WORD OF WARNING: this is gonna be pretty long…

I lived here all my life though my relatives are already moving out of the country and my parents are trying to eject me out to Singapore or Canada. But for me to leavthis country forever? Not gonna happen.

I am fully admitted that it might be the dirtiest city in the world… but dangerous? hell no…

My prof shared a story with us last wednesday about about his flight back to the Philippines coming from Boston… It was normal for the person at the ticket booth to offer you an insurance for your baggage. But when he was buying his ticket, the sales person took a look at his destination and said “Would you like to avail of a life insurance?”... I laughed myself silly… As if a bomb goes of in this country every day. Lol…

I also admit that there are a lot of muggers here and opportunist… as with every city in the world. But it is only here where you see muggers who will say sorry after they mug you… I was mugged once in Katipunan and the guy said in tagalog “Im sorry but im really in deep shit right now… I really am sorry…” I ended up giving him my other hidden 500 bucks. Lol…

There are also drunks here at every corner… not just in bars. But sometimes its fun to hang around with them… just sometimes when they invite you over though… However I must warn you that their voices are off key most of the time especially when they are havin a go at the videoke machine… Really painful to the ear.

My former professor once accused the whole class one day of blindfolding our foreign or balikbayan visitors then shipping them off to boracay/pagudpod to enjoy the hawaiian-like beaches of the Philippines… So that they would not see the filth of Manila.

Ha! Come visit me and I will tour you, not in Boracay on a plane… but to Divisoria via LRT/pedicab(not the cab but the bike driven tricyles)/kalesa(three men carriage) or if its traffic in Recto… ON FOOT!!! hehehehe… Not to the malls visited by the socialites but to 168 shopping mall… Where everything is functional and cheap… As in bargain cheap… That you would even feel guilty of bargaining… But dont let that stop you from bargainin… Bargainin with the ‘tinderas’ is the wholepoint of going there… if they are selling at 200, start bargainin at 100… More of less, they will give it to you for 110.

And at night, we will partake in the discussion groups in Luneta… Right in the dead of night, rich and poor alike, they bring their mats/banigs to Luneta to play chess, debate, or just look up to the sky to stargaze.

Dirtiest city in the world? Most definitely!!!