Hello! I'd like to apply to be one of your writers. I'm a former New York resident, now retired and living here in the Philippines. Below is an article I've written recently. I hope it meets your standards. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks and regards, EDWARD
A Trip To Manila
by Edward Lindenberg
No matter how many times I've come to land in Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, at least 20 by now I would think, there is still that sense of excitement, that sense of impatience to re-experience Manila yet again!
Don, my friend of 20 years will of course be picking me up at the airport to bring us to what will be our home for the next month, the budget-priced Robelle Mansions, situated in the financial district of Makati, its more “colorful” fringes anyway. Except for the fact that roaches infest the kitchenette within our suite and the showers quickly run out of hot water, the hotel is immensely comfortable. Besides, who's complaining with monthly rates of $30- a day? Besides, whatever physical shortcomings the hotel might have is more than compensated by its warm and friendly staff.
Don and I don't really do anything we didn't do during my previous visits, the usual shopping at all the malls (there seem to be new ones sprouting out on each visit), the walk to the Ayala Museum (probably the best in the country), and as evidenced by my growing waistline the most important part of each visit, the trying out of new and old restaurants to do some serious eating, eating, and more eating.
A visit to Manila would not be complete without the obligatory "out of town trip." The choices for this are varied. There are the mountains of Baguio of course, the beaches of Batangas, the volcanoes of Tagaytay, and last but certainly not least, the former American naval base at Subic in Zambales, which is where we choose to go for our foray into the Philippine boonies. How can one describe Subic? As boring as this might sound, I suppose one could say it looks, feels and smells like any small American City along the West Coast of America. All spic and span, everything works, everything so American, including in fact Filipino’s driving habits which markedly shift to a more civilized format as soon as they enter the Subic-SBMA gates. This may sound impertinent but shouldn’t I be asking myself why I would drive 3 hours to visit an "Americanized" city having just come from New York to begin with? I guess the Philippines does this to you. And besides, this is another issue and yet another story.
What really comes to mind though in the course of one's visit to Manila is the simplicity of it all, how the little things make everyone happy, how the ordinary becomes so wonderful and the routine so unusual. In the Philippines, the best pleasures are the simplest ones. And how graciously that these simple joys never tire to surround you.
I suppose that for the most part, the joy gotten from one's visit has to do with being with relatives glad to see you, old friends who never really change, even with the unavoidable debates and tensions that sometimes do crop up.
When a month has rushed by and its time to leave, Manila although full of all her faults and shortcomings, becomes the hardest city to leave. I guess without your knowing it, slowly, quietly, mysteriously, mischievously the city has grown to be part of you. Good bye Manila! Until the next visit.
