Travel experiences: Philippines

No matter how many times I’ve come to land in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport, at least 20 by now I would think, there is still always that sense of excitement, always that sense of impatience to re-experience and be thrilled by the beconing city of Manila!

Don, my partner of 20 years will of course be picking me up at the airport to bring the two of us to what will be our home for the next month, the budget-priced Robelle Mansions, situated in the financial district of Makati. Except for the fact that it has roaches every now and then, and the showers quickly run out of hot water, the hotel is comfortable. Besides, who’s complaining at $30- a day! Whatever physical deficiencies the hotel might have is more than compensated by its warm and friendly staff.

Don and I don’t really do anything we didn’t do during my previous visits, the usual shopping at all the malls (there seems to be new ones that sprout out after each visit), the visit to the Ayala Museum (probably the best in the country), and without doubt the most important part of the trip, the trying out of new and old restaurants to do some serious eating, eating, and more eating.

A visit to Manila would not be complete without the obligatory “out of town trip.” The choices for this are limitless. There are the mountains of Baguio of course, the beaches of Batangas, the volcano of Tagaytay, and never to be outdone, the former American naval base of Subic in Zambales, the last being where I choose to head. How can one describe Subic? As boring as this might sound, I suppose one could say it looks like any small American City located oin the West Coast. All spic and span, everything works, in fact even people’s driving habits are “americanized”. (One should ask himself however why he should go out of town to visit an “Americanizewd” city having just come from New York to begin with.) But this is another issue and yet another story.

What really comes to mind though in the course of one’s Manila visit is the simplicity of it all, how the ordinary becomes so wonderful and the routine so unusual. What was that famous saying again? The best pleasures are the simple ones?(actually I just made that up.) But how apt that saying becomes in Manila! I suppose that for the most part, the joy gotten from one’s visit has to do with being with relatives glad to see you, old friends who never really change, even the unavoidable debates and bickering that sometimes crop up.

But when a month has rushed by and its time to leave, Manila, as full of all its faults and shortcomings, is the hardest city to leave. I guess it mysteriously, mischievously grows to be part of you. Good bye Manila! Untill the next visit.