Despite Paul’s trip to the concierge to remind them of my pending arrival in Manila, there was no one waiting for me when I arrived. After many fits and starts, I found my way to the hotel limo stand and caught a ride to the Peninsula Manila.

There is a beautiful fountain at the front of the hotel. On each side of it is a small notice on a blue plaque reminding everyone not to bathe in the fountain pool. At night, the hilltop and trees are lit up with Christmas lights and decorations and the fountain itself also has a number of lights. The water appears to glow from top to bottom.

A few hours after arrival, I met up with Paul and we headed out to a local shopping center. It was a few blocks from the hotel and Paul couldn’t stop talking about the restaurant dedicated to Spam. Apparently, it’s a delicacy here. Even Pizza Hut has a spam and pineapple pizza!

Crossing streets in Makati is a lot like crossing streets in India – close your eyes and pray. The traffic wasn’t as dense and some of the busier routes did have occassional crossing guard to slow down traffic.

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