Venturing Out To The Streets Of Manila

Yesterday we made an attempt at venturing out to the streets of Manila in order to find a Lawson’s convenience store. This is the store we visited constantly while in Japan, so we wanted to see what the Filipino version had to offer. We wandered around the complex for a while trying to figure out where to exit. I know it sounds ridiculous that we couldn’t find our way out, but this complex is massive. There is also a lot of construction going on, so different areas are blocked off.

I finally decided to text Sheila (the woman I exchanged numbers with) and she quickly pointed us in the right direction. She said “go towards the basketball courts, there’s an exit there…just follow the people.” Once we knew where to look it was very obvious. In a complex with 19,000 units there’s a pretty steady stream of people. We followed them and there was a covered pedestrian walkway leading out to the avenue where we would find Lawson’s.

We took a left, walked for about 50 feet and abruptly turned around. There was no sidewalk, the traffic was crazy, and there was a cloud of dirt and smog being blown in our faces. This picture really doesn’t do it justice. We’ll try again another day!

As we walked back into our condo complex Dave said “this is like an oasis!” It’s funny how experiences can change your perspective. Our first day here everything felt overwhelming and now we are already comforted by a familiar space.

If At First You Don’t Succeed

After talking it through with Sheila, she explained what we did wrong and also that things are just different here. We should have crossed the street, even though traffic doesn’t stop, and walked along the other side. Crosswalks are marked on the road here, similar to the states, but there is no traffic signal. You just put your hand up, start walking across, and the traffic stops for you.

Today, Dave and I decided to try this on our own before having the kids attempt it. We set out to find the closest mall with the goal of finding a basketball. We approached the crosswalk and waited, observing what other people were doing. Once they started crossing, I put up my hand and we quickly followed. It wasn’t as scary as we anticipated. Although the traffic is heavy, it’s not going very fast, and everyone stops for you. If a guy with a banana cart can walk along with the flow of traffic you know it isn’t too fast. Although this is foreign to us, it clearly works, so we need to embrace it while we’re here.

The mall was only a 10 minute walk away. Once inside, it felt like any other mall and the kids will be excited to shop and eat there. We found a basketball and are looking forward to a familiar activity we all enjoy!