manila vanilla (Philippines)

Kumusta ka
Hello ma'aaaaam, hello suuur

Crazy Philippines it has been;) Believe it or not, Filipinos make a large percentage of the population of Dubai. So, I am quite used to working with them and seeing them everywhere. But finally learning a little more about them and their country, has been very interesting. So, I shall share with you.

I traveled with some crew to the oldest part in Manila, Intramuros. In Spanish this means"within the walls". Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards in the 16th century. I found this out a little while ago, because one crew member with extraordinary and beautiful features, explained that if they can prove they have Spanish blood in them, they can get Spanish citizenship. They are also mostly Catholics and in and around the Intramuros area we saw a beautiful cathedral, a fort that was also built in the 1500's and colourful Spanish style buildings. This is quite funny, as Manila is a busy, heavily polluted, traffic crazy capital city.

4 things I quickly noticed about Manila: 1. The Filipino version of a tuk-tuk, is a 3 wheeler. It has a bike or bicycle attached to it.

2. They have these truck/van/bus public transport thingie, that looks like aliminium tin carriers with lots of colours. 3.They abbreviate most everything. Roadsigns might show that the TIRC must turn left here, IFW created this, your BO is strong, etc etc. I was wondering if they carry a dictionary with them to refresh their memory. 4. Man, Filipinos loooove kareoke. We already know this in Dubai. It is no surprise to be invited to a Filipino's houseparty and singing the night away on their own kareoke system. But this topped it all.... on the music channels in Manila, they show the words also. So, I got to sing along Beyonce's latest song, and some other famous artists, lol!

I braved having a haircut in the Philippines (they didn't want to charge me for the shampoo and blowdry, because they say I am beautiful, aaaaaaaaaaah bless them, lol) ,got a massage, explored the shopping centre (which had a chapel right in the middle of it!!!! -ja, one moment you walk pass a shoe shop, next you see people on their knees praying), had beer in a mall while looking for Filippino delicacies in the food court (that was cool), but since they like pork and whole fish, I settled for Japanese bento which is almost every second stall.

Money unit: piso

So now, I find myself in Cape Town for the weekend. My original plan was to travel through Jordan, but the flight was overbooked:(

I hope you enjoyed the news
Till next time

Salamat po
Hugs,
Alta