I'm on a work trip to Manila, Philippines right now. I'm going to talk more about the trip itself than the work stuff, since I'm not asking people permission to post their pictures and there's some sensitive information. Also, work is boring. :)
I left on Saturday at about 12:30p and arrived in Manila at about 8:30p on Sunday. The trip is a long one, but not as long as that might imply; you lose a day by flying over the international dateline. As a result, we are +15 hours relative to Pacific time.
This is my second trip to Manila and although security is much tighter as a result of world events like Pres. Dutarte (and I'll refrain from getting into any political talk beyond that), I'm really enjoying myself. It's been neat to see all of the team members from work that I met last year and to make new friends. Also, because I have some context for the Philippines now, which is definitely a developing country with its share of global-level poverty, I'm less shocked by that, and I can appreciate the other aspects of the city like the culture, the way most Filipinos live, etc.
One of the aspects of the culture that really hits you is the friendliness of the people here. I can appreciate that as a visiting business person from the US (who looks the part) I'm probably not receiving the same kind of treatment that another might. Even so, in both trips I have not had a single experience of a local that wasn't over-the-top friendly. This even includes security personnel and etc.
As part of my daily meditation practice I contemplate something I'm grateful for and my intention for the day. For the last few days my intention has been to be as friendly and kind as everyone I meet.
Manila itself is about 1.8 mm people in a city about 17 square miles, and as a result it is the most densely populated city in the world. Here was the view when I got in Friday night:
Here are some views from the office:
On Monday we had a long day and dinner with the team. Tuesday was a 14 hour day that included a conference call with some folks in the office in Portland. Today will be better, with a chance for me to relax and get some precious "Dave" time in, and Thursday we will be meeting in the morning and touring local museums in the afternoon, so I expect to have more photos then. Friday I fly back home in the morning, arriving back in Portland the same day (again, because of the international dateline).
