Above: My decorated tricycle to the airport.
Back to Manila
With my flight at 1415 and an 1100 checkout, I took it easy in my room. My congestion was getting worse but it wasn’t bad bad. I had a light breakfast of muesli and took my last saltwater (probably brackish rather than pure saltwater) shower before checking out and grabbing a sandwich from the guesthouse.
My tricycle to the Tagbilaran airport turned up on time at 1145 and it took about 40 minutes to get there. There was not much queueing and I was airside in no time. Oh, there was a terminal fee of PHP100 which meant that I would be slightly short of money and would have to cash a little (not worth using the ATM for a small amount). Damn! I thought I was going to be “spot on’ with what I had left before flying out to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow.
LAG restrictions are in force for domestic flights in the Philippines but it wasn’t apparent in at Manila T4 where they removed nothing from me.
Here they told me to finish drinking the water. But when they saw me trying to glug down two bottles, they told me I could finish it before boarding. We were entertained by blind singers and their guitars until boarding time; they also led a few prayers … something which wouldn’t happen in many countries.
The AirAsia flight to Manila went smoothly and I took a taxi to Red Planet in Makati for a change of scenery (as opposed to Ermita). The hotel was just outside the glam Makati CBD in a more typical area with more food and gentlemen’s entertainment. For dinner I had Subway as I appear to have lost my appetite completely with this flu.
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- My ride to the airport.
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- On my ride to the airport.
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- Departing Bohol.
Parting thoughts on the Philippines
It is rather expensive for a third world South East Asian country:
- To eat anything that’s clean or that I’m comfortable with, it is usually PHP70 minimum but typically PHP100+. That’s Singapore price, and far more expensive than Malaysia.
- Then there’s the PHP100-200 shakes.
- Then Philippines AirAsia meals here are more expensive than its Malaysian counterpart.
- USD35 gets you a nice 3 star place in Thailand or Vietnam but in the Philippines, it is more of a guesthouse standard.
I try to understand why. I reckon the poor are too poor to even attempt patronising any of these places and the pricing reflects what rich Filipinos and foreigners are willing to pay. Whereas in Malaysia, there is a large middle class that will spend.
For me, poverty, beggars and homelessness in Manila and the Philippines seem more apparent than say in Bangkok or Jakarta. Perhaps it is the contrast as the Philippines is nearly first-world in some areas like Makati CBD and resort areas. Or maybe it is because there is no highly visible middle class? Eg. in Bangkok or Jakarta you’d see lots of people with smartphones but here, there are still many old Nokias floating around.
Security is taken seriously in the Philippines too:
- There are security checks at many malls.
- There are heavily armed guards at beaches, malls etc.
- Even my Panglao guesthouse had a guard in the evening.
Then finally one cannot but notice the plentiful number of older men and young Fiipino women. They do stand out as a large proportion of foreigners (backpackers don’t make up such a huge percentage compared to say Thailand or Vietnam; and domestic tourists are plentiful). It is tempting to judge both parties involved here but I think everybody is looking for something, be it love, a better life etc. Even within the same culture, people do aspire to marry upwards. When I see an old western man and a young Filipino woman plus the woman’s child/children, the relationship is more than just about sex. It takes a rather generous person to bring up someone else’s child. Never judge a book by its cover!