As Seen by TV

Since I only spent a night and day in Manila I can’t say anything definitively, but at first glance it’s not my favorite place. Although I did enjoy (completely by accident) walking into a bar with a stage full of girls on it. In all honesty, I just wanted to grab a beer somewhere and my girl wanted a pool table, so we walked into the first place we spotted… and got a little more than we bargained for. Interestingly enough, my first beer in the Philippines was the most expensive of the entire trip (150 PHP / US$ 3.50), which is funny because the same thing happened upon arrival here in Shanghai.

Luckily the day after I arrived we took the +6hr bus up into the highlands towards Baguio City… ah, how I miss that fresh air. And being able to see the stars.

*UPDATE* Typhoon Magi, that hit the Philippines a couple days ago, wiped out most, if not all, the fields in the second-to-last image, the infamous strawberry fields of La Trinidad.

Well, it’s been a while… I was away on holiday throughout the northern Philippines for the better part of the past 3 weeks, getting away from the Chinese [festivities].
1300+ images captured, and 200+ concentrated on the infamous Philippine jeepney.

So, seems only fitting that my first post should be the various jeepneys I came across during my trip…
The word “jeepney” itself is derived from the words ‘jeep’ (off-road vehicle) and ‘jitney’ (shared taxi). The original generation of jeepneys were made from military jeeps left over by American soldiers, but as you can see in the images below, they were somewhat modified, as to accommodate roughly 22 people. They run like buses without bus stops, and what also struck me as odd, is that not only can you ride on the roof (outside the cities), but that payment is made via the honor system (which sure as hell would not work in China). Most also now run on Isuzu engines, which is somewhat ironic considering the circumstances (FYI: the Americans were fighting the Japanese when they transported the jeeps over in the first place).

The painting is done almost entirely by hand, and it was so incredibly refreshing to see some color (that didn’t involved blinking lights) and more importantly: artistic creativity, which is severely lacking in China, to say the very least.