Manila -- Tsunamis, Pirates and Amusing People

It has been a very busy few days and there is so much to tell you about.  I forgot about some stuff from the other day that I thought you might find interesting.

The Platters (two fat guys, a blind guy and one with an incredibly bad hair piece plus a gal who looked like she stuck her finger in a light socket) performed again and this time we danced and also joined the conga line dancing around the theater.  Now why is this important to mention?  This is the first time since my back surgery that I have danced.  It was a very special time as it was the night of my five month anniversary of the surgery.  It is so hard to believe that just a short time ago I could barely function without help and here I am now dancing.  Michael wouldn’t let me boogie to the really fast stuff, but this was a good beginning.

On the way from Bali to Manila, we sailed in a stretch of water off the coast of Borneo that is a haven for pirates.  Now I know that I have done the pirate story in the Gulf of Aden and I couldn’t hope to pull off another yarn spun out of my fertile imagination, but we were on pirate watch again.  The fire hoses were made ready on Deck 5 and security was on watch round the clock for the time it took us to transit the area.  Small skiffs were sighted and they were reportedly menacing large ships.  There was no general muster or fuss made about the preparations, nor were the decks closed to passengers.  Are we having fun yet?  Pirates, earthquakes, and now tsunamis.

I try to write things in order as they happen, but today is not one of those days.  Let me assure you that we heard about the earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami predicted for the Philippines – we are OK.  I will describe more details about it later on.  

When we arrived in Manila, immigration agents boarded the ship to clear everyone (including crew) for entry into the country.  We had to go in front of an agent and claim an entry card.  This occurs in many countries, and so no big deal.  But there was something that I had never experienced before -- a heat sensitive body scan to make sure you weren’t sick with H1N1 or the like.  We walked by a table with a guy holding a machine that looked like a hand held police radar.  Too bad it didn’t do mammograms!

Our cabin steward, Victor, was so excited because he gets to see his family for the short time we are here in Manila.  We gave him two days off so he could get his work done early, and several other passengers have done likewise.  We develop a special relationship with the stewards/stewardesses as they really get to see us in our natural state.  I try to keep a clean and tidy room, but that’s just me.  I have been in other rooms and I am sad to say, they have a very hard job cleaning up behind some very messy people.  Speaking of messy people…..

My next door neighbor, the arts and crafts instructor and her friend, got kicked off the ship.  Pow, just like that.   She wasn’t due to get off until Rome, two months from now.  The ship sent stewards to help her pack up her belongings.  They gave her a ticket home for the next day and had her spend the night in a hotel.  I don’t know how the companion was treated as we were off the ship when she returned from a tour.  All I know is that Victor was stripping the room first thing this morning.  The companion was a nutcase, demanding this and that and pissing off the passengers.  There had been numerous complaints and problems about them, but the swiftness of the boot was scary.

Life in a tiny fishbowl is magnified.  As we walked down the stairway from the ship to the dock for our tour, one of our bridge ladies was on the pier in a wheelchair.  She had just returned from the hospital after having an agonizing muscle spasm attack.  They gave her rest and drugs.  Yep, I know that routine.  Another bridge lady is a doctor who told me to forget about going to a regular doctor for my foot because they will take an x-ray and say nothing is wrong.  She is a physiatrist, a physical medicine specialist, who gave me some referrals to doctors in Seattle.  She thinks that one of the joints in my foot is wacky since the back surgery because I am probably walking differently.  I could have a pinched nerve or the bones are rubbing or some such thing.  It is incredible what you learn on a ship and more incredible yet are the people you meet.

Using my new handy little notebook, I took so many notes about Manila and the Philippines that I don’t even know where to begin so I am going to try a different way to describe things.  Michael and I were able to get on a tour of Old Manila (he was escort, I was passenger).  I like when we go on tour together because he carries everything.  We visited the following places:

Rizal Park – a beautiful park where the remains of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, lie beneath a monument near the spot where the Spanish executed him.

The old walled city of Intramuros -- a 4.5 kilometer wall with a moat, built to protect the Spanish settlement from the Filipinos and Chinese. The moat was filled in by the American forces during WWII because it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Today, the moat area is now a golf course.

Fort Santiago – Spanish fort started in 1571 and was completed 150 years later; it became a prison and during WWII, POWs were kept here; today it is a park.

San Agustin church – the country’s oldest structure, dating back to 1571. This has never

been destroyed or damaged, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Casa Manila – a reconstructed 19^th century mansion.

Ilustrado’s Restaurant – it was air-conditioned and I even had a beer.

It was a busy afternoon, but before we left, when the tours congregate in the theater to wait our turn to leave the ship and go to our bus, I mentioned to Ginger about my foot.  She said she had some ointment that is good for aches and pains.  With nothing to lose, I said I would try it.  She applied it to my foot because I couldn’t reach the area and goes, “oops, I put a little too much on.  I hope it doesn’t burn.”  No, it was ok.  Well, about the time we got to the church, my foot was on fire.  I had to take off my shoe and try to water it down.  She profusely apologized about the burning sensation and off-handedly remarked that they use it on horses!  Yep, I get it.  I couldn’t stop stomping my foot trying to put the fire out.  Maybe that’s why horses run so fast.  You don’t feel the pain because the fire on your foot is all that you can feel.  Sorry, Ginger, I had to get a few digs in but know that I love you anyway.

The bus dropped us off about a five minute walk to the ship.  My foot was really hurting as I walked back to the ship.  I was soaking wet from sweat and I was sure I stunk.  It was very warm and humid and we did a lot of walking on the tour.  I got the bright idea to take the shuttle to the mall so I could get shoe inserts and new socks to maybe ease the pain in my foot.  But that meant walking to the ship and then walking right back to where the buses were.  We had about an hour to cool off before heading back out with Pepper and Jim.

The shuttle bus ride to the mall took us along the waterfront on Manila Bay.  This is an attractive and active area and esplanade with no beach.  It went on for miles with parks, playgrounds, picnic areas, and plenty of places for tents and celebrations.  At night, it is gaily lite with colorful and interesting shaped light fixtures.  The Mall of Asia was a good 25 minutes from the ship and we saw plenty of the new city while in transit.  We passed the US Embassy, which goes on for blocks and blocks. We passed an amusement park; one of the features was a winter funland experience. 

We were surprised when we arrived at the mall – it was HUGE.  I later found out it is the fourth largest mall in the world (we have been to the Mall of America, Dubai Mall, now Mall of Asia; we are missing the mall in Toronto so we have been to three out of the four largest malls in the world).  Where to start….. this was an indoor mall with air-conditioning and surrounding this was the outdoor but covered mall.  It was extremely clean, with no trash or litter. There was an IMAX theater, a bowling alley, an ice skating rink, a concert stage, a kids museum, and more places to eat in this one area than one could eat at in a year.  Plus, everything was in English (more about that later); it was like being in an American mall except there were some different and interesting stores, and the usual assortment of American mall stores.  There was security at each entrance to the enclosed mall, with a line for females and one for males.  They checked bags and purses for females, and gave a gentle body search around the waist to the men.  At one point in our journey around the mall, there was a marching band!  The Mall of Asia marching band to be precise, just walking around playing their tunes.  It was about a 15 piece band.

The large department store was staffed by young clerks in uniforms who were so polite and friendly it was like being in an altered reality.  There had to be hundreds of them just waiting to help you.  I bought the inserts at a sporting goods store and some socks at the department store.  The flip flop shoe section was the size of a regular shoe store.  Deborah, you would go crazy here.  Almost everyone wears them, even when riding on motorbikes. Prices were a little on the high side but not too unreasonable.

It was time for dinner, but there were so many places to choose from we had a hard time making our selection.  Every American food chain is represented here.  There is a preponderance of fast food restaurants and were told that is because they are cheap and the average person only makes about $10/day.  We decided to eat at Max’s, “the name that put fried chicken on the map.”  KFC is everywhere you go here so we decided to try the local version.  First off, no mashed potatoes – you get either rice or sweet potato fries (they taste very different from what I have had in the US), no cole slaw type of stuff.  The chicken doesn’t come in pieces, it comes whole.  We ordered a family chicken and got one whole chicken chopped into four quarters – leg/thigh/back (2) and breast/wing (2).  It was a very small chicken by our standards.  It was good, but even the chicken tastes different than ours.  We capped off the meals with a DQ Blizzard.

We were dragging fanny so decided to go back to the ship.  After the long five minute walk from the bus to the gangway, I barely had enough energy to get back to our room.  After a quick shower, we changed and went to the National Philippine Dance Company show.  It was a spectacular show with beautiful costumes, with a lot of Spanish style dancing and music.  It was worth the effort to get there and I am glad I didn’t miss it because I running on fumes.

Day two in Manila had us on a Modern City tour, mostly just riding around the city.  The highlight was our stop at the American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery outside of the US, where 70,000 military members from WWII are buried.  The memorial was a moving sight, and the mosaic murals of key battles from WWII and the Asian theater were unbelievable. 

Our departure from Manila has been delayed by at least six hours.  The fuel barge was not able to take on fuel while the tsunami warning was in effect.  So instead of leaving at 6pm with a sail away party and local musicians bidding us adieu from the dock, we get to leave at 1am  which will delay our arrival in Keelong, Taiwan by half a day.  There was really no effect here in Manila from the tsunami as the bay is on the east side of Luzon Island and was not vulnerable.

I have taken copious notes about the history of Manila and the Philippines.  I will make it short.  The Spaniards were here for 300 years, so there is an incredible amount of Spanish influence in everything from language to culture to food.  However, the national language is Tagalog, not Spanish.  English is the primary language for instruction in schools and business so that is why everything is in English here.  Driving around, especially in the new section and in the central business district, you could be in any American city.  The Filipinos have liberally borrowed from other European cultures, and most of the government, infrastructure, education, and housing systems are based on the American model.

Some 7,107 islands make up the country of the Philippines (population 19 million).  Luzon Island is the largest and Manila, with 10 million population, is the capital.  85% of the population is Roman Catholic and the church has an inordinate amount of sway over people and politics.  For example, divorce is not allowed but legal separation and annulment is. 

So much of what defines the Philippines is her military history of war and occupations, especially during the time of the Japanese occupation of 1941-45 and WWII.  Much of Manila was destroyed and many of her people were tortured and killed.  The Philippines was liberated from Japanese occupation in 1945 by General MacArthur.  Fernando Marcos was dictator from 1965 to 1986.  He was overthrown and now they have an American-based democracy.

Here are just a few miscellaneous facts for fun.  The most popular and cheapest mode of public transportation is the jeepney.  That’s right, the jeepney, not the jitney.  The American army left behind their jeeps when the war was over.  Enterprising people bought the jeeps and cobbled together a sort of mini-bus.  They are independently owned and are customized; some are quite striking while others are outrageous.  The jeepney stops and you hop in the back.  They run on diesel and are a big cause of pollution.  While they have specific routes, a visitor would be well advised to steer clear of these because you can’t tell which one goes where. 

The country is named for King Felipe of Spain.  Do you wonder why the Philippines is spelled with a P and the people are called Filipinos?  Philip is the angelized version of Felipe.  The oldest hotel in Asia is the Manila Hotel, where General MacArthur had his headquarters during WWII.   

The traffic is horrible.  Foreigners cannot own land, but can buy condo or invest in businesses.  Imelda Marcos, the shoe lady, was a former Miss Manila.  Schools train nurses here for export to US.  The city is relatively clean; people collect twigs from the parks and make brooms with them and you see them all about the city sweeping sidewalks and parks.  They put pork in the hamburger meat to make the hamburgers sweeter.  A rental car comes with a driver; that is so you won’t steal the car.  The people seldom eat bread; they eat rice even at breakfast.  They carve beautiful furniture out of mango and acacia wood.