Manila

Manila is a city that people told me to leave as soon as I arrived. The city has the largest population in Asia. Many of its inhabitants come from all over the country and end up living on the street and under bridges.

It is difficult to go out in the city because locals told me that by taking a simple taxi ride I run the risk of getting kidnapped. I have tried to spend the least amount of time possible in Manila. But it's the hub of the country and spending a couple of nights there is unavoidable. However I ended end up having a good time in the city.

While I was there I went pearl shopping at Greenhills. There were just stalls after stalls and strings of pearls hanging from every one. My eyes hurt from examining them trying to find ones that match. If I couldn't find matching ones the vendor would pull out trays of pearls to find a mate and then make the earrings right in front of me.

Pearls everywhere

My last night abroad I met three students at a restaurant near my hostel. We ended up going to a nearby bar for drinks and karaoke - a popular pastime in the Philippines. We ate traditional Filipino pub food which includes Sisig, deep fried pork innards.

Karoke is a Filipino's favourite pastime

It was a great ending to a great trip.