The Wet Season in the Philippines Lived up to its Billing! Part 1
Well I had planned to go to the Philippines with my new Korean friend Tristan but a flood hit an area of Korea that affected his Aunt. Therefore, Tristan had to cancel his trip leaving me to travel solo. I arrived in the Manila airport, on Saturday July 22nd at around noon. I had not booked ahead for a hotel because my plan with Tristan was to land and find cheap hotels. With my trusty Lonely Planet guide to hotels I winded up a Best Western run hotel. But before I get into that stuff let's start with the the Philippino people and culture.
Korea is without doubt a first rate modernized country. I dislike the term first world but technologically and in terms of wealth they are easily with Canada and the United States in cleanliness, maybe even better, and everyone owns techno gadgets out of this world. Korea lacks the large homes but in every other sense they are a wealthy country. Yet very few Koreans speak English even though they stress English as being so important.
The Philippines, however, came as quite a shock because it is a very poor country despite the fact that everyone speaks English and they speak it quite well. If you are someone feeling leary on visiting Asia because of the language barrier then the Philippines is the place for you. And that is not the only reason to go to the Philippines. The exchange rate is ridiclous here and you will live like a king. Taxi cabs are about a buck or two for long 25 minute or 30 minute rides. You'll pay about $2.00 for a first run movie and about $1.00 for a large popcorn and about $0.70 for a large pop.
The people are some of the friendliest I have ever met. Yes most of them are depressingly poor and theft crime is very high as are numerous petty annoyances such as cab drivers or horse carriage drivers trying to rip you off. Indeed, I ended up paying nearly 10 times what I should have paid for a horse carriage ride around Manila but even then paying $40.00 Cad when I should have paid $4.00 is not the end of the world.
Starting with my arrival on Saturday and meeting a wonderful woman the first day in Manila I spent a wonderful week with Janette who showed me around the town. The weather was truly terrible on Sunday and my rather pricey $44.00 Cad a night Best Western had numerous cockroaches deciding to live in my hotel room without paying their fair share of the room. After my first two nights in the rather shabby hotel I wanted to move on Monday to something a bit better before making a trip to Palawan. Well on Monday a Typhoon hit and flooded most of the major streets in downtown Manilla closing the mainland to small island airports. The hotel I was going to go to had the entryway flooded a few feet so that was a no go. I ended up finding a treasure of a hotel called the Cherry Blossoms which is right next door to a major shopping mall.
Their inexpensive rooms were all full so I was forced to stay, for the first two nights, in their two level hotel room. 2050 Piso per night. $1.00 US buys about 53 piso so it's about $40.00. Much nicer, no cockroaches, and actually a few bucks cheaper than the Best Western (now if only the Lonely Planet Guide included this hotel in the book). The Cherry Blossoms also had free breakfast everyday and a very nice restaurant. Filet Mignon for 475 Piso was just about (500 piso about $10.00) the most expensive thing you could order. $10,00 Cad or so for that cut of steak is incredible. And I of course could not say no. The Philippino foods are heavy on meat and seafood and the Seafood is wonderful. Sinigang na Sugpo was my favorite (a soup broth with huge prawns and vegetables)- here is a link to the recipe for those so inclined. The only difference I can see is that the version I had contained ochre as well http://www.spindlepub.com/recipe/cheffavor.htm .
The bad weather persisted pretty much everyday and so when they say wet season they mean it. I could not go to Palawan for fear that even if I made it there the weather may have worsened meaning I would not be able to make my return flight to Korea. So I made the best of my stay touring Manila, Makati, and Lake Taal, home to the world's smallest most active volcano. Also just spending time with the great Filipino people made the trip a delight despite the poor weather. The best time to go is December through May.
Stay tuned for part two as I am too tired to continue.....
Korea is without doubt a first rate modernized country. I dislike the term first world but technologically and in terms of wealth they are easily with Canada and the United States in cleanliness, maybe even better, and everyone owns techno gadgets out of this world. Korea lacks the large homes but in every other sense they are a wealthy country. Yet very few Koreans speak English even though they stress English as being so important.
The Philippines, however, came as quite a shock because it is a very poor country despite the fact that everyone speaks English and they speak it quite well. If you are someone feeling leary on visiting Asia because of the language barrier then the Philippines is the place for you. And that is not the only reason to go to the Philippines. The exchange rate is ridiclous here and you will live like a king. Taxi cabs are about a buck or two for long 25 minute or 30 minute rides. You'll pay about $2.00 for a first run movie and about $1.00 for a large popcorn and about $0.70 for a large pop.
The people are some of the friendliest I have ever met. Yes most of them are depressingly poor and theft crime is very high as are numerous petty annoyances such as cab drivers or horse carriage drivers trying to rip you off. Indeed, I ended up paying nearly 10 times what I should have paid for a horse carriage ride around Manila but even then paying $40.00 Cad when I should have paid $4.00 is not the end of the world.
Starting with my arrival on Saturday and meeting a wonderful woman the first day in Manila I spent a wonderful week with Janette who showed me around the town. The weather was truly terrible on Sunday and my rather pricey $44.00 Cad a night Best Western had numerous cockroaches deciding to live in my hotel room without paying their fair share of the room. After my first two nights in the rather shabby hotel I wanted to move on Monday to something a bit better before making a trip to Palawan. Well on Monday a Typhoon hit and flooded most of the major streets in downtown Manilla closing the mainland to small island airports. The hotel I was going to go to had the entryway flooded a few feet so that was a no go. I ended up finding a treasure of a hotel called the Cherry Blossoms which is right next door to a major shopping mall.
Their inexpensive rooms were all full so I was forced to stay, for the first two nights, in their two level hotel room. 2050 Piso per night. $1.00 US buys about 53 piso so it's about $40.00. Much nicer, no cockroaches, and actually a few bucks cheaper than the Best Western (now if only the Lonely Planet Guide included this hotel in the book). The Cherry Blossoms also had free breakfast everyday and a very nice restaurant. Filet Mignon for 475 Piso was just about (500 piso about $10.00) the most expensive thing you could order. $10,00 Cad or so for that cut of steak is incredible. And I of course could not say no. The Philippino foods are heavy on meat and seafood and the Seafood is wonderful. Sinigang na Sugpo was my favorite (a soup broth with huge prawns and vegetables)- here is a link to the recipe for those so inclined. The only difference I can see is that the version I had contained ochre as well http://www.spindlepub.com/recipe/cheffavor.htm .
The bad weather persisted pretty much everyday and so when they say wet season they mean it. I could not go to Palawan for fear that even if I made it there the weather may have worsened meaning I would not be able to make my return flight to Korea. So I made the best of my stay touring Manila, Makati, and Lake Taal, home to the world's smallest most active volcano. Also just spending time with the great Filipino people made the trip a delight despite the poor weather. The best time to go is December through May.
Stay tuned for part two as I am too tired to continue.....
posted by Richard Austen | 10:54 p.m.
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