Anvaya Cove, Subic Yacht Club, Hello Philippines

In order to get to the Philippines from Japan my flight had a layover in Taiwan. I did not realize that Taiwan’s airport only had one runway. Although our flight was on schedule and the plane made good time to get there we had to fly in circles from about 20 minutes as we waited for the only runway to clear. Leaving Taiwan was worse. We sat in the plane, which was all ready to go, for almost 30 minutes before they told us the runway was clear for us.

            I arrived in the Philippines and was surprised. There were so many people in the airport and getting through immigration and customs was crazy. The lines were so unorganized. It seemed like there were too many people in comparison to the number of lines open. It took forever to get through it all and it was so hot. I was worried though because instead of arriving at 3:30pm I arrived a lot later.

            I tried a phone in the airport to call my friend Justin but it didn’t work. One of the officers made a funny/creepy face at me so I left the airport to the pickup zone. There were tons and tons of people there and it was just so humid. I was about to try to dial a payphone out here when I was surprised by a hug. My friend Justin from Spain had found me. His driver grabbed my bags and threw them in the car. We left at about 5:30pm and didn’t get to Justin’s house until 8:30pm. Justin doesn’t live too far from the airport; the traffic was just really bad. The car moved at such a snail’s pace. People drive differently around here. They cut lanes so everyone has to drive very defensively.

            Eventually we made it to Justin’s place. He lives in a small gated community. Guards watch the main gate. In his house he has helpers. Some are drivers and some do household things. They live in the house.

            We had a very laid back night and the next day we went to Subic early in the morning. It took about 2 ½ or 3 hours to drive there. I met Justin’s friends David, Gian, and Ali. They were all really nice. Gian writes speeches for the President of the Philippines, David does advertising for products, and Ali works with an NGO that sends Filipino volunteers to other countries. All of them were so open and accepting. It was really fun to hangout with them.

Anvaya Cove

Beach at Anvaya Cove

            We went to Anvaya Cove, which is an exclusive beach. It was such a great place; so relaxing. They had big pools, an observatory tower, and a beach with very fine sand. We found a table, played some music and hung out. I had a melon shake. Later we ate some Filipino food. We had crispy pata, which is a leg of pork cooked until crispy, then kare kare, which is a peanut soup with vegetables and meat in it, and sizzling pork. For dessert we had lecheflan, which is kind of a pudding made out of eggs, milk, and sugar. It was all really good. Later we had Halo Halo. It is a dessert that looks like a big thing of purple icecream and shaved ice then at the bottom there are colorful beans, fruit, and tapioca.

David, Justin, and I

            After a long relaxing day at the beach we got a pizza for dinner and then went to the Subic Yacht club. We had a room there. Our room overlooked a harbor filled with yachts. We had a balcony and there were two little geckos on the wall. Everyone was pretty tired so we hung out for a bit and then went to bed.

The Harbor at the Subic Yacht Club

            Justin’s friends had to leave early the next day, but we took our time. We went to a place called Seafood by the Bay for lunch. We had prawns, clams, and squid. It was really fresh and seasoned well.

            It took us awhile to get back to Manila. Then we visited SM Aura. It is a giant mall that looks almost as big as the mall of America. The SM in SM Aura stands for Shoe Mart. Shoe Mart is a company created by Henry Sy. He started out by selling shoes at a corner store. He became very successful and over time kept expanding. Now he is the richest man in the Philippines and the 14^th wealthiest person in Southeast Asia. He developed the SM Group of companies. He sells properties, builds malls, and has become the “retail king.”

            We grew tired so we got dinner. For dinner we had Sinigang, which is a sour soup with pork and spinach in it. We also had chicharon bulaklak, which are fried pork intestines that you dip in a vinegar sauce. I think Justin's goal on this trip is to get me to eat all sorts of Filipino food. He really takes pride in their food and wishes it was more well known around the world.

            Tomorrow I am going to site see around Manila. Then later in the week we are going to the Island of Boracay to see some of the best beaches in the world.