The bus arrived at 3am a lot earlier than I had expected. I left the bus station and a lot of taxis wanted my business but I had nowhere to go. I found a hostel not too far away and walked there but it was closed s I had hoped it was 24 hours and I could have slept on a couch or something. So I looked online and found a more central hostel which was really cheap but gad some dodgy reviews as it was said to be mainly fillipinos who worked staying there. I booked it for 2 nights and tried to go to a park for a bit before the trains started but the park was a locked golf course so I went and sat outside the train station. > Meanwhile Arsenal had lost at home to Watford, the only good thing was other teams had not won. The train station eventually opened and I made sure I was on the right platform which was actually north even though I wanted to go south I needed to change line. So I went through security and waited for the station to open to buy my ticket. Then I waited on the platform and the first train didn't stop. Then a few more trains passed by before a very crowded train stopped. I daw a space in a carriage and ran there but it turned out to be a lasies only carriage so I had to wait for the next train which had a bit of space. When I got off and headed for the interchange an American helped me with directions and chatted to me. He was training to be a pastry chef here in Manila having been in the army before. He pointed me the direction to go and the train was a bit busy so I got the 2nd one to the end of the line, got off and walked to the next and last train station which went south, then I had a short walk to the apartment. It was early when I got there and I had to fill in details for security before going up to a 6th fllor apartment (602) where they had gilled a small 2 floor place with 6 bunk beds. I had a top bunk at the back bear a window and had just space for my suitcase standing up. The place looked busy with people getting ready and the toilet was a wet one so I didn't stay long and got my stuff and went to a nearby supermarket and bought a cucumber and some juice. I was going to get papaya but bought a mango from a stall holder instead which costcs bit much at 45. I headed north towards a church I'd not seen and bought 2 mini cheesecakes on the way which were really good. The church was pretty good and I left heading north still towards another church and saw Roxos compound first, a small neighbourhood which had done a few things to liven itself up. The next church was also nice and I took a photo, went inside and when I came out someone wanted to talk to me about a photobomber. Turns out he meant a tall building behind the church which was in my picture and had been stopped from being built by people protesting but then it only had a permit for 11 floors and it was a giant. He asked me to email him my photos so he could include it in a magazine or something so I did. I carried on north past an internet shop which was just 15 pesos per hour, not too close to where I was staying but it was the first I'd seen here. I crossed a bridge soon after and visited convalescence island but they only let me take a picture. On the north side of the river was a small church which was ok and then the presedential area where cars had to be quiet once they passed a gate. The palace had security who wouldn't let me in or take a photo but I got a form so I could apply in advance for a visit as a group. There was another small church afterwards and then I headed south across a bridge. The next park area and churcjh on my right looked inaccessible, maybe a military area so I carried on to another church this one of INC (Inglesia ni Cristo). The person there wasn't happy about me even taking a photo of their church let alone visit it, still it had been 4 churches already for the day. I left and went over the main road and the park on the map was not nice and under construction, then I went through a poor area and eventually got to a cemetery not too far from where Ann and Ritchie work. There was a big wall around it but there was eventually a gate and I went through and some kid said it was 15 pesos to get out. The cemetery looked a mess and there were quite a few people asking me questions. I had a little look around but there was not much too see and no way through so I went back and the gate wasn't locked so it was ok, but if anything was going to happen that could have been the place. I carried on round and found a place to eat the rest of my dim sum and rice and messaged Ritchie as I was close. He told me where he was and I walked on when the rain let up to a park called Ayala park but there was some rain and I sheltered for a bit. There was another park on the way and then I was at the shopping mall near to where Ritchie worked but he was just sending message every now and again and I sat in a massage chair and told him where I was. After about 10 minutes I was feeling tired and he hadn't replied so I just said I might fall asleep and that's what I did. I woke up and his last message was to ask if he should come and meet me which is what I thought the whole messaging had been about, but I messaged back to say I'd fallen asleep as I was tired and he said that maybe I should go back to the hostel, but it was still raining so I went upstairs and there was a gym and people sparring and I found an unused barbers and slept a while on a bench. I woke in the gym around 4pm and the rain had gone down do I went to kfc to use the toilet but it was out of order so I just had a spaghetti there and then used the toilet in a mall. There was a park next to the mall with a small moden chapel in which was pretty nice but in a modern unusual way. The rain started up again and I made my way to a museum which had an exhibition on the history of the Phillipines but it was s permanent exhibition and I would need to buy a ticket for all exhibitions for 425 so I left and crossed the road by walking across the shopping mall bridge intoanother shopping mall which in turn connected to another mall. I went to a supermarket there and got a few things and then left and went to go across another bridge but I'd come out the wrong way from the supermarket and almost made my way back to the first mall and had to turn around and go allthe way back and came to a bus station. Thankfully the rain had died down so I walked south and made it to another church, my 4th for the day. I carried on and there was a golf course on the left and a polo club on the right. I got to a green space I was looking to go to as it had a graveyard and WW2 memorialfor the Americans but it closed at 5 and it was 5.30 now. I went round the park on the right hand side and there was a nice rainbow over some tall buildings. Then I saw an information centre for McKinley park so I went inand it turned out to be a showroom for some condominiums they gad built called Venice. A women yhere showed me a few flats and took down my contact details and I left saying that I gad to meet someone. I wandered on and themap showed an unusual water feature so I went there and it was sn artificial canal in the venice shopping/restaurant area which had gondolas on it and looked very nice. I continued but then the map wasn't showing a oath to where I wanted to go as there was lots of dead ends, I asked someone and they told me I would need to go a fairly long way around on the main road so I did and crossing the main road was not easy and it was dark now as it was past 6. I wasn't sure exactly where we were meeting so I messaged Ann and continued into a poor area and went past an internet shop. I stopped and googled where it was as it wasn't on maps.me and it gave me 2 locations so I messaged Ann again and headed towards the airport where one of the locations was which meant going back to the main road I'd just left.
I carried on for a bit and then decided the other place was probably more likely to br somewhere to eat so I went that way which was close to the memorial park I'd walked around earlier. When I was close Ann finally replied to me and I was in the right place and I got there early around 7.10. She said she was going to be a bit late so I sat on a bench for a bit and then weny in andgoy s table by the window. I dat there for a while and Ann had said she was going to be a bit late but thrn nothing for a while and I didn't want to lose all of my phone battery. She messaged to say the driver gad a problem so shr needed another cab, meanwhile the restaurant, Gino's gave me some water. I thoughtmaybe she wasn't coming and was about to lwave after an hour sitting there but she messaged me again and then showed up. We shared a 4 cheese pizza, some egg pasta and a starter and it was pretty expensive, about 4 meals worth but it was good having cheese after so long in Asia. We talked and she told me her story of living with her boyfriend for many years but he'd done drugs and finally she'd moved on and was making new friends now. I thought she seemed to do too much for other people as she also had a presentation to do at work but she hadn't wanted to disappoint me. The Buddhism book I was reading said suffering is not the way it dies not make you divine or anything and I think maybe some people think it's something they should do. Anyway after dinner and a short walk I told her to go home and do more on the presentation and it was 10.20 so I had to get home without the trains running. I went to a main road but there were no jeepneys there so I walked a bit and walked a bit more and xame to a main road where I decided to take a bus vack south west to Backaran for 12 pesos. It was a bit crowded but ok and after that I got a jeepney north along taff avenue and git back before 12 and the apartment was unlocked and the lights were still on so I got ready for bed and then they turned the lights off and I went to sleep.
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