At Peace in the Philippines. Summer Adventure Part 1

"I want what you want. I want to live all over the world and have adventures, but I'm not Francois. I'm the guy that saw you and fell in love and would do anything for you."

The skies and the night
-Manila, Philippines

I find I get amused at simple things.
It should be well known by now how much I love the stars and how easily mesmerized I am by the nighttime sky.  Well, I read somewhere by a blogger that each country has a different sky.  And so as I began to travel, to foster this growing passion for movement,  I began to notice how very true this was. That even one sky that stretches over one earth can be so differenet depending on where in the world you happen to be looking up from.

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After landing in Manila in the evening, going to a booking office to find the cheapest and earliest flight out to Palawan Island, I was left to wander the streets of Manila during my first night in a new country with newly found friends. The first thing I noticed on those first two days was how the tallest thing on some of the streets were billboard signs. 

On a taxi drive to Friendly's Guesthouse (a hostel of the sweetest calibre) I could see the sky that reaches past the tiny shops and buildings.  Driving along roads where the tallest building is maybe four storeys high may not seem as thrilling as lying in burning white hot sand, but at that point in my life, I was getting "gray-disease", a queezy bordeom feeling at all the grey buildings that look so alike in many downtown streets.  Walking across roads so wide and into buildings so high to visit friends can do a lot to torment a soul already growing bored and weary in a country getting increasingly smaller by the day. 

It was a much needed vacation to be transported to a new country.  Living in a less developed country can be traumatizing experience for some, while quite comforting for others.

Of course, in some parts of Manila, things are developing quickly and you have grand hotels, beautiful monuments to the non-budget-conscious traveler, the business man, the world class elite. 

From my hotel deck the first night in Manila, I had a splendid view of developed versus undeveloped.  One street was lined with newly built apartment buildings, visually appealing, artistically crafted, and with no two buildings side-by-side looking the same. But right across the street, people were living under tin roofs, drying their clothes on moldy looking decks.  The difference is striking and I think neighbourhoods like this are popping up all over SE Asia.

I want to see as much as I can in this portion of my world. I can only imagine how the Philippines will be five years from now.  I hope it keeps its charm.

Cooling down with a San Miguel at Friendly's Guesthouse, the first full day I landed in Manila.

"Buy one, Take one!" Eating at a streetside burger vendor with two new friends.

Two beautiful Filipina girls we found while walking along the harbourfront.

Jeepneys! 7 pesos to jump on and jump off!

Snapshot: I flew from Incheon, South Korea to Manila, Philippines. From Manila, I flew to this beautiful island called Palawan. After a week of island living, I flew into KL, Malaysia, took a bus to Butterworth and then a 19 hour train through the beauty that is Thailand, and ended up in Bangkok.