amounts of meat.
The next day S&S and one of their friends picked us up at the hotel for a day trip to Taal volcano. Taal is often called the world’s smallest volcano, but it is actually a small caldera that sits in the middle of a lake which is in the caldera of a much larger volcano. We headed out of Manila fighting the constant traffic and arrived in Tagaytay about an hour and a half later. S&S were familiar with the area, so we had lunch at another of their favorite restaurants which overlooks the lake with Taal in the distance. After lunch we headed towards the lake, and stopped to get the price of a boat ride to the base of Taal. After some negotiation and Chicka, our friends got a good discount so we decided to take a trip to the volcano. They had never done it before so it was a new experience for everyone.
Once at the lake we boarded a long but narrow boat with outriggers for a twenty minute ride to the base of Taal. Once at the base, we were deluged with locals selling water, souvenirs, and offering horse rides to the top. We decided to walk the 3 km to the top, so we bought some water and headed up the dusty trail. Our friends told us it would be cooler around Tagaytay and the volcano as they were at a higher elevation, but this was not the case. It was HOT, and we were in full mid-day sun with little shade available anywhere along the trail. The horsemen reminded us of vultures by following us the entire way thinking we would soon give in and pay for a ride the remainder of the way to the top. After numerous rest stops, we finally made it to the top where there were a number thatched shelters offering welcome shade.
From the summit we had a great view of the lake surrounding Taal as well as the sulfur laden lake in the caldera. Just a few days before we visited we read that Tall was expanding and showing some signs of a potential eruption and it was recommended people avoid the summit. This information evidently was not communicated to the locals, or more likely was ignored as there was no mention made of any danger and they were still operating their drink shops at the summit with their families. There were some definite signs of activity along the sulfur lake that we could see from the summit, but in the end all was well and the pending threat level has since been reduced.
After relaxing and cooling off at the summit for a couple of hours, we headed back down the trail. This time the trek was much easier, both because it was down hill and because the sun was low in the horizon. As we took the boat back to our starting point the sun was setting behind the nearby hills. We then made our way back to Manila and were dropped at the door of our hotel.
The next day we were scheduled to move hotels as we had booked three days in Makati and decided to move closer to old Manila and the bay. We made the move without a problem, and then went for our walkabout in the new area. The new hotel was close to the Intramuros and Bay Walk areas we had visited earlier, so we went in search of a travel agent to try and get some details about visiting the rice terraces in Banaue a nine hour bus ride north of Manila. We didn’t make much progress as the agents all offered only hotel packages with no details on transportation there and back.
Over the next couple days we debated on what approach to take. One day we caught a Jeepney to the National Museum and while visiting the museum we saw the Department of Tourism building just across a park. After we finished in the museum we headed for the DOT and were fortunate they were open on a Saturday afternoon. The woman we spoke with there (Dolly) was a wealth of information and provided us with everything we needed about the rice terrace area as well as islands to the south. In the end we decided to head to the islands of Cebu and Bohol to the south for some “chilling” time before heading north and then finally home.
We found some cheap flights from Manila to Cebu on Cebu Pacific airlines, but when we tried to confirm reservations it turned out the airlines merchant bank couldn’t clear payments from Visa cards issued in the US. No problem, there was a CP ticketing office in a mall near the hotel so we headed there. We arrived to a complete zoo, and took a number. It turned out we were 135th in line, and the wait would be at least three hours. Not wanting to wait that long we went to a ticketing agent in the mall, but after quoting one price, it went up when we went to pay. With that we gave up the airline and decided to take the ferry. The price would be about the same as the airfare, but it took 24 hours to get there. One advantage however was that the price included a Suite Room for two people, so we would save on one night’s hotel. We booked the tickets for a couple of days later and started to prepare.
We spent the next couple of days walking around the area and ducking into shopping centers and malls to keep cool. The ferry was scheduled to depart at 8:30 PM, so the day it was leaving our friends again picked us up at the hotel when we checked out. They wanted to take us to see the largest shopping center in Asia (Mall of Asia) as well as the home of the first president of the Philippines and the location where independence was declared. After a quick stop at the Mall of Asia, we moved on towards the first president’s house. Unfortunately when we arrived we found it is closed on Mondays, so we thought we would only be able to see it from one angle outside the gate. However, S&S put their chieka to work. and we were soon let through he locked gate and given a guided tour inside the compound by the caretaker.
From here we had to get back into Mania to be at the ferry terminal at least two hours before sailing. Our friends dropped us there, and the place was packed. We found the ferry will hold 2300 people, and it seemed like all 2300 were trying to get through security and board at the same time. In addition, there was another ferry leaving for a different destination at around the same time which caused further congestion. We made it through without too much trouble other than having to hoist our bags a few times.
Next stop Cebu City.
