Our flight from Korea landed into the Philippines early in the day, so after retrieving our luggage, we set out to find a cab to take us into the city. I knew that the Philippines is not considered a developed nation, but I had previously been to Thailand and Malaysia and expected it to be somewhat similar to those places. I’ve also watched a few Filipino movies and dramas and never noticed the extreme poverty that seemed to exist along this road. The cab ride that took us from the airport into the city passed some of the poorest looking neighbourhoods that I had ever seen and it made the ride quite uncomfortable for me, as I kept feeling bad for the people who had to live in such poor conditions.
It was strange to me that the capital city’s international airport would be located in a place that would require all of the international visitors to pass by these neighbourhoods before reaching Manila. I would have thought that the country would want a more presentable side to be seen by foreign visitors. This was when I started to think that perhaps the Philippines was not quite as prosperous as some of its neighbouring countries.
It was also Christmas day when we landed into the Philippines. Being a Christian nation, I expected to see a great deal of Christmas decorations and celebrations around the city, but neither the airport nor the area around our hotel reminded us at all that it was December 25th.
After dropping our luggage off at the hotel, we made our way to a nearby mall to find a restaurant for a late lunch. One thing that is amazing about the Philippines is the wide use of English. We sat down at a restaurant and the waitress who served us had such good English that my friend from Britain thought the waitress just sounded like a typical American girl. When I compare the Philippines with other countries in the area that have been colonized in the past, it is still amazing to see just how good of a grasp of English their citizens have. We met a little 12 year old on one of our day excursions and she told us that she started learning English when she was 7 or 8 years old, but yet, she was completely fluent and able to hold a conversation with us. We also met some very helpful locals during our trip, young and old and their English ability didn’t seem limited to just the younger generation either. The funny thing is, I have mentioned this to my Filipino friends and they claim that not everyone has good English and it was likely that I met with good English speakers only because I was around Manila.
0 comments on “First Impressions: Philippines” Add yours →