Because the World Needs Another New York Blog

Time: the Present

Place: New York City, Greenwich Village, just south of Washington Square

Protagonist: Loyal Achates, beginning his M.A. Program in International Relations at New York University

Argument: How to distinguish this blog from the thousands of others chronicling urban life in the United States?

Stay Tuned....

Manila, Chocolate, and Strawberry

So now I'm in Manila, capitol and largest city of the Philippines.

Manila feels much more like a 'big city' when compared to Saigon, probably because there are many more tall buildings and the infrastructure is more advanced. The class difference, however, is a great deal more stark. Manila is, as some people have said, 10% Singapore and 90% Mumbai, or skyscrapers above shantytowns. A great place to live if you have alot of money...

Transport

Manila has jeepneys like Cebu, but thankfully it also has an elevated railway (the LRT) and something called an FX, which is basically a more modern jeepney, employing a van instead of an old jeep and costing about twice as much to use depending on distance.

Small World Part I: My first time using the LRT I found myself jammed into the railcar Tokyo-style. Right next to me was the same guy who sat acriss the aisle from me on the flight from Saigon to Manila.

So, what is there to see?

Intramuros


The old Spanish walled city. Most of it was destroyed by the Americans during World War II but some of it still remains. You can really get a feel that you're stepping back in time into the Spanish colonial era, where people wore European clothes in tropical weather and there was a Catholic church on every street corner:


Makati

The first-world part of the city. Shops, restaurants, bars and upscale shopping malls. Where the moneyed class chooses to live and play (if they don't live in subdivisions outside the city).

The Ayala Museum

A very modern museum built by the fabulously wealthy Ayala family. It tries to be all things to all people, encompassing ancient Filipino hstory, modern political history, ancient art, modern art, and some marine biology for good measure.

Rizal Park (aka the Luneta)

Practically the only sizable park in the city, it has an oddly disorganized and un-parklike feel to it. Stl, it contains a decent National Gallery (houding Juan Luna's masterwork Spolarium) as well as a pleasant Chinese Garden and a Chess Plaza where unsuspecting Americans like myself can lose 20 pesos playing against Filipino experts:


Small World Part II: While in the Ayala Museum I ran into a Filipino couple and their Canadian friend. I ran into the same group in the National Gallery AND in the Luneta.

Binondo


Manila's Chinatown. More or less the same as Chinatowns all over the world: narrow streets, Chinese restaurants, herbal medicine stores etc. It also borders Quiapo, which is the chaotic counterfeit-goods haven of the city.

Malls, malls and malls

As expected, Manila has more shopping malls than you could believe possible in such a crowded city. The biggest is Mall of Asia, which is - I believe - the fourth largest mall in the world.

Saigon Detour

So here I am back in Saigon for a weeklong visit, meeting old friends and savoring the relatively sophisticated atmosphere.

Alot is still the same. Millions of motorbikes, pho stalls on every corner, and the tourist district of Pham Ngu Lao/De Tham is as pleasantly run-down as ever.

Even so, alot has changed. There is a huge new shopping mall at the corner of Dong Khoi and Le Thanh Ton, while half the other buildings downtown seem to be in the process of being renovated. There's also the Tallest Building in All of Vietnam being constructed along the Saigon River:

Well, that's economic expansion for you. In another 10 years this city (or at least the center) will probably resemble Hong Kong or Singapore more than the old French colonial town it once was. I hope they don't totally destroy everything that made the city unique - the colonial architecture, the amazing street food etc. But i'm afraid it's only a matter of time before some official decides that such things make Vietnam look 'backward' and then they'll be gone forever.

Malapascua

Malapascua is a small island to the north of Cebu. I'd have bet a thousand pesos that 'mala pascua' meant 'bad Easter', but apparently the Visayans have decided that 'pascua' should mean Christmas, even though it means Easter in Spanish. The name comes from the Spanish sailors who arrived on the island one stormy Christmas night sometime in the 1500s.

Nowadays, Malapascua is a developing resort island, with a fair number of beachside hotels but still mostly rural. The beach is nice enough:


And you can go snorkeling:


There are some rather beautiful corals on the ocean floor and supposedly some manta rays and plankton-eating sharks, but I didn't see them.

For some reason, there are throngs of Germans and Austrians everywhere - to the point where the local guides are as likely to speak German as English.

Hello, Joe!

So whenever I'm walking down the street and I pass a group of children, they almost always wave at me and say 'Hey Joe!" Is that like GI Joe? Kind of strange...