Part 84: Dampa...
When I arrived back in Manila fresh from my Thailand adventure, it was heading into peak summer time here, and a whole lot hotter than it was before I left.
The humidity was suffocating at times, and the streets were just as vibrant and congested as they always were; plus It was great to see my friends again.
Some people would consider me crazy, but I loved the hustle and bustle of Manila. There is nowhere quite like it in my view. In fact everywhere you look in this hectic place its full of life, full of character, and flamboyance - especially in down town Makati. This was a photographers dream, because some of the run down areas are full of the most smiles that lend them selves to some fantastic street life captures.
Despite the almost hourly gridlock traffic, it seems to inch along and hums with the day to day lives of everyday busy people.
I enjoyed wandering around these areas to explore - there were always interesting things to see, plus there is always great street art and graffiti on view which I especially liked.
Another one of the interesting things about the Philippines are the historic Latin style buildings still left over from the Spanish period of colonisation, in particular the many beautiful old churches that are scattered across the city. Also with it being such a deeply religious country it was pretty obvious it was approaching easter Holy Week - a national holiday all over the Philippines and the build up to the Good Friday processions were evident. The whole city grinds to a halt and traffic literally stops whilst hundreds of Christian devotees flock to the streets to witness the parade. Other people who participate in the event bring their own replicas of the Black Nazarene statue of Jesus mounted in carriages and floats full of flowers. The huge procession slowly winds through the narrow streets and main roads lined with literally thousands of parishioners to join the whole Philippine nation in observing Good Friday. Many people even depict the last hours of Jesus by meditating on his sufferings, even re-enacting the penance of Christ by going as far as crucifying themselves on the cross!
Masses are also held in churches before 3pm since this symbolises the time that Jesus died - once the clock strikes 3pm people observe this moment in silence.
I also learned that hundreds of years ago the Philippines used to be a pagan country, in which people believed in spirits. When the Spanish came during the 15th century, many Filipinos were converted to Christianity. The Spaniards made a show of having processions and mass celebrations to entice Filipinos to embrace Christianity. This marked the origins of the Good Friday observance in the Philippines.
I walked to the nearby cathedral in Makati where the precession began, it was so colourful and you could barely move there were so many people.
Just behind the slow moving heavy floats were small children pedalling generators that where powering the multi coloured bright lamps all around the statues; it was quite a site to behold. Scores of other people queued up at several street food vendors on the kerb, while others observed the mass that was taking place right on the streets, blessing the precession whilst it passed, then fathers held their children aloft so they could get closer to Jesus.
I mingled for a while taking in all the atmosphere, walking slowly along side to witness people's reactions, that appeared to be more solemn than celebratory moods, before I eventually made my way back to the hostel. Outside it continued for quite a few hours more and some backpackers seemed more interested in Facebook than what was going on; still it was their loss.
Another of the things my Filipino friends insisted I did, was visit the famous Dampa seafood market. They said that I had to go if I was as much of seafood lover as I bragged about.
So when I eventually got round to going it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.
Dampa is basically a wet market full of all types of fresh and living fish, lobster, mussel's, squid, and all other weird and wonderful sea life close to Moa bay.
The stalls at the market are piled high with an abundance of goodness, so fresh it's still flipping - it was loud energetic and nearly all the vendors are ladyboys. Soon as they got a glimpse of me being the only westerner around, I was mobbed! One pulled my arm, whilst another was trying to pull me the other direction in a tug of war. I was laughing, but couldn't really break free.
They were flirting and pushy, paying me all sorts of compliments, doing almost all they could to persuade me to buy fish from their stalls. Some grabbed handfuls of live shrimp and fish, holding it to my face. 'Hey, hollywood sexy man' one called whilst, blowing kisses. 'You like red snapper?' she asked!
Soon as I got passed one lot, I was hit by another wave of even pushier vendors - there was no escape! Now what made this place different was that it had an impressive amount of restaurants set up right opposite. The normal procedure as I appropriately discovered, is to first choose one of these restaurants - a waiter will then escort you to the market, you will then purchase various kilograms of your fresh seafood, and then carry the bags back to the restaurant who in turn will cook it for you in any number of ways that you may desire.
What style, method, or flavour of cooking is entirely up to you.
So once I decided which of the vendors to purchase from, we took half a kilo of living shrimp and a giant fresh squid back to one of the restaurants and asked the chef to cook them any way he wanted. The waiter returned 15 mins later with a huge platter of garlic butter steamed shrimp and battered squid. Honestly, without any word of exaggeration, this was the best seafood I have ever tasted in my life - it was exquisite! Even better than the seafood I tasted in Tai O fishing village Hong Kong.
With unlimited fresh sauces, salad and rice to accompany it too, made this an absolute feast! My friends were right in recommending this place, and now I can see exactly why they insisted.
Back at the hostel we had a large Japanese contingent check in who were part of an entourage of a professional boxer. He was due to fight a Filipino challenger in Paranaque city in the Olivarez stadium close to where I lived last year.
After getting into a conversation with them, they invited me along to the fight, ring side in a few days. Now with me being such a boxing fan, this was going to be an invitation that I wouldn't miss.
It was a Super-bantam weight WBC title fight between the Japanese champion - Kenichi 'the machine gun' Kamaguchi; vs the challenger from the Philppines - Argie 'bomba' Toquero.
To be right amongst all the action ring side was a fantastic experience and when it got underway, the fight was explosive as well as being evenly contested.
The Filipino challenger who put in ferocious challenge, cheered on by a vociferous local crowd edged it by TKO in the 10th round.
And what made this an even better experience was that he was trained by none other than Manny Pacquiao's team, who let me have a ringside photo with new Filipino champion, even letting me hold the belt. Not sure what my Japanese friends would have thought but I did get caught up in the moment.
Later on at the hostel they were all there with the losing fighter drowning their sorrows. All of them apologised to me for losing which of course wasn't necessary; but we did enjoy a few Filipino rums together. I'd not even been back in the Philippines a week but it had already been full of great new experiences for me.
Just when you think you have seen all there is to offer here, I discover more of its charms.
Sometimes I find it frustrating to hear the negativity but my advice is to experience the chaotic ride that is Manila for yourself and make up your own mind, it’s more than worth all the effort...