Delicious Burdens

Manila — First impressions

I expect to be assailed by unsavoury smells as I walk out of the airport, yet although the air is humid it’s not unpleasant. Manila has improved significantly since my last visit in 1996.

The traffic, though chaotic and slow, manages to work itself out, and the dire warnings of expats are, I think, unfounded. This also applies to crowds in the shopping centres, kidnapping threats and food poisoning. Paranoia kills the holiday spirit.

Jeepneys are much more toned down, and there seem to be fewer of them around.

Registration plates are colour-coded. One day a week, you’re not allowed to drive your vehicle in the city.

Post no bill.

Street food is everywhere. You will never want for chicken barbeque.

Kids are bred tough here. Little ones chase huge trucks lumbering in the street and hop on at the back, hanging on to the door latch, for a quick lift around.

You can hear Sunday Mass in all the major shopping centres, and the chapel has more people than my local parish in Australia at Easter.

Public toilets in the city—at least in the shopping centres—have improved. Never underestimate the value of a flushing toilet and two-ply toilet paper on the psyche. My butt thanks you, Manila.

The ladies’ toilets is dominated by women applying make-up, brushing their teeth or combing their hair. They comb their hair a lot here. A lot.

Billboards here are ginormous—something to look at when stuck in traffic.

Manila’s weather is hotter than Sydney but nowhere near as oppressive. Then again, we’ve mostly been in air-conditioned vehicles and shopping centres. And yet people walk around in long-sleeved shirts and cardigans.

Unleaded petrol is a foreign concept, as are footpaths.

The Christmas lights aren’t as ornate and lavish as I remember, but the parol stalls are fantastic.

We pass by an open coffin surrounded by flowers—obviously a wake—by the side of a street. Nearby, a group of men play mahjongg. It’s the one time when unlicensed gambling is allowed, because it enables families to raise enough money for the burial of their loved ones.

So gambling buddies are always on the lookout for another dead person.