Popular Post Mike S Posted February 12, 2012 Popular Post Posted February 12, 2012 What were your thoughts as you saw the Philippines for the first time traveling from the airport to your destination ......My first thought was ..... my god ..... this is just like Mexico .... I have lived in Texas for a number of years and as every hot blooded young American boy in that position did I traveled to Mexico on numerous occasions .... well as numerous as my scant paycheck would permit back in those days .... I was making a whopping $1.67 per hour ..... but hey .... that went a long way back then in Mexico ..... Anyway it was 2:30am and I can remember the streets being alive with all kinds of activity ..... saw my first 6' tall bakla hustling a couple of guys .... was just a little take back by all the poverty but about what I expected ..... the houses all packed together and all the vendors and carenderia's ... along side the streets ..... now those kinda surprised me as I didn't expect to find that many eating places ...... and then the sari-sari stores which as I remember they don't have in Mexico ....... I also noticed the lack of police and traffic lights as we didn't stop but maybe twice or three times in the whole trip from the airport to Cebu City ..... and then I was amazed at the circle and the casino with all it's lights and the fact that guys were stopping traffic and letting cars park or back up ....... now that stuck in my mind because no where had I seen that before ..... especially with no regards to their own safety just hold up their hand and at the same time backing into the street motioning the other car to back up before the traffic even stopped ......The heat didn't bother me because I came from Florida where the temp. is just about the same 8 months out of the year ..... the driving was kinda chaotic with cars cutting in an out of lanes but all was new and exciting for me so I didn't mind ...and still doesn't as long as I don't have to drive that is ...... :hystery:Anyway gonna stop here because what I thought then is now being tainted by what I know now ...... but you get the picture ...... I have never regretted for a single moment either that first night or until now .... the decision I made to leave everything behind in the US and travel here to live and marry the girl of my dreams .... which by the way will be our 4th wedding anniversary tomorrow ...... hooray for us ..... guess I better take her to Jollibee for a double burger with fries ...... :89: :hystery: :nudie: 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Dave Hounddriver Posted February 12, 2012 Forum Support Posted February 12, 2012 My experience was about the same. It was 3:30 am for me so I guess my plane must have been late. Only thing you missed was the aroma of new urine on old concrete. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike S Posted February 12, 2012 Author Posted February 12, 2012 Sorry Dave but I wasn't sure what was theirs and what was mine ...... :89: :hystery:The flight coming over was terrible the plane was no where near full and I had 3 seats all to myself so I sprawled out across them and tried to sleep but the air was so rough I was literately tossed or rolled out of my seats numerous times ...... I was told the captain had the fasten your seat belt sign on nearly the whole time ..... I was never so glad to touch down in Taipei ..... the trip from there to Cebu was pretty tame in comparison ..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 What were your thoughts as you saw the Philippines for the first time traveling from the airport to your destination ......My first thought was ..... my god ..... this is just like Mexico .... I have lived in Texas for a number of years and as every hot blooded young American boy in that position did I traveled to Mexico on numerous occasions .... well as numerous as my scant paycheck would permit back in those days .... I was making a whopping $1.67 per hour ..... but hey .... that went a long way back then in Mexico .....Anyway it was 2:30am and I can remember the streets being alive with all kinds of activity ..... saw my first 6' tall bakla hustling a couple of guys .... was just a little take back by all the poverty but about what I expected ..... the houses all packed together and all the vendors and carenderia's ... along side the streets ..... now those kinda surprised me as I didn't expect to find that many eating places ...... and then the sari-sari stores which as I remember they don't have in Mexico ....... I also noticed the lack of police and traffic lights as we didn't stop but maybe twice or three times in the whole trip from the airport to Cebu City ..... and then I was amazed at the circle and the casino with all it's lights and the fact that guys were stopping traffic and letting cars park or back up ....... now that stuck in my mind because no where had I seen that before ..... especially with no regards to their own safety just hold up their hand and at the same time backing into the street motioning the other car to back up before the traffic even stopped ......The heat didn't bother me because I came from Florida where the temp. is just about the same 8 months out of the year ..... the driving was kinda chaotic with cars cutting in an out of lanes but all was new and exciting for me so I didn't mind ...and still doesn't as long as I don't have to drive that is ...... :hystery:Anyway gonna stop here because what I thought then is now being tainted by what I know now ...... but you get the picture ...... I have never regretted for a single moment either that first night or until now .... the decision I made to leave everything behind in the US and travel here to live and marry the girl of my dreams .... which by the way will be our 4th wedding anniversary tomorrow ...... hooray for us ..... guess I better take her to Jollibee for a double burger with fries ...... :89: :hystery: :nudie:I am not an authority on the laws in the Philippines... but, if there is a cross referrence sheet... sooner or later your anniversary will coincide with those imortal words... 'If I would have killed her, I would have been out a long time ago' come to mind..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 How come we only get to the 4th post and someone changes the topic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 What??? He mentioned his anniversary in the original post! Mozel tov??? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 What??? He mentioned his anniversary in the original post! Mozel tov???The title is really what the topic is about and later I will remove these posts to get back to what the tittle says,OK Remember The First Time You Stepped Off The Plane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 What??? He mentioned his anniversary in the original post! Mozel tov???The title is really what the topic is about and later I will remove these posts to get back to what the tittle says,OK Remember The First Time You Stepped Off The Plane Of course I remember the 1st time I stepped off the plane! I almost tripped down the walk way in all the heat with my bullet proof vest, pockets sewn shut, passport surgically attached to my side, and those stupid fancy spy sunglasses with the little mirrors attached so I can watch for people following me...Well.... I WAS traveling with Lee......(I was traveling with Lee, but the above is just pure speculation... I really did not have any fancy sunglasses!) :nudie: :hystery: :hystery: :89: I do miss Lee's contributions...... Because he is not posting, there has been very little coverage of the 2 european 'bird watchers' kidnapped in....................... wait for it.............................. YES! Mindanao! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Adventurer Posted February 12, 2012 Popular Post Posted February 12, 2012 My first trip I landed in Manila airport, looked around, then jumped on the next plane to Palawan and got the heck out of there. Landed in Puerto Princess and could see all the locals riding bikes trikes etc, first time in asia for me so it was an exciting an interesting time for those 3 weeks traveling the whole island from bottom to top on a motocross bike. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Old55 Posted February 12, 2012 Forum Support Posted February 12, 2012 Arriving in Manila late 90's, 1AM tired but excited the muggy heat reminding me of years back while in Army in SE Asia as a younger man. Then fighting through the airport mob of touts and God only knows who each fighting to get in our face and not knowing exactly what to do. The cab driving through a seemingly endless city all the time seeing all the people on the dimly lit streets after a few hours arriving at our Subic Bay beach side resort at dawn. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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