Two weeks have passed already since I arrived in Manila, one more to go. I think this has been the hottest November in my life, around 30 degrees everyday, 90%+ humidity, short sleeve all the time.

Food as always the great danger, trying to stay healthy is a bit of a problem with so much good food around. And of course we did Spanish food 6 or 7 times, yes it’s not the same as in Spain but it’s close enough, specially after months away.

The language is getting easier, Tagalog has no mystery for me now 😉 I know all the bad words and some of the good ones, so I’m pretty covered. The fact that most foreigners don’t even try makes them be very impressed with just few words. Philip and Brett are trying to catch up, but I think I still know better my way around.

Philip had the stupid idea of renting a car and driving around one day, really really stupid, no only the idea of driving in Manila but just thinking of him driving. So he was trying to switch lanes and couldn’t and a policeman pulls us over, "reckless" driving he said, 5000 pesos / 120USD and takes his driver license. After some arguing and pointing out the fact that we are not Americans, helped by the usage of some Tagalog words to make the cop laugh, it got reduced to 500 pesos bribe, that’s what I call the "puti" tax (puti = white), Philip drives like a old woman compared to the other people here.

It’s still amazing how much fun they have around here with foreigners, people staring at you and laughing, saying things in Tagalog, like "he’s white" and laughing thinking that you don’t understand, a boy saying "he has a pointy nose, he’s so white!", even I got a marriage proposal. Sometimes you feel like you are being stalked, but in general is pretty funny, you get a lot of stories to write in the blog.

And after the alerts for the Typhoon, nothing happened other than strong winds, until just now when we were hit by an earthquake, 6.0, that while being in the 27th floor makes it a bit scary, the building was swaying for a while.

Manila panorama from Ortigas business district

Frankfurt am Main is a financial center in Europe and has one of the busiest airports. It’s the home of the European Central Bank. It has an interesting mixture of old buildings and skyscrapers, that can be seen together, pointing that blending between old and new that you can’t find in many places.

R�mer square

Frankfurt skyline from Eiserner Steg

Frankfurt panorama from Eiserner Steg

R�mer square panorama

Frankfurt panorama from Eiserner Steg

These are some pictures from my trip to Ottawa for the Equinox Summit. First time in Canada and so far bad experiences with immigration, to get in and to get out! Remember to take with you *some* proof of what you are going to do there, or they are just going to be a pita. To get out, the US immigration decided to do some extra checks on me, due to my common name they said, although it was the same name as the previous 20 times I entered the US, sight. Luckily the plane waited for me and that was tight as I was flying Ottawa-New York-Los Angeles-Manila-Cebu, miss the first one and you miss 4 flights.

Anyway Ottawa was hotter than expected and I just had some time to take a quick walk around the Parliament area, very nice building. From the hill you can see the Ottawa river and the Rideau Canal that gets frozen in winter to form the world’s longest skating rink. Definitely the city must be more interesting in winter.

Canadian Parliament, Ottawa

Canadian Parliament, Ottawa

Panorama from Parliament Hill, Ottawa

Canadian Parliament, Ottawa

More images from my road trip from Charlotte, North Carolina to Charleston and Beaufort in South Carolina. Charleston is know for being a major touristic destination and the place where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired.

More pictures in my flickr account. 

Beaufort

Beaufort panorama

Beaufort

Beaufort panorama

Beaufort panorama

Beaufort

Beaufort

Hunting Island lighthouse

No this is not Paris, it’s Las Vegas, interesting city, a must see in your life. We even made some money playing Blackjack. These are pictures from The Strip.

Tomorrow is time to travel again, out to Manila for some weeks.

Las Vegas

Hotel Paris

Venetian Hotel panorama

Hotel Paris