Vanilla Manila

Week 1-2: My first impression of Manila when I first visited in January was that it was dingy and bland. It still feels that way but leaning much more toward dingy, than bland. I better appreciate how everything’s melded into an alphabet soup of jovial, easy-going people, interesting cuisine, and religious kitsch. It feels a bit like Bangkok in a way, but Bangkok has embraced full-fledged consumerism on a grander scale. Manila somehow retains a daggy substantiality that keeps it from becoming tiresome.

Week 3: My mom visited this week, prompting me to venture out to the touristy parts of town. My aforementioned opinion remains unchanged. However, a great mystery was revealed on our tour of four of metro Manila's 17 cities: The Jumbo restaurant that use to bobble in HK's Aberdeen Harbour has now been towed to Manila Bay, its final resting place. Woohoo!


Week 4: My only weekend in Manila has been plagued by gale force winds and steady rain, keeping me hunkered in the room all day. Granted, I am supposedly working but can anything be more conducive to ennui (and subsequently, the urge to injure myself), than figuring out transport industry EBITs?

Typhoon aside, everyone keeps saying how Manila is so dangerous, especially in in terms of kidnapping. I don't think it's that bad but my paranoia is keeping me from walking three blocks to 7-11 for snacks.

Week 5: Going home. Yey! Never coming here again.