Befuddled in the Philippines
Cebu, Philippines
Kamuning House Room 201
Befuddled in the Philippines
I arrived in the Philippines, in Manila, four days ago. I spent three days in Manila.
I bought a ticket to Cebu and flew here last night. Yesterday I was really stumped. Where should I go in the Philippines? The place is very big and to get anywhere seems to take a combination of road, boat, and airplane.
Cebu is supposed to be very nice. The beaches near Cebu are supposed to be powdery white sand beaches and nicer than those near Manila in the north. So I flew here and I'm going to head out to a beach on the island of Cebu or a neighboring island.
Boracay is a big tourist destination and is supposed to be beautiful. After I bought my ticket to Cebu, I realized that Boracay is not that close, and if I wanted to go there I should have bought a ticket directly there.
I arrived late last night and took a taxi to five hotels before I found a room. Finally I found a place at the Kamuning House. It seems to be very quiet and the room is clean and it has a fresh coat of paint.
Manila is a very, very large city. Many foreigners stay in Malate, which is a large section of the city. Part of it is the old city, and part of it is very new. I stayed in the old city in an area called Malini. I stayed at the Stone House Guesthouse, which was also clean. I visited an area called Greenbelt, which is a large complex of high-end shopping malls. As a Philippine couple told me in a Thai restaurant, that is the other side of Philippine society, where well-to-do Philippines and foreigners and Filipinos converse at swanky cocktail lounges.
I finally concluded that I was befuddled because I don't have near enough time to see the Philippines. I had scheduled my return ticket to Bangkok for one week from my arrival. I can probably change the ticket to leave later, which I will do so that I can actually see something here.
I also confirmed my earlier realization that I just don't like traveling quickly. With my return to the U.S. approaching, I had scheduled a whirlwind trip around Southeast Asia. But I just don't like traveling quickly. I like to stay in a place for a few days at least, and if it's nice, longer.
So I will rebook the tickets for a later date. So far I really like the Philippines. The people are friendly. Many people here speak English just fine, in addition to whichever Filipino language they happen to speak (in Manila Tagalog; in Cebu I believe they speak Cebuano).
The Philippines were ruled by the Spanish for four hundred years. As a result, people here seem to have a Latin sensibility. I can make jokes with them and it's a lot easier to talk than with Thais. There is a larger cultural and language barrier with the Thais. People here look Asian, but you can also see the Spanish influence. People are good-looking here (in my subjective opinion) as in Thailand, but there is a subtle difference of the Spanish mark that you can see in their faces.
Befuddled in the Philippines
