Breaking the ice in great heat and humidity

Phew! Here's to my first real day in Manilla! First off, I can't believe how friendly the people are here. It's strange that everywhere I go people stare at me but when I catch eyes with them, they smile and say something nice. In short, here's how my first day went (you wont get pictures for a few days because I can't get into the habit of uploading them daily).

I woke early this morning with butterflies in my stomach. Last night, I arrived at the hostel around midnight and had a beer on the 5th floor balcony of the hostel alone. A lightening storm sparked the night sky for the not so distant ocean. After watching a city below not sleeping like myself, I couldn't resist going out for a walk around the town that seemed to be well lit and still bustling with small crowds, dance music, street vendors and night life. My walk was short and mostly uneventful. After a quick beer at a roadside local pub, I realized how much I should sleep for tomorrow and called it a night.

Oh yeah, back to this morning. I started my day with a walk to a restaurant called chefs choice where I found a traditional Philipino breakfast of eggs, rice, a small slice of fish belly, pork sausage and beef tapas. I've made it a goal to try to eat the most local and varied foods I can find (god help me!)

After breakfast, I talked with fellow hostellers about possible itineraries and destinations then headed out to the streets to see what I could find to do for the day. To start, I rode a bicycle taxi which was something more like a tricycle taxi. Moments after departure, A 5 yr old hopped on my leg for the ride- He pointed at the driver and told me it was his Dad peddling. I'm cool with take your kid to work day. The bike taxi took me to a historical district where I walked for about an hour before meeting Rolando, a horse and buggy driver who insisted that I accept a ride with him around the best places in manilla. Rolando turned out to be a retired sailor of twenty yrs and his horse was named "rambo"! How could I refuse? The ride turned out to be an unforgetable, educational and awesome experience. In a side note, on that ride, I photographed so many local people who seemed to smile at my slightest recognition. I tell you, these people are warm hearted! You'll see in the pictures. Whilst on the buggy ride, Rolando, aside from giving the usual practiced lectures of local history, shared and exchanged sea stories with me as we genuinely laughed and listened wholeheartedly. Strange----While saying goodbye to Rolando, He took my hands and asked me to meet his daughter. He told me that he would be proud to to hear me call him "PAPA" someday. I greatfuly declined but said thanks papa.

It's now later in the day, I've just eaten at a local restaurant the second strangest thing I could find on the menu- Tripe and cow knuckles in a tomato, olive sauce with a side of rice. The first bite (or perhaps I should say slurp) was the toughest. I'll tell you about the first strangest thing when I actually eat it.

Tomorrow, (Philipino flag day) I'll be on the road closer to a beach and hope to do some scuba diving in a few days. I'm going out tonite but getting up early.

Peace!