Manila

 Hi Everyone!

Isabel and I crashed so hard last night when we finally arrived in Manila at midnight, let’s just say I’m going to think twice before traveling for over 35 hours without a bed again. It was totally worth it though! Even if the 8 am wake up call from Uncle Vic (Isabel’s dad) was rough and jet lag was pretty hard to beat today.

It’s Sunday here and because the dominant religion of the Philippines is Catholicism most of the city was at church today, including myself! Each culture is so different and Filipino church in the Philippines was quite the experience. At the end of mass everyone rushed to the front, hands raised in the air, as the priest threw holy water on the crowd, almost like he was a DJ that had popped a champagne bottle and was spraying it around at a club. I can only compare as far as I’ve seen in movies of course ;)

You guys would be so surprised if you came here. I know I was, especially since the last time I was in an Asian third world country was ten years ago. And I know we were staying in the nicer district here but everything was beautiful and clean and so safe! It was way better than LA or even Pasadena, which really says something about our country. Being back in Asia is like wrapping myself in my favorite warm blanket on a winter’s day. The plants are so lush and green and everyone is so warm and friendly. It’s so amazing to me that these are people who are really struggling, and live hard lives to earn few dollars, and yet you’re never left wanting for a helping hand or a genuine smile.

Isabel, Uncle Vic, and I walked around the neighboring hotels and casinos, it was so strange because it really felt like we were in Vegas. The casinos connected into high end shops, all the lobbies were decorated for Chinese New Year, and the indoor greenery was spectacular. 

Auntie Weng joined us for lunch after our walk around town and we went to an authentic Filipino restaurant. Finding food here is not easy! Everything is pork and if it doesn’t have pork then it has fish sauce. Even today Auntie Weng ordered veggies for me which we specially requested to be made without fish sauce only to find that veggies here are made with chicken, shrimp, and pork. Oh well, you live and learn, next time I’ll make sure that my side of veggies is actually vegetarian lol! 

The most surprising part of my day was when went to the Rockwell. It was an old power plant that had been converted into a mall, and too be honest I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise it was a mall of luxury and foreign brands! You name it, you could find it here, Chanel, Versace, they even had a Levi’s store! It’s so weird being half way across the world and feeling like I’m at the South Coast Plaza in Orange County. The one thing I will say is that their mall has way better snacks, we stopped for this traditional dish called Taho, which is tofu and tapioca pearls drizzled in syrup. It was delicious! The tofu was almost like flan with its texture, I’ve never tasted anything like it and I’ll definitely be ordering it again while I’m here. I also got a calamansi melon soda which was tart and refreshing. Calamansi is a type of lime that’s really popular here, it’s less bitter than a regular lime but still has that sharp tang to it. If you ever come across one you should definitely try it! 

Having successfully defeated jet lag, and rather unsuccessfully shopped (it’s hard to buy things you can get cheaper back at home), we happily called it a night. 

I’ll keep you posted on our new adventures tomorrow. We’re already heading out to another town in the morning, wish us luck dealing with traffic in the PI! 

Love you all,

Aisha