Finallly Here!

I finally made it! I can not believe everything I have seen in the passed few days. Getting to the Philippines isn’t the easiest thing... after four flights + a night in a city with so much commotion it makes New York city look rural + one more flight we made it to Tacloban on the island of Leyte. Let me back up to our night in Manila. I have never been to a city quite like that one. It was a little mixture of Las Vegas lights, New York noises and Slum Dog Millionaire housing all bunched into one place. I cannot believe how many people could fit into one city. We arrived a little after nine and were exhausted to say the least. We hopped into a tiny cab (emphasis on tiny) and played frogger all the way to our hotel. Seriously the driver should be entered into a NASCAR race. I would put my money + my scooter to bet that he would win. Our hotel was called the RAF Mansion. It was very ornate and I didn’t mind the Christmas tree in the lobby one bit. We were escorted to our rooms and were asleep within the hour. I awoke to plenty of noises outside (the honks, yelling and music never stops) and let the others sleep while I hurried to get ready since I felt like there wasn’t any chance of me falling back to sleep. After taking as much time as I possible could to get ready, I glanced at my phone to see if I should wake the other girls up. I got a weird hunch that I should look up the time on my computer to see if it was right on my phone.  Manila: 3:05 a.m. is what google told me. Completely dressed and ready to head out the door, I let out a huge laugh and crawled back into bed. 

When the real morning finally came, we headed for breakfast which was actually next door. Stepping passed the slow cooked pig with its mouth wide open lessened my hunger just a bit. The waitress kindly gave us our menus which had four different choices. Then kindly pointed out that one was unavailable which left three choices. You get rice + egg + (a hot dog, pork saucers or fish). The rice was delicious and the hot dog was the reddest, but yummiest hot dog I have ever eaten for breakfast. We walked the streets for a little while after that passing tons of little vendors, markets and people. I thought I got a lot of stares in Russia, but that was baby to here. If I had to choose a country to represent me in a starring contest this would be my #1 choice hands down. Exploring was awesome though once you got used to the feeling of being a circus animal. I cannot believe how cheap everything is here. We found a lady selling iphones for 50 dollars. Whether or not they are real... questionable, but I felt like a millionaire. The best part of the morning was trying the fruit. After getting passed the fact it kind of looks like a sea urchant + flicking off all the ants the taste is outstanding. I have never seen so many different kinds of fruits and they are all delicious. Ramboton and mangonese are two of my favorites. So delicious. And their mangos put ours to shame. I could eat them all day. 

We headed back to the airport for our last flight. Manila wasn’t exactly how I pictured the Philippines.. and would probably never want to live there. Okay pull out probably insert never ever. The flight to Tacloban was short and sweet. We got off the plane and stepped into this tiny building (their airport) that had one little baggage belt. We grabbed our bags and headed outside. Then I saw them. 

I have always dreamed of coming off a plane and having someone standing there, holding a paper that neatly said Miss Parrish on it. I figured it would happen one day when I am old and grey and maybe lucked out by winning the lottery to some exotic destination. We headed outside with our mega suitcases and thats when I found out dreams come true. Standing in front of me were two friendly faces with smiles as big as their little bodies holding none other than a real sign with my name on it. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome. 

Dr. Jean Valdez and Sir Alex were a hoot and a half. Our journey was not over quite yet, to get to Tomas Oppus we had a two hour van ride, although with any other driver besides Mowro (don’t forget to roll your “r”) it would have taken at least three. Imagine riding down a one lane road with people walking + riding bikes with multiple passengers, and jeepneys filled to the brim with commuters; then picture the night bus driver from Harry Potter. With these three we started the real Filipino journey.