You only get one chance to make a first impression

Everyone has said to me that I'll experience cultural shock when I arrive in Manila and to an extent they were right. Within minutes of getting off the airplane I was faced with beggars, something unfortunately you just have to ignore, further down the road I saw a teenage boy carrying his obviously disabled relative on his back.

Then there are the roads; there are no speed limits and hardly any road markings so cars drive so close to each other and just constantly sound their horns to prevent accidents. It was more funny then scary. They seem almost competent in the mayhem. I'll definitely be staying in the passenger seat though.

The juxtaposition between Makati and the rest of the city is extreme. Makati, in the standards of Manila is clean and fairly quiet. I live about 300m from a huge shopping complex, The Greenbelt, and it is absolutely beautiful. The centre has a garden in the middle and by night it lights up (the entire city does). I walked through the Greenbelt doors with my mouth open. It leaves Sydney begging (ironic really).

I have made friends with a political campaign analyst who will be travelling to Uganda in a few weeks to follow the political trail, he is German and very interesting to chat too.

Apparently there are other Aussies in my hotel but I am yet to meet them.

There are security guards carrying guns on every corner. They are all nice though. They all say, "Hey Mam" every time I walk past. lol

I am going to do grocery shopping today so I can survive on something other then bottled water and then I am going to do the trek to the Philippine Daily Inquirer office so I can work out how long it will take to get there on Wednesday when I start.

Lots of love

Stace

xxx