Manila
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2008
1
9
Trip End
Apr 08, 2008
Manila,
Philippines
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Manilasta tulee taman blogin tarinat sensuroimattomana.
Jakartan lentokentalle saavuttiin kuus tuntia etuajassa ihan varmuuden vuoks. Kuitenkin check-in:ssa meilta vaadittiin nahtavaks lentoliput pois Filippiineilta. Eihan me tietty oltu sellaseen varauduttu ja LP:kaan ei maininnu asiasta, ainakaan et oltais huomattu. Raffi vaahtos jonkun aikaa siina paikallisille tyontekijoille ja sit piti lahtee ettimaan nettia et voidaan printtaa meian paluulentoliput Peking-Helsinki. Hmm.. tiukille meni ja hermoja kiristi, ainoo nettikahvila oli just menny kiinni, puhumattakaan muista kojuista ja apua ei kovin helposti herunu. Loppujen lopuks yks paikallinen tyontekija paasti meiat sen toimistoon printtaamaan liput, eika ees ottanu meian tarjoomaa isoa tippia! Paastiin lopulta koneeseen yhden aikaan yolla, lento oli vahan viela myohassakin. Cebu Pacific vei meiat neljassa tunnissa Manila cityyn. Lentomatka oli ahhhhdistava, uni ei tullu millaan niis epamukavissa penkeissa ja vasy oli norsuakin isompi
Intramuros buildings
. Aamukuuden aikaan saavuttiin Manilan lentokentalle ja paatettiin ottaa aikalisa ja menna yheks yoks lentokenttahotelliin nukkumaan univelta pois. Manila Hotel oli lahin ja sielta saatiin kiva huone hurjaan hintaan budjettimatkalaisille. (3600pesoa, 1euro on 65pesoa) Niin ja kukaan ei ikina ees kysyny meilta lentolippuja Filippiinien tullissa... Huone oli kiva ja kelpas nukkumiseen paremmin kun hyvin. Sita ennen kaytiin viela alakerran ravintolassa aamupalalla. Ravintolassa olikin taysmeno paalla aamukasilta kun joukko paikallisia joi San Miguelia ja laulo karaokea!! Ilmeisesti kyseessa jonkun urheilukaupan tyontekijoita kun tyopaidat oli viela paalla, ehka kesajuhlien jatkot?? ;)
Kana-maissikeitto sai kelvata ja nuijanukutus.
Seuraavana aamuna otettiin taksi Manilan keskustaan, Ermita-kaupunginosaan. Lonely Planetin suosittelema Stone House oli meian valinta ja osottautu kivaks paikaks, tosin vahan kalliimmaks kun oltiin ajateltu. (1300pesoa yo) Mutta se oli hyvalla paikalla ja huone oli tosi siisti. Ekana paivana kaveltiin Rizal puistoon joka on kivenheiton paassa meian hotellilta, koska oli viikonloppu puisto oli ihan taynna paikallisia. Oli kiva vahan hengailla ja katella mita muut puuhastelee. Siel oli mm.karate tunteja, thai boxing treenaajia yms.
Myohemmin niitten viiden paivan aikana nahtiin Intramuros(muuri), Fort Santiago ja San Agustin-kirkko. Paljon espanjalaisvaikutteita rakennuksissa erityisesti Intramuroksen sisalla. Ja Fort Santiago puisto oli hieno palmuineen ja suihkulahteineen.
Aasian suurin kauppakeskus loytyy Manilasta. Mutta me vietettiin enemman aikaa Robinson's Mall:lla, joka oli ihan Stone Housen vieressa
San Agustin Church, Intramuros
. Koska se oli jo niin iso me paatettiin et meille riittaa naha vaan se koska ei kuitenkaan pystyta shoppailemaan. :((((Manila, noh se ei vaan ollu meian kuppi teeta niinkun englanniks sanottais. Taalla naky ehka parhaiten koyhien ja rikkaitten ero mita ollaan missaan muussa kaupungissa Aasiassa nahty. Ermitassa jopa kokonaisia perheita nukku kadulla ja ihan vaahtosammuttimen kokoset muksut vaan vaelteli kaduilla keskenaan. Kerran jopa luultiin et joku nainen oli kuollu kun se ei reagoinu sen muksujen tonimiseen.. Sit taas vieressa on sellanen luksus mall mista loytyy kaikki mahdolliset jenkkien pikaruokalat. Eika se oo siis se etta nahaan koyhia ja halutaan poistaa ne mielesta vaan muutenkin Manila tuntu vaan liian aanekkaalta ja tayteen pakatulta.
Ja huh miten isoja kivaareita ja aseita poliisit kantaa mukanaan. En haluis hankaluuksiin niitten kaa ;)
Raffi kavas viela vikana iltana pelaamassa pokeria siina naapurirakennuksessa ja ma katoin hotellissa Prison Breakin kolmannen tuotantokauden vikan jakson...kaaaak, se jatkuu viela!!!
Ja nyt ma tiedan miks mun Filipina kolleega Nokialla laulo niin paljon! Filippiinit on niin kova-aanisia ja kaikki tykkaa laulaa! hahaha.. Terkut Bonda ;)
Neljan yon jalkeen jatkettiin matkaa Tagaytay:n.
Siita lisaa seuraavassa.
Nora
ENGLISH:
Mabuhay!
More Spanish influenced buildings
!Greetz from Manila this time. We arrived in Jakarta airport, Indonesia, six hours in advance just in case. However, after all the waiting and finally in the process of check-in the staff required a return ticket from the Philippines. Or ticket showing we will leave the Philippines at some point coz they will ask it in the customs. We weren't prepared to this situation at all, either we had missed the whole part in LP book or it simply wasnt there. Raffi showed his bad mood at the counter, going on about the situation but we had to move our asses and find a printer before it was too late. We didnt have return tickets from the Philippines but we had our e-ticket Beijing-Helsinki in our emails. Naturally at that hour all the shops and the only internet cafe were closed and not many helpful locals around. Finally we found one helpful guy who took us to his office to print out the tickets (i think off the limits area for passengers, dont know..) and he didnt even take our generous tip which we offered for the great help.
We finally proceeded in the plane around one at night, the flight was delayed too. Cebu Pacific took us to Manila in four hours but goosh, it was exhausting. I couldn't really sleep at all in the plane, too uncomfortable seats and still I was dead tired. At six in the morning we arrived in Manila and it was time-out for us. We went to first hotel in the airport area and checked-in for one night. Manila Hotel was okay even though the prices were expensive for budget travellers like us. (3600pesos, 1euro=65pesos) The room was nice though. Before turning in we went for breakfast downstairs, the resto was rocking at eight in the morning. Group of locals were having San Miguels and singing karaoke there! Apparently working for a sports store (had their works shirts on) and had after party or something. ;)
Corn-chicken soup did us well and zzzzz it was
San Agustin
. The very next morning we took a taxi to centre, to part of town called Ermita to be exact. LP recommended Stone House Hotel and there we went. It was very nice place with good location even though our room happened to a bit more than were expecting to pay. (1300ps)
The first day we wandered to Rizal Park, just stone's throw away. It was fun to see so many locals there, weekend as it was and just chill out a bit.
Later during those five days we saw Intramuros (the wall surrounding small town), Fort Santiago and San Agustin church. Lot of Spanish influenced buildings inside Intramuros and the Fort Santiago Park was very nice to stroll in.
And you know, the biggest mall in Asia is in Manila. Although for us the Robinson's Mall in Ermita was enough, it was already huge! And we cannot do any shopping anyways. :(
Manila, well it wasn't our cup of tea.. I think here, especially in Ermita, you can see the gap between poor and rich more clearly than in any of the cities we've been in Asia. There were whole families sleeping on the streets over a cardboard and tiny kids wandering streets alone, begging. We even once thought there was one dead woman since she did not react to her toddler's shakes. And then again, they sleep just next to a huge mall where there are people dining and wining at the fast-food chains and buying nice clothes. It's not about the poor though, there just wasnt anything that interested us very much and we missed fresh air and a bit of silence.
After four nights we took a bus to Tagaytay.
Nora
