Manila - Cemeteries and Museums.

Hope you enjoyed our adventure with the laughing police. They kept saying that the 2 of them were Manila's finest of the finest. The cars are labeled "Manila's Finest" and it also appears on the crests they wear on their sleeves.

Yesterday we headed out on the LRT to see the Chinese Cemetery. Geordie misread the info in Lonely Planet and we got off at the wrong stop and walked forever in the heat through not the best area. In fact it was more like the worst area! Nigel did not complain too much. The cemetery is huge and amazing. The mausoleums are huge 2 story affairs for the rich Most have bathrooms, a kitchen and even bedrooms for the visitors.Geordie was there in 1959 and had to show Nigel. The biggest mausoleums are on streets and between those streets are 4 foot wide alleys and 100's of smaller places. While we were there we saw 2 funeral processions complete with lmarching bands. The mourners wore white and had white sashes. Some of the mourners marched behind the hearse holding long white sashes attached to the car.

After our visit to the cemetery we walked through a rather run down area and along a very busy road where we sometimes had to step into the road when the sidewalk disappeared. Good thing we are getting better at avoiding cars that want to run us down. It seems that drivers have no use for pedestrians - we might be walking across the street, but the car does not slow down - we are expected to be gone by the time the car arrives where we were. After the stress of walking then catching the LRT to Chinatown Nigel needed coffee so he chose MacDonalds - well he really wanted an ice cream, the coffee was just an excuse.

We were looking for the restaurant called MXT Tea House which came highly recommended by Lonely Planet. The food was very good and of course we ordered too much and ate it all - beef with broccoli, salt and pepper squid, delicious and savoury fried vegetable dumplings and of course, lots of tea. And for a surprise, we got a tiny ice cream cone as a freebie at the end of our meal.

We spent the afternoon at Robinson Place Mall. Huge. We are now Smart Buddies. After an hour in the Smart shop we got SIM cards for our phones. The cards cost $1 Cdn whereas our Rogers card cost $40. The Canadian phone companies sure have us by the throats.

Today, Tuesday Nigel insisted that after the LRT experiences of being a sardine that we would travel to Makati (another district) by taxi. So easy and quick and cost about $2 Cdn. Makati is a different world from where we are staying. It is clean, it has trees and shrubs and very expensive things. We went to see to the Ayala Museum. It was great. The history of the Philippines is done in 60 dioramas. There is a huge collection of SE Asia ceramics and there was also a special exhibit of a collection of gold body ornaments made in the Philippines in the pre Spanish era.

The pottery was all from the Chinese trading era of the 10th to 13th centuries. Some of it was very fine celadon ware which for me was very reminscent of the work of Bernard Leach who was a potter from England who went to Japan and with the potters there, became a brilliant potter who brought his skills back to England and developed fine ties with the Japanese. Somehow I have the feeling that the Japanese were inspired by the Chinese because I saw such similarites to their work. Oddly enough there was an article on Leach in the Japan Airlines In-flight magazine which I enjoyed reading since I had learned about Leach years ago and was glad to see that his legacy lives on.

Back in our area, after another taxi ride men on the street started to whisper in our ear. Years ago when we first traveled in SE Asia drugs were offered by whispering as one walked by. Since we arrived it has been happening again BUT they are saying "Viagra" or "Cialis". Just because we have white hair they should not suppose too much. It is most disconcerting!! I am sure you all will laugh though. Wait until it happens to you! They are only trying to earn a living.

Of course between the time we arrived back in our area, and were desposited in front of Robinson's department store and this message, we got our fill of money changers and happy, wonderful policemen. After the days adventure it seems a perfect time to look for a beer.