Manila: Almost a Week in and Still Alive

Awesome, I survived almost a week of insane 35+ degree weather. Granted, I did that by staying indoors as much as possible, but I'll still take that as an achievement.

Quite a few things I've found out as a result of my infrequent visits, one of which is that my command of the local language has gotten pretty bad. At the duty free shop, I could barely understand what the lady at the registration was talking about and she was not talking all that fast. Combine that with my unfamiliarity with local everyday routines, and I stick out so much I may as well be a white guy.

Still, that won't stop me from trying to appear local, even if it is for a very short time. There is no advantage and very dangerous disadvantages of announcing to the immediate area that I am not from here.

When last I was here, there was a strong push to promote tagalog in schools and local programming and the result seems quite forced. There are words used that I have never heard before or have know but never heard because they are the equivalent of old English. It ends up amusing and annoying at the same time.

Local television is filled with soap operas and the odd "variety shows" which combine aspects of game shows with quite a bit of song and dance. News hasn't changed and show even parts of dead bodies when they are still around on a scene. Fortunately, all that seems reserved for mid-day programming. There are some good shows in the evening and weekends.

My first shopping experience introduced me to a rather quaint and annoying concept - paper bags....for everything. We bought over a dozen pieces of clothes and they pack it paper bags. With no handles. If it weren't for the fact that the missus had a mostly empty handbag, we would have gone around shopping carrying those damn things in our hands.

They say its environmentally friendly, but considering all the other environment concerns, excessive pollution for example, the use of plastic bags is probably the least of their worries.

Ah well, another 14 days to go, but despite some weirdness, being back where I grew up really is relaxing and the place really does grow on me.