Manila

After the squeaky-clean, organized-chaos, well-behaved crowds of Japan, Manila came as a shock! For one, I'm no longer feeling a little bit chilly all the time. For another, I'm no longer feeling like I might break something at any moment or that I'm too big and messy.

Crowds are one thing I've found in common in both countries. However, the organized, almost too clean Japan has been replaced by an amazingly diverse and interesting loud chaos that seems to function nonetheless! I also have to retract my statement from a few posts ago, when I claimed to have used all forms of ground transportation to get to Kyoto... wrong! I didn't know that a bunch of other types of transportation existed: jeepeneys, motorized tricycles, shuttle cabs... all of which I experienced yesterday when I toured part of Manila with P., the niece of the couple I'm staying with.

Another big similarity is great hospitality. The form of this hospitality is amazingly different though. Here I am being hosted by the L. family. After picking me up at the airport, I arrived at their house to see a sign on the wall saying "Aki Avis Welcome!!! Feel at Home". This sign pretty much sums up the Filipino-style of hosting. I've met all members of the L. family, eaten home-cooked meals with them, been brought out to see Manila with them, and today a bunch of us went to Tagaytay. This is a volcano within a prehistoric volcano crater, surrounded by a lake whose water source has still not yet been discovered. A beautiful site! I will post a picture later, once I get my laptop online.

Meanwhile, off to shower to cool off and to bed with me! Oh and one last mention: Halo Halo, a wonderful Filipino desert... I've had two already, just one of the yummy Filipino dishes I've tried so far.