Why a day in Manila will change you. #story

It feels very weird to start writing again. I had an amazing time and met dozens of people. Sharing all these wonderful and terrifying moments is a pleasure for me. 

So, I guess this blog is not finished by now. I guess it will not finish at all because I like writing and keeping my English on a good level. I love sharing experiences and stories. This is not only for you, but for me as well. When I am writing I reflect and remember everything, I hear the waves and feel the sand slowly floating away below my feet. I can escape Germany for a few moments and get back into this time meet the people again and relive the certain feelings that I had.

The future and meaning of this blog is taking you with me into this wide world and see what I saw. My intention is giving you a moment of silence, escape and distraction in a business world, which is mostly controlled by money and effort and not by feelings and emotions.

Enjoy :)

Manila:

I left the rainy and cold Taiwan and luckily met a guy from Sweden in the bus, who booked the same plane and hostel in Manila. I was happy that I wasn't alone. You will understand why:

We got out of Manila Airport and immediately surrounded by the sticky polluted air and ten taxi drivers offering rides with hilarious prices. What a nice start for vacations. Some of them wanted to grab our luggage and get us into their taxi. 

In the end and after a lot of attempted conversation to get information about prices we just got into a white taxi. (Usually the white ones should be cheaper than the yellow.) 

We told him where to go and asked for the price. After a huge negotiation we asked him to drop us at the main road. 1400 Pesos is just too much - A regular price is about 250 Pesos (equals 5 Eur) - Suddenly the taxi driver turns right into a backstreet and leads us cross the poor districts. We asked him where he was going. We thought he would us drop off at the main road. But he was pissed and only spoke a few words like: "Yes, yes main road" 

A lot of people were eyeing us as we exited the cab at a junction to main road. The driver was asking for 150 Pesos and went away. In that situation I just wanted to be a Filipino or invisible.
Fortunately we found a cheap taxi within the next five minutes. We were happy as we checked in OMP Hostel in Manila and finally got out to get something to eat and drink.

We were glad as we realised that the hostel was exactly in front of a food court. For 150 Pes (3 Eur) we found a nice dinner and for additional 40 Pesos an "all you can drink" service, which was just right in that situation (Rufo's). 

Philippine food is unbelievable good and very different from Taiwan. It has similarities to Spanish food just with Asian ingredients but also a lot of western food like burgers or other meals with ham. All in all it is not that extraordinary for Europeans compared to Taiwanese or Chinese food.

The next day we went to Intramuros, a historic part of Manila. Especially here I saw and felt the gap between rich and poor: Young children only wearing a dirty tank top and shorts running after you, opening doors an begging for some money. Whole families living on the streets, sleeping with the dogs, yelling at you in Filipino, asking for money or offering something.

I felt very uncomfortable and this is the reason why I wasn't brave enough to get my camera out and take photos. I didn't feel safe at all.

Yes, these are ladyboys
and the guy from Sweden 
I met in Taiwan.

Confused and hungry we headed back to the Hostel to get something to eat and meet up with a Filipino friend. He showed us the rich part of the city and some clubs. I was very confused how different this huge city can be. On the one hand the slums and poverty and on the other this enormous richness. In the end he showed us the red light district. We passed a "gimp boxing" club and turned into a street full of dubious people and ladyboys. Additional some people would stand in the shadows and offer you Viagra and other "supplements".

As we reached the next junction we checked our pockets and were happy that nothing was stolen. That day was confusing, memorable and changed my view on the world.

I hope you liked the entry. Please leave a comment if you have suggestions for improvement.
More photos next time ;) promised :P