As you might have noticed, I’ve been a frequent visitor to Manila. In fact,
every year I spend more and more time in the Philippines. One might think that
there’s not much to speak about anymore. Wrong.
This time I’ve gotten to experience a beautiful holiday called
Paskó (Christmas).
Christmas season starts on September 1 and ends on December 25. Filipinos don’t
take it lightly. Manila changes drastically. All the malls, parks, and other
public spaces get decorated with Christmas lights, lanterns (called paról) and
such.
Why not, right? Although it consumes a lot of electricity, it’s good for
business, and makes ordinary people like me happy. It’s very lively.
Malls know it best and put the most effort. As result, famished for pictures
tourists get attracted.
That said, life doesn’t revolve around Christmas 24/7. Workers gotta work.
The construction is just crazy here. The city is being built every day and
every night. Everyone suffers because of noise, pollution and congestion.
So yeah, most of the time Manila is congested. The roads are full of
cars. Average speed is close to 5 km/h.
This is not always the case, though. There’s one, just one special day in the
calendar when Manila turns into a ghost town (only for half a day). If you
guessed the morning of December 25, you’re right.
Frequently, popular roads, turn into situational markets or places for
beggars. Since the car speed is so low, even a child can knock on your window
and ask for a peso.
While one bunch struggles to survive, some other people live in year 3000. Who
could’ve guessed that you can shop like this?
Churches, though, have been here since forever. But what if old churches were
built according to modern blueprints, they would look something like this
one. This church is on the rooftop of a mall (yes, Philippines likes to shop
religiously).
Speaking of urban planning in other areas, Manila, as you may know, doesn’t have
any bicycle lanes. That’s bad. So they started building them. That’s
good. However, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what they did. A bicycle
lane that goes through… trees and light poles?
This one is really a prominent piece of cursed achitecture. It used to be a
sidewalk, but now it’s a bicycle lane and a sidewalk. If everybody follows the
rules, there’s no room for pedestrians to walk. Luckily, cyclists still prefer
cycling on the road.
Basically, cyclists are not welcome in Manila.
Cars still rule the streets. A casual car of a casual consul from the Russian
embassy. Looks scary because you don’t see what’s inside.
Scooters or motorcycles also have their place. Often times I would pass by this
parked scooter. Every time I would have the same question: “why?!”.
You might think that they’re builing a nice bicycle lane here. No, they’re just
repairing the road because it was damaged due to construction of the highrise
building nearby.
Modern Filipinos communicate a lot through smartphones. It’s not a lucky shot,
where I noticed a group of people not noticing each other. That’s just how life
is in 2018.
Modern life here is also about food and restaurants. The hypewave has also hit
my brain. I’ve got lucky enough to go to the first branch of the famous Rico’s
Lechon in Manila when they just
opened. It’s famous because even the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo
Duterte, likes it (there’s a picture on the wall with Duterte and Rico, the
owner of the restaurant).
As for me, year 2018 in the Philippines was important because I started learning Tagalog (an official language of the Philippines spoken in Manila). While it’s not mandatory to know the Tagalog language if you live here, it certainly smoothens your communication experience. With help of it I’m able to connect with Filipino people on a different level, which can’t be achieved with English only.
So Tagalog lacks the letter “F”. That’s why the word “Filipino” is actually
“Pilipino” in Tagalog. This leads to interesting results that may tickle your
brain.
A lot of people seek happiness and good salary outside Philippines. They’re
called Overseas Filipino workers (OFW), and get treated in a special
way. Filipinos work all over the world (maybe except Ukraine because I haven’t
met a single Filipino there).
“First world country, thirld world people”. This is usually associated with
Singapore but someone meant Philippines this time.
The climate can also be harsh here. Either draught with insane heat, or endless
rainfall. Because of this some light poles have marks on them. They represent
the level of flood on the street. During those rainy days some parts of Manila
can be reached only with help of a good boat.
If runners are crossing, the sign says they should be wearing red sneakers. I’m
wondering, what if the runners wore blue sneakers? The sign looks a bit silly
because it looks like the guy is escaping from someone, rather than training.
A memorial for American and Filipino soldiers who fought in WW2 against Japan.
Makati, which is a part of Metro Manila, has a remarkable street. Nighlife is
flourishing there, but at the same time also smells like armpits, sewers and
roaches. If there are children in the room, please cover their noses before you
start smelling the picture below.
I celebrated New Year’s Eve 2019 on the street. There was a concert with many
Filipino stars. Some of them were so horrible that you had to cover your years
;-)
Yes, I spent New Year’s Eve 2019 in Asia again and entered year 2019 on the
street. Might it be my home now (Philippines, not the street)?
