MANILA, PHILIPPINES 4/5 FEB 11
I’ve been looking at the past posts and find a pattern. My favorite part of each visit is the people who inhabit the area. No place could this be truer than Manila.

Why do we travel? I guess, initially, it’s a form of escape from the drudgery of everyday life, a chance to be somewhere warm when it’s cold at home or just a change from your dreary workplace. After a while, as you start to visit more and more destinations, it becomes a game of sorts to check off all the “places you’ve been”. Somewhere at home you’ve got the world map with pins in it or you’ve made your check off on Google places. Not only that, and this particularly applies to cruises, you have to visit every cathedral, museum or point of interest that your favorite guide book recommends.

I’ve progressed through all these stages and only over the last few years have come to see the light. The reason to visit places is to interact with the people and see what kind of life they lead. While it’s true that the majority of the people you interact with are in a service industry (shopkeeper, waiter, etc.), it is not difficult to observe how the rest of the folks are getting along.
No place epitomizes this more than Manila. We have a very good Filipina friend that Gina used to work with at Mass General. She invited us down to her parent’s home in New Jersey for a weekend. The whole family was the most hospitable, friendly, down to earth people we’ve ever met. What we’ve found from years on cruise ships is that they are not an anomaly. These people have an intangible quality not to be found anywhere else. Family comes first along with smiles. And, there are 240 of them working on this ship and visiting home the last two days. To get a job on a ship requires a college education, without regard to your occupation aboard. Our onboard friends tell us they do this work so their children can go to a better college or to private school. The time away from home allows them to live an upper middle class lifestyle, albeit without the father figure present. However, the grandfather figure is likely on the scene to make up for the father’s absence. And they are not all male.

Manila is best described as traffic clogged, air polluted, architecturally challenged with some of the worst living conditions you could imagine. We were originally scheduled for only one day here but when we were forced to skip Palau for nefarious reasons, the captain opted to head straight to Manila and spend two whole days here. This was real boon for the Filipinos onboard, some of whom got to sleep at home for the night. Keep in mind that these folks work ten month contracts with two months between contracts. To get to see your loved ones, even new children born since they left home, is an unbelievable bonus.

While in port the ship was opened up to family and the sounds of children laughing permeated the hallways. What a delight to see the wonder in the children’s eyes as they pondered a plate of hot dogs, French fries, cheeseburgers with an ice cream to follow. Of course sail away on the second day was a very emotional time, for both crew and passengers. Brass band playing on the dock as the ship wends its way into the harbor, relatives ashore talking on cell phones to their loved ones on board while waving. An experience I shall not forget.
As for Manila, on day one we took the free shuttle to the dropoff spot, which was a modern shopping mall. Free internet throughout the mall occupied our morning. A $2.00 cab ride took us to the Hotel Manila for lunch. Built in 1912, this classic hotel has aged well and is worth visiting just to look around. Day two was one of the tours we host for Vacation Vignettes. Visiting the old walled city, a couple of cathedrals and a lovely period home , Casa Manila, all went well although we all got soaked in a fairly heavy rain for some parts of the tour. We had 83 participants and received excellent feedback.

As we head to Hong Kong, the memories of the Filipino people remain strong. As we interact with those working on the ship, I won’t be able to get the image of them with their loved ones out of my mind. Others may go see the museums and cathedrals. Just leave me on a street corner watching life go by!

Joe Wagg