BOS–>Penn Station, NY via bus.
Penn Station –>JFK via taxi.
JFK–> ICN via 14 hour flight.
4 hour layover in ICN.
ICN–> MNL via 5 hour flight (due to delay).

We arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Friday April 26^th just past midnight local time. Despite the illusion of chaos going through security and customs, the process was fairly painless. Alan and his father had already been waiting for our arrival. PJ, Corey and I worked our way through the lines and cleared the secure area without much hassle. We were finally in Manila!!!! Within a few seconds, it finally hit me that we were in a Southeast Asian country, and by “it” I mean the thick wall of humidity that slapped us across the face. We were all expecting it, but I honestly couldn’t prepare or understand what to expect since I went from Boston to desert living the past couple of weeks in LA. According to Alan’s parents, even they were struggling to cope with the extreme heat and humidity for several days now with temps reaching 114 degrees F.

We worked our way out of the airport and soon enough we crossed the street and found the waiting area where Alan was. Two major culture shocking moments … the HUGE masses of people and then the insane driving style/traffic. There were people and cars everywhere!

You can find large crowds of people at many airports, but the norm in Manila is similar to a concert venue as a show is about to start. You move by flowing with the crowd, while maneuvering around clusters of people who decided to stop for some unknown reason. I was surprised to see a line of people waiting for a taxi extending the entire length of the airport. Turns out that Manila is the world’s most densely populated city with a population exceeding 20 million people. The population density of Manila is 42,857 people per sq km. To put this into perspective, the density in Delhi is 25,854 persons/km2 and Tokyo has a density of 6,158 persons/km2.

Now imagine what its like on the roads. Traffic wasn’t too bad during our ride back to Alan’s home, but it definitely took a while for the three of us to get used to the driving style around here. We were all on the edge of our seats as motorbikes, cars, and people all moved in a free-for-fall style to make it to their destinations.

Alan’s father said that lines on the road are just for decoration and that pretty much sums it up. There are no rules on the road. You don’t need to stay in your lane, there’s no such thing as right of way, and you don’t have to follow road patterns (which are pretty much nonexistent). It appears to be complete chaos of aggressive drivers, but you soon see that everyone is alert and constantly scanning their environment. I wouldn’t feel confident driving because I’ve grown to assume certain things about others driving. Drivers here can’t assume that anyone else is thinking what they’re thinking. They’re constantly aware of their surroundings and prepared for vehicles and pedestrians to cut in front of them at any second, the car in front to stop suddenly without a warning, or any other unpredictable situation. The scariest thing is turning left onto a new street. It’s impossible to wait for an opening so you just keep rolling forward banking that the other cars will see you and stop.

As with other southeast Asian countries, there are jeepneys, trikes, buses, taxis and now Ubers to get around! The scenery outside changed drastically as we drove further away from the city into the outskirts of Metro Manila. Jeepneys and trikes became more prevalent as towering concrete buildings soon gave way to shantytowns.
When we finally approached the entrance to the subdivision, we noticed that there was a security checkpoint. Unless you’re a resident of the subdivision, you have to leave your license with the guards as you enter and collect your license from the entrance when you leave the subdivision. They do NOT take security lightly. As we explored Manila in the coming days, we felt a sense of normalcy seeing armed security guards all over the city. Every time you entered a mall, you walked through a metal detector and had your bag inspected. We even saw guards
outside of the mall with an assault rifle.

 

For the next 4 days, we explored Manila. Thankfully, Alan’s parents hosted us while we were in Manila. We felt very welcomed and enjoyed being able to experience the city a bit closer to how Alan once did when he lived here. We spent time running errands to get settled in – buying adaptors, exchanging money, buying sim cards, etc. The guys all needed to work remotely despite being in the Philippines, so we tried to find a balance between work and play. Despite difficulty adjusting initially, they were able to find their groove and we were still treated to an unforgettable experience with spa days, watching Civil War, karaoke, clubbing, and lots and lots of eating.

Brief break down of our stay in Manila
DAY 1:
-Started the day with an hour massage. Masseuses came to the house and it was roughly $7/hr

-Went clubbing at Black Market and got turnt when Abby brought us to “Finder’s Keeper”

DAY 2: Rest Day
-Recuperated by sleeping in
-Decided to go to the spa and get a package. Ended up lasting 7 hours and costs $35 for mani, pedi, body scrub, 1.5 massage an paraffin treatment.

Day 3:
Mall to pick up a few things
Watched Civil War (before US release)
Dinner at Moonshine
Karaoke

Day 4: Last night in Manila
-Guys went to get street food for lunch
-Dinner with Alan’s Parents at Mesa

 

 

 

Things About Manila

Exchange Rate
I have been using my Chase Sapphire card to make purchases where cards are accepted. There are no international fees and exchange rate is roughly 46 pesos= 1 USD. It is good to have cash on hand because I’ve found it to be pretty difficult to predict which businesses will accept cards and which ones don’t. When I pulled out money from the ATM, I was charged an international fee of $3 but the exchange rate was equivalent to the rate from using my credit card. The best rate we found was inside of Robinson’s Galleria in Manila. There was little store that offered 64 pesos per 1 USD but they only accepted cash. Luckily I had some leftover in my purse.

Power of a $
As stated above, 1 USD can get you about 46 pesos. And those 46 pesos stretch pretty far in the Philippines. We were able to get a spa day (mani, pedi, body scrub, 1.5 hour massage, and paraffin treatment) for 1740 pesos. A classy meal that would be equivalent to a $15 entrée in the States is roughly 250 pesos. A beer is a bit more than $1. A delicious fruit shake is around 90 pesos or 2 USD.

Transportation
I can’t offer much info in this area because the only mode of transportation we used was Uber. A 45 minute ride often costs around $5 which isn’t much in American standards; however, if you’re looking for cheaper modes of transportation, there are jeepneys and trikes available outside of the city. If you’re in the city, there are Ubers all around, although it may take a while for them to get to you because of traffic surrounding every mall entrance/exit.

Wi-fi
There is free wifi all over Manila, but the speeds are really slow. It’s painful to check email so forget trying to work or update a blog. Instead, Alan and PJ bought sim cards at the mall and then bought cards to load money onto the phone. The sim cards cost 40 pesos each. Then 1000 pesos can load 5gb of data and 2500 pesos can load 15gb of data. There are other options in between as well. This was a great for Corey and I because we weren’t able to use sim cards from the Philippines, because our phones weren’t unlocked yet (we’re still making payments). PJ and Alan were able to tether and allow us to use wifi on our phones or laptops.

Safety
I found our experience in the Philippines to be very safe. The group of us as a whole didn’t really worry about safety partly because we knew that Alan was a native and we had his friends/family who were local showing us around. At the same time, it is a third world country, and any time you’re travelling I feel like you should be alert and slightly guarded. This is just based on my experiences of sticking out like a sore thumb as a tourist. Overall, I felt like locals kept to themselves and didn’t cause any trouble. Unlike my time in South Africa, we weren’t in fear of being scammed at ATMs and didn’t have people cat calling or harassing us down the street.

There was a travel warning issued by the Department of State on April 21, 2016 stating “U.S. citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago and through the southern Sulu Sea, and to exercise extreme caution when traveling to the island of Mindanao, due to continued terrorist threats, insurgent activities and kidnappings…Terrorist and insurgent groups based in the Sulu Archipelago continue to target foreigners for kidnapping in the Eastern Sabah province of Malaysia and in the southern Sulu Sea area.” Obviously, avoid that area.

Immuizations
Typhoid and Hepatitis A vaccines are recommended for the Philippines, although none of us got them…
We have been sticking to bottled water for drinking throughout our stay. Some question whether bottled water should be used while brushing teeth. I personally think that it’s fine in Manila, but definitely use your judgment in more rural areas. Same goes for ice in beverages.
I know I have a very sensitive stomach, so I’ve been staying away from street food. The guys have been more adventurous without any issue though. I would only get well done meats and avoid fruits that have been cut up for a while.

Dress Code
When we went to the club in Manila, Corey almost wasn’t let in because he was wearing shorts. Then when we were trying to get into a coworking space in Cebu, I wasn’t let in because of shorts and then sandals. Stupid cause the building we were entering had a dress code but the coworking space did not. Either wa, keep that in mind if you go somewhere that might look fancy.

Malls

Huge economic disparity depending on region