I was in my element today as we were in Manila and this is a new port for me. I get real excited to see a new port. We get the extra day here since we couldn’t go to Palau. My tour is scheduled for the second day so I did a walk about with Tony. We are both not opposed to walking and oh did we walk.

We first took the shuttle to the mall and after a visit to the pharmacy and the grocery store we walked. We did see the US Embassy and walked along the water and then went to the Intromuros section to see the cathedrals. I will see the fort tomorrow. By that time we had walked and walked so of course it was time for a beer and lunch. I spotted an old building that looked like it had some commerce in it. We found a great old hotel with outside eating in the gardens and beer. My hair was soaked so it was a great place to cool off. We even had live music. A pretty girl sang the entire time we were there. It was a lovely inter-lude to all the activity but all things must end and we started to walk again. I believe we walked at least 5 miles and maybe even 6 miles.

We walked back to the Robinson’s Mall as we wanted to go to the grocery store and the liquor store. The entrance has a security system that is quite primitive. The males go through one side and the ladies through the other. We have to open our bags and they put a probe in your bags. The probe looks like a chopstick.
I believe this is where my problems started. Sometime between there and my attempt to pay for my Kaluha a pickpocket opened two zippers and my arm to get to my money. I did get hit for $30 or $40 dollars. My credit card and driver’s license were at the bottom of my bag and were not taken. Oh they are so clever. In spite of this experience we did have a great time.

This post is very long because I must mention the Pilipino staff. A lot of them are leaving and a lot of families are visiting. HAL, I believe, is very good to their employees. Under the Welcome sign you will notice tables. These were all set up so the families could have lunch together at HAL’s expense. It was fun to see all the children dressed up in their Sunday best.

The jeepney is their answer to bus service. These started when the US Army wanted to get rid of their jeeps which were well used and not worth shipping back home. Enterprising people fixed them and painted them with colorful pictures and names. They were originally called jeep my honey and that was shortened to jeepney.

My tour which took in the fort and some of the same area that Tony and I covered was not real great sine our guide left a lot to be desired and it was also raining. Some of these photos take in some of the sights seen.