A Big Adventure

28^th December 2008 Manila, Philippines

Up very late and even later before we got the children up and at ‘em.

Today was our last full day in Manila. I may be seriously wrong but on my visits to Manila it has never struck me as a city to walk around, a city of interesting places, and again it’s poor transport choices do not make getting around easy.

So, today  we all headed out to the malls all squeezed into a cab, this time Glorietta, Landmark and Greenbelt a linked collection of massive malls with everything from designer gear, through to the usual chains and also some small local designers. Lot’s of electronics stores, cinemas, restaurants, cafes and bars.

There is another major mall in Manila called the Mall of Asia which is allegedly the largest mall in Asia, that may be technically true but it’s actually not that exciting a place – Today’s choice on the other hand is a full on day of exploring all the nooks and crannies of multiple malls.

We had a spot of lunch at a grill restaurant and then we walked more miles through all the interlinked malls, trying hard to steer clear of book shops (our collective weakness). We had an enjoyable day of strolling, all the cinemas are taking advantage of the local holidays by showing only local films so there was no opportunity to show our children that even the Philippines cinemas are better than those back home. But believe me they are, except for the national Philippine pastime which is texting and goes on throughout the films.  These folks are going to have the fastest strongest thumbs in the world.

Stefan insisted that we ate at Gerries a superb restaurant and his favouite in Manila, it was very full with an hours wait.. So we found a bar on the street so we could all sit outside and we had San Mig Lite and played cards, Sabastion was unbeatable. Then when it was time it was back to Grerries. Stefan went for Blue Marlin Steak, I chose probably the finest fried chicken I had ever had. Sasha continued her Club Sandwich world tour but was not impressed. Basty had very nice and juicy looking spare ribs and Sofia decided to try all local dishes, which was fairly interesting, but I’m not sure if she would repeat the choice. We headed back to the hotel and after some Boston Legal hit the sheets.

Tomorrow we will get picked up by my Mother in Law who now lives in the Philippines and taken down to her home in Tagaytay which is right on the side of a still active volcano in the middle of a lake created by an even bigger volcano. Compared with Manila it is cooler and fresher less hectic and offers amazing views.