My Manila Trip - Part 1 (moment of truth)
Main Actors
Actually the trip has been planned since last year when Air Asia annouced that they have very cheap air fare going to Clark..So, We booked the flight earlier, it was like 8 months in advance (if I'm not mistaken)..Four of us..But then, one of our friends pulled out in the last minute..Anyway, Thanks to Gur for joining us..On the 6th of March the day has finally came, and I couldn't be more excited..I swear, I woke up early that day because I can't wait to leave actually..hehehe..
We spent 4 days in the Philippines (that was actually very short), and I have to tell you that I had the time of my life!,I'm sure, they did too.. There are so many memories and observations that I would like to share, but that would take forever for me to document everything in this blog. So I'm going to spare you all the details and disclose only the most salient trip highlights. Here are some of my favorite memories..
Upon reaching Clark International airport..I started taking pictures of the scenery around..Well, Oo..yeah, they have renovated the airport, and now it looks nicer..I mean, more like an airport..After going through the imigration, we have to find the cheapest taxi fare we could get..and the cheapest was P3000..that is about RM210. Quite expensive hah, anyway, it takes about 2 hours from Clark airport to Manila where we were actually going to..Along the way from Clark to Manila we were fascinated by the scenery..Although, most of the views are more or less the same like ours in Sabah, but..Yeah..It was different...
Sampai2 ja trus si Gur menari sumazau tanda kegembiraan kan Gur..waa, betul2 sabahan ni..Yeah..
I lied..actually we were not in the Philippines..we were in Mexico...La la la
Driving Conditions?? How do I begin to tell you about the driving conditions there without first telling you that road rules are practically non-existent or at the very least, "open to interpretation". Driving in the Philippines is akin to playing a video game. You have to constantly dodge other vehicles (such as jeepneys, tricycles and cars), pedestrians who appear out of nowhere, and sometimes stray animals that are crossing the street at any given moment. I stopped freaking out about those near-collisions after the 2nd day since I sadly got accustomed to them..hehehe. I don't think we could have survived without our hired drivers..the taxi driver who(all of them)drove us around, ciss!!those brave souls! I also found it ironic that most Jeepneys (elongated, windowless jeeps) had "How am I driving?" with phone number signs on the back of the vehicles. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I ever called to complain..That's what makes it more interesting for foreigners in Manila..There was a massive traffic jam when we arrived in Manila, but surprisingly wonderful, our taxi is moving like there was no congestion at all..Salute you Sir!! Ikaw nang bahala di baa..hehehe..
This is upon reaching Metro Manila..the traffic was really crazy..
One rare condition that I found so interesting was, the Traffic Police Enforcer, since they don't have so many traffic lights there in Manila, and the roads are almost congested 24/6..because Sunday is not that bad..They have Traffic Police Enforcer in almost most of the most congested area..and here you can actually see them dancing while controlling the traffic flow..You would think that, they'll only cause more traffic jams and make traffic flow badly. But I think they did a pretty good job of keeping vehicles moving. I don’t blame them for trying to put some humor and fun into their work. Wouldn’t it be great if we all enjoyed our work as much as they do? It was very entertaining..You would laugh eventhough you're stuck in the traffic jams..Something we don't have in our country here..Our traffic policemen are too tensed..hehehe
Too bad..I forgot to take video of the dancing police traffic enforcer..ughh...
Luckily the place where we stayed is well known to most of the taxi drivers, so he managed to find the place without much difficulties..He dropped us right in front of the hotel's door The Robelle Mansion..Nice place..That was my second time..After checking in, we headed directly to our room, made some room inspections, satisfied, get a short rest then we went out on our first night to Malate, along Roxas Boulevard..a haven for booze lovers..and the boozes are super duper inexpensive..We went to few bars, one of them is the Bed Rawk..Really rocking hot there..The band was reaaaaaaalllly good, the booze were reallllllly cheap, and the crowd were realllly happening..But suddenly, the electricty blacked out..then we move to another place..We ended up in Che'LU another bar, and did our most popular dance the "poco poco"..Can you imagine that? Poco2 in Manila..Cool eh..
Robelle House..Initially it was the Mansion of the longest serving General in the Philippines..A nice place to stay and its very cheap too..Highly recoommended to those who are going to Manila..Its somewhere in Makati..
Next Door Restaurant..along Makati Avenue..our first meal in Manila..Something of the Philippines..emm, not really la..the Sweet and sour fish is pretty much the same as my own cooking..hahahaha
Lasing ka na ba pare ho..? hindi pa..hehehe..It was still early not even 11pm yet, and we were getting typsy already..Blame it on the Red Horse and San Miguel..They are sooo cheap..Imagine P100 = RM8 for four bottles like that..What??Are you kidding me?? Ughhh..Niceeee...Wait..there are more bars, don't get drunk in one place only..hehehe
Everyone was so friendly..We made new friends so easily..Yup, its good to have friends there, they can advice you of where to go..Miraming salamat aa pare...
After we had enough of intoxications on the first night, we hailed a taxi back to the hotel..oo no, to the 7 Eleven, bought some cup noodles and had our late supper at almost 4 o'clock in the morning..We have problem with our room (Jr and I), the aircond was too noisy as if there was a helicopter inside the room, so we decided to sleep with our two other friends that night..Thanks to Gidong and Gur for letting us..Hehehe..I couldn't tell if anyone snored that night coz I was too tired and I dozed off like hell..hehehe..
Okay, this is only on the first day when we arrived, i'll tell you more stories tomorrow...Please stay tune..I'll be back after this short messages..hehehe..Adios amigos..
Actually the trip has been planned since last year when Air Asia annouced that they have very cheap air fare going to Clark..So, We booked the flight earlier, it was like 8 months in advance (if I'm not mistaken)..Four of us..But then, one of our friends pulled out in the last minute..Anyway, Thanks to Gur for joining us..On the 6th of March the day has finally came, and I couldn't be more excited..I swear, I woke up early that day because I can't wait to leave actually..hehehe..
We spent 4 days in the Philippines (that was actually very short), and I have to tell you that I had the time of my life!,I'm sure, they did too.. There are so many memories and observations that I would like to share, but that would take forever for me to document everything in this blog. So I'm going to spare you all the details and disclose only the most salient trip highlights. Here are some of my favorite memories..
Upon reaching Clark International airport..I started taking pictures of the scenery around..Well, Oo..yeah, they have renovated the airport, and now it looks nicer..I mean, more like an airport..After going through the imigration, we have to find the cheapest taxi fare we could get..and the cheapest was P3000..that is about RM210. Quite expensive hah, anyway, it takes about 2 hours from Clark airport to Manila where we were actually going to..Along the way from Clark to Manila we were fascinated by the scenery..Although, most of the views are more or less the same like ours in Sabah, but..Yeah..It was different...
Sampai2 ja trus si Gur menari sumazau tanda kegembiraan kan Gur..waa, betul2 sabahan ni..Yeah..
I lied..actually we were not in the Philippines..we were in Mexico...La la la
Driving Conditions?? How do I begin to tell you about the driving conditions there without first telling you that road rules are practically non-existent or at the very least, "open to interpretation". Driving in the Philippines is akin to playing a video game. You have to constantly dodge other vehicles (such as jeepneys, tricycles and cars), pedestrians who appear out of nowhere, and sometimes stray animals that are crossing the street at any given moment. I stopped freaking out about those near-collisions after the 2nd day since I sadly got accustomed to them..hehehe. I don't think we could have survived without our hired drivers..the taxi driver who(all of them)drove us around, ciss!!those brave souls! I also found it ironic that most Jeepneys (elongated, windowless jeeps) had "How am I driving?" with phone number signs on the back of the vehicles. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I ever called to complain..That's what makes it more interesting for foreigners in Manila..There was a massive traffic jam when we arrived in Manila, but surprisingly wonderful, our taxi is moving like there was no congestion at all..Salute you Sir!! Ikaw nang bahala di baa..hehehe..
This is upon reaching Metro Manila..the traffic was really crazy..
One rare condition that I found so interesting was, the Traffic Police Enforcer, since they don't have so many traffic lights there in Manila, and the roads are almost congested 24/6..because Sunday is not that bad..They have Traffic Police Enforcer in almost most of the most congested area..and here you can actually see them dancing while controlling the traffic flow..You would think that, they'll only cause more traffic jams and make traffic flow badly. But I think they did a pretty good job of keeping vehicles moving. I don’t blame them for trying to put some humor and fun into their work. Wouldn’t it be great if we all enjoyed our work as much as they do? It was very entertaining..You would laugh eventhough you're stuck in the traffic jams..Something we don't have in our country here..Our traffic policemen are too tensed..hehehe
Too bad..I forgot to take video of the dancing police traffic enforcer..ughh...
Luckily the place where we stayed is well known to most of the taxi drivers, so he managed to find the place without much difficulties..He dropped us right in front of the hotel's door The Robelle Mansion..Nice place..That was my second time..After checking in, we headed directly to our room, made some room inspections, satisfied, get a short rest then we went out on our first night to Malate, along Roxas Boulevard..a haven for booze lovers..and the boozes are super duper inexpensive..We went to few bars, one of them is the Bed Rawk..Really rocking hot there..The band was reaaaaaaalllly good, the booze were reallllllly cheap, and the crowd were realllly happening..But suddenly, the electricty blacked out..then we move to another place..We ended up in Che'LU another bar, and did our most popular dance the "poco poco"..Can you imagine that? Poco2 in Manila..Cool eh..
Robelle House..Initially it was the Mansion of the longest serving General in the Philippines..A nice place to stay and its very cheap too..Highly recoommended to those who are going to Manila..Its somewhere in Makati..
Next Door Restaurant..along Makati Avenue..our first meal in Manila..Something of the Philippines..emm, not really la..the Sweet and sour fish is pretty much the same as my own cooking..hahahaha
Lasing ka na ba pare ho..? hindi pa..hehehe..It was still early not even 11pm yet, and we were getting typsy already..Blame it on the Red Horse and San Miguel..They are sooo cheap..Imagine P100 = RM8 for four bottles like that..What??Are you kidding me?? Ughhh..Niceeee...Wait..there are more bars, don't get drunk in one place only..hehehe
Everyone was so friendly..We made new friends so easily..Yup, its good to have friends there, they can advice you of where to go..Miraming salamat aa pare...
After we had enough of intoxications on the first night, we hailed a taxi back to the hotel..oo no, to the 7 Eleven, bought some cup noodles and had our late supper at almost 4 o'clock in the morning..We have problem with our room (Jr and I), the aircond was too noisy as if there was a helicopter inside the room, so we decided to sleep with our two other friends that night..Thanks to Gidong and Gur for letting us..Hehehe..I couldn't tell if anyone snored that night coz I was too tired and I dozed off like hell..hehehe..
Okay, this is only on the first day when we arrived, i'll tell you more stories tomorrow...Please stay tune..I'll be back after this short messages..hehehe..Adios amigos..
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