Part 3: Manila

Manila is definitely not a typical tourist spot from what I've read, but Tony had a blast there last year and definitely wanted to go back. It is the most densely populated city in the world and there is always traffic. Just unbelievably bad, and people drive crazy. Traffic lanes appear to be merely a suggestion. By comparison driving in Shenzhen was like being out on a back country road, and I thought driving there was a death trap. Manila does however have great clubs and fun friendly people that party all night, and everything is super cheap. Also, basically everyone speaks english well.

We arrived in Manila on a Tuesday night and I felt awful the entire way there. I'd gotten a bit of a cold the last day or two in Macau, and while I was never really very sick it was enough to make me feel pretty bad. I had a bit of a fever and a very sore throat, such that it hurt every time I swallowed. I was also just generally tired. I crashed pretty early Tuesday night and slept a bunch, but was still feeling under the weather Wednesday night when the team was getting ready to go out. I decided to stay in as I knew it was going to be a big week of partying and I wanted to recover for the next three nights. This was definitely the right decision, but unfortunately I missed out on a pretty epic night. Actually, I woke up at 9:30am to grind online (Wednesday nightly tournaments with the time difference) so I guess I could still have caught the tail end of the party.

After I finished up my session, I went up to the other hotel room to see what the hell had happened to Tony and Dan. I walk in to see three girls, Tony, and Dan all passed out, Dan and Tony each cuddling with a (very attractive) girl. They regale me with some of the stories of last night and Tony and I hit the gym for a bit as I'm feeling a fair bit better. I end up going out that night but it really sucked. I guess everyone rests up for the weekend Thursday night in Manila as it was dead. Even the girls from the night before, who were legit party girls, had no interest in going out. We were at a spot that was supposed to be one of the best in the city that night, and while there were a lot of people there it totally blew.

Friday and Saturday we went to what we were told was the best club in the city and it did not disappoint. Friday night in particular we had a table on the dance floor (for fairly cheap) and there were gorgeous girls just everywhere around us. It was to the point I think we were almost confused what to do there were just too many possibilities. It was probably the best atmosphere I've ever been at in a standard club. Saturday night wasn't as good as we got bumped to a less ideally positioned table and there just seemed to be a lot more guys than Friday. While I know certain team members have reason to disagree, it was still an awesome night! I have to give a shoutout to Carlos and Max (slider on 2p2) who hung out with us those nights and were great guys to party with.

Sunday was a day of recovery, but despite relaxing all day my body was still not happy with me. It wouldn't really be again for the rest of the trip. Monday was our last night. I ended up having a date with a girl I'd met on the weekend that was easily one of the best first dates I've ever had. So then we all got on a plane the next morning and left. Such is the traveling lifestyle I guess. At this point Truck Dan leaves the team to go back to Jersey for Thanksgiving with the family, while Tony and I soldier on into Seoul for the final leg of the trip, and try not to get blown off the face of the earth by communist dictators.

Mike