Arrival in Manila

I arrived in Manila, collected my backpack, and met up with Lucian at the airport. I was greeted by 80 degree, hot and humid weather...I was so grateful that Lucian seemed to already know his way around Makati City (a city within Manila). We climbed into the taxi and I proceeded to take one of the most interesting rides of my life. There don't seem to be any traffic laws here in the Philippines and people just drive wherever they like and as fast as they like. There is a lot of honking and overall, it's a big organized mess. I enjoyed it.

We arrived at our hostel after the driver took several wrong turns. This is where we stayed - http://www.makatiapartelle.com/index.html. We really enjoyed it and it was incredibly spacious. I probably would've stayed anywhere with a bed, I was exhausted.

The next day, we had a nice breakfast of mango, watermelon, and cold tea then we straped on our packs and walked around Makati City. I honestly have never been so aware of myself in my entire life. We were in a relatively poor area of the city and as we walked along, I could feel eyes on me at all times. People in the streets, on the buses, in the taxis all staring at the out-of-place, white backpackers walking through the city. It was the most amazing hybrid of poverty and wealth I've ever experienced in my life. We walked about a mile toward the metro station and bought a ticket to the other side of Manila for about $.25 US dollars.

We decided to stay with Marvin, the person Lucian had been staying with prior to my arrival that he met through CouchSurfing online. He's such a great person and I have really enjoyed my stay with him. He has a condo in Quezon City, another city within Manila. He is currently going to law school and is extremely educated and fun to talk to. His live-in maid makes incredible food and I am never hungry here. We took the metro to Marvin's and immediately took a tricycle to the condo. The trikes are awesome and I want to ride another...it's only $.50 for a fun ride!

We took a long nap after lunch and then went out and explored the city, eating at a Jollibee for dinner. We ate spaghetti and a burger. Although it might not seem adventurous, the spaghetti was very different, and it was not an ordinary burger. We then explored Quezon a bit, walking around the city and seeing what the nightlife was like.

We slept A LOT last night (Feb. 4th) and woke up to another wonderful meal at Marvin's. The day was wide open for both of us so we decided to visit the mother of family friends I have back in White Salmon. Gloria Sison was one of the nicest, most accomodating people I have EVER met. She has a beautiful 3 bedroom condo in (I would assume) the most exclusive parts of Manila. We ate some sort of egg dessert with coconut and mocha ice cream with delicious banana stirred in. She has invited Lucian and I on a tour through Manila with dinner near the beach tomorrow night.

We also visited an extremely large mall today and did our fair share of walking. We are never without bottled water and I can feel the sweat constantly pouring out of my skin. It is so hot here! On our way back to Quezon we experienced life as tourists as we climbed aboard the ridiculously packed metro. My entire body was touching someone else as the overcrowded metro zoomed back toward Marvin's. We realized shortly after exiting that my camera had been stolen out of Lucian's wallet. We suddenly realized how we really did need to keep an eye on EVERYTHING. I'm just happy nothing else of importance was taken and the camera is most definitely replaceable.

Off of the train, Lucian bought us some absoutely amazing kabobs. We're definitely going back. We are planning on attending a birthday party with Marvin tonight and enjoying some much needed rest. (Sorry for the long post, I was a little overdue)