It's more fun in the Philippines Part 4 (12/12/14 - 28/12/14)

Day 2

We woke up really today as P had a shoe deal in Manila at 11am. We were afraid that there'll be a traffic jam in Manila so we set off at 8am, we even brought our breakfast onto the bus and had it during the bus ride. Luckily, the traffic was smooth and we reached Manila by 10.30am. We were supposed to meet his buyer at SM North Edsa, but the mall only start operating at 11am, so we were waiting around the area. I was amazed to see people crowding outside the mall waiting to enter, Manila has several of such big malls (Megamall, Mall of Asia, Greenhills etc) but going to the mall still seem to be the one and only favourite activity of filipinos there. I read about this 'phenomenon' in some other blogs too, when I ask P about it, he said they go there for the free air-conditioning. In SG, we rarely see people waiting outside any shopping mall (we normally call it shopping centre), waiting for it to be opened. Most of the eateries (especially those that serve breakfast) also operate independently from the mall opening hours and are more likely to be opened by 9am onwards.

Before we set off in the morning, tita was warning me to be careful in Manila, and to carry my bag in front of my body, so I was quite apprehensive. We traveled to Manila quite a few times during our trip in 2012 so it was not my first trip there, but I could feel that the atmosphere is quite different once we reach the capital. It is much more crowded, people are rushing around, traffic is terrible and there's also more signs of poverty there.

Yummy donuts

Finally, the mall was opened, and we waiting for the crowd to thin out before we enter the mall. I've been to the other malls at Manila but it was my first time at SM North Edsa, I was delighted to see big chains like Coldstone Creamery and J-Co Donuts in the mall, it was much too early for ice cream so we went to J-Co to get some donuts. J-Co is opening quite a few outlets in Manila and other parts of the Philippines (saw it opening soon at Marquee mall too), it's a great hit with the filipinos as long lines are formed and people walked off with boxes of dozens of donuts. P stood in line for quite sometime but we only bought two donuts to be consumed in the shop while waiting for his buyer.

After that, we had to get to SM Megamall to get some shoes repaired. P said that we had to get there by MRT and I was apprehensive again. I only took the MRT once before this day and I will say that Manila, being the only place in the whole of Philippines with a train system, can really do much better to improve its train system in the capital city. I will not compare it to SG, but traffic is bad in Manila just like some other capital cities in Asia, namely Bangkok and Jakarta. Bangkok MRT system is much more efficient and as modern as SG, so its a real saver for the city, I guess its reason why tourists still flock to Bangkok despite the bad traffic there.

Finally stopped for coffee and ensaymada 

We left the shoes to be repaired at the mall and went to Greenhills to get lunch and some stuff. Thankfully, it started raining, so we took a cab there instead of using the much dreaded MRT. After our KFC lunch, I started to feel quite drowsy after that while P went to hunt for his 3DS games. I felt terribly in need of coffee and we finally stopped at Starbucks after two hours of torment for me. I felt like I was gasping for air as the place was so crowded and I was really sleepy for no reason, walking around like a zombie.

My new rubrik cube

One thing I had accomplished this holiday, its I've learnt how to solve a rubrik cube! I developed a sudden interest in learning to solve it at the start of the holidays, found some youtube videos and managed to memorise the formulae after a few tries. I had been practicising on some rubrik cubes I found lying on my table for years (confiscated from students long ago) but those are almost broken and not easy to twist. I managed to find a good quality cube from Greenhills and it felt so much better turning and twisting it around. Yeah!

We took a cab back to SM Megamall to collect our shoes. I've sent in my ferragamo heels for repair as the heel tips had dropped out, P also sent several of his treasured possession for repair as the soles had kind of dropped off a little. I must say that the guys at the shop did a really good job as they not only replaced the heel tips, they also stick back the pieces of plastic that got detached from my shoes (which I believe most shops at SG wont take the initiative to), just at a cost of 255php. 

Our return journey from Manila involves taking a cab to five star bus terminal from the mall, and it was a nightmarish experience that day. The queue at the Megamall was so long, we tried to imagine that we're queueing for a theme park ride at USS, think it took us more than half an hour to finally get on a cab.