I’ve been a bit harsh every time I talk about the country where I was born. I wonder if I’m leaving a not-so-good impression on the Philippines….. like it’s in ruins, and people are starving and dying, and everyone’s dirt poor? So, okay, we were in Manila in February , and my co-worker came with us . And though we look like native Filipinos, my co-worker is white, and , * ponder* I think we did look like tourists. My Caucasian friend and the cameras in our hands were a give-away. Surprisingly, my friend felt like we were a bunch of American hillbillies walking the streets of modern Manila. Well, we do come from a small California city, with one pitiful , old shopping mall and a few tall buildings here and there. Ugh. Three of the top ten largest malls in the world are located in Manila. Manila is number 11 in the 20 most beautiful skylines in the world. ( Chicago and New York are the only American cities included in the top 20. ) I mean, how many cities are there in the world?
View this video of Manila. This video ‘s the reason why we felt like a bunch of hicks.
I think we’d feel the same way if we were in Tokyo.
Okay, this is all for now.
Visit the Philippines. The whole country of 7, 641 islands , of which only 2000 islands are inhabited, is one freaking tourist destination. The scenery is simply stunning.
My parents just sent out the last mortgage payment on our house this week. They’re ecstatic. They now truly own the house, and there will be extra cash in their bank account from now on. However, there’s still another house they’re paying for, but no problem…. it’s being rented out and therefore, it’s paying for itself.
I had an enlightening conversation with a co-worker from Afghanistan. He said he had a hard time finding a job here in the US ( he used to work as an airplane mechanic at a US air base in Afghanistan ). He felt that because he was a Muslim he was always viewed as potential terrorist. He also joked about him coming from a sh*thole country. I blurted out , ” Me, too ! ” Then, I suddenly had a mental image of the city where I was born. Hmmm, is it really a sh*thole, or just a sh*thouse ?
Here’ s a video of the capital city of Manila, Philippines . It doesn’t really look like a sh*thole , does it ? But then, that’s just my humble opinion.
And why did HE build a Trump Tower in Manila , and plan to build another one at Clark City, Angeles, Pampanga, about 4 hours from the metropolis , if he now thinks immigrants from terrorist countries, like the Philippines are ” animals” ? Yep, he did mention the Philippines as one of the terrorist countries. Ha Ha Ha ! Who gave him that idiotic, ridiculous information ?
Below is the Trump Tower in Manila ( the one on the right )
About Clark City….. it used to be US’s Clark Air Force Base. It was on lease from the Philippine government for 99 years, the largest US base /territory outside of the US. When Mt. Pinatubo erupted, the whole base was covered with ash, and since the US was then downsizing all its military bases outside the US, the US government decided to just bail , without renewing the lease which was about to expire , instead of spending billions of dollars to clean up the base . Now that the Philippine government has started the conversion of the base to a modern, futuristic, green, city , we were all surprised to learn that piece of US property was about 1/2 the size of Metro-Manila. They will also build an international airport to relieve the one in Manila which is already bursting at the seams. In fact, there’s already an existing excellent international airport at Clark….. it was a US airforce base, for Pete’s sake. The runway is so long and so well-made that it is actually an alternative landing runway for a space shuttle.
Now, for a bit of fun…..
There’s a town in Angeles near Clark base named Sexmoan, I kid you not. Well, you know, where there are US soldiers = Red light district, strip bars, etc. You know what I mean. But, that’s been its name for hundreds of years, Spanish colonial era, and it’s pronounced Ses-mo-wan. I’m guessing the origin is from Bilbao, Spain. When I was in Bilbao, I saw a lot of letter X in signboards over there. ( Here I go again, I’m making theories, he he he , but it makes sense, yeah ? Besides, the Philippines favorite chorizo/sausage is Chorizo de Bilbao…so, there you go. ) ~_~
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
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