"Nagmahal, nasaktan, nag SEATeacher" (I loved, and hurt, so I joined SEATeacher.)
Bound to Manila
"Goodbye Baguio." These were the last words I uttered to my family before I rode the bus going Manila last Saturday, September 1, 2019 at 4:30 in the afternoon. And as I was riding, anxiety and doubt went into my head, thus made me uncomfortable, but I dared to stand to my decision to travel and experience my first trip to Vietnam. It was raining that time, barely seeing things outside, so I slept. And after few hours of sleeping, I woke up because of the traffic. "Look, there is a road accident ahead," said one passenger. It caught my attention and tried to peek on the window. It was a horrible moment to see that and it made me worried again, "what if my travel ended up like this? No, no, delete, delete." I said to myself, so I prayed to God for safety and remove my anxiety.
Manila Baby!
The sight started getting bigger and taller as I was approaching the Manila border. Humongous buildings started to show up, and streets became busier already. "Bound for Cubao, Quezon City, prepare to disembark," the bus conductor said. After the bus had stopped in the terminal, I packed up my things and left the place. I stayed the whole day in my friend's house while waiting for my flight at Monday, September 2, 2019, 10:20pm.
Manila City is such a crowded place with lots of vehicles and many people scattering walking along sidewalks. Known as the Center of Business and Commerce, crimes were also rampant that is why as a traveler, I do not trust anyone especially if someone is offering something not related about my business. I can also see the social classification between poor and rich due to their way of living, poor "Manilenyos" live along the slums while rich people live in tall condominiums, big apartments and grandeur townhouses inside exclusive subdivisions and famous real estates. How sad it is to see the unsightly image of Manila.
After staying in my friend's house, I went to the townhouse of the Silvosa's, the owner of the University of the Cordilleras because my classmate was waiting for me there, and he does have any companion. After I arrived, I rested the entire night because I was tired. The next day, we went to Trinoma to eat some food, buy some stuffs, and roam around the mall before we went back to the townhouse.
Two hours before the flight, we rode an MRT going to Taft Avenue. It took us 55 minutes before we arrived there. Then we rode a Grab going to NAIA Terminal 3. Along the way, we were stuck in a heavy traffic. We arrived on the airport and checked in at 8:00 in the evening. Furthermore, we bought our travel tax, checked in our baggage, went to the Immigration line to be examined. Wait, what's wrong with us? We were not able to pass the immigration immediately. I don't know what happened. I thought my documents were complete but . . . . (Read the part 2 of this Blog.)