Manila, Philippines - February 20, 2006
I really really really hate Manila. Everyday I have to remind myself that I do actually like the Philippines.. but each day I'm in Manila, it makes it a bit harder to remember that.
Today I got hit up by 'Tony the doorman'. I mean, I'm constantly viewed as a walking ATM machine, and I constantly have my guard up for it. But being with a filipina girlfriend, sometimes I feel like I'm a lot more open to these guy's approaches, and not being on my own, I just feel more vulnerable to them.
Anyways, Tony the doorman didn't do much in himself, just a symbol of what I hate so much about being in Manila. Basically, my girlfriend and I were at the mall. Some weird guy approaches saying 'hi how are you doing? good to see you.'.. and my warning bells go off.. but again I'm with the girlfriend and not good to not at least be friendly back, so I am. I ask my girlfriend if he really is the hotel doorman, she says 'yes', so I decide its okay to be friendly back at least without the extra guard. (p.s... I'm staying at Stargate Pensionne House in Malate).
Suddenly its his daughter's birthday (even though he's just walking around the mall by himself on his day off).. and he really wants to buy her ice cream. Can I be kind to fork out money. I ask my girlfriend if he really is the doorman (not that he should be asking for ice cream money anyways), and she says it is. So I give him 20 pesos, and he immediately says whats this, I can't get ice cream with this.. he wants more. With that, I walk away frustrated once again, and he leaves.
It doesn't seem much, but this is my biggest frustration with Manila. Every single person treats you like at ATM machine. Its actually not just Manila, it was also Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Caracas, etc. But its just that you have to be on guard so much, and everyone you can imagine is saying 'hi' and 'where are you going?' and 'you have nice eyes' and everything else you can imagine as an entry point to get something from you. I realize its not everyone, as tons of cool normal filipinos everywhere. But when you are a foreigner walking around in the Malate/Ermita area of Manila, it really does feel like everyone is after you. Even in the mall, the sales clerk and such, even though they don't have individual gain from it, if you peek into a store for two seconds, they are all over you 'yes sir, your size sir, try this sir' and on and on. Do they do that to locals? I don't know. But it creates this 'don't talk to me please' attitude from foreigners, which in turn seems to spark this 'foreigners are all rude' impression, and back and forth. In short, I really don't like it.
Anyways, that my latest daily Manila rant. I really can't stand this city, even though I really do like the Philippines. I can't wait to get back to Seoul or at least out of Manila. On the plus side, my sister's band is playing in Manila tonight, and we'll watch that show. That is defintely one of my highlights of being in the Philippines, so I'm sure I'm thoroughly enjoy that, and forget about all the rest for awhile.
In addition, there is extra added stress being with my filipina girlfriend while I'm being a target all the time and frustrated and complaining about it. I feel really bad, and she feels worse, and its just a lot of stress on the relationship on the whole.
Unfortunately, as my trip to the Philippines shortly comes to an end in the next few days, I feel bad the final impressions of this place will be based on Ermita/Malate of Manila. It really is the unanimously agreed upon hellhole of Asian cities. Its really too bad, as its actually quite nice and cool and I like everything it has to offer. Its just the constant harrassment of the locals around here really gets on a blond white person's nerves something feirce. One of my biggest annoyances in life is being perceived as a walking ATM machine because I'm white with blond hair.
More on the Philippines..
February 22, 2006
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Wintermoon2@yahoo.com