1898

June 29

Day Two- Much Better Than Day One

It was a slow start to the day today. The morning is when the streets are busiest with people that will try to rip you off. They are absolutely everywhere. It is impossible to avoid people that want to make some sort of deal with you. Because of that, and the guy I “owe” Php 200, I elected not to go out in the morning and instead watch television until noon. At noon, I elected to go do the same lunch that I did yesterday. Today's menu was not as good. The curry chicken with fried noodles and white rice was alright, but not nearly as good as yesterdays jerk chicken. However, I was still able to access the internet and get caught up on some things.

For the afternoon, I was in “Don't get ripped off” mode. On the internet I saw that I was close to the American Embassy as well as a big park so I decided to check those out. It was definitely a good choice. The US Embassy was huge, way bigger than any of the other ones that I saw. They have like three different areas just for Filipinos to get US visas. I would have pictures of it, but I barely had my camera out of my pocket before two security guards started yelling at me. So no pictures on that front.

I was about to skip the park because of how huge the intersection was to get to it. That's one thing about the streets here: it takes a serious amount of testosterone to cross. While the area may have crosswalks, the preferred strategy to cross is to wait for the smallest gap and then just start walking. It is common for people to be halfway in the street waiting for another car or two to pass before they reach the median. Then they repeat the process again.

So instead I crossed the street at a different point and looked around the area there. Little did I know that I was still entering the park, just at the very end of it. From there, I was able to get to the rest of the park at an easier section in the road. The park was huge and had lots of stuff in it. It was not just a big area of grass. There were many statues and monuments. I can't say for sure, but I believe that it is the national park. One of the main areas has a plaque commemorating the exact location where the United States granted the Filipinos independence on July 4, 1946. It made me wonder how much fun it would be to celebrate independence day halfway across the world around people that are doing the same thing.

I was checking out a cool little bridge area when a man said that I couldn't walk there. So I walked to another statue and he approached me and started telling me information. He told me he would show me some of the other areas in the park. Weary of getting ripped off again, I let him take me there but I knew that I needed to make terms with him before he showed me too much. Two of the areas that he showed me were a Chinese area and a chess park. The highlight of the Chinese park was the big statue of Confucius. I was surprised that he had an influence all the way down in the Philippines. The interesting part of the chess area was how quick the games go. Most of the players played games where they would start out with 5 minutes and no time would be added per turn. These guys were absolutely flying. At one point in the game, the button barely popped up on their side before the player would pound it down again. I found out that it is 10 pesos (about 20 cents US) per hour to use the equipment. Not too shabby. Still weary of getting ripped off, I declined the multiple offers to play a game. Oh yeah, un-timed chess here is called “Long Chess.”

When the told me he would show me another area of the park, I knew it was time to talk money. He explained to me that he did it for goodwill and if people felt inclined they could give him a donation at the end. I explained what happened to me yesterday and he told me that not all Filipinos were like that. Scam artists give a bad reputation to the rest of the people. I wanted to believe him, but I still had to be hesitant.

Next, he told me that we would go to see an old Spanish fort, and I made sure it was close by before I went with him. It ended up being pretty cool and offered a great view of a spectacular golf course and some of the government buildings. After that we went back to the park and that's where he said we would part ways. I gave him a 20 peso and he insisted that we buy water with it. We both got a water and then parted ways. In hindsight, I should have given him more than that since he showed me areas that otherwise I would not have seen. A 50 or 100 would have been more appropriate. I also feel bad for lying to him because I told him early on before I realized that he actually was a good man that my parents were staying back at the hotel. I said that I was leaving in two days and if we weren't doing anything I would invite my family back to the park to get a better tour. He said that he would take us on the train and the jeepneys (kind-of long pick-ups with benches in the back used as buses) to get places so I wouldn't get ripped off by taking a cab again. At least I told him that we would probably have plans. In any case, if you are ever in Manila and looking for a cool historical tour, I would highly recommend walking to Rizal Park and looking for the man named Paul.