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12/24/2005: "Christmas Eve"

It does not feel like christmas eve. It is about 80 degrees farenheit and very humid. The sun is shining, and no one is wearing thick clothes. There are hardly any christmas lights around and there are barely any christmas decorations for sale. The only thing that reminds me of commercial christmas is the music and the christmas sales at the mall.

Cars in the phillipines dont slow down for anything. They will speed up and drive faster if they notice that you are walking across their lane. This makes crossing streets very difficult.

In china, the cars go on the 'dont see dont know' policy. If they think that you have seen them while you are crossing the street, then they will assume the right of way and you must yeild. However, if they dont think that you have seem them, they will slow down and allow you the right away. In china, you cross streets with your head down and make sure you dont see any cars if you want to make it safely across the street.

Manila feels like an American city. Big and bustling with lots of people. The only thing that makes it different from America is the lack of diversity amongt the people. Unlike America, everyone here is phillipino.

I have not yet seen any wild animals roaming the streets or pulling vehicles on manilla's streets, but even in the big cities of china, you will see these sights.

Manila is just like a tagalog-english speaking American city.

Ron