City Garden Makati

... a little while but soon decided that we should try and continue on to Green Hills to see if there were better bargains. We jumped in a taxi and a short ride and 50 pesos later we arrived at Green Hills. As I mentioned earlier, I was not feeling at my best at this point but Green Hills turned out to be exactly the type of place that we had hoped for. We spent about an hour browsing and buying clothing and other souvenirs before I ran out of energy and ...

... from beggars, salesmen, pimps and anyone in arms length - but it is great. I just dont like being tied down - like I am right now by the other 3 I am with - I dont have the flexibility I need at the moment - I hope it will change. We got our hostel after being offered umpteen drugs and girls and chilled out. We ate a nice meal of Pizza last night and then I was asleep at 10pm. (I had been up since 3 in the morning!) We played games and stuff in the ...

... Grand Canyon of the Colorado River which really looks that color, then was Lake Mead and Hoover Dam next to Las Vegas. After flying over the Death Valley we crossed the Sierra Nevada which honoring its name were with you know what. Then I saw El Capitan on Yosemite, Napa and Sacramento Valleys , Mount Shasta and almost sure that in the distance the other 2 mountains were Mt Hood and Mt St Helen . The Pacific was entered on Cape Mendocino on ...

... so I was expecting an all day affair at least. After I left for work Russ kept me posted, but before 1pm it was all over. The votes were counted and our new President-elect was Barack Obama. What a turning point. A couple of decades ago, who would have thought a guy with a name like Barack Obama with roots in both the US and Kenya would turn out to be the choice of the people. Of course, there was once a time when no one thought a Catholic ...

... country, and certainly not in rich China. On the bus, I felt sleepy and started to doze off, but before I lose consciousness, the bus stopped at a restaurant and it was time for lunch. The food was sumptuous: steamed fish, fried shrimp and tofu (the spice was just right and it was very crunchy), vegetables (indigenous, as Ms. Chen commented), and the famous tang soup (also called fa-tai), which according to our tour guide, is believed to bring fortune and good luck. Of course I finished ...

... being sold in a freezer already prepared under plastic wrap. We made our way back to the restaurant because Ana's aunt wanted me to try the noodles they are famous for. More food! This was the third meal in 3 hours. But that was ok because I wanted to try it all. We were served noodles with beef in broth and it was really good. As we ate, workers were wrapping the homemade wonton wrappers in paper for sale in the markets. Their wrappers and noodles are ...

... the place into an economic basket case. The economy is a similar size to Bolivia's, but the country looks far poorer and you don't have to go far to see entire families living out on the street. My hotel is in the Ermita district and was recommended by a neighbour, Hartley Parsons, who comes here fairly often. Ermita and the surrounding area is a madhouse mix of shanty houses, tourist hotels, restaurants and go-go-bars as ...

Our flight into Manila was uneventful. We landed at the main terminal and picked up our luggage and then tried to find a taxi into town. The hotel is in Makati, and is owned by a relative of Allan's so we got a good deal. The taxi trip in followed along the Bay and we saw lots of sights including the Mall of Asia, the US embassy and Imelda's Fine Arts Palace. Even more interesting to me were the street vendors ...

... was right where everyone can see you so we left. I suggested we hit a dance club just so I can check out the club life in Metro Manila. James took us to a place called Embassy. I was pretty dressed down with my jeans, halter & slippers with sparkles when I saw girls in high heels and cocktail outfits. Okay, now we're talking. It was almost like being around SoBe peeps. Ate Ching kept saying, "Artista yun. (That's an actor)". It's supposed to be a place where rich ...

... an airplane passed by... enough with the day dreaming, passed an hour later... we arrived at the NAIA(ninoy aquino international airport), while waiting for the plane to dock on the designated terminal my eyes was locked out of the window looking at those blinking lights red and white and yellow and others. that was my first flight, not so especial but i will always remember that flight. after we get off the terminal we rode a taxi taking us ...