The usual tricycle, ferry taxi, public bus and no frills air carrier for us, none of that chauffeured limo with ice cold water and frozen flannels. It must be the rice harvest as the road sides have miles of husks drying in the sun on huge stair carpet type tarpaulins. A religious festival means every village is festooned in bunting while the school kids are all smart in their uniforms, happily chatting to their mates on their mobile 'phones! Third world, really!
The Philippines has a population of 90 million of which the capital, Manila, has 17m. As 90% are devout Roman Catholics this goes some way to explaining the burgeoning population. Manila has been subject to major earthquakes over the years, the last being in 1990, a travel tip; don't stay in a hotel built on reclaimed land, the Hyatt fell down during the last one!
Oil is plentiful which means petrol is 75p per litre, did you know the Chinese invaded the ocean in the north of the country and three destroyers currently guard drilling operations? The Philippines hasn't got a navy so are taking it up with The United Nations, don't hold your breath!
The most iconic, unique sight in Manila are jeepneys. These are a fusion of an airstream, American diner and a hearse! They are the mode of public transport and are unique to the Philippines, in effect they are the front of a jeep and some of them have been pimped up by graffiti etc and at night have internal light shows! The drivers, as with tricycle drivers, have all of their legal tender between the fingers of their left hand divided into 20, 50, and 100 peso denominations.
The language is very difficult to write and makes the most basic sign incredibly long so every ad, sign writing, is in English despite their language deriving from Spanish, the original invaders!
You see karioke bars everywhere, here. They are called KTV. Apparently, one chap singing "My Way" so badly was shot, within a month, four others fell victim to their tone deafness and as a result, the Government have banned that song from all playlists! You can't make this stuff up can you!
We visited the American cemetery, 17200 dog tags have been recovered and their remains marked by a cross. Another19000 are unmarked, missing in action, with their names carved into a massive monument. There were 10 Parsons in total, I wondered if I was shallow taking in this enormity because I'd noticed my namesake.
It is a strange city, in that there are no icons. The names of Marcos and Aquino have dominated politics here for half a century. Imelda, she of 2700 pairs of shoes, is still alive battling the authorities to retain her wealth of $22m while the current President is Aquino who's family have been in power for many years, a sort of republic democracy being preferred to martial law!