Virginia thought that it would be a good idea to spend our last two days in Manila in a nicer hotel. She paid for two nights at the Palm Plaza, which set us up with a huge bed, cable TV, a shower with hot water, and laundry services. We spent our time wandering around the enormous malls, handicraft shopping, and trying the restaurants.  Within Manila, there are probably about 20 to 30 malls, all larger than the ones we get back in the states. The Araneta ...

It's 10:27am and I have ten hours to kill until I can check in for my flight out of Manila. The small waiting area in the airport was fine, but I don't think I'd be able to entertain myself for ten hours. Virginia checked in and left for the terminal about two hours ago.We said our goodbyes (no need to go into it), and I realized that I'd have to catch a taxi back into town or else wait around for the entire day eating potato chips and drinking ...

When I left off last time, Virginia and I were trying to decide what to do with the rest of our time.  With only two days until we had to return to Manila, we wanted to fit in some waterfalls, caves, jungle hikes, some more beaches, ruins, and volcanoes.  Turns out that nothing is really that reliable here.  Things like buses and boats don't have schedules, so you just have to ask around to find out what time the next one will be leaving. ...

I've been thinking about the situation in Malapascua (see my previous post), and I'm developing a theory on tourism and how it works and changes a place. I've decided that it all works in stages. The islands of the Philippines are perfect examples, because they provide small, closed environments, so it's real easy to see what's going on. Before the islands are discovered by the tourist crowd, they consist of several small fishing villages, ...

So I guess I left off last time at Boracay. We left Boracay a few days ago and made our way down through the island of Panay to Iloilo City. Something I ate didn't agree with me and I ended up throwing up in a plastic bag on the bus ride to Iloilo. Luckily all I had eaten was a mango and a saltine cracker, otherwise it could have been a major crisis. I never thought mangoes would betray me, but I guess I was wrong. I felt fine after that incident though,...