Pearl of the Orient, the beginning...

Manila, pearl of the orient according to the guys from Lonely Planet... If you ask me, Manila is a bizarre mixture of Bangkok and Pnomh Penh, with both the feeling of a big bustling city as it feels like a rural yet moving city... It took me some time to get adapted to this place, contrary to my experiences with other cities in Asia, but once I had relented that room rates would always feel a tad overpriced for what you get (ok, I don't mind having shared bathroom if it makes for more budget accommodation, but do they really have to squeeze in those restrooms so that I'm sitting with my knees pulled up against my chin in order to sit on the seat and ehm, find relief? There's no relief to be found for a 2 meters tall man sitting on a toilet that even midgets consider as cramped. Heck, airplane restrooms suddenly feel like vast luxurious loftlike spaces when I try not to bump my knee against my chin after some spicy chicken stuff looks for a fast way out...) I slowly started to get used to this place. Walking around in Manila sure is a demanding action if you're white, people seem to consider you can help them with all sorts of stuff, mostly the kind that involves you departing with your hard saved cash. Now, I'm not the type to be shocked or irritated easily by strangers walking up to me and giving me their best impression of the "I haven't had any food in three days, please give me some coins sir"-face, but why do they keep following me after I politely have said no several times, or better yet, once they have spotted me rounding a corner they send up their youngest kids, who of course are even better at the sad looking business and all. Now don't get me wrong, these people are really poor and all, but also they not really very convincing when you look better. Giving them 5 pesos (this would be like giving a beggar back home a 2 euro coinpiece) doesn't make them happy, no, they just glare at you and make you feel like a cheapskate for not handing them over all your personal belongings... Aww well, the only times I seemed to be able to get some smiles was when I gave the same 5 pesos to someone who didn't follow me around and just sat on the side of the street looking hungry. The bad thing is I know all of them, the thankful ones and the more skeptical ones, are living a hard life, but then again I know handing out money isn't going to make a long term difference. And I'm too realistic to trick myself into feeling like a messiahs when handing out some coins, so mostly I just keep the coins and spend them at street corners on little vendors who try to make a living in this big tough city. Blame me for being an enthusiast of small time entrepreneurs...