Apogee of negative karma

Happy honeymooners

Our flight on Cebu Pacific was probably the longest trip save the Moscow-Tokyo and returning Beijin-Moscow. The biggest problem, not having any Philippino currency, was solved aboard when I found out that any purchases made on the plane in US dollars would return the change in pisos. Great! Two beers and sandwiches later we had some money for the taxi. Even though the exchange rate was a rip off. As far as the legroom goes though, Cebu Air is probably the most cramped airline I've ever flown.

After arriving at our hotel, I jumped out after midnight to discover the neighborhood: Makati. Fair to say that visit went quite well, reminiscent of my old ways: roaming the streets, chatting to some people. Got two bottles of beer, some fried peanuts and meat on the stick to take back to the missus. True, I had a run in with a rat the size of a cat and a cockroach the size of a rat, but things like that are to be taken in stride. We are in Asia, nearly third world (though Philippinos would probably object to that). But all in all, Manila has made a good first impression. Oh how quickly things would change...

Finally some real meat for the lady

The next day we were woken up to the sound of torrential rain. Yes, it's the rainy season, but here came a typhoon. The rain didn't want to let off for a bit. Eventually when it died down, we jumped out to town for a quick day of exploring. We're planning only a one-day stay in Manila before moving on to Puerto Galera for some diving. Trip to town yielded a good breakfast: chicken grilled with some fine spices which was good enough to keep the lady happy. It only went downhill from there. You've been warned on Facebook about this not being a positive blog: well, here it begins.

We decided to go to Intramuros to explore, a Spanish colonial area in Manila. Getting there was an adventure, but a fun one: a ride in a Jeepney where it's impossible not to hit your head on the roof, followed by a crowded LRT ride with throngs of Philippinos gawking at two tall, white strangers (one of them a blonde woman). Upon arriving at the station we made a crucial mistake of being talked into (perhaps it was a spur of the moment, perhaps a case of heat-stroke) taking a bike riksha ride around Intramuros. After agreeing on a price we got into a contraption barely big enough to hold one of our asses, not both, followed by a rocky ride and descriptions read from a map by a guy who barely spoke English. The fact that every five minutes he'd stop by some wall and suggested we walk across it (and save him the pedaling) was all right to the point, lazy fucker. When he dropped us off at a fort to explore we were almost up to our agreed upon time. I wanted to pay him and have him disappear, but a case of miscommunication, misunderstanding or perhaps heat stroke again, left us wandering around the compound with him waiting outside for us. The fort... what can I say: my emotions are clouded, but the fort was crap. After exiting the fort and having to dodge two or three sunglasses and hat sellers pestering us about buying their counterfeit crap ("You promised later! Now later, you buy! Good price.") we were promptly led into a souvenir store for more time wasting activities. Ok, I know the drill, the drivers bring us to stores and they get kickbacks. It's ok with me really, if it keeps the missus happy to get some nice cheap trinkets, but the guy is still waiting outside. And what did not make me happy was being harassed by the riksha driver to pay us double upon exiting. Explanation being we used more time so we pay double. Yeah... 10 minutes more for which you're already being paid anyway. Buddy, you did half the work, then drove us to places with kickbacks and still expect us to pay you for extra time? I have to commend Kris here for showing some tough-as-nails bitch attitude and telling him now way in hell, because I just wanted to bash his fucking skull in. I did not but it got me in a sufficiently bad mood to kill the positive first impression.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a mall for some shopping and just to check out Manila's biggest tourist draw: it's shopping malls. Big, loud, with tons of Starbucks and McDonald's. Just your typical mall. On the way out we got stranded by the biggest downpour I have experienced in my life. The typhoon has just hit and was pouring thousands of gallons of water per second. Standing inside of the LRT station entrance was fun enough, but not being able to catch a Jeepney back home was something completely different. Apparently Makati was completely flooded with no traffic able to come in or out. We finally grabbed a cab, after negotiating the price down to a reasonable double the normal (for traffic conditions). Some hour later (normal time 10 minutes), we finally arrived near home with the cabbie not even making the effort to drop us off at the hotel, just at the main street. A nice Chinese dinner and some beers finished off this rather forgettable day.

What's the moral of the story? 1. Do not trust people. Yeah, it sucks, but it's true. Street sellers and anyone providing a tourist service is out to screw you as hard as possible. 2. Learn to say no: the hard way. With a "fuck off" if necessary. The level of harassment on the street is truly amazing, but the level of harassment you get if you try to be nice is truly unbelievable. If you do not want something, if you don't want to buy, participate or talk to someone, just tell them "no" and avoid any type of interaction with them. Otherwise suffer the consequences. What I don't understand, why after traveling around the world a couple of times and putting more than one million miles in my frequent flyer accounts I've got duped again.

Ok, rant over. Next post, much more positive.