My mom and I landed in Manila yesterday and got picked up by Uncle Jess and Aunty Mely, my mom’s uncle and aunt, actually. As we drove out of the airport – which looked a lot nicer than I remembered – I noticed the air quality, which was almost unbearable when I was here the last time, had actually gotten better, too. Not a hundred percent, but a bit noticeably better. During our drive from the airport to our hotel, I saw only one vehicle that spewed thick, black exhaust. I also noticed the number of skyscrapers that had been built – and were being built. But oh yeah, people still love to drive like maniacs and honk their horns at every opportunity. I’m pretty sure there have been measures to improve the quality of life here in Manila; I saw the phrase “Metro Gwapo” stenciled along highway walls, which I suspected and confirmed later is a major five-year project towards city improvement. Of course, despite the developments between now and when I was last here ten years ago, it was still apparent there was still work to be done, judging from a polluted canal we passed over, and what we saw in Baclaran.

We drove through horrendous Baclaran traffic – impeccable timing with post-church and open market crowds. I spent the time looking around at the traffic, the crowd, and the palengke stalls from within the confines of Uncle Jess’s jeepney. To our left, a few beggars were lined up alongside the road; one of them in turn was lining up plastic figurines. A couple others were kneeling on the stumps of their knees; they were legless. To our right was a row of stalls, where swap meet-ish clothes, sparkly Converse knockoffs, and ice cream, among other things, were being displayed and sold. And all among us was an unrelenting crowd of people on foot, passing around and between the cars stuck in traffic. It was almost like the apocalypse had hit, except no one was in panic. Lining the street we were on were drug stores, local eateries, and a few familiar names: McDonald’s… Dunkin’ Donuts… and 7-Eleven. Somehow I can never avoid 7-Eleven. I mean, I work right across the street from one and get my lunch there all the time. But it was an interesting contrast seeing those American establishments among the hustle and bustle of an impoverished Filipino community.

While I was making these observations in traffic, my mom exited the jeepney and entered the drug store we were “parked” in front of. Traffic was moving at a snail’s pace, so the jeepney hadn’t moved very far by the time she came back. She emerged with some newly exchanged pesos and a tube of Colgate gel toothpaste to replace the one that got confiscated at Honolulu International. (Apparently my mom didn’t hear me when I said I wanted her to put it in the checked luggage, because she had the toothpaste in her carry-on. And we’re talking about a standard-sized toothpaste tube.)

This sounds horrible, but by the time we got to the vicinity of our hotel, we stopped at… a McDonald’s. Yeah. The awesome thing about McDonald’s in the Philippines is that they serve two food items they don’t serve in any American McDonald’s that I’ve been to: fried chicken and spaghetti. It’s insane how fried chicken and spaghetti seems to be so popular here; it seems as though every fast food place serves them. The special thing about Filipino spaghetti is its sauce: sweeter than your typical meat sauce, and there are little slices of hot dog in it. So of course, I had to order the one-piece fried chicken and spaghetti combo. My mom was boring and got a Filet-O-Fish meal she ended up giving to her aunt and uncle, even though she also ordered each of them two-piece chicken combos. After some debate about which motel/hotel/apartelle we would stay at, we settled on the one we are currently staying at, on West Avenue in Quezon City. It was a half-hour wait until we got a room, which ended up being on the fifth floor. Though it’s a pretty inexpensive hotel, the lobby is really clean and classy, with a Japanese theme going on. The room too, aside from some dust that hasn’t been cleaned off above the headboard. Soon this hotel will have a sixth floor; this is apparent with the constant hammering that’s been going on somewhere above us. It’s fine though because it seems to stop by bedtime – at least it did just now and last night).

I woke up at 6 am today, unusually early for me as of late, but I still felt well rested. I checked my usual Web sites and did some work-related stuff on my laptop – this place has free wi-fi – and turned on the TV. I discovered this MTV-ish channel (but better because they actually play a lot of music videos) called “Channel V,” which is apparently based out of Australia, though most of the announcers sound American. I flipped back and forth between Channel V and MTV. A Lady GaGa song came on on MTV, and I felt some “spidey senses” (which turned out to be “Franzy senses,” apparently) tingle. I switched back to Channel V and a few seconds after I did so, the video for Franz Ferdinand’s “The Dark of the Matinée” started playing, followed by “No You Girls”. That was a nice way to start the day.

My mom and I spent most of today exploring the nearby SM North Edsa mall—the largest mall in Asia. When we got there, we ate a hot dog and fruit smoothie breakfast at the only place that was open at 9 am, the SM Hypermarket. (I guess bigger than a supermarket? But not really.) The mall opened at 10 am, so after some minor grocery shopping at the “Hypermarket,” we took the escalator up to the rest of the mall. We took pictures at the center court the escalators dropped us off at, with a player piano in the middle of it. We bought a couple of tote bags and walked around the mall for five hours, stopping to eat at Chowking and a few kiosk vendors along the way. During those five hours, I failed to find both a music store (though I found several musical instrument shops) and the bowling alley (though I did discover the big Fun Factory-ish arcade on the third level). We did, however, accomplish getting our plane tickets to Iloilo, where we’ll be going next week, and getting my watch battery replaced.

When we came back to our hotel room, I turned on the main power switch for our room, which turns on everything, including the TV. And what was playing on Channel V to greet us back? Muse. “Sing for Absolution”. Channel V, coupled with my Franzy/Muse senses, is a winner in my book. My mom and I ordered some fried chicken, chop suey, and rice and ate it in our room, while watching Channel V and Oprah. It’s been an embarrassingly Western day.