Philippines Finale

On our final day in the Philippines, we went to the Intramuros, or historic part of Manila.  The influence of Spanish colonization was of course, quite apparent.  In fact, parts of this area seemed Latino, like Cartagena or Casco Viejo.  Weird to find that when you are on the complete opposite side of the world of Latinolandia.

We enjoyed wandering around the city, but the 100+ degree heat definitely curbed our enthusiasm.  We took in a bit of Filipino history, though, and even witnessed Triumph of Science over Death.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Philippines, we had a great time, thank you for welcoming us inside your borders!

a little bit cheesy, a little bit delicious

On a more upbeat note in comparison to yesterday's post...

If you every find yourself with a wine list that contains Monbazillac, try it.  If you like sweet wines, which I do, you will not be disappointed.  It smells like autumn.  Leaves on the ground, crisp air, small children in costumes.  And it tastes like the end of summer, the beginning of the season of change.

Surprisingly enough, Pablo introduced me to this nectar of the gods in Manila.  We put on our least sweaty/sandy clothes and went out on our first date in months since he had left for Papua.  Like all annoying couples, we sat on the same side of the booth while we sipped our digestif and listened to the house band.  It felt like the vocalist was singing just for us

Lately, I have been feeling overly sensitive to the pain that is ever-present in our world.  Poverty, hunger, disease, unemployment, racism, sexism, war.  Living in Saudi Arabia, I do feel like I am confronted with these issues on a daily basis.  I have a very high standard of living, but all around me I see people struggling.  Just last night, I was at the supermarket talking to my favorite grocer and he said, "You, are happy today!  You have two days off (today is the start of the weekend)."  And I said, "Yes, it will be nice to relax a bit, won't it?"  And he says, "I am sure it would be, but I work tomorrow, I work 7 days a week."  And I said, "Wallah (really)?"  And he said, "Wallah."  

This is not the first time that I have heard of such unjust working conditions.  What really gets to me, though, is that millions of people- Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, and Filipinos- leave their countries to move to the Middle East because life is better here than at home.  Some of these people even end up living their entire adult lives abroad with wives and children back at home.  Families that they get to see once a year, if they are lucky.  The world shouldn't be like this.

I don't mean to be depressing and I don't think that pity helps anyone.  It seems that positivity and a focus on one's strengths is more supportive, but I think in order to acknowledge and appreciate the good, you have to fully take in the bad.  Look at it, stare at it, take pictures of it, and ask questions about it before you make your judgements.  Think of a way to turn it into something beautiful and magnificent.  

Manila

After our lunch with Rene and Nadia, and the unfortunate encounter with Durian, we boarded a little commuter plane and made our way to Manila.  Domestic flights in the Philippines are amazing, they are cheap and abundant.  There are tons of flights from Manila to the other islands every hour of the day and I don't think ours cost more than $50.  

Manila is an entirely different beast than village island life.  Millions of people have flocked to the urban sprawl in search of decent jobs and a higher standard of living.  What I really couldn't get over in Manila was how patchy the city is.  Slums border nice historic colonial sites, fancy sky rise hotels are just outside of crazy bus stops, and of course like all developing nations, there is trash everywhere.  I have actually never seen a more polluted river than the Pasig River.

We did have a good time in Manila, though.  After our week of beach-bumming it with no air-conditioning or hot water, we enjoyed a bit of pampering at the Sofitel (complete with the renowned breakfast buffet (it has an entire room of cheese)) and we had a good time adventuring around some of the historic parts of the city.

King of Fruits

And then, when your friends are sick of having you around and want you to leave, all they have to do is feed you Durian, the King of Fruits.  They asked me, "Do you like custard?  Do you like coffee?  Do you like dark chocolate?  How about garlic?"  "Yes," I said, "of course."  "Well, how would you like them all together in one bite?  An entire four-course meal in a single fruit?"  That's durian.

With a description like that, how can you not try it?

And so we did.  And perhaps wished we hadn't.  But at least they got a good laugh out of it :)

if your friend invites you to his house for lunch..

I warn you.  be careful.

You might fall in love with his home and his family so much that you decide you are just going to have to move in!  Seriously. be. careful.

I just had to show you Rene's house.  He and his wife invited us over for lunch on our last day in Dumaguete.  Rene and an architect friend of his custom-designed his house employing elements of traditional Filipino architecture as well as modern touches.  The house is amazing (hopefully you can get that from the photos).  It is open and breezy, cool without air conditioning.  The clean lines and simplicity with natural wood and glass throughout just made me swoon.  The view of rainforest and sea with an open garden out back for the kids to play in was just too much.  I seriously told them that we were moving in.  Being the awesome people that they are, they said, "great!"