Makati City, Philippines

[zippyt]

Verry cool Slang !!!

[slang]

Thank you Zippy.

The collection of the CP is so large and shows so much of the ground floor that it's ridiculous to post any more.

It's a fantastic place to visit. If you have the opportunity, do spend the P100 and go to visit.

Now for the next amazingly almost interesting item on the list of places we've been lately.

This is the Manila floating hotel and restaurant.

It's not in it's best condition here now but take a look and the history here.

By the time these pics were taken the troops were grumbling about walking around all day and we did not actually board the ship ( this time )

It's certainly something different to see and is a large ship by stds of the 50s when it was built.

[slang]

We did not stay long enough to enjoy the lights after dark at the ship and the Manila Hotel.

It seems like a safe place for tourists as the hotel is very big and established but also with a full time police station adjacent to it.

That could be a good sign or a bad one. Sometime I'll go down there and stroll around after dark.

[Sundae]

Just been catching up on this thread - keep them coming Slang, fantastic details.

[slang]

Thank you SG. These are just the sort of mildly interesting things that I'd like to read from someone's trip.

There were no special trips planned today, no one visiting and no one to go visit. Sort of a boring day.

I woke and got up at around 11 am today. That's when I effing felt like getting around after reading late into the night.

All meals are prepared by my MIL at their house which is just a few doors down. We all like to eat together and it's my MIL's purpose in life to provide good foods and clean clothes for all of us.

That's not sarcasm, that's just the way it is here. Her role here is respectable caring for all of us.

We left the apt to go for breakfast as we often do at this time.

The neighbor across the street is working her way slowly from her front gate into the back of a very pinoy looking Jeepny. She's a very old woman and a slow mover.

Her son is holding her arm to steady her. She's teary and her voice breaks up as she tells me...

Theese my son home from Amerika.

The son, John, an electrical engineer working in the San Fransisco area.

My eyes adjust to the bright sun after crawling out of our cave and I shake his hand.

"Do you drink beer" I asked.

He shook his head no. "How about Pepsi?" He smiled as to say yes and we agreed to get together to chat in the coming weeks.

He'll be around for 3 weeks.

Before moving on to the house for breakfast, I looked in the Jeepny. There was a small boy in the back looking very uneasy.

It was John's son, 3 years old. This was his first visit to "the old country" and I could just read his mind.

"I don't like this vehicle, it's very hot here, this is not home, I don't know all these people, it smells bad here"

We both commented on the boy's expressions and then went on to breakfast.

[slang]

After breakfast and an unusually hard rain, complete with lightning we take a trip.

It's just about 4 pm and I'm looking for a cheap distraction for the next few hours.

We are very close to some nice places here but we always go there and I'd like to explore a bit today.

The MRT is cheap and runs through some territory that we don't normally visit, why not take a little trip for a few hours?

Off we go. Tricycle to a Jeepny, Jeepny to the MRT station.

The goal in my mind is to ride the MRT to the outter reaches of the line or lines.

Today that means MRT down to Taft Ave then to catch the LRT and all the way up to Monumento.

Here is a quick link for the MRT

I'm a big fan of all of the public rail system here. It's cheap, air conditioned and the tracks are above the street level much of the time so I can look out the windows in amazement at those strange things that are out there.

Today we enter at Guadalupe.

The train rolls to a stop and the doors open. A uniformed man works his way out of the railcar with an M16 with a tac-sling. It's a very dark green but not black uniform.

Right hand over the reciever, left hand over the muzzle he wiggles through a gang of people boarding the railcar, trying not to push the weapon into anyone.

He breaks free from the crowd and disappears in seconds.

"I wonder how effective someone with an M16 could possibly be in such a crowded situation" I say to my wife.

Then after thinking a moment agree in my mind that it's probably a deterrant by showing force.

It's surely a strange thing for me to see. I'm not fearful of these soldiers and SWAT people, it just seems very unusual.

[slang]

Nowdays the whole city is more familiar to me and it's getting very comfortable to go to all sorts of places in Manila.

We switch to the LRT for a ride up the coast. The tickets cost about $.40 each one way to the last stop on the line.

The LRT is older than the MRT. It's the original public rail system here and the roughness of the ride is a big difference from the MRT.

As you look forward into the next car, you see ( and feel ) the cars moving back and forth. It's as if the tracks are bent but that seems improbable.

Looking out the window the older parts of the city are passing by. The old Spanish style buildings are much more common here and the churches are bigger.

This trip I see what turns out to be the old Chinese cemetery. It's so old and run down that it's only after seeing the sign and the gates that I recognize it.

Eventually we arrive at Monumento. To me it appears as run down and dark as many other parts of the city. Lots of lights, cars, jeepnys and people moving in something less than a smooth orderly way.

To my wife it's not a pleasant place to visit, so we head back soon after arriving.

It's surely been worth the forty cents to look out the window at the older portion of the city. My wife doesnt share my opinion on that though.

Once back at Guadalupe everythings fine again.

[slang]

This is just a little something that I noticed while reviewing a series of photos taken recently.

It's a good idea here to read the signs. The systems of warnings and notices are not nearly what they are many other places in the world.

Take a look at how the hose is just sorta flopped on the truck too.

Maybe it's not acid, maybe it is. It's strange in my mind.

[Sundae]

It has been far too long since I had a Yummy Yes Delight

[slang]

We covered some distance today. We rode the jeepnys, we walked the uneven sidewalks, we took the pictures.

We came home exhausted as usual.

Is it that fact that I'm out of shape that fatigues me so quickly nowdays or does the pollution and the dreary overcast skies drain me?

Probably both.

This is a group shot of some of the Pulis Oyster people on Burgos ave in Manila.

They are all over the city and one cannot avoid seeing them.

I thought that this program was some kind of punishment from the pulis but that's not tha case as I find out now.

It's a public service. One very much needed with very little appreciation.

Thank you to this group of Pulis Oysters as well as the countless others that are sweeping and picking up trash. A very humble yet pleasant group of pinoys.

[slang]

Getting close to dinner time in metro Manila.

[slang]

The destination for the day was the Philippine National Museum, which is directly across the street from the City Hall here.

[slang]

The unique feature of the city hall building is the clocktower which I didnt get a picture of.

Imagine that, a lost opportunity.

There is a website in progress here.

There is a new mayor in town and in a TV clip he says to the citizens of Manila....

Cooperate or evaporate.

That is in reference to the new plans for Manila.

[Undertoad]

Every little thing is interesting. For example, it's all in English. Is there anything - a sign, a menu, anything - you've posted, that's not in English?

[slang]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Every little thing is interesting. For example, it's all in English. Is there anything - a sign, a menu, anything - you've posted, that's not in English?

Most everything here is in English. There are exceptions though.

Take a look at frame 529 of the plaques for city hall. Two of the three are in Tagalog.

I'll make a note to try to get more tagalog signs. Many times I already look for them so they can be translated.

Think about it though, the descriptions in the National Museum, all English.

Street signs, directions... What isn't in English? I'll try to find some more examples of Tagalog.