Reaching There

It's been over two weeks in Manila and I seem to have got used to the busy life of this bustling city. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world (growing faster than India in BPO industry); you can read about this here . So you can just imagine the volume of traffic that flows through the roads of Metro Manila. To just give you a few numbers; distance from my hotel to office around 7 kilometers and commuting time of around 1 hour, where sometimes I'm crawling at 7-8 kilometers per hour. To tackle this MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) came up with Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program. To me it simply means that I cannot drive in Makati City (that's where my hotel is) from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Friday. Bummer! Unaware of this rule, I bravely drove to my work on a Friday. Around halfway to workplace I was stopped with a loud 'Ehhh'. I was not sure what rule I had broken but I stopped a few meters ahead (confused and dazed). ...

Makati I am currently on a business trip in Makati City, part of Metro Manila. It is one of the most populous places in Manila and is the financial hub of Philippines. A walk down the Ayala Avenue (called the "Wall Street" of Philippines) is an experience in itself.  A lot of malls, including the one nearest to me - Greenbelt Mall, are located in Makati. A walk around the place and you can see all the major brands trying to find space in this busy city. Starbucks, Citi Bank, McDonald, KFC and various other American companies are huddled up together. Ayala Ave The driving is done the American-way too, on the other side of the road, for those of us who are more comfortable driving on the left side the "wrong" side driving can create a mental havoc. And of course the traffic is crazy! (I drive in India - so doesn't bother me) For a second you might feel you're in some populous city in the US of A! But....there is the Asian side of Manila you can't ...

Makati City Sunrise I was walking down the Paseo de Roxas when I heard the word "Hindi". I instantly turned my head to find a couple of Filipinos busy talking among themselves. We shared an awkward glance and then I was on my way to the hotel. As soon as I was in the room I tried to search what could they be speaking about. A few people had warned me about safety in Philippines; so a part of my brain was concocting all sorts of undesirable theories. While the more saner part (not sure if it is the left or the right lobe) was trying to figure out this mystery. So again Google came to my help. A couple of days back I had learned from a colleague of mine that Tagalog is the local language spoken in Philippines. I would side track a bit here, but when I landed at Nino Aquino International Airport, the taxi driver asked me two questions; first- was I from India? and second - whether I spoke Tagalog? The answers are pretty obvious, but the creative part of my brai...