For my Philippines Air travel north to Manila, I was only allowed one checked bag of 10 kilos--so thankfully I had enough pesos to pay for the excess baggage fee (my suitcase of one inside the other weighed 16 kilos). I carried one carry on on the plane, which was an Airbus with 3 and 3 seats across.
I had no problems in Manila airport, terminal 2. Went outside the baggage area to be picked up by Tim and Cleo, but waited a couple of hours for their arrival.
That Manila traffic leaves much to be desired!! Thankful for use of Freddie's cell phone and the Filipino SIM card for free texting while in the Philippines!!
No one makes a simple "run to the store" or run anywhere. Traffic is thick nearly 24 hours a day: motorcycles, tricycles, personal vehicles, taxis, trucks of all sizes, large buses. No speed limit. There sort of are lanes, but one drives close upon the tail of vehicle in front and changes lanes as one needs keeping nose of your vehicle in front of anyone else. Oh--ample use of one's horn. Signaling is good--but usually very short. Larger vehicles can be rather intimidating as they simply turn into you in a smaller vehicle. Theoretically, they are not allowed to 'bully'. I simply trusted my life into Tim's capable hands as he drove--having years of experience--and I didn't notice any dents in their car. It wasn't worth having a heart attack every 30 seconds over some action of a vehicle next to us or in front of us or behind us. I tried to focus on seeing as much as I could of the buildings and sights of the city. It was nice being in their personal vehicle because windows were shut and air-con on. I wasn't suffocating in the exhaust smoke of all the vehicles or warmth of being packed inside a jeepney with 16+ others!! I doubt I could have found my way around. It is a confusing city--actually a municipality with 16 cities within it. Manila is the capital. Makati is the business center of the nation.
On they way to their Quezon, Manila Municipality, we stopped at the National Museum since we were going right by. We spent several hours there in the two buildings.
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| musical instruments |
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| Jose Rizal |
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| quite a chair/throne |
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| the eagle national symbol |
didn't have the time to real all the displays regarding language/writing and their history/development, but what I did read was most interesting.
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| sorry, can't flip it. it is a loom |
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| shirt to left made of the pineapple fibers; very light and sheer |
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| a tribal house |
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| cook and live upstairs inside |
I didn't take pictures of rooms and rooms of art: sculpture, drawings, paintings, etc. A lot of talent.
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| a view of govt. building outside front of musem |
The Philippines is made up of 7, 107 islands. Our team spent our time in the Visayas, or middle islands. Mindanao is to the south and more Muslim. Luzon is to the north, where Manila is. To the north of Luzon is Taiwan. To the west across the South China Sea is Vietnam. To the south one finds Indonesia. To the East far enough is Guam. The area of all the Philippines would compare roughly to Arizona--a bit larger actually, than the state of Arizona. The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country. This is difficult on the environment as well as enough jobs for all the people. Economically, the Philippines seems to do pretty well--but it is not equal. By this I mean that not all the islands nor all the cities/towns are enjoying economic growth. Manila, in particular, seems to be enjoying a lot of economic growth, for I saw a lot of high rise building and nice homes and nice storess--but yes, there are slums there, too.
The Philippines is a place of many natural wonders. I would have loved to have gone to the island Bohol, where the November earthquake centered--to see the Chocolate Hills. Our team did get to see a good length of Cebu Island; and I got to see a good length of Luzon Island, as well as Corregidor Island. There is a lot of green with growth of bamboo, coconut trees, banana trees, rice, tobacco, etc. There are mountain ranges running through the islands. Of course, not mountains like I think of--the Rockies!! The highest elevation on Luzon Island is roughly 9,800 feet. Luzon is, of course, the economic and political center of the Philippines. The museum showed many specimens of plants and animals.
The Philippines is warm and wet. I found Cebu Island warm and humid. Ralston's assured us that January is the coolest month. Many Filipinos complained of the 'cold'. It was warm for me! When I was outside the airport waiting for Tim and Cleo to pick me up, I noticed that it was warm, but not as humid as Cebu Island. I was grateful for that. However, each day I was on Luzon Island, the warmer the days became. I don't think I would do well in the heat and humidity from February through December!!! Actually, I believe there are months of warm & dry then months of warm & humid.
The museum showed that the Aeta are thought to be the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines. The later arrival of peoples of Malay origin may have pushed the Aeta into the mountains. The pre-Spanish peoples organized themselves into kinship based communities called barangay. Barangays continue to exist and define communities. Then Spain ruled the Philippines by way of Mexico. Church and state were entangled for 300 years--the Filipinos weren't successful at most revolts, but in the 1800's Jose Rizal stood out. His approach was non-violent and reformist. His statue and likeness and information about him occupied a lot of space in the museum.
On the way to Tim and Cleo's home in Quezon we stopped at a Mall and ate at a Chili's restaurant. I luxuriated in eating a salad!! I hadn't really seen salads while on Cebu Island and basically had avoided them due to concerns over possibly health issues!! At their home I totally enjoyed visiting and getting reacquainted with Tim and Cleo. And I got to use their laptop and internet--news to and from home!! i also thoroughly enjoyed many fruit smoothies and fresh fruit while in their home. Cleo is an excellent cook! She showcased the difference between home cooked typical Filipino food and restaurant prepared Filipino food.
