Taking in "New" Manila

I spent most of my childhood in our old school and neighbourhood and so my impressions of Manila going into the final leg of our trip to Manila were a lot different than what I actually saw.

In Manila, you see the very best and the very worst. The very best being some of the most amazing homes and neighbourhoods where the wealthy lived and the very worst, which makes Toronto's poorest neighbourhoods feel like luxury.



Andrew and I thought that the slums (above) were the worst, but my mom told me during our dinner last night that the slums weren't even the worst. There's an area called Smokey Mountain (aka the mountainous garbage dumps in Central Manila), where the poorest of the poor lived off the garbage. My mom said that when she used to organize school outreach to this area after the devastating typhoons, some families would happily tell her that they loved the typhoon, because it meant that people brought them food donations aftwards. Sobering, isn't it?

Thanks to my uncle's family, Andrew and I got to experience some of "new" Manila, including beautiful malls filled with great stores and restaurants.

The one that made the biggest impression on me was the Green Belt area, which we visited on Saturday night. The area is best described as Toronto's Yorkville area, but much bigger and better. Green Belt has an amazing balance of luxury and chic, while remaining accessible enough to attract much of Manila's young people, tourists and ex pats. A newly built mall in the area was impressive. It makes Toronto malls seem so lame.

And just let me emphasize that the shopping in Manila is great!

After dinner at the Green Belt area with my uncle's family and cousins

Pigging Out: McDonald's in Asia

Starbucks in Philippines offers pork adobo rolls and corned beef pandesal. And just to give ourselves an excuse to pig out - we had to, just had to, check out McDonald's on all our Asia stops to see how their menus differed.

Beijing



The 4-piece spicy chicken wings meal (pictured at the top) had a nice kick. You can also order a cup of corn for your side instead of fries. Want an orange juice float, too? And I just had to get some Happy Meal toys for the hag - as a long-awaited gift for the Snoopy toy she got me from a Hong Kong McDonald's ten or so years ago. :)



Hong Kong



Chicken wings was also on the menu, as was clam chowder (yum!) and a wasabi fish of fillet sandwich. What is really cool - aside from offering 20-minutes of free wifi - is the separate McCafé set-up in the same store (pictured above), which comes complete with an array of coffee drinks and desserts. Watch out Starbucks!



Philippines

Want a fried chicken meal with rice or gravy - or how about spaghetti? As I mentioned before, McDonald's has some interesting items on their menu, mainly, I suspect, to compete with Jollibee, which outperforms the fast food juggernaut in this country. But I must ask: where's the McChicken Adobo?

Overnight Stay at Beautiful Tagaytay

Last Wednesday, upon arriving in Manila from Boracay, my uncle's family (pictured below) picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the Tagaytay Highlands. It was beautiful there and a generous overnight trip that my uncle treated us to.



About a one-hour drive from the city, Tagaytay Highlands has a ski resort feel to it - without the snow, of course. The place we stayed at had a spectacular mountain view; and the room my uncle reserved for Andrew and I was the nicest room we've ever stayed at (see video below).



The overnight stay was relaxing. Vacationers can also play golf on a mountain top course or go nuts at an indoor recreation centre that had a large bowling alley, pool, gym, cinema and more.

The vacation homes in the area - owned by the wealthy - were absolutely stunning (like the one pictured below). It certainly reaffirmed my motivation to work hard so that I can own one of my own in the future - personally designed hand-in-hand with an architect. Ahh, so nice to have big dreams and little means to achieve them. Hope that changes one day, though!

Revisiting San Bin: My Childhood Home

In Beijing, we saw the Great Wall. In Hong Kong, it was the Giant Buddha. But the visit that has left the most profound effect on me during the past three weeks was revisiting my childhood home in Manila.

My family lived in a three-storey school - San Bin Private School - from 1983, when I was two, to 1989, when we immigrated to Canada. My mom was the principal and my family lived in a small unit on the second floor. The maintenance guy's family also lived on the second floor and my friend Kiking's family lived on the third floor.

I still have so many happy memories of San Bin. From my friends to teachers, to countless hours playing pretend teacher in the empty classrooms during weekends, to the terrifying flying cockroaches that chased me around our small home - all the way to riding the casela (horse carriage - which are still there) down the street with my dad. I even tutored classmates in kindergarten and grade 1. Apparently, one parent was so appreciative that she gave me a whole cooked chicken for Christmas!

Looking back, it was quite fun being able to wake up 15 minutes before class and just walking down the hallway to class - or coming out of the shower and seeing classmates hanging out in the hallway right outside our front door.

Last Friday morning, my aunt took me to visit my old home and neighbourhood. Driving down the street in the Binondo neighbourhood - where we lived - everything seemed so familiar yet so different. For one, the streets were so much smaller.

When we drove over a bridge, I remembered it as the same bridge that I crossed the time I ran off from my mom's work at the local Chinese newspaper (where she worked as a reporter/editor - yes, she was a workaholic), because she wouldn't let me watch my Bioman tv show using the work TV. So I decided to walk home and watch it there. As our area was not the safest place for a 6-year-old boy to wander by himself, did I ever get in a lot of shit when my mom eventually located me on the street, shortly after I had crossed that bridge.

When we finally reached Camba Street - where San Bin was - I had to take a deep breath. This was the moment I had been waiting for the entire trip. Then I was devastated when I discovered that the school was no longer there. It had closed down nearly two years ago. In its place, a condominium had already started construction.





I was looking so forward to potentially going in and seeing:

Our old home: the kitchen - which you saw first thing when you walked in - where my dad quizzed me on multiplication table while I ate my lunch; the small space where Sa and I shared a green metal bunk bed; my parent's bedroom where I watched TV on the weekends and repeatedly watched Sleeping Beauty, because it was the only Betamax movie I had (talk about conditioning a future homo, eh?).

Our old decrepit bathroom, where we had no functional shower or toilet - so I had to shower using a pail and bucket and take a dump into an old cooking pot, which our maid Emma would then clean. Someone please explain to me how we could afford to have a maid but not a proper toilet?

The small basketball court, where students lined up once a week - by their grade level - and all did physical exercises together (jumping jacks, squats, etc.); where the school put up a stage as part of the annual student talent show or during the year-end ceremony to award top students with medals and certificates.

The old classrooms, where had long school days - from 7:15 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. everyday; where students had to get up and greet the teacher everytime she walked in or out of the room (this got really annoying when a teacher would not make up her mind whether or not she was coming or going).



The disappointment over not seeing San Bin wore off very quickly, because just being in that space made me feel like I had revisited a really special time. It is a hard feeling to explain. It's not like driving back to my old apartment in North York, Toronto. This was different.

San Bin was not just an old home - but today, even though it's no longer there, it represents a lot of "what ifs." Like, where would I be now and what would I be like - if my parents had not made the decision to immigrate to Canada. For one thing, seeing my old home definitely drove the point home that my parents made big personal sacrifices when they made the decision to immigrate to Canada - so that my sister and I were able to have more opportunities here.

When my uncle asked me during dinner the other day if I have any regrets about coming to Canada, I could only reply with a smile, "I don't know. You'd have to ask my parents."

Harrowing heights, hip hop and hotels on day trip to Macau

Macau is a small place. But it has big dreams of becoming Asia's equivalent to Las Vegas - with lush hotels, casinos, exciting race tracks and entertainment attractions. It's certainly well on its way.

We spent our last day in Hong Kong - on Thursday, Oct. 30 - across the harbour in Macau. If you ever decide to visit Macau, leave early and make sure to bring your passport in order to get on the ferry.

Because we forgot to bring our passport, we missed the earlier ferry and only got to spend half a day in Macau - which began with an hour-long ferry ride from the Hong Kong Harbour ($55 CAN return fare).

We dropped by first to the Sands Casino and Hotel, where my niece Terry - founder of Vybe Dance Company - has produced a hip hop show that also combines live singing. We had such perfect timing - as her show was on when we arrived. The show was great.





Our next stop was to see the beautiful Venetian hotel, one of the largest and top hotels and casinos in Macau. Having not been in many luxury hotels, I was impressed by the indoor Grand Canal Plaza, which mimics Venice's lush canals - with high-end shops on both sides of the simulated river. I played $20 in the slot machines and lost within 20 seconds.





Our day ended 255 meters above ground - with the Skywalk on the outside circular ledge of Macau Tower. Only a harness tied to an above-head circular perimetre, prevented us from going over. Seeing Macau from this angle was just stunning - even for a guy who's afraid of heights like I am.

Kiking

You can technically say I got beat up by a girl when I was younger. This girl is Kiking, who kicked out my front tooth while we were playfighting once. It's really hilarious, actually, looking back. My dad got so mad that he didn't want the two of us hanging out anymore! And me - well, I have a lot of funny big smily pictures from my childhood to look and laugh at now.

Kiking - aka Christine - was one of my good friends when I lived at the San Bin Private School from age 3 to 7, before immigrating to Canada in 1989. My family lived on the second floor, while hers lived on the third. I hung out often at her place and spent a lot of time sitting and watching her two older brothers play Nintendo (the game Kung Fu was so cool at the time). She also had a maid named As, who was nice. For some reason, I also remember really enjoying the deep fried frog legs they served when they invited me over for dinner once.

Kiking and I haven't kept in touch much since I left in 1989, but began to again about a year ago. So I really wanted to see her during my stop in Manila. She joined my cousins and I for hot pot dinner in the Ongpin area (Chinatown) on Friday night, which was near our old home, San Bin.

It was so good to see Kiking again. It's like the 19.5 years just flew by. And yes, the tooth-kicking story was one of the first to be retold!

Jollibee!!!

Clockwise (from top left): My cousin Ryan, me, my sister-in-law Paulette, my brother Angel

When we used to live in the Philippines, a Sunday afternoon ritual was to go to Jollibee with my dad - and often, my sister too - and to enjoy a sundae. I always got the hot fudge sundae, while Sa got the strawberry.

Jollibee is a Filipino fast food chain. It is the only chain in the world that outperforms McDonald's at the local market level. It does so well, that McDonald's in Philippines offers a fried chicken and rice meal - and also spaghetti - on the menu to compete with Jollibee.

Saturday afternoon, after we got the memorial plaque for my dad's granite bench where his urn is stored, my brother and sister-in-law took Andrew and I to Jollibee, because I had said I wanted to (in Beijing it was the Great Wall; in Manila, it's all about nostalgia). I tried the Chicken Joy meal - two pieces of fried chicken, rice and gravy. It was so good! Of course, we had to have the sundae too. Still as good as I remembered it.

Andrew spotted the Jollibee stuffed toy and my brother actually bought it for him! It was hilarious.

It was awkward at first trying to socialize with my brother - having only seen/talked to him maybe five times in the past 20 years. But it got easier throughout my short visit in Manila. It was also nice, because as I said, at the end of the day, we're the only family we have left on my dad's side - and that's something to value and not to take for granted.

The thing in the wrapper is not a burger. It's rice!

Bittersweet Morning

We're leaving Manila and flying back to Toronto this morning. I'm very sad. It's very bittersweet. On one hand, I miss home; on the other, I don't want to leave here. I've had so much fun. I'm still in a bit of a denial that the whole month has just flown by.

There have been so many highlights, including a day trip to Macau and all of the Manila trip that I have yet to recap. Will do that in the next day or so - in between flights or when I reach Toronto.

My entire system is going to be in for a big shock when I get back. You know you've had a great vacation when you don't even remember what it's like to work or you have a hard time visualizing what your home looks like.

See you all back home very soon!

Manila: Final Destination and A Long-Awaited Homecoming

On Wednesday afternoon, we arrived in Manila and my uncle, aunt and three cousins greeted us. We are now in the Highlands at Tagaytay, a resort area located an hour drive outside the city. It is so beautiful and serene here.

As I sit here in the carpeted hallway of our Canadian ski lodge-inspired resort (have to pick up free wifi where I can), at the top of the second floor stairway at 11:30 p.m., it is quiet and there is a beautiful night fog outside. We are at the mountain top, with a spectacular view of the city lights.

The fourth and final leg of our Asia trip - Manila - also happens to be the city where I was born and where I lived until my family immigrated to Canada in April 1989, when I was just 7 years old. I have never been back home since.

Now back home after almost 20 years, I get a taste and glimpse of the city from looking out the window during the car rides. The city is very different from what I remember, yet subconsciously similar.

I am looking very forward to rediscovering this place, my home away from home.

View from the Ocean

I really wish I could this ocean back to Toronto with me. I'll be sad when I have to say goodbye to it.

Heavenly Midnight Massage and Facial

Many people tell me I have a problem relaxing - like I often have the weight of the world on my shoulders. That was one of my goals on this trip: to relax. A midnight massage and facial at the Kai Spa located in our resort - Boracay Regency - did just that.

Andrew did a three-hour massage, facial and foot treatment package the night before and raved above it. I opted for the same package, except the foot treatment. Andrew went back to the spa with me - for a hand treatment.

Having never done something like this before, I can now say that I know what it truly feels to be pampered. First off, the spa was gorgeous. If I could renovate my home, I would do it in this style. Modern, chic and a true feeling of stepping into an oasis.

I started with a quick shower in the nicest stall I've ever been in then followed with a few minutes in the sauna. We then got ushered into the waiting room, where we got served a delicious warm cup of ginger and lemongrass tea.

Inside the private treatment room and from the moment the masseuse dipped my feet into the warm bowl filled with pebbles and rose petals, I knew this was going to be a royal indulgence for my senses.

The massage was first. Antithetical to my normal behaviour, I surrended to the massuese immediately. The different creams and exfoliants she used were heavenly. For a nice slow hour - with "Music for Colonics" playing in the background, I became tenderized with her skilled hands. It also began to rain shortly before my massage and the heavy water and wind beating against the window enhanced the rainforest ambiance the spa was trying to achieve.

There was one embarrassing point when the masseuse was kneading my legs. Well, even though she was a lady, let's just say that it felt really good. So I had to think of bad thoughts, more specifically: a) People I never ever want to see naked and b) Vadge. Lots and lots of vadge. Like warehouses stock full of them. Problem averted.

The facial came the second hour. She applied many different creams - warm, cold, smooth, sandy - on my face. I loved it when she gently brushed every millimetre of my face after applying a strawberry-scented exfoliant. I also had my blackheads vacuumed. At the rate of length and strength the machine was sucking, you'd think I was getting a face lift.

I left Kai Spa at 2 a.m. feeling absolutely renewed, refreshed, rejuvenated - and most importantly, relaxed. Feeling like Joan Rivers after she gets a new face, I wanted to go out and party on the beach bars. But Andrew was too tired. So I lied down on my bed still buzzing with glee. I felt absolutely tenderized - like a calf ready to be slaughtered and cooked into kobe.

Andrew and I in the waiting room - enjoying warm cups of ginger and lemongrass tea.

Kick Ass Light Show at Hong Kong harbour

At night in Boracay, as you stare towards the ocean, there is a calm darkness as you hear the ocean water gently come in and out from shore. In Hong Kong, you are treated to a nightly light show that's a true visual delight.

The Symphony of Lights is a nightly 15 minute light show that is a joint effort by 42 skyscrapers on the harbour side of Hong Kong Island. Think white skytracker lights and green lazer lights shooting towards the night sky and moving around in a mesmerizing dance. In addition, the window facade of these giant buildings themselves become animated with light - forming different patterns and shapes that add to the show's futuristic trance-like quality.

Andrew and I enjoyed the Symphony of Lights on our last night in Hong Kong last Thursday (Oct. 30). We stood in the packed crowd on the harbour in the Kowloon side - with just the river dividing us from the tall skyscrapers.

In Toronto, something like this would be reserved only for the annual Luminato or Nuit Blanche festival. But the Symphony of Lights, in terms of scale, demolishes anything I've seen in either Toronto festivals.

As the light show reached its peak and the lasers and lights went full throttle, I thought just how freakin' cool it would be to have a rave party on the harbour in Hong Kong. Freakin' cool, I tell ya!

Away from the Shore

While Andrew took a nap on our first day in Boracay on Saturday, I went for an afternoon swim in the ocean. I love the ocean. Coming from urban Toronto, swimming in the ocean is always a treat.

Andrew and I had strategically placed Boracay as Leg 3 of our trip - after an adrenaline rush first leg in Beijing and a calmer but still jam-packed second leg in Hong Kong and Macau (more on Macau later). In Boracay, we had always planned on being comatose vegetables baking in the sun.

We've been to Cuba as well as Punta Cana and Peurta Plata in the Dominican - and the beach in Boracay just kills them. The water is so nice, clear and warm. The ocean floor is pure white powder, no rocks at all. I stomped my feet a few times, creating mini sand storms in the water.

I floated and swam lightly on my back away from shore and then did light breast strokes back. I kept repeating this - over and over - and lost track of time.

As I swam on my back and looked up at the clouds. the gentle afternoon sun glazed my face and body. I thought about the stressors in my life - whether it was work, stupid fucking idiots, personal insecurities, etc. Every time another item emerged, I closed my eyes and did a gentle back stroke away from shore.

Having seen Jaws one too many times, I made it a point to swim back to shore from time to time. But during one trip away from shore, my feet searched for the floor and did not immediately find it. I had floated away much much farther than wanted. Freaking out, I swam quickly like a mad duck back to shore.

Don't Rain on my Parade

It was quite symbolic that the only two days we had rain clouds in our trip so far was during our stopover in Manila on our way from Hong Kong to Boracay - when the most frustrating airport incidents I've ever experienced took place.

We had missed our flight the day before, but thankfully our cousins took us on a fun night out. When we got to the airport at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, we were so pumped for our rescheduled 5:50 a.m. flight. Until we learned that our flight had been cancelled.

Cancelled! The next available flight was 9:45 a.m. It was not a big deal, except that the airport staff were not willing to compensate us for the inconvenience. Everyone accepted being brushed aside - except Andrew and I, and this girl who also missed the flight the day before, and this young "Asian fusion chef" guy. We stayed behind to fight it out.

I worked in public service for many years and have diplomatically dealt with patrons who would argue a 25 cent library fine. I've heard it all before and now experiencing it all from the other side, I knew what to watch for.

The airport lady didn't stand a chance. A pms-ing girl, an infuriated Andrew, a drunk Asian fusion chef and I - still buzzed from the bar - tagged team and took this woman to town. For an hour, we took turns screaming and arguing, until she and her manager finally caved in. While we didn't get moved to an earlier flight, we got our 9:45 a.m. fully paid for by the airline - and they even threw in a free Jollibee burger for breakfast.

At the end of the day, four hours is not a big deal - but we weren't going to let the airline just brush us off, especially when vacation time is priceless. We got what was right and fair in the end.

I passed out on the 1.5 hour flight to Boracay. When I woke up, I was greeted with bright beautiful sunshine. Tropical Boracay greeted us down below.

Fun Night Out with the Cousins

When life throws you a lemon, thank goodness for younger hospitable cousins who help press them into lemonade for you.

We missed our 3:45 p.m. flight to Boracay on Friday. We had got dropped off at the wrong airport and by the time we got to the right one - after crazy traffic - the gate had closed. We were at the airport nearly thirty minutes before take off and they wouldn't let us on. It was so frustrating - especially when the next flight was not till 5:30 the next morning.

Andrew and I were pretty upset, but it quickly wore off when my cousin drove us to my uncle's house to stay the night. It was my first time seeing his home and it's beautiful and huge! After the tour, Andrew and I passed out.

Around 1 a.m., after napping and catching up with my cousin Westin and aunt, we head out to experience Manila nightlife with my two cousins.

They took us to a bar lounge in Makati. Seeing the younger kids in the room, Andrew and I felt like chaperons. But the crowd was fun and easy going. It was also Halloween and some kids came out in costume - including a guy who came as Chuck Bass. Chuck Bass! Hilarious!

We were soon relaxed after a few drinks.

And speaking of drinks - holy cow. Are the drinks ever cheap! I had a tequila shot, mango daquiri, mudslide drink and another mango cocktail. It probably came to around $16 CAN (my cousins' treat!).

Funniest moment of the night was when amidst all the hip hop songs, suddenly came "Season of Love" from Rent - and everyone started singing and dancing along. It was hilarious! I wanted to dance, but I was worried that I would clear the floor. You know, the music suddenly stops and you hear crickets.

We went straight from the lounge to the airport at 3:30 a.m. I was on a feel good buzz, until the biggest, most frustrating moment of our trip transpired.

Reuniting with Brother over Filipino food at Abè's.

Green mango slices dipped in bagoong (shrimp paste). Kare kare (pictured above - beef slowly cooked until tender in peanut butter). Lechon kawale. These are just some of the much-beloved and missed Filipino dishes I had for my first lunch in Manila.

You really don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore. That is so true when it comes to Filipino food; so many delicious dishes that I haven't had in ages - especially the green mango with bagoong.

On our way to Boracay from Hong Kong - on Friday - we had a 5-hour stopover in Manila. We met up for lunch with my cousin Ryan and my brother. Having not seen my brother since 2004, it was nice to catch up - especially given the recent events in our lives.

We ate at Abè - a fancy Filipino restaurant (think Spring Rolls style). By the way, that is how you pronounce my name the correct way Filipino way - with the accent. Ab. just Americanizes it. So if you want to refer to me in the way my family does, call me Abè next time.

Lechon kawale

Green mango with bagoong (shrimp paste)

Diced kang kong (left) and ox tongue pie dish (right)

Beach, bars, buffet and bumming around in Boracay

I'm going to start going a bit Lost-style on my blog - jumping back and forth in the timeline, instead of recapping my travels chronologically, as I have so far.

As you will see from the photos above and below, I am in absolute tropical heaven right now: Boracay. There are still stuff that happened between Hong Kong and Boracay that I want to share - including an incredibly frustratingly hysterical incident at the airport that's a true "Ab. moment," a reunion over delicious Filipino food with my brother, and a fun night out with my cousins in Manila.

I'll get to these stories soon. But first, I'm going to work on my tan, get hammered, eat all the green mango and bagoong in the world, and swim in the freakin' gorgeous ocean first.

You know you're in absolute heaven when the most physically demanding thing you've done all day was put sunscreen on Andrew's back and geography class consisted of making your way from Singaporean Food to the Mongolian Grill on the buffet table.

I really do feel like I'm in heaven right now. I wish you were all here with us. It'd be our own version of La Isla Bonita!

Ferry arrives at dock in Boracay.

Boracay Regency - our hotel awesomely recommended by a friend.

View from our hotel balcony.

Hong Kong Nightlife with Magagi

On our last night in Hong Kong, Magi treated us to dinner and then showed us around the Central District - Hong Kong's party destination.

Halloween - like in NYC - is big here. To my pleasant surprise, Hong Kongers - well, the ones in the District anyway - are hard core about partying. I really like the "work hard, play hard" attitude here; apparently, according to Magi and a few other friends who've said the same thing, many Hong Kongers work long hours and Saturdays and still find the time to "enjoy life." That's a great attitude to have.

The main party street was closed and people packed the bars and poured into the streets; many in some of the most imaginative Halloween costumes I've seen.

We had a few drinks - and it was cool being able to drink on the street, unlike in Toronto. Even 7/11 sells alcohol!

While we only got three hours of sleep before leaving for the airport, the night was a perfect way to end our stay in Hong Kong. Thanks for being such a great host, Magi!