Part 6: Local transport time....*
As the coming days passed I was becoming more and more used to the chaos, there even seemed to be an orderly sense to it, and started accustoming to the Filipino way of life, noticing several characteristics in the people; namely the politeness. I was greeted warmly by most locals and they often called me sir. The infectious Filipino smile was second nature to me now. I was also starting to build up a friendly rapport with the security guards - mock saluting them as I passed.
Slowly building up more of a confidence in my surroundings I started to venture further afield to explore the area, suddenly it seemed far less intimidating than when I first arrived.
The area close to me was quite run down and poor, but venture slightly further away from the centre and you would experience Filipino children playing in the streets, 2 and 3 generations of families sitting outside conversing.
Cobbled together basketball courts with teenagers gathering round watching locals play, even inviting passers by to join them.
There where street traders selling peanuts and Balut, a local delicacy which was a duck egg with the foetus still inside. Local women bizarrely walking around with umbrellas to shield them from the intense sunlight.
There was very obvious contrast of wealth and poverty with not much in-between, with fishing shanty towns, modest villages, corrugated Iron huts, homes and huge rubbish piles less than 5 minutes walk from my condo block.
A nearby bridge was a makeshift home for dozens of people sleeping on the pavements underneath.
There was no real noticeable outcrying of sympathy but a contentedness by the people, who seemed happy with what they had, however little - that was my impression anyway. They smiled and went about their day to day life's all the same. True there were some beggars, but these operated closer to the malls.
In the shopping areas the customer service was as good as I have seen anywhere. Outrageous amounts of shopping assistants on hand to help on every single corner. I'm am not kidding when I say there was literally 10 assistants to everyone 1 back home.
'Hey sir...hey maam' in a hybrid American tagalog accent, or 'Tag-Am' and they greeted everyone.
Macdonalds, Pizza hut and other restaurants had armed guards outside.
These where everywhere and they must have been there for good reason.
There seemed to be so many people in employment everywhere I looked.
And then it hit me that they would have had to be on a really low wage - an average of just 6500 net pesos a month, around £100. And thats after working a long 6 day week!!
Manila Bay's famous sunsets and sky's are incredible, I have never seen anything quite like it really. With an orange glow before your very eyes, the sunset here is almost a natural phenomenon. Dramatic clouds and congested landscapes further enhance the views and I could not stop taking pictures.
Some people really hate Manila, others cannot get enough of it, but the city is a constant assault on your senses, in a good and sometimes bad way. A non stop energetic mix of colour and character the likes of which I have never seen - you will either love it or hate it, but trust me you simply cannot ignore this insanely hectic city of twenty two million daytime inhabitants, of a capital is so vast that locals call it a region, Metro Manila actually includes four cities and around 13 municipalities.
More than half the population is really poor, a third are squatters, a large portion live in substandard basic homes, and half have no direct access to running water! Unbelievably depressing statistics but the vibrant, alluring atmosphere of Manila is what attracts tourists. This unique city never sleeps. It’s constantly moving, always lively, shimmering like those sunsets which paint the sky orange and red. I promised myself, and all my friends here that I would do my best to advocate this unique city in a positive light to any other tourists and backpackers. It wouldn't be easy because this place gets enough bad press so I decided that from now on I'd do my utmost to change that view as best I could.
I wanted to experience the local transport so I flagged down a side car trike - firstly a pedal one.
It was an eye opener, as an elderly chap with leg muscles like Usain Bolt pedalled me around for about 20mins - it cost literally 5p!!!
Then next it was time for a motorbike trike. I squeezed into the side car, barely managing to fit in, but the bumpy journey was a white knuckle experience, as he drove me around the village at breakneck speed!
I loved it, even though I almost fell out a few times.
Saving the best till last, It was time to ride the brightly coloured, and very cool looking 1950's retro public utility jeeps.
No doors, no windows, no seat-belts and no safety - jam packed with people.
The one I got in was blaring out cheesy 80's music from badly distorted speakers but the driver was happily singing and multi tasking, taking fares and skilfully manoeuvring through the traffic, constantly picking people up and dropping them off.
I watched as the people passed their bus fares along the jeep to the next passenger, to the driver, and then he passed the change in coins back down again in a 'pass the parcel' style chain.
'Payad po' or 'pay' they'd say to the nearest passenger to the bus driver, handing them the money.
Jeepneys or public transport utility jeeps, are by far the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They are well known for their crowded seating, and flamboyant colourful decorations, you certainly cannot miss them - I don't think no 2 jeepney's look alike.
They have become synonymous and famous part of Filipino culture and were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II. There were nearly a million in Manila alone.
So literally 30/40 mins of journeys using 3 very different, but equally thrilling local transports cost me less than 50p
After that It was time to try some real Filipino food. 'Pancit Malabon' was a delicious thick udon style noodle dish with egg, seafood, pork rinds and vegetables. Kind of like a paella with noodles instead of rice.
I sampled Halo Halo - a sweet milky crushed ice and coconut desert.
Kangkong a crunchy green stork vegetable grown in the canals with garlic coconut milk and chilli.
The staple dish of the delightfully sweet and tart Chicken Adobo with rice, which absolutely everyone loves here, even though no 2 recipes taste the same.
And my favourite, Kare Kare.
This was a fresh local grilled filipino fish with a sweet peanut sauce, and banana plant heart.
Next it was time to try and cash my travellers cheques.
What a nightmare this was proving to be, and my advice to anyone travelling to the Philippines is avoid them like the plague. Even the American express branch would not cash them!!
It was a journey that would span several towns, banks and hotels that would eventually lead us to a city suburb called Ermita.
I felt really uncomfortable there and with my documents, passport and wad of travellers cheques on me, it only further added to the anxiety I was already feeling. There seemed to be an intensity in the atmosphere and it wasn't my favourite areas so far.
I wanted to find the only currency exchange that would accept Uk sterling travellers cheques.
Luckily it was only a short walk from where the cab dropped me off.
Unsurprisingly they offered me a really poor exchange rate, but I didn't care.
I cashed the cheques and tried looking for a cab out of there as quickly as possible, which really proved difficult.
So I had to walk for quite some distance through the suburbs to flag one down - thankfully after a few attempts, I got lucky.
The driver sensed my relief and took me back to Makati the business district.
Alfred our fitness coach had organised a night time group mountain trek for the coming weekend - I couldn't wait.
Next stop, Mount Batulao....