Manila

If I were to make an analogy of my relationship with Manila it would be one of meeting a Filipina on a blind date and she being an unattractive, loud girl with a hygiene issues and a severe case of flatulence but because of binding constraints I was forced to be with her everyday and every night. At first it was difficult to even be around her but I was without a choice. The first month I experienced nausea from the stench and unexplainable muscle pains from the heat from being so close to her. She would spit on me and demand money. The amount of insects that she attracted was almost unbearable at times. But through the cacophony of noise and abuse a soft voice emerged and I began to realize something: as unappealing her outward appearance was she was a Filipina. As I begun to understand what it really means to be with a Filipina, I felt a warm feeling deep inside me express itself. Within her apparent hard exterior lay a soft and sensitive soul that usurped any previous experiences I had in past with girls of different origin. At that moment I was unable to relate to Camus's query that the fundamental question plaguing mankind was whether or not one should commit suicide. My belief in the absurd nature of the world lost traction and I began to understand what happiness really feels like. I lost my preconceived pride and things I took for granted no longer made sense. Her seemingly bizarre taste in food became adaptable to my pallet.

I will tell you that it wasn't an easy transition. Any real emotional transition has a great deal of friction involved. No real love, no real happiness, no real depression comes on lightly. As with any emotional issue, it is subjective but I can tell you about my experience.

I don't think I have experience with true happiness and I prefer how the Japanese differentiate between mere satisfaction and actual happiness. In Japanese if you want to say you are glad or just marginally happy the word is 嬉しい(ureshii) but real, lasting happiness is referred to as 幸せ(shiawase). In English we do not have this distinction in the original vocabulary without superlative adjectives. Of course I have been satisfied in my life but I don't believe I have every experienced what the Japanese refer to as shiawase. If we're talking about depression, than yes I do have experience.

Back when I was university student, in the midst of the stress and hard work that comes with university I was struck by what I believe was serious depression. Now just as Camus insisted , suicide does not enter someones mind just because a tragedy suddenly entered my life, depression comes on slow. I'm not trying to infer that I was suicidal at that time. I gave up on that idea back in my childhood. Depression originates in your sub-conscious due to insecurities within yourself that manifest themselves as “real” problems. For me, I won't get into the details, but I fell into a deep hole that took weeks too get out of. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep; didn't want to talk to family or friends. The way I saw it was that the deeper you are, the longer the ladder required to get you out. I pulled myself out of depression through my own efforts. I used to meditate for long periods of time in order re-balance my mind and it was at that point in my life that I focused on my education. I found an escape from the superficially cruel world in intellectual advancement and actually I think it is safe to say that it is because of my depression that I was able to succeed in university. I could write a lot about depression but I don't think this blog is the appropriate place. The reason why I brought it up is to emphasize my belief that the emotional condition of an individual in regard to himself and the external world is not just “feelings” but is something more substantial. In addition to that, I believe emotions and attachments are not mere fluctuations in one's mood but are an integral part of one's understanding of their existential reality. This may sound like jargon but the point I am really trying to get across is that one cannot ignore the emotional side of human nature for just what they consider “rationality”. Maybe not everyone agrees with me and that's fine but I think it would be rare to find someone who fell in love with Manila the moment they set foot here.

It one were to analyze the nice parts vs. the not so nice parts of Manila rationally than Manila would probably not come out so hot. Now I want to argue that what makes Manila livable, not only livable but positively enjoyable, is caused by the fact she is a Filipina. But what does that mean? I have never seen more warmth than between a Filipina and her children. This motherly instinct carries over to the city as a whole. As intimidating and daunting Manila can be when you are lost I have also found an understanding person to help me find my way. The warmth of the people emanates through the weather-beaten concrete. Unlike other major cities, New York, Paris, etc., the people who live here don't try to sell the city for what it is not. The train system here, although being less extensive than its New York counterpart, is far nicer and better maintained but still the people here frequently apologize to me for their trains because they assume that they are far better in America. This is just not true. Actually public transportation is good here and readily available once you understand the complex system and idiosyncrasies. A mother's insecurities and personal grievances may make her parental message convoluted but if she is Filipina than you know there is also love at the root. Manila is the same way except that your mother probably wouldn't rob or rape you in the name of love; or plant a bomb on a bus as what happened last week.

I could go on a make more cheesy sycophantic remarks about this city and comparing it to Filipinas but I feel like it is already getting old. It is not really fair to the Filipinas since they are some of the most beautiful and sweetest women in the world.

I have lived for an extended period of time in four cities: Pittsburgh, Honolulu, Vancouver, and Manila (I would include Kyoto even though I was only there a month because I believe I know the city pretty well but a month is really too short). Pittsburgh is my hometown so it transcends the usual evaluation. I will always have love for Pittsburgh.

I lived in Honolulu for a year and I did like the city. Anyone who has been to Hawaii can vouch for just how beautiful the place is. Honolulu is obviously very touristy which is frustrating but the Hawaiians take it with grace. As much as I objectively enjoyed the city it was my first year living outside of Pittsburgh and it was a tough transition so I don't think I gave Honolulu a real chance. My memories of that place are scarred with homesickness.

Vancouver is a different story. I lived there for three years. It is considered one of the most livable cities in the world and for good reason. The air is clean, the mountains are beautiful, the climate is mild and the people are genuinely friendly. Vancouver is the most diverse city I have lived in. The Canadians are not merely tolerant of foreigners but actively accept them and integrate them into the community as a whole. In my last year I lived in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood and I know some people complain that Chinese isolate themselves when they emigrate to different countries and that is true to a certain extent (my landlord lived in Vancouver for 12 years and didn't speak a word of English) but if you put forth the effort they will respond nicely. It's like you are at a party and there is a guy in the corner who doesn't talk to anyone and you complain “What is wrong with him? That's rude that he doesn't talk to anybody...” but then have you made an effort to talk to him? So whose fault really is it? Unlike the way Arabs and other Muslims are treated in a lot of Western Europe, most notably France and Germany, the Canadian government and Canadians individually make an effort to integrate different people into the society and thus create a very friendly atmosphere. I had some problems with Vancouver however such as their absurdly expensive alcohol and tobacco and sometimes I thought that the people were too nice at times. It must be the American inside me but when everybody is really nice around me than for some reason I usually become uncomfortable.

Out of all the cities I have mentioned so far, I believe Manila is the most enjoyable city to live in. I love how they pump raw sewage into the streams and rivers which bring a nice aroma to the air. I love how street vendors will sometimes burn garbage to cook BBQ chicken and pig intestines. I love how people seem to relieve themselves just about wherever the hell they feel like. I love how there are rarely stop signs or real traffic laws and that no one stops at crosswalks. I love being stuck in traffic for two hours in the back of jeep while continuously inhaling the noxious car exhaust. I love how ridiculously hot and humid it can be and how suddenly heavy rain can appear and soak you in 5 seconds. Most importantly I love how there is trash everywhere.

In light of these mild imperfections the Philippines planted a seed in my heart the moment I arrived and one by one what used to bother me melted away. Some call it getting used to a place, I call it real love. 

Economic Disparity Here

So I was talking to someone close to me and I was describing the striking economic disparity of the Philippines and they told me that they can't understand how people living here would be comfortable with this status quo. Is it that Filipinos just don't care? Is there an overwhelming apathy among the elite coupled with a lack of initiative by the poorest people?

I was insulted by this assumption that Filipinos either lack compassion or that they apparently given up on bettering their country. I would like to prove that this is not the case but it is a tricky issue to analyze.

Anyone who comes to Manila will be struck by the contrast of the rich and poor. Right next to a massive mall containing authentic Louis Vuitton bags and expensive jewelry will be a slum with children digging through the garbage looking for food. I was very much affected by this also and it really does make you feel like a piece of shit for buying a T-shirt for the amount of money that could feed a whole family for a day. I never enjoyed shopping in the first place but for those that get excited over shopping then the surrounding poverty might spoil the fun. If you hang out outside a mall you will see tons of people proudly walking out displaying their recently purchased goods and just scuttle past the homeless and impoverished people without giving the impression that they care. It may seem heartless and there is definitely an attitude I sense here around the malls that I am not comfortable with. However, this is by no means specific to the Philippines. I know America and Canada well and I don't want to hear anyone tell me that America and Canada have more income equality because they have a stronger sense of social solidarity.

Also on a side-note, the gap between the rich and poor in America is rising more and more each year. So maybe in a few generations America might look a lot like the Philippines.

If I was to give my candid observation of Filipino society, I do sense some vestiges of the hierarchical social structure of their colonial period. Lighter skinned people and those with Spanish names are generally seen as more attractive and perhaps more upstanding people. Skin whitening creams are advertised everywhere and I see sometimes Filipino women with unnaturally white skin. I think it looks bizarre; like the girls from New Jersey with fake orange tans. I personally think the darker skinned girls are more attractive but really at the end of the day I like it when girls just stay with what they were naturally given. I think also there does seem to be a stronger awareness of one's status in the society. Sometimes people give me the impression that they don't go to this carnival or that bar because “that's where lower class people go.” I don't like this attitude but again this can be found probably in every country and culture in the world.

Within the universities I have seen idealistic kids discuss the issues of poverty in the Philippines. They make lofty statements about the need of “will to develop” and the importance of protecting the most vulnerable people from foreign corporations.

“It's a question of human dignity and human rights that we resist the neo-imperialism of the developed countries.” is the sort of the mantra that I hear a lot and is even written on the walls at the University of the Philippines. I never took idealism in universities seriously; even when I was a student. After the feel good message about caring for the unfortunate they get picked up by their personal drivers and driven to a spa or massage parlor to unwind after a hard day of passively contemplating the woes of the world. And then once they graduate they just try to get hell out of here and find a decent job in the States or Dubai or end up working in the government and contributing to the problem. Obviously not everybody is like that but what I mean is that it is sort of part of the university experience to imagine that you can make a difference in the world. It's not a bad thing but it just gets kind of cheesy sometimes.

Where I do agree with them is when they discuss the malevolent nature of the IMF. The Philippine economy took a massive hit during the Asian financial crisis of the late 90's. The IMF was quickly on the scene to offer bail out packages so various affected governments could stay afloat. It seems like a nice thing to do right? But the problem is that these loans had massive strings attached. You know how some people say that a crisis can be a great opportunity? Yeah it was a great opportunity for the IMF which is funded by developed countries tax payers to cement the status quo of the relatively poorer countries vs. the “developed” countries It wasn't just nasty interest rates but the IMF demanded as a prerequisite of getting the money that their be a bit of “economic restructuring”. The IMF always has these kind of conditions when they issue loans to developing countries.

First they demanded the Philippines to maintain the interest rates of their central bank very high to help prevent devaluation of the Peso. Now I'm not an economist and its hard for me to give a good analysis of the exact reason but my feeling is that they wanted to keep the Peso from massive devaluation which would make it much more difficult for them to pay the loans back in the future. The Pesos did massively devalue and never recovered to its pre-crisis level so I'm not really sure what keeping the interest rates so high during the recession really accomplished. However I can see some rationality behind their reasoning but aside from that the IMF also demanded that the Philippines completely open their doors for foreign investment and drastically scale back their barriers to free trade and foreign capital ownership. On pen and paper, if you are just analyzing GDP growth then their demands have some merit but the reality is that how can local Filipino firms compete with massive and well-funded multinational corporations? The truth is they can't and even with the amount of fertile rice paddies the Philippines still has to import rice. It isn't all the IMF's fault because their intentions should be obvious to anyone. They work to maintain the status quo and keep rich countries rich and poor countries poor. The Philippine government has little say on to how they can run their own economy and are nowhere near paying off their debt and usually just get by paying only the interest. Every Filipino politician since the Marcos era has said they will fight to reduce their foreign debt but it continues to rise. The problem is that the Philippine government willingly sells their citizens out to these foreign pressures and lets them be exposed to the worst aspect of the predator-prey nature of the world economy. I mean corruption is definitely involved but I'm not going to go as far to say that the president of the Philippines would take a suitcase of money and just look the other way when foreign companies impose harsh labor conditions on Filipinos and pay them a fraction of what they deserve.

I bring up the IMF because this also contributes to the canyon between the rich and the poor here and the complicit role the government plays. This is a democracy and you would think that that would help choose a leader which is actually good for the country but I mean honestly look around at the world democracies, I'm not going to name any names, but because of ideological voters and the nature of politics real idiots come to office who don't have the nation's interests at heart. My political beliefs do definitely influence how I perceive things and maybe someone could argue with me about the benefits of neo-liberal deregulation and privatization of aspects of the economy but the way the Philippine government handles it's debt to the IMF is demonstrably irresponsible. South Korea also took emergency loans from the IMF during the Asian crisis but those in the government at that time had a sense of responsibility and paid off those loans as fast as they could. It's not really a question of ideology. It's a question national sovereignty. I mean what difference does it make who the Filipinos elect as president if he has his hands tied by a foreign entity when trying to make decisions about the domestic economy.

What about the Filipino worker? Some people might say that if only the Filipinos worked a bit harder they could make better lives for themselves. Like they should adopt the Protestant work ethic that supposedly made United States and Germany so powerful. I mean it's kind of ridiculous and a border line racist thing to say. Filipinos are not stupid or lazy. Filipinos have immigrated across the globe to find work and not for just their own enrichment but for the livelihood of their entire family. Even with the onerous restrictions set in place in all the developed countries to stymie the flow of Filipino migrant workers they are still everywhere. Filipinos need a visa to almost everywhere outside of Southeast Asia and the visa applications are not cheap and the immigration officials are becoming more and more strict. Even with these obstacles millions of Filipinos find work as migrant workers abroad and the money they send home adds up to about 13% of the GDP of the Philippines. They are forced to leave because of the lack of opportunity and a lack of will power of the Philippine government to protect the local industry.

So the Filipino government and elite have , in my opinion, worked to maintain this economic disparity. Again, look at the United States, the business elites there do the exact same thing and the American government is also complicit (bail-outs, tax breaks for some firms that outsource their jobs overseas, etc.). There is a communist faction here in the universities and even an armed rebel group in Northeast Luzon I believe. They have aspirations of income redistribution on a huge scale and even if I can sympathize, I also hate those rich bankers and CEOs, but just look at history and I think it's clear that these revolutions were romantic but never worked out the way those involved imagined it to. Maybe Lenin did have a compassionate side and an intellectual discomfort with the sufferings of the poor but I don't see how anybody could be comfortable with what the Soviet Union degenerated into under Stalin. In the case of the Philippines they already have a quasi-civil war going in the predominately Muslim region of Mindanao and I think any attempted violent communist revolution will just cause more damage and pain. But it doesn't have to be just one or the other, completely pro-business laissez-faire government or communist. The Philippine government just has to take some bold steps by first finally paying off their foreign loans and telling bigger nations to f%ck off and let them run their own economy.

So enough about the economy and the government, are the Filipino people really complacent on a personal level with the poverty here? Of course not. Charities are widespread here and people work hard to cover for the ineffectualness of the government. I've met overworked single mothers who still find time to volunteer at local NGOs or their church. Giving charity to the poor seems like an everyday thing here for a lot of people. I believe that the social solidarity among the Filipinos is strong, stronger than any other country that I've been too. I like how some of my French friends complain at the apparent heartlessness of the Filipinos when they casually walk past decrepit impoverished people while members of the French society, such as Muslims and Roma, are systemically discriminated against with the apparent OK from the majority or the French people. That's not really fair, I actually haven't met a French person who is comfortable with Sarkozy's policy of deporting gypsies.

If you come to Manila you will be struck like I was by the slums leaned up against a Mercedes dealership. I have become accustomed to this reality. I occasionally buy the street kids dinner if they catch me. After I bought them dinner the first time they always hound me if they spot me. Haha, it's hard for me to be discreet here. Anyway, also since I am a volunteer here I don't have a massive compulsion to give the little money I have to every kid I meet on the street. It might sound weird and make me look like I've lost my compassion that I've got used to fathers trying to pimp their ten-year old girls for a bit of cash or seeing elderly people digging through the garbage but if you stay here long enough you will see what I mean. Over time the initial discomfort of seeing people in distress fades and you gain some clarity about the society here and the human condition itself. The Philippines is a poor country, there is no way to get around that fact but it is not defined by it's poverty. What I've tried to emphasize up to this point is that the Philippines is where it is today because of the animalistic world economy and the Philippine government's refusal, or just inability, to protect it's own people under pressure from more powerful developed countries. The Philippines is a beautiful place and the Filipinos are beautiful people and even if the Philippines is a poor country the economy is growing fairly quickly perhaps there is a good future for this place that I love.  

Vacation

As I was sitting on my balcony drinking a bottle of Red Horse and smoking a few cigarettes I reflected on my vacation this year and I have to admit this was by far one of the most memorable. I finished working on the 22^nd in the normal unorganized way by rushing to the post office to send this DVD of interviews of our clients that my co-worker and I collected for this big court case in Japan. Luckily I got there at the last minute before they close for the holiday season. Living in the Philippines has made me used to this kind of unnecessary stress but honestly I have been this unorganized my entire life. So anyway, I gave my small gifts to my co-worker and the nice lady who cleans our office about once a week and I set home to plan the next couple weeks.

Tragically, my good friend from Korea unexpectedly had to cancel his stay here. He was supposed to stay here until October but he discovered a chance to take an entrance exam at a very good university in Korea and so made the wise (but definitely not popular here) decision to seize the opportunity. It was hard for me because he was the first guy I met here and we became very good friends. Interestingly, it took a Korean guy to help me assimilate to life in the Philippines. I'll miss that guy but I hope the best for him in Korea.

All of my roommates spent Christmas with my landlord and landlady and their family. We had this entire roast pig (here its called a lechon). Supposedly the pig came all the way from Cebu where they have the best lechon in the Philippines.

It was delicious and just cracking the skin off and munching on that almost made my Christmas by itself. My landlord and landlady have always treated my roommates and I like we're family and I really appreciate them inviting us to share Christmas with them. It was really nice. As is apparently Filipino culture (or I think just the culture of my landlord) we shot off a bunch of fireworks to celebrate the occasion. Haha, I'll get into the fireworks later when I talk about New Years but fireworks are awesome here. I bought professional grade fireworks and stuff that I think is illegal in the States for almost no money at all. The Chinese fireworks are decent quality but you have with the local Filipino brands which you should be careful with as I discovered...

I was sad on Christmas day because this was the first time that I couldn't spend Christmas with my family. I got to admit I was tearing up a bit but I talked to my family and grand-parents through Skype so I was not in total despair. I'm really amazed at how awesome Skype is. I mean just fifteen years ago it would have been unthinkable to have video calls across the world for free.

After all the Christmas festivities my New Zealander roommate and I decided to go on a trip to one of the beaches that the Philippines is famous for. We decided to invite this American guy that we both knew. He's a lot older than us but he was alone for the holidays so we decided to invite him along. I hope he doesn't read this blog but that guy honestly caused me a lot of problems and stress during this vacation. I had heard from my other American friend that he was spending almost two weeks at this nice beach over on the island of Mindoro. I loosely met a Filipina girl through Facebook and I knew that she lived in a town called Sablayan in western Mindoro. My roommate is bad with names, especially Filipino ones, and when he talked to my American friend in Mindoro he thought that he told him that he was in Sablayan. When I heard that I thought this coincidence would be a good opportunity to meet this girl and chill out on a beach for a few days. So we took the bus to Batangas which is a major port of the northern island Luzon and in the usual Filipino style the bus showed this super violent action movie. We arrived at the port and I was in contact with that girl and she gave me good directions for getting to Sablayan. Right before we boarded the ship I get a call from my friend on the island and I casually told him we were about to board and should get there in the evening sometime. However, at that point I realized he wasn't in Sablayan at all and actually Sabang. We only had ten minutes to board the boat to Sablayan and so we discussed it a bit and made the last minute decision to just go to Sablayan. The ferry took a couple hours and when we arrived at the town of Abra de Ilog in Mindoro my friends were questioning what I had gotten them into. The town was tiny and the place just seemed like farm country. I asked local people around how we could get to Sablayan and I was told to take a Jeep to Mamburao and then from there we could grab a bus to Sablayan. It seemed easy enough but there were so many people taking this Jeep that the three of us had to sit on the roof. I remember asking my friend if this was safe and he just laughed and said of course not. The Jeep didn't drive so fast so it wasn't really dangerous but definitely fun. We cruised these country roads in Mindoro as the sun was setting over the mountains. It was really beautiful and a great experience but I didn't realize at the time that it wouldn't be the last time I was riding like that.

We got to Mamburao and the locals informed me that the bus to Sablayan wouldn't come for a couple hours and so we grabbed some dinner. It was night so I couldn't really check out the town but it seemed very tiny. We had some time so I was talking to the girl at a bus stop kiosk about what is in this town or what it's famous for. She grew up there but couldn't tell me anything about the place. Also, she didn't speak English so our conversation was based around my very broken Tagalog. I found out later that that town is famous for jars of pickled fruit or something like that. After about two hours I asked again where the bus was and then all of sudden she said that maybe one will come in morning. I was getting kind of anxious since I was getting all sorts of looks from sketchy looking characters and I knew that I didn't want to hang around there longer than I had to. My friends were also looking for an alternative to get to Sablayan and we found this tricycle driver (its one of those motorcycles that has a little car attached to it) and we told him we'd pay him 1,000 Pesos to take us to Sablayan. He was seriously considering it but his girlfriend was pleading with him to refuse. My friends offered to take her along as well but then out of nowhere the bus arrived. The trip is about 2 hours by bus on some real rough road and so if we had taken a tricycle it would have taken hours and would have been a terrible ride. This bus was also full so we had to jump up to roof again. It was already dark so the stars were out and it was definitely a beautiful night. Aside from having to dodge some low hanging power lines and tree branches it was a relatively painless ride.

Finally, we got to Sablayan by midnight or so and met up with Mary Joy who was that girl I knew through Facebook. Luckily, she worked at a cheap hotel along the beach. Her and I hit it off pretty fast but I don't want to write too much about her on this blog since I think she would be embarrassed if she read it. Just ask me personally. During that first night I was sitting with her by the beach just talking about this and that when this random drunk dude stumbled into the hotel. He was apparently the chief of police for Sablayan. He got right up in my face and was demanding my visa and saying all kinds of crap. After awhile he lost interest in messing with me and left. According to Mary Joy he's got a mistress at the hotel so he comes a lot and she said she really hates that guy. Anyway, by the morning we decided to take a look around the town and the local beaches. The beach around the hotel was nice but not really nice for swimming and I heard from Mary Joy there was a nearby island that had a world famous beach. It was called Pandan Island but unfortunately was owned by some rich French guy and there was only one boat going there a day and it was 250 Pesos a person one-way. That's pretty pricy especially since I could almost swim there, well maybe not me but a strong swimmer could definitely do that. My friend spotted some small boats in the water and there was a small community of fishermen living there. He was convinced he could get a guy to ferry us over there for just 300 Pesos one way for all four of us. The other guy and I were real skeptical and even Mary Joy said it was probably not possible. We went down there to ask around and seriously the first person we met agreed to do it. It took about 5 minutes to convince him. I was surprised and kind of apprehensive since Pandan Island is a privately owned island and I was thinking we might just get turned away once we got there. The boat was tiny and made of ply wood but it sufficed. I assumed that the guy would take a discreet way to get us on the island but we just stormed the main beach. It was funny seeing some people snorkeling getting taken aback at these random guys showing up in this little boat. Apparently, the staff at Pandan don't really care how you get to there but we had to pay an entrance fee of a hundred pesos which is about $2.50 so I wasn't going to complain. I'm not usually a beach kind of guy but that was probably the most beautiful beach I've been to. The sand was soft and the water was clear and warm. There was a large coral reef just a few meters into the water from the beach itself and I saw some amazing fish when I was snorkeling over there.

I had a great day there on the beach with Mary Joy but it was that night when things got complicated.

We went out after dinner with Mary Joy and a couple of her friends to have some drinks and sing some Videoke (Kareoke). I don't really like that stuff but Filipina girls love to sing for some reason. We were chilling, drinking, and I was thinking that everyone was having a good time until that older American guy made this massive scene out of nothing. Mary Joy's friend was showing some interest with my friend from New Zealand and so I invited her to come with us to the beach the next day. I don't know if that other American guy was jealous or something but he just flipped out. He started yelling and swearing at the girls; calling them whores. I got real upset and luckily my other friend got him out of the bar before he made a bigger fool of himself. I mean seriously, what kind of 46 year old man behaves like that with 18-19 year old girls. That's inexcusable and I don't tolerate that kind of crap. It took like 2 hours to get Mary Joy to feel better and stop crying. There was no fight between him and I but I made it clear that I wanted him to leave. However, the next day we discussed it and I made the mistake of letting him stay since it was such a far journey. Anyway, I don't talk too much about that guy but I enjoyed the rest of my stay at Sablayan; really because of Mary Joy.

We stayed there for another day and checked out the beach again. Overall, it was really enjoyable and I recommend that if anyone goes to the Philippines Sablayan is great place. It had one of the best beaches I've seen and for a fraction of the cost of a resort. The hotel room for two people is only 400 Pesos($10) a night and the beach is easy to get to cheaply if you find a local guy to ferry you there.

We decided to head back to Manila for the New Years and seriously I'm glad I did. The day of New Years Eve my landlord took us to Enchanted Kingdom which is an amusement park. It was fun and I'm glad they took us by Kennywood is better.

We were drinking shooting off fireworks with my landlord at first and then decided to head down to Makati to check out some more fireworks. I thought it was kind of telling that the first taxi driver refused to go there because there was too many fireworks. We eventually found a guy who would ride us there and getting out of the cab was like being in a war zone. People were throwing homemade fireworks at the taxis and each other. We checked out some bars and then by 12 went back to the street. From the road I could see three or four other professional firework shows going off and hundreds of people lighting their own fireworks in the road. Some guy even threw this powerful firecracker out his window and it exploded like 3 feet from where I was walking. I met these drunk guys who were lighting some homemade fireworks off and they offered to let me light them. I'm talking about fireworks so loud they blow out your ears and could easily blow off your hand if you hold on to them. I remember lighting this one but the fuse didn't seem to work so I tried again to light it and I took two steps and shrugged at the guy when BOOM. I was laughing about that one for awhile but now that I think about it, I'm pretty happy that I didn't get seriously hurt. There is actually a lot more that happened but I can't say everything because my friend claims he could lose his job or be expelled from the country if I list all the details. I think he's being paranoid but you never know.

Today is my last day of vacation before I resume my volunteering. I'm sad that this vacation is over but I am kind of looking forward to starting work again. I came here to volunteer right? Not just have a good time...