View of Manila

Today we have been treated to a tour of Manila. A fascinating city. It is as modern as anything in North America, while having the characteristics of developing nations everywhere. Streets are crowded with vehicles and traffic patterns appear chaotic. Even at midnight there are more vehicles travelling down the city street than one sees on the Island Highway during rush hour. The car horn is an essential part of a car; signal lights appear not to be. Still, the chaotic appearance marks an underlying pattern that local drivers appear to understand. It allows motorcyclists to drive in the space between larger vehicles without fear of being mashed. The streets work. There appears to be an element of courtesy that means that every driver pushes through an opening when it appears, but other drivers recognize the one who has the right to use it and hang back to allow the change to be made. Think about how a crowd pushes through a busy shopping centre. Everyone rushes along in his own way, so the timid get left behind. But for those who are hurrying ahead, paths seem to open and progress is made for everyone. It works; and so does the traffic in Manila.

For much of our tour it was raining. Unlike Vancouver Island the rain was warm. It was fun to be out in it. The temperature was 24C, but so humid that it felt much warmer. Once the rain started to fall the humidity fell with it and the entire atmosphere felt better. And of course, it is because of the rain that so much plant life abounds here. Palm trees along the streets. Plumeria blooms in front of the hotel and other flowers and trees everywhere.

We stopped at the old walled city, which is reminiscent of Quebec City, and toured the reconstructed historical site at Fort Santiago. It houses a museum to one of the father's of the Philippine Republic, Jose Rizal. An interesting stop for anyone from North America who is fortunate enough to travel to Manila.

Western institutions are frequent sites here. Signs paying homage to "the Colonel" appear everywhere. Kentucky Fried Chicken has obviously found a place in the Filipino diet. Other western fast food places seem less common, but there are many Filipino entrepeneurs who have learned to provide a similar service to the Filipino customers who enjoy eating like North Americans. As a result there are many Filipino versions of our fast food culture. Some of them would be interesting hits if one were to import their franchises to North America.

The Mall of Asia shows an interesting blend of Asian and western cultures. It is the largest mall in the world, but parts of it are open to the elements. We were able to stand on a walkway on the western side of the mall and look out at the China sea. At night we watched fireworks from the same vantage point. In other parts of the mall we were protected from the rain, but could feel the breeze coming through from the open roof. In places, the smells from the ocean dominated the smells of commerce. My initial impression was that the mall was dominated by small shops of local business people, much like an updated form of an Asian market. However, we soon found ourselves in a major department store that made Sears and the Bay look old fashioned. Along another corridor the stores belonging to all of the high end designer brands appeared.

Many jobs are apparent here that do not appear at home. Service is important and there are more workers in any shop than there are in any Canadian store. When I work at Wal-Mart in Nanaimo, I am often the only person working in one corner of the store with about 4 departments. In the department store we entered here there were workers standing beside each stack of shoes in the shoe department. The store elevator had an attendant pushing the buttons of a modern elevator and calling out the floors as the car came to a stop. In the hotel there are attendants on each floor making sure that we are OK. I like it.

These are some of my impressions after my first day in Philippines. It is truly an exciting place to be. We have been treated so wonderfully by everyone, our Rotarian hosts and the business people with whom we have dealt. This has been a great way to start our trip.