Now that you have seen some pictures of The Mabuhay Manor it is time to see some more of Manila. I really did not go too many places here as I only stayed 1 day but my first destination was The Mall of Asia. It is a HUGE mall off Roxas Boulevard. In the picture above and the collage of pictures below you can see some pictures of Manila from inside a cab as we rode there. The fare for the cab ride was about a dollar but that is because we found a cab that would charge by the meter with tips. A lot of times when a cab driver sees a foreigner they think that they can charge you a flat fee to go from one place to another and that fee is most likely MUCH more than you would pay if you had a local person demand that you be charged by the meter with a tip. The expected fee from The Mabuhay Manor to The Mall of Asia is about 60 pesos. I have had fees as low as 40 but it all depends on the traffic. Anyhow the pictures below show different pics taken from the cab as we went to the mall. I am including them so you can see the little details of the city. The picture quality is not that good but it suits its purpose.

Picture of a street in Manila as viewed from a cab

This picture was taken from inside a cab as we were driven to the Mall of Asia. The quality is not that good as there is a lot of glare from scratches on the glass and there are not that many things worth noting. One thing worth mentioning though is the two tanks on top of a stand above the buildings at the top of the picture. They are basically head tanks for the water supply for the house/building. They are definately more prevailant in the provinces however you see them even in Manila. This is how they work. Even in a nice neighborhood such as the multinational village in Manila, water is only supplied to the houses in the neighborhood approximately 3 days a week for only a couple of hours. Because of the constant pressurizing and depressurizing of the water it is only drinkable by the locals. The water lines to the houses are only about a 1 inch diameter pipe. What they do is when the water is turned on (in the multinational village it is turned on a couple streets at a time) it flows under very low pressure to a small well pump. This pump then pumps the water into tanks on stands like what is shown above. This then provides running water to the house for things such as the kitchen sink, bathrooms, shower etc. From my experiences in the philiipines most places do not have running water, even supplied by head tanks, and those that do very few have hot water. Those that have hot water use what I call spot heating. For instance in the show there would be a little inline water heater that would heat the water as it flowed through it. It really is not big deal not to have hot water in The Philippines since it is so hot, a cold water shower actually feels good and refreshing!

 

 

Here is a picture taken from inside the cab looking forward. Again not many thing worth mentioning. Notice though this guys CD player...basically a computer CD player set into the dash using the aux out connector to plug into the radio.

Again just another picture taken from the cab. Nothing special here.

Picture of a Jeepney in Manila

This picture, believe it or not shows something totally unique to The Philippines - the jeepney. I suspect their origins date back to World War II but they are basically stretched and tricked out Jeeps. I would have to say they they are the common persons bus system. If you have never rode in one you are missing out on some fun. People drive so crazy in The Philippines that it feels like you are on an amusement park ride. The average American would say that they could hold 8-10 people but I have personally seen upwards of 30 people crammed into one! They are very inexpensive to ride..around 7-10 pesos so 14-20 cents and dont ask me how they know how much they are...I have never seen fares posted anywhere. Also they do drive specific routes and it is beyond me to tell what route each one is on. Sometimes they have city/area names painted on the side but that doesnt mean that is the route it drives. Best have a local take you on one hehe its worth it! And they are EVERYWHERE! Some of them are all tricked out with like 20 horns that play musical tunes when they honk em. Usually they are all covered in chrome, has religious type names, and references to the Catholic religion all over em.

 

They definately did not do much planning when they build the roads as there are cement barricades all over the place directing traffic and making U-turn spots. Also see they do have normal buses in The Philippines...the one shown above is probably a tourist bus or one that operates like Greyhound in the U.S.

 

Another picture of the streets of Manila showing a motorcycle dealer.

 

More cement barricades!

 

Billboard sign.

 

Another jeepney.

 

There are lots of palm trees in The Philippines!

 

This picture actually has a couple things to talk about. First is the red sign in the center of the picture. That is a fast food restaurant called Jollibee. Right next to it is a KFC. In The Philippines I have also seen MacDonald's and Kenny Rogers Roasters, Sbarro, and Pizza Hut. I think The Philippines is either the only or one of a very few countries where MacDonald's has not taken over as the most popular fast food restaurant. In The Philippines that honor goes to Jollibee. Once you are inside the restaurant you would swear you are in MacDonald's. It looks EXACTLY like one. Kinda like that fake restaurant depicted in the movie Coming to America. They even practically serve the exact same things. Now when you talk about MacDonald's to an American you picture getting a burger. While you can get hamburgers, cheese burgers, Big Mac's, and quarter pounders in a MacDonald's in The Philippines from what I can tell that is by far not what most people order there. The most popular items seem to be fried chicken with rice and spaghetti. Seems totally foreign to me but that is what they like!

 

Clontinue on to see pictures from The Mall of Asia.