Tropical Adventure - The City

This was my first venture into the tropics and I've got much more to say about it than what Facebook or any other social media can handle. Also, many of my comments to follow are most likely not appropriate. If I offend anyone, please forgive me. It is not my intention. 

Let's begin with Makati.

Busy capital of Philippines has a lot to offer for all who crave action. We chose a condotel near Greenbelt for the location. Room was quite old and disappointing but you get what you pay for.

Greenbelt is worth visiting. Placed within modern Makati City, it is a combination of 5 full size malls, a tropical park, restaurant/bar strip and a chapel. Yes, it's big. Bigger than anything I've seen. You can shop, eat, drink and spend hours and hours in there until you can't walk anymore and still not see it all. Pricy boutiques, cheep stores, kid stores, etc are all conveniently separated so if you're there looking for something specific, they make it easier. There's also security everywhere. You go through it upon entrance from mall to mall. Be prepared to open your bag. It worried me why such tight security was needed. All security guards had real guns. Our first night when we were walking back and had a hard time finding our way, I wondered if the pretty facade of Makati was just a lure, a mask covering awful crimes. There must be a reason for those guns. Nothing bad happened thankfully. 

If Greenbelt is not enough, right across the street (that you cross via overpass), is a department store called Landmark. I found very well priced items there and was impressed by how much good product they had. Their shoe section is out of this world. It's hard to describe it. It's a shoelover's dream land. Once you're in the middle of it, shoes are all you can see as far as your eyes can reach. Wow. It was overwhelming though so I ended up buying only simple flip flops. It's a shame but I was discouraged by the salesgirls' "courtesy". Yes, the courtesy where they stick to you like a leech to convince you to buy more and more and more. "Yes, ma'am." "How about this, ma'am?" "This is pretty, ma'am." "This too, ma'am." So frustrating! I couldn't wait to get out. And stop calling me "ma'am"!

Oh, I've been taken to more malls. Big, crowded malls but Greenbelt won me over. I only wished all of Philippines was like that but soon I was taken away from Makati and saw a totally different side of Manila.

English is a second language in Philippines so I expected to see more local "foreigners" (non-Filipinos basically) but found only tourists and not many. It was surprising until I saw more of Manila.

Poverty struck me. I saw it everywhere. They call them squatters - basically homeless people living in little shacks. Creating cities within the city. Millions of people, families live like this - extremely poor right next to rich. Little kids begging on the highway. Women with babies begging on the highway. Everyone crosses the highway like it's nothing. Men selling single cigarettes on the highway. Motorcycles are cheap so they are everywhere. Entire families travel on them. Father, little kid, and mother with a newborn - all without helmets. Jeepneys are cheap so they are everywhere. 12-seat car that tries to fit 20 people. They stop anywhere, even in the middle of an intersection. 

Manila roads are chaotic. I've seen people cross red lights, many of them. Too much traffic? Claim the lane going in the opposite direction. Claim the entire highway, why not? It takes a collective mind of thousands of drivers to turn a highway into a one way street. There's no order because there's no cops anywhere where this happens. People do whatever works for them at the time but in my opinion, it doesn't work for the city.

How can they fix this, I wondered. Every time I saw it, I racked my brain and found no answer. There's just so many of them. Too much to change in one go. It's very sad. I feel bad for spending my money knowing that what I'm buying is cheap because it was made with cheap labor and low pay is the reason for all this poverty but at the same time they need my money so I should spend it, right? I was not expecting this. I can't fix this. I can't handle it. I need to get away.

We traveled to nearby Tagaytay. I was told it's a countryside, a province with simpler life. Yes, it's simpler but I still found there same poverty, same squatters, same chaos. Is this what entire Philippines is like? All those people who traveled to Manila just to end up as squatters left their province homes with hopes of making it big but did they end up better or worse? If worse, then why did they not return?  I worry that maybe squatting in/near a city might actually be better and that's scary. How bad were the conditions they left behind? 

Locals avoid the poor and warn against helping them with stories of scams, attacks, violence... They turn their eyes the other way, act as if they don't see but it is not cruel. I understand. I can't imagine living like this, seeing this every day, caring and being able to function normally. I choose to ignore this too. If I don't, then their despair will become mine. I can't afford this weakness.
I need to get away. This isn't for me.

Oh, we are so lucky to not live here...

After...

We then went to the "vacation" part of our vacation (see the next post "The Beach") and when we returned, we spent last 3 days in a different part of Manila called Paranaque City. Place looked great in pictures so although the neighboorhood looked quite sketchy, we thought we would still be okay. When we got to Villa Chateau, it looked like it did not belong there. Oh, but yet again, you get what you pay for, dears. How I wished we had stayed at the beach longer.

Live and learn.
I don't know if I like what I've learned.