I'm leaving Manila soon, so I thought I'd record a few of my thoughts so far:

• The zebra crossings are more of a game board for a battle of wills. As a squishy pedestrian, I feel at a disadvantage.

• Manila has the 4-way stop junctions that I saw in America. However, they seem to have an extra rule: If you honk your horn, then you don't need to stop. Everyone seems to apply this rule.

• Drivers play a constant game of chicken. "If I reduce the distance between my car and yours by half, then you are bound to give way to me." The biggest surprise is that there is not more accidents.

• I've realised that part of the noise is my fault. A tourist on foot is obviously in need of a lift or a guide or some kind of help. The taxis who are beeping me are just trying to offer this help. Understanding a little of this - makes it no less bloody irritating!

• I've never seen so many armed guards. I just passed a couple guarding a bakery retail shop!

• The shopping malls seem like oasis' of calm in this otherwise frantic city. However, there is a strange counter effect that the chaos just outside the malls is increased by all the folk trying to get in.

• Of all the places I've been so far, I find Manila the most oppressive, but I've also met several people who love it. This possibly says more about me than it does about Manila.

Yesterday was a good day since I hired a car and driver for the day and got to visit the Taal Volcano. The volcano is located near Tagaytay City and the driver showed me several of the local sights including a partly-built, decaying residence for the ex-President Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, now converted into the People's Park in the Sky, and Tagaytay Picnic Grove. Yesterday was a public holiday (Bonifacio Day) and the park was full of happy families. But the main attraction for me was the trip to the volcano. To get there required a boat trip across the lake, then a horse ride up to the rim. The lake was surprisingly choppy and I've never been on a horse before (clinging on for dear life!), so the journey was fun also. When you reach the crater rim (and escape the hawkers), the place seems very calm. The volcano last erupted in 1965, and inside the crater is very green and lush. Then you notice the fumaroles putting out steam and the sulphurous smell. Then you notice that, at least in a few places, the surface of the crater lake is actually boiling and an evil red colour at the edges. Well worth a visit.

I have to sign off now. My taxis will be here shortly to take me to the airport for my flight to Kalibo and then onwards (somehow) to Jony's Beach Resort on Boracay Island.