Time to sum up Boracay and the Philippines. I had amazing time, met some interesting and inspiring people, got a good tan, celebrated New Years Eve with a blast and experienced the laid back culture of the Pilipino. The past few days were great and even though the weather wasn’t that great, I still managed to enjoy the day with Starbucks’ hot chocolate on the beach, a good book, and a relaxing massage. Sunsets here were beautiful too. Generally, my impression of the island changed 180deg. I believe that on the first day I was shocked to see the sex tourism in the open: old gross men with young Pilipino girls. I don’t know who do I feel more sorry for – the girl who is selling herself or the guy who has to pay to feel better about himself. The issue is overwhelming and shocking to be so widely accepted. I did talk with one of such girls, not in here but in Cuba, and even though I still consider it a bad thing, I understand that this is their only way to get education and have a better life one day. I am very lucky to have been borne in a more “civilized” country. Also, there is a bit amusing side too, the Transvestitism is quite popular too, so sometimes those men looking for girls end up with a surprise – well serves them right! Also, I noticed that I was perfectly safe there. It was the men who had to fear dark alleys where the lady-boys waited to harass their victims.
Other observation is of the country’s infrastructure. There are no trains here, but transportation is very well developed. No, I don’t mean technologically advanced or well organized. The airports are small, chaotic, yet it took me 30 min from arrival to resting on a bench in front of the gate. That included a huuuge line to security check, check-in and dealing with terminal fees. Not to mention that there are more airports on one island than in the whole Poland – shame on the “civilized” country! The bankas (small ferries) might be scary-looking, but one has to realize that it’s the ferryman’s whole life and he just cannot afford to sink it – this thought helped me to actually enjoy the ride ;) Buses are a hassle and can give a tourist a headache but once you get accustomed, it all starts to make sense!
Then there is Cebu Pacific – Philippine low fare airline that serves flights domestically and internationally. I am very impressed with their differentiation strategy. Their flight attendants dance during the safety instructions, they make games and quizzes on the flight so that no one is bored, and ne can even win prizes!! This way they made their way into no.1 carrier in the region (no data supporting my assumption). There were Cebu Pacific flights nearly every 30 min flying into Kalibo, they have one of the terminals in Manila nearly solely at their disposal and you can see their ads everywhere. Landing in Manila, it was easy to see their dominance over other carriers.
People here have a very flexible approach to time, but then something has to be done they don’t shrug like the Taiwaneese and say “mei you banfa” (not possible), they just do everything in their power to get the job done. A perfect example was the laundry service: They were late, but when I told I am leaving early morning they delivered it to the hostel as soon as they got it! All this with a smile and pleasant attitude. No wonder, they are desired emigrants in the whole world – they are hardworking and pleasant to be around of.
Manila airport update: Ok, maybe not always when the taxi drivers try to rip you off, random people jump in the line taking advantage of me letting small kids with mom go through or when at Manila airport before check-in suspicious looking men of different age eye my backpacks even more suspiciously (after all bad and dangerous stories I heard about Manila, I decided to restrict my visit to the airport). So, what can one do with a huge burdening backpack for 5 hours in a low-security airport, with no free wifi available? Let’s hope for a miracle and look for my long lost hoodie! ;)
Hoodie has not been found unfortunately :( Looks like someone took liking in my German university ;) hope it serves them well… There is no post office to send out postcards, wifi still not working and after inquiry at the information they told me with a jaw-dropping smile “yes, there is free wifi but it usually doesn’t work”. Booooreed!!!
As for Seoul: looks, like it got a speed passage on my travel list for the next semester! After all the great things I’ve heard about it from various people I fear that I might even consider a teaching job for a while ;)
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