Her Trip - Subic, Zambales, Manila (Part 3)

Me and my ambitious self drove the 100-kilometer stretch back to civilization. The drive was a boring one. Highway after highway of empty roads, anyone could've easily fallen asleep on the wheel. But lucky me, I had someone keeping me company. Until finally, we reached the final leg of the trip. The busy district of Manila.

Driving on the expressway was a bore. Driving in Manila however, suicide. We come from not-so-busy cities. Cities where driving is almost equivalent to unwinding. I sometimes drive around town alone to de-stress, or run errands to relax. In Manila however, driving in itself is a chore. Vehicles go by so fast, changing lanes is a nightmare. And then there's this thing with him reading the expressway signs. He reads them out loud. Upon hearing them, I switch lanes. But, no, that wasn't a cue to shift. I had to get off. A few more kilometers, and I was sure we would've ended up yelling at each other.

I've been to Manila countless times (for work mostly), yet I still don't know my way around. My better half, though, knows the place by heart. "This was where ..", "Here is .." and on he goes. And I, coyly smile in adoration.

We (I'm assuming him too) don't enjoy wandering aimlessly, so we made plans.







First up, was Carlos Celdran's If These Wall Could Talk! It is a 3-hour tour around Intramuros, the walled city of Manila. Around 40 people joined the tour that afternoon. The audience was a mix of Canadians, Chinese, Europeans, Americans and Filipinos. I won't go too much into the details lest I spoil the experience. All I can say is that for me, the tour stayed true to Celdran's tag line, "A man who is trying to change the way you look at Manila - one step at a time". I had a much different insight on Philippine History after that. The tour for me wasn't comical nor funny, it was just interesting to say the least. Made me want to dig up my old history books after.

Next, was Chinatown in Binondo. Having returned our rented vehicle, we had to face the cruel Manila traffic and commute. That meant 2 MRT rides, plus the jeepney. It all seemed daunting until it's over. And I can say that it wasn't at all so bad. The company must've made it easier to bear.

Upon reaching Binondo, we scouted the streets of Ongpin looking for the famous Chinese doctor. Apparently, he detects diseases just by feeling people's pulses. And medicines are herbal tablets or tea concoctions. We found him and true enough, he diagnosed a variety of disorders. We had our share of medicines, and we have yet to return to him.

Shocked and at the same time relieved, that what we had wasn't so bad, we headed off to lunch, bought some Chinese treats, and hurriedly headed back.

There were some change of plans as we decided to fly back a day earlier. But it was all good. We had done all that we had planned to do.

Winter in Hong Kong in 2 months! That I am excited about.