Philippines
Ermita

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    • Day 1

      1. Philippinen, Manila 🌇 Ankunft

      January 20 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Haben die Philippinen doch nicht von unserer Liste gestrichen !

      Endlich im Hotel 🏨 angekommen..., es ist mittlerweile 3.30 Uhr in der Früh und wir sind hundemüde 😫💤😫.
      Unser Zimmer im "Red Planet Manila Bay Hotel", 16 qm groß, ist minimalistisch eingerichtet 🛏️🪑🛏️🚿, aber für die Dauer unseres Aufenthalts in Manila völlig ausreichend.
      Bis zum späten Vormittag 🕚 im Bett gelegen, haben wirklich gut geschlafen 💤 😴💤..., war überfällig der Schlaf❗
      Gleich ein paar Erledigungen ✔️machen.

      Erst brauchen wir philippinische Peso 🪙💵💰. Über eine App von "Western Union" weisen wir einen hohen Einmalbetrag zur Barauszahlung an einer der Standorte der Bank an und kommen so mit einem geringen Gebührenaufschlag an das benötigte Geld.
      Und gar nicht weit von unserem Hotel 🏨 befindet sich sogar eine Auszahlungsstelle 🏦🫰🏦.

      Jetzt brauchen wir noch eine SIM Karte für's Handy 📱.
      In dem Einkaufszentrum 🛒🏬🛒"Robinsons Manila Padre Faura St." gibt's in der dritten Etage 🔺 🛗🔺unter anderem eine "Handymeile". Hier werden wir nach langem hin und her von der SIM des Anbieters "Globe" überzeugt. EIN Handy damit bestückt..., erstmal ausprobieren ob das Handling mit der Karte für uns praktikabel ist 🤔.

      In der Mall gibt's auf jeder Etage Möglichkeiten zu essen 🍴🥄und zu trinken 🫗🫖. Hinter dem Eingangsbereich, den wir durch einen Metalldetektor passieren, erwartet uns eine riesige Fressmeile, sämtliche internationale Küchen sind vertreten. Es gibt Pizza 🍕, Burger 🍔, Ramen 🍲, koreanische 🇰🇷, thailändische 🇹🇭 und halt "allerlei Länder" Gerichte. Hier kommt jeder auf seine Kosten.
      Die aufgebauten Kuchentheken 🍰🍮sind sooo verlockend 🫴 (übrigens wird auch hier Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte angeboten).
      Wir lassen uns eine Pizza 🍕 schmecken, Vier-Käse-🧀 und Peperoni🌶️ pizza.
      Schon so lange nicht mehr gehabt, mmmhhh lecker 🤤.

      Ein sehr schönes Einkaufszentrum..., weitläufig, weshalb man die vielen Besucher nicht als unangenehm empfindet, es ist wirklich sauber und hat ein vielfältiges Angebot.
      DAS haben wir in dieser Gegend nicht erwartet.
      Schöne Überraschung 🤩.
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    • Day 21

      Day 21

      March 31, 2023 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Despite being exhausted when we arrived last night, I really didn’t sleep well. I was still thinking about all the happenings from yesterday, not to mention that this room has a noisy air conditioner. I did manage to get another hour of sleep in, but we also needed to get up before the breakfast time was over.

      One plus about this hotel are the friendly staff, and the breakfast served was pretty good too. We asked the receptionist if we could possibly check out later due to our late arrival last night, but she was only able to give us an extra hour. It was better than nothing, so we thought we would explore Manila before needing to come back and get ready before our flight tonight.

      As it turned out, Manila wasn’t as great as we would’ve liked. For starters, our hotel is not in the nicest area as we noticed quite a few beggars. This was made more difficult when two young girls came up to us and begged for food whilst we were waiting to cross the road by pulling on our clothes.

      We walked towards the waterfront which wasn’t as great as it sounds, as it was more industrial. On the way, we saw a demonstration of fire trucks, complete with sirens blazing. Since it was so near the American embassy we initially thought it was some military emergency! Across the road was Rizal Park, which was a large open space of parks and Chinese gardens. We then headed towards Intramuros, which is the historical walled part of the city.

      To be honest, that wasn’t the greatest either. Anything historical usually interests me, but the area was neither beautiful nor appealing. When Ted suggested returning to the hotel, it seemed like a great idea since the heat was getting worse anyway.

      When we got to the hotel, we showered, changed and packed up before organising a Grab to the airport. That wasn’t the most pleasant experience either, as we saw plenty of shanty housing, as well as a woman with a baby who kept tapping on the car window when we were stopped at the traffic lights. It was certainly an eye opener, and unfortunately not a pleasant one.

      The airport experience wasn’t as easy as we’d expected - when we went to check in, we were told our bags had to be security screened first. Apparently this is a requirement for all flights to Australia, Canada and the United States. After waiting half an hour for screening to open, the process involved opening our bags so they could do an explosives check on the content. After that, we could finally check in our bags, although we did wonder if we would’ve had to go through this process if we had our bags checked all the way to Melbourne yesterday.

      We had about three hours until we needed to board so we went to the Mabuhay Lounge. As far as lounges go, it was not the greatest as the selection of food was poor and the bathrooms weren’t that clean. But it was still a quieter, less hectic place to pass the time. When we went to board, our boarding passes were checked, and we were told we needed to put our bags through security screening (apparently there wasn’t the right stamp on our boarding passes). We tried to explain that we had already done this, but we were still led downstairs to do it again.

      Sure enough, our bags weren’t there and we reiterated again that we had already done it. Fortunately the lady who checked us in was there and confirmed our story so we were taken back upstairs to the boarding gate. When we went to board we were told - again - we couldn’t board as our bags needed to be screened. This time, the same guy who took us downstairs had to tell the boarding staff we had already been checked so, after all the initial hassle, we were finally onboard.

      Business class on Philippine Airways again exceeded our expectations as everything was wonderful. After dinner had finished, I settled down to sleep and managed a good four hours. I started to watch the new Doctor Strange movie during breakfast but didn’t quite get to see the ending before we arrived in Melbourne.

      The differences of being in Australia compared to many other countries was so obvious, as the immigration process was so fast and easy. We did however stand nervously at the baggage carousel wondering if our beloved bags had actually made the flight (they had!).

      As I type this last day entry on our flight home to Adelaide, we are very grateful to be back in Australia. We have seen some beautiful destinations, but the trip has also opened our eyes, and made us again grateful for what we have.
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    • Day 21

      You need a tour guide

      May 3, 2018 on the Philippines ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

      Omdat de caves zo snel gedaan waren, zijn we ook naar de Echo Valley geweest. Het staat er bekend voor zijn klif met 'hanging coffins'. Het leek ons wel leuk omdat gewoon met 2 te doen, gezien de 'hike' ernaartoe volgens veel dagtrippers zeer voor de hand liggend is.

      Dat was zonder de Filipino's gerekend. Aan de 'ingang' moesten de al wachten omdat er een ceremonie bezig was. Uiteraard moesten we weer onze naam en nationaliteit opgeven, zodat de Filipino het paperassenwerk kan maken. En dan mochten we niet binnen zonder tour guide. Hoewel we zeiden dat we er geen wilden, werd Wendy ons aangesmeerd voor 200 PHP. Dat was nu eens echt niet nodig. Het wandelpaadje was best wel gemakkelijk en voor haar extra uitleg moesten we het ook niet doen.

      Anyway, bij ons zou je ook inkom moeten betalen, dus dat lieten we onze dag niet verpesten. De coffins' zijn toch wel wat raar om te zien. Best wel de moeite, al mag je niets meer verwachten dan de foto's...
      Achteraf was er dan blijkbaar in de kerk nog een begrafenis bezig, waar gewoon heel de tijd gezongen werd. Kinderen en honden speelden gewoon aan de open kist... Raar...
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    • Day 1

      Rizal Park in Central Manila

      April 8, 2023 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Nachdem wir uns frisch gemacht hatten, ging es zunächsts mit dem Grab zum Rizal Park. Wir spazierten durch die Grünanlagen und schauten uns auch den chinesischen und den japanischen Garten an.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Ermita, 艾米塔區

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