I have Returned

[Tanuki]

What a trip!  While I had a great time and enjoyed the company of a wonderful lady that I have been talking too for past nine months.  It is good to be back.  Wish I could have brought her home with me right then. 
 
I didn't get into Manila until 10:30 pm.  By the time I got my bag and through the quick interview, it was 11:20 pm.  Walking down the ramp to the taxis and large gathering of folks waiting for other arriving passengers, was overloading to the senses.  I had people coming at me from all angles asking me if I need a ride or taxi.  At first I didn't know who this Joe guys was until I realized they were calling me that.
 
Not realizing there is some rhyme and reason as to what side of the ramp you are supposed to go down, I soon found my mistake.  As I started to head in the right direction, I saw my girl!  I didn't think I would be able to pick her out of the crowed as easy as I did. But, I did!  She reconzed me too.  She jumped up and hugged me just like she said she was going to do, when we talked on Skype before I left.  After the initial greeting, we got my stuff packed into a taxi.  I had prepared a map to the hotel but the driver knew where it was.  At first I though there might be some awkward moments but nope!  She started chatting away about this, that, her family and everything else.  She grabbed my hand and pretty much didn't let go until I left 13 days later!
 
During the cab ride, I tried to get a glimpse of the town as we were driving.  With it being dark it was hard to see but, I could get a sense of things as we made our way to the hotel.  After getting my stuff unloaded and checked into the hotel room, it was after one in the morning.  I didn't sleep a wink on the airplane ride, 23 hours.  I wanted to hit the shower and relax!  After the shower, I wasn't as tired as I thought I was.  I don't know how late we stayed up and shot the breeze.  But, at some point we both fell asleep. 
 
I was surprised how early I woke up the next day, it was about 6:30 am.  Michelle woke up too and we started to get around.  We went up for breakfast and Michelle helped me with my breakfast selection.  At breakfast, the view from the hotel was fantastic.  Michelle pointed out different things and I was ready to explore!
 
First stop was Rizal park.  We walked all the different gardens.  Throughout our walk; we were approach by many of the calessa drivers, students who wanted to try their hand at English and many of the vendors.  Everyone we ran into was friendly as can be.  Some little boy caught a snake in one of the gardens and he ran up to show it to us.  They guy who took our admission to garden said it was a sleeping snake.  As we were walking around, I just couldn't believe how well we hit it off.  She was very excited to point things out and give me the general run down of the different things we saw.  After we finished our tour of the park, it was already past two in the afternoon and we pretty hungry. 
 
We made our way out of the park and started to look for a place to eat.  As we were coming into a intersection I saw Wendy's.  I don't know why but, I made a comment about Wendy making it all the way to the Philippines.  Michelle must have thought that is were I wanted to go.  I really wasn't interested in it but she insisted.  So, Wendy's it was.  Then we took a cab back to the hotel.  The first couple cabs wanted to charge a lot for a ride back to the hotel.  It took a couple tries before we got a cab who would use the meter.  Some wanted a flat rate or the meter plus 50p.  Michelle was pretty good at handling the business end of things.  She told me I was like a neon light for all the cabs who wanted to over charge.  Later in the trip, I would stand back and she would hail the cab.  Once the deal was done, I would hop in.
 
Once we got to the hotel we changed clothes.  Michelle insisted due to sweating.  As other previous travelers to the Philippines mentioned, Michelle held true to form.  She was constantly monitoring my perspiration and wanting to wipe me off.  Once we were refreshed, I asked Michelle if we could go to a store to buy somethings to have one hand.  So, she found out where the local store was and we loaded up into a trike.  I really got a kick out of riding the trike and it was only 30p one way to shopwise.  I thought we would pick up some bottled water, fruit and juice to keep in the room.  At first she wanted to be the one to carry the food basket but, once we started loading it with big bottles of water and thing of juice, she let me take over.
 
Once we were done, we caught a trike back to the hotel.  We unloaded our things from the store and were getting ready to head down stairs to the hotel lobby.  But then, an issue came up.  I don't think Michelle is used to eating Wendy's or, at least a Wendy's hamburger.
 
To be continued...
 

[robert angel]

Sounds like a new version of a great classic, Tanuki! Looking forward to hearing 'chapter two'!
I think Brettb should also be back by now--has anyone heard from him?

[Jeff S]

Welcome home and thanks for the report. Really eager for more.

[thekfc]

Nice report Tanuki - glad you enjoyed yourself.

  I really got a kick out of riding the trike and it was only 30p one way to shopwise 

Another thumbs up for the trike. 

But then, an issue came up.  I don't think Michelle is used to eating Wendy's or, at least a Wendy's hamburger.

Yeah no rice   
My wife would only take a bite out of the burgers.


As the other posters before have said, I am eagerly waiting for the continuation.

[brettb]

Great post Tanuki, I am always excited to read peoples first impressions on the "phils". Cant wait to read chapter 2 

Robert, I haven't left yet and it might get postponed even further. As i start my dream job finally (local fire dept) My plans where to take the trip between my transition of jobs... But a spot opened up sooner and in Arizona, You have to take those jobs right away because the waiting list and hiring freezes is F-ing crazy here! Anyways i'm praying for april/may time frame now... The lady isn't too happy about the time delay, But she is very happy and supportive of my new employment. But is now super jealous because other girls will look at me even more now  ( pinays are crazy with that aspect sometimes)

Anyways tanuki write more soon!

[robert angel]

Hey Brett,
Don't worry too much--sure it hurt, but you made the right decision, thinking long term. If she's really worth it, she'll hang in there--it sounds like you've explained it and she understands, as best she's able to. You must be in pretty good shape--even the smaller cities have real tough physical req's and the competition's tough--congratulations.
I have family that's served in the NYFD. I tried out once, and I'll never forget it, but not having uber physically trained, I didn't make the cut.  I'm pretty sure you're coming in as 'Probie' and you have to pay your dues, but hey, the food's usually pretty good--I used to love hanging out at the fire house in the "Big Apple'.
It's probably more the case with the bigger cities, but I know a guy with the Houston FD, and he works any shift that no one else wants to work--almost working 24X7 and then as a result, ends up with the option to take months off--which he does and then he travels between Cebu City, Davao City, Bohol and Dumaguette. Might be the case where you work a smaller town, then think of moving to a bigger city, bigger bucks--or maybe even the Fed. Govt. which has some nice, if boring, FD jobs. A lot of FD guys I saw had 'down time' where they worked on college --graduate degrees.
Anyway, try to stay in contact with that Pinay--sounds like you two have made some break throughs. Working different shifts always makes communication interesting and more challenging, but can be done.
DON'T let off that there's a bunch of women out there who are like 'groupies' to Firemen--chicks who are convinced firemen are hotter anfd have longer hoses!! 

[Dodgers]

Tanuki VERY GREAT STORY THANKS ALOT FOR YOUR INFO ....

[piglett]

sounds good so far Tan
 
 
piglett

[Tanuki]

Thanks for all the comments. 
 
Picking up where I left off...
 
Next day, Michelle still wasn't feeling so hot.  We kind of took it easy and hung around the hotel.  For breakfast she just had a cup of Milo. The hotel had a nice out door patitio where you could sit, relax and get a good view of of the street.  So, we sat out there and talked for a while.  As muched as we talked on Skype, we already knew a lot about each other and family.  But, we still found lots of things to talk about and Michelle has a real good sense of humor.  The conversation started then switched to what all did I want to see. 
 
In preparing for the trip, I never did exactly layout a set agenda.  I had just discussed some general things I would like to see.  Like I mentioned befor, I have a bad habit of flying by the seat of my pants and my plans are always fluid.  I was suprised, Michelle took my indecisiveness in good stride.  But, there was a couple things she wanted to show me.  We went back to the room and opened up the laptop to do some google searches of sights to see in Manila. 
 
After a while, Michelle started feeling better.  So, she asked me where I would like to go.  I asked if she would like to go to the fort.  She thought that would work and said we would have to take a taxi.  So, we went down stairs and loaded up in a taxi.  Michelle did all the talking and it seemed like the cab driver was onboard with were we wanted to go.  So, off we went.  We drove for a little while and I started to get a sense that the can drive had no clue as to where he was taking us.  I asked Michelle if he knows where the fort is.  Again, she asked him if he knew where the fort was.  Cab driver said yes and pointed in the general direction we were heading and said the fort is that way.
 
As we were driving the cab Michelle noted we were in the business district of Makati city.  Makati?!? I thought to myself.  I told Michelle I thought the fort was in Manila.  So, she started talking with the cab driver.  She turned me and said; "You want to go to the fort right?"  I responded with agreement.  Next thing, the cab driver pulls up along this construction site and points off into the distand and says the fort is righ over there.  I am thinking to myself; "Yeah, right."  I sure as heck don't see any fort walls or any structures that look like a fort.  The cab driver says we are here.  As luck would have it for us, there was a security guard walking by the cab.  I hail him over and ask him what direction the fort is.  I told him the cab driver says it is right here. The guard shot a look back at me clearly indicating that something was not right.  Michelle started talking to him and then the guard started talking to the cab driver.  It seemed like the guard was giving the cab driver a little bit of hell but, he then started giving directions.
 
So, the cab driver starts head in the direction the driver pointed.  We make a couple turns and then the cab driver points over at this group of buildings and said the fort is there.  It still doesn't look like a fort to me.  Anyway, we get out and start walking in the direction he pointed too.  Turnsout he was right, it was the old fort shopping mall or something like that. It just wasn't the fort I was looking for.  Well were are here, might as well look around.  Maybe they converted the fort into a shopping center.  We walk around for a bit but, I couldn't see anything like the fort I saw on google.  After a while of walking around, we both start to get hungry and decide to stop for a bite to eat.  After getting something to eat and realizing that what I am looking for isn't here, we head back to the hotel.  The return trip was a lot quicker then our trip to the fort.
 
When we get back to the hotel I show Michelle the fort I am talking about.  I see this light kick on.  "Intramuros!"  She yells out. "Yeah, we were no where near there."  She tells me.
 
Will continue...

[thekfc]

Ha ha, there are more than 1 fort in Manila.   

Tanuki, did you know that when you went to Rizal Park you was right next to Intramuros - the south side.   

So far that is a good first experience of the place....keep it coming.

[Tanuki]

Ha ha, there are more than 1 fort in Manila.   

Tanuki, did you know that when you went to Rizal Park you was right next to Intramuros - the south side.   

So far that is a good first experience of the place....keep it coming.

Sadly, I did not.

[thekfc]

Think of it this way - it was a learning experience & you did get to see part of Makati. 

[Tanuki]

Here we go.
 
The next day we were off to Intramuros.  The night before I showed Michelle where all I would like to go and made sure we had a good understanding were everything was.  Because we were going to do a lot of walking around, Michelle thought her brother-in-law should come along for extra protection.  I had asked her if it was going to be that dangerous.  She didn't think so but, she thought it was better to be safe than sorry.  She told me I was her responsibility while I was there and didn't want anthing to happen to me.
 
In fact, anytime we went any where together, if she saw any person that looked the least bit suspicious she wanted to walk behind me so she could watch my back.  Now, I should tell you that Michelle is 4'11" tall and maybe weighs a buck 0-9.  That would have to be soaking wet and, with both of her pockets full of change.  I told her I didn't think her stature was going to be much of a deterrent to a would-be attacker.  That is when she said she would carry our bottles of water in her bag and smack anyone who would try to hurt me.  She even gave me a little demonstration of her swing.  I will say, she is a little spitfire.  That is for sure.
 
The brother-in-law arrived at the hotel and we piled into a cab.  No problems with the cab driver and no issues getting to our destination.  We had a great day of sight seeing that included fort Santiago, San Augstin church, Casa Manila and a walk along Pasig river.  During our walk we were constantly approach by the pedi cabs who wanted to know if we needed a ride.  There was three of us.  I wasn't sure how we were all to fit even if we did take the pedi cab.  I think those guys were more concerned about chasing the coin as opposed to the reality of the situation.  Heck! Who knows, maybe he could of carried all three.  But, I wanted to walk and take in all the sights of my surroundings.
 
As the afternoon progressed, we were getting hungry and started searching for a place to eat.  Michelle saw a Jollibee and asked if I had ever been to one.  "Nope.  Never seen one up until now." I replied.  She thought I should try it, it's Filipino.  I thought it would be more traditional kind of place.  If there is such a thing there.  Later, I would learn there are small type restaurants and they serve a more home style type of meal.  But, Jollibee is a Filipino version of fast food.  So, I decided I would try a menu item that looked the most foreign to me.  After giving the menu the once over, Palabok looked like it would fit the bill and I told Michelle I would have that.  Food is cheap there.  Or, at least most of the places I went to.  Except for Ocean park.  That had some relatively higher food prices.  I am getting ahead of myself.  I will save that adventure for later.
 
Okay, back the story.  The Palabok was very tasty and I really liked it.  I forgot what Michelle had but, she couldn't eat all of it.  She eats like a bird.  So as not to waste it, she wanted to box it up and take it back to the hotel for later.  I let her know I didn't think that would be a good idea.  It is hot out side, we still had a lot more to do and it would be a long time before we would head back to the hotel.  I warned her eating that later might cause her to have to spend another day on the throne.  She didn't know what I meant by "Throne."  Using her recent visit to Wendy's as an example, she was quick to understand what I mean by "Throne."  Michelle agreed and told me she would give it to a poor person she saw outside.  I wasn't for sure they would take it.  We got outside and she approached the person.  The person was more than happy to take it. 
 
Right around 4 pm we pretty much covered all I wanted to see around Intramuros.  It looked like some rain was going to blow in.  While there wasn't a heavy over cast yet. There was the right mixture of open sky and cloud cover that it could make for a pretty spectacular sunset.  So, I asked if we could go to the Manila bay walk.  Michelle thought that was a great idea.  The brother-in-law hailed a cab and off we went.  By the time we got there and the direction of facing out into the bay, the sun was blocked by pretty solid overcast.  So, it wasn't going to be as fantastic as I thought.  But, we walked it anyway.
 
I was sad to see how polluted the bay was.  And, it didn't smell that good.  The view is awesome but, still a sad state of condition.  There was all kinds of garbage floating in the water.  I saw this lady with a bucket on a rope and she was tossing it over the sea wall.  I thought she might be crabbing just like back home.  She was reeling in her line and I stopped to watch to see if she caught anything.  The lady hoists up this bucket and sets down.  She is now standing on the sea wall.  She has her flip flops on, standard Filipino foot wear.  When I first stopped to watch this lady, I really didn't pay attention to what she was actually wearing.  But, her actions that soon followed after hoisting up the bucket made me realize she wasn't fishing.  This older lady was wearing a really short and thin like bath rob.  I don't know if it was a bath robe but, it looked like it.  She quickly untied her robe and reached down into the bucket.  She scooped out a handful of water with both her hands shaped like a bowel and started washing her private area.  As soon as I realized the situation, I quickly turned away.  That water was nasty and I couldn't imagine trying to bath with it.
 
So, we quickly started walking on.  As we walked for a bit, the wind was picking up and it was starting to rain.  At first the rain was light but, it was rapidly getting heavier.  We decided to catch a cab and head on back to the hotel.
 
More later...

[Jeff S]

It's great reading your stories Tanuki. Obviously you have very little experience in the third world. Great that you have started seeing what it's like out there.

[piglett]

  As we walked for a bit, the wind was picking up and it was starting to rain.  At first the rain was light but, it was rapidly getting heavier.   

how did your girl feel about getting wet?
my wife acts like she is sugar & she will melt 
i liked it when we were in Manila & it started to rain
it was a nice change from all of the hot in the city
 
 
take care
piglett

[Tanuki]

how did your girl feel about getting wet?

Yeah, her reaction to rain was pretty funny.  As soon as we got back the hotel, she wanted me to change my clothes.  Even though they were dry. 

[thekfc]

I am enjoy reading your trip report. 


Yep, Ocean Park is a little high but I didn't really notice at the time as that was one of the first places we ate out - we ate at a place called Ocean Park Bistro.
Waiting for your report on the Oceanarium as I am sure that you went there. 

[Tanuki]

Time for a visit with the family.  I had seen a lot of the family when I was skyping with Michelle.  So, I was looking forward to seeing them in person. 
 
We took a cab to her neighborhood.  Michelle's brother-in-law was there waiting for us when we pulled up.  Going down the main street that lead to her house; there were tons of sari sari stores, fruit vendors, people grilling, chickens in cages and just all kinds of stuff.  As stepped out of the cab all eyes were on me.  People yelling "Hey, Joe!"  As we were walking to Michelle's place, some folks wanted to shake hands or give me high five.  With different people trying to get my attention and Michelle trying to point out different things she wanted me to see, I felt like my head was on a swivel. 
 
We arrived to her home.  Her Mom and two Sisters where there.  They greeted me just like I was a long lost friend.  While I was there different neighbors would stop by to see what was going on and who the stranger was.  I got a kick out of some of the children.  Some would come in and talk for a bit.  Others would come in and just look and leave, without saying a word.  I brought these two big bags of tootsie rolls.  Michelle forewarned me it would be like that when I would come to her house.  I thought the tootsie rolls would be a nice thing to pass out to all the folks who would stop by.
 
The visit with the family was great.  They cooked pork adobo, fish (tilapia and bangus) and we had rice.  The meal was fantastic!  They all knew I had an aversion to that balute and kidded me about it.  The funniest moment to our meal was when Michelle's mom handed me a glass of water.  As she was passing me the glass of water, she said to me; "Too big?"  Or, at least that is what I thought she was asking me.  I responded to what I thought was a question about the glass of water being too big; "No, its alright.  I' think I can drink it all." Everyone just fell out laughing.  I could tell I was the cause of the laugh but, I wasn't sure as to why or how.  Michelle helps me understand that the Tagalog word for water is tubig. 
 
After the meal, they wanted to know if I wanted to play bingo.  I got a kick out of how they play the game of bingo.  One peso for three cards.  To get bingo, you only need seven marks anywhere on the card and the order of the marks doesn't matter.  They also don't use the free space that is printed on the card.  As we were playing various people would stop in.  Some would say hi and talk for bit and others, would stay to join the game.  It was a good time and enjoyed it a lot.  I will say. Michelle's little niece is a Bingo shark.  She took in a pretty good haul after everything was said done.
 
After Bingo, it was time for a walk around the neighborhood.  Michelle wanted me to meet some folks and show me a couple places.  So we walked.  I met a couple aunts, friends of the family, we went to the outdoor market, and the church they go too. The Brother-in-law also wanted to introduce me to some of his friends from his motor cycle club. Michelle's niece and a few of her little friends tagged along.  After walking for a while, we stopped off at a sari sari store for softdrinks.  This store had the little glass bottles of coke.  But, they don't give you the bottle.  They pour the coke into these special plastic bags for drinks and give you a straw.  That is actually the first time I saw something like that.
 
Overall, the family visit was great.  Everyone was friendly and inviting.  At one point in the visit, Michelles mom did want to know what my plan was and I told her what my intentions were.
 

[thekfc]

I always saw kids drinking soda/juice from a plastic bags.
I had ice given to me from a plastic bag but I use the ice to "cool" the can of juice I had.

Great report so far Tanuki.

[Tanuki]

Ocean Park
I really enjoy aquariums and I was looking forward to seeing this one based off what all I saw on the web site.  I have to thank Dave H. for the recommendation.  I also invited Michelle’s family to join us.  Her Mom had never been and, I thought her niece would get a kick out of it too.
 
Prior to going, we coordinated what time we should all meet each other there.  I remember Michelle and I had arrived a little earlier than planned.  Based on the amount of folks that were there, it looks like everyone in Manila had the same idea about going to the Ocean Park.  We got to talking to one of the guards, and I asked him is it always this busy.  The guard told me that today was family day at the ocean park.  There were 31 tour bus groups and a whole bunch of schools bringing kids.  The line to get into the place was a$$ hole to belly button.
 
Because it was so loud and busy inside, Michelle and I decided to wait outside.  All them bodies packed in that space also made it hotter than H-E double tooth picks.  As we were walking to toward the exit, the doors were open and the air rushing in made for a nice cool relief from the heat.  Just as we got outside Michelle sent a text to see where her family was.  The response was; they haven’t left yet.  It looks like we are going to have some time to kill.

As we are standing there, Michelle says she needs to use a restroom.  I see across from where we are standing, there is a small restaurant.  I tell Michelle lets head over there.  I can grab a soda and she could use the bathroom.  I forgot the name of the place but, it was real nice.  I got us a table while she used the bathroom.  We got a couple cool soft drinks and sat there for a loooooong time.  Michelle fired off another text to see what the status was on the family.  Response was; they just left.  So, we were going to have some more time to kill.

We sat in the restaurant a little bit longer.  Earlier, I had noticed there were some stores inside Ocean Park.  I asked Michelle if she would like to go check them out.  She agreed and we made our way back in.  We walked around and checked out the different little shops they had and we also walked out onto the deck they have that overlooks Manila Bay.  Pretty soon we got a text that the family had arrived.  We met them by entrance.  On a lucky note, the crowed had pretty much dissipated and we had no problem getting tickets.  We were off to see the fishes!

That is a pretty nice aquarium they have.  I really enjoyed the tunnel exhibit, with the fish swimming overhead.  I could sit there all day and watch that.  We had a good time!  Michelle stayed clued to my side.  It was great seeing everyone’s face light up as we looked at each of the exhibits.  Michelle’s niece was bouncing from one thing to the next.  Afterwards, I was pretty hungry and Michelle said she was too.  I asked Michelle what restaurant she wanted to go too; I saw they had several here.  She told me we shouldn’t eat here, it is very expensive.  She said it would be better to eat at the place where we got our drinks; it was way cheaper than then inside Ocean Park.  So, we went over there.  Because of the great meal her family made the day before, I wanted to treat the family.  We ordered a couple different dishes and it was great.  I really liked the pork sisig.
 
Again, I enjoyed being with Michelle’s family.  I told Michelle that we should invite them to go to Tagaytay with us.  Instead of making a two day trip, we’ll just make it a day trip so we all can go.  We all talked about the logistics and discussed options on how to get there.  I don’t know who mentioned it, most of the conversation was tagalong but, someone said there was a nice park that we could go to that over looked the lake.  After doing a little planning, we set the day to make a family trip to Tagaytay.  Her Mom said they would prepare the meal for our picnic.

After hatching and planning was complete we started to leave.  As we got out side of the restaurant, it was starting to rain lightly.  Everyone popped up their umbrellas and moved with a purpose, trying to avoid getting wet.  The wind was also picking up a bit too.  Before we parted ways, the brother-in-law wanted to get us a taxi and make sure the driver knew where he was going.  It appears that the taxi drivers outside of the ocean park gate wanted a lot of money.  None of the ones he talked to wanted to use the meter.  So he hopped onto his motorcycle and went out to the main rode to flag a cab.  After a little bit of a wait, here he came with a taxi in tow.  Once we were all situated, we parted ways!

[thekfc]

Is the Jelly fish exhibit still there? My wife loved it.





Did you guys get to do this?

[Tanuki]

KFC;
 
No, we didn't do those two exhibts.  When we were looking at the attractions, it seemed that the most things they wanted was the aquarium. 

[thekfc]

For anyone who plan on taking a future trip to Manila - Ocean Park is a fun place to visit.
It is not as big as a the "major" Oceanarium but there are a lot of fun things to do & take your lady frien to.

There are glass bottom boat rides, Aquanaut Voyage (you wear a helmet & dive & get close to the sea life), The Jeallies (Jellyfish - the pic in blue I posted above and the exhibit/tanks do change color - confirm by my wife's niece that this exhibit is still open & now part of the regular attraction), The Fish Spa (the other pic I posted - the small fishes come and nibble on your feet), and many more.

[robert angel]

Tanuki,
 
Re:
 
>>>The funniest moment to our meal was when Michelle's mom handed me a glass of water.  As she was passing me the glass of water, she said to me; "Too big?"  Or, at least that is what I thought she was asking me.  I responded to what I thought was a question about the glass of water being too big; "No, its alright.  I' think I can drink it all." Everyone just fell out laughing.  I could tell I was the cause of the laugh but, I wasn't sure as to why or how.  Michelle helps me understand that the Tagalog word for water is tubig.<<<

 
That is HILARIOUS! My wife was laughing out loud when I shared that (thanks) and I really found it funny too. It's really very ironic, because if there's any language that has words and phrases that have several completely different meanings, its English--so it was only fair.

 
If you haven't noticed yet, sometimes we can be saying something and they'll play along and do fine, but actually not know entirely what you mean--they're just getting the overall meaning by putting together context clues--like your use of the word 'throne'.There's a good chance that she still doesn't know it from the throne of England. And in the classic Filipino mindset--why should she?--What relativity does some fancy seat that a king or queen occasionally sits on mean to them? My wife learned some stuff like that in school and forgot about it just as quick, but retained other, more important things learned in school, from reading, listening. More importantly, she kept the morals and manners she learned in school and even more importantly from family, early on.

 
Seems that the Filipino mindset amongst most of the population, places a lot of emphasis on utility--on what's practical.

 
What you saw along Manila Bay is sad, but I think it's a sadder commentary that in my opinion, 'sick in the head' tourists will toss peso coins into that and other sewer like water, to watch Filipino kids dive into the water and 'retrieve' the pesos in their teeth. Not that giving every beggar pesos is a good idea, but I'd rather just hand kids like that the money, or better yet, some decent food to bring on home.
 

Don't you just love those Filipino taxi drivers? In Davao City, the drivers know they can get in big trouble for not treating tourist fair and proper, but it still doesn't stop them from strangely not having change for a 50 peso bill sometimes....
 

Sounds like for all your taxi travels, at least you got to see more of the Philippines than you expected to!

I sometimes wonder when they want to accompany us everywhere we go over there, if its really purely for our own physical safety, or if keeping us out of the clutches of other Filipina's and their 'temptations'...