Anyone for a Spot of Cock Fighting?

San Agustin Church, Manila
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My time in Manila consisted of two short hop visits. The first after my arrival from Kuala Lumpur. People say that the Philippines is a strange place, well I was here to find out for myself. My first mission was to get out of the airport. It's located right off the city center, but when you enquire about a bus or some civilised form of transport out of the place, all arrows point to the prepaid taxi stand, and their crazy prices (Ps400 fort about 4km, Eu1 = Ps60). With the distance I had to travel, this was more expensive than a taxi in Dublin. Try and find an alternative and the answers were the same, 'Not safe, sir'. I was taking none of this. The country could be dangerous that you couldn't take a bus from the airport and if it was then I would have booked the first flight back out of the place.

Manila Cathedral
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Eventually I got a lead that almost ever bus passing along the road about 50m away would lead me to the city's overhead metro, which would bring me to my hotel. Ps20 later, I was strolling down the street to my hotel. There was actually a as decent transport system out there.

There's not much in the way of sights in Manila, but the first place I headed was Intramuros. From it's founding in 1571, it was the exclusive preserve of the Spanish ruling class. Within the fortress area were the stately homes, government buildings and churches. Thanks to WWII, not much more than the original fortress wall that fully protects the area still exists. Within the area are still the main churches in Manila. It was Sunday morning and wandering past Manila Cathedral mass was just about to start. Fully in English, Catholics of all ages were there for their Sunday prayer. The cathedral itself is the sixth on the same sight, last having to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in WWII.

Manila Cockfighting
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The afternoon was reserved for one of the Sunday passions of the country: cock fighting. Two cocks would be brought into the arena. Each owner would have another cock that he would use to try and get his fighter into the mood. The extra cocks were removed and it was time for the action to begin. The crowd were going wild trying to get their bets in place. No tote, no desks, no receipts. This betting was done just off hand signals across the crowd.

Opposing cocks were lined up, each wearing a blade on his left leg. The owners put them onto the ground and it usually didn't take too long for them to get into the action. Some bouts were short and bloody. The cocks would jump at one anther. If the blade on the leg made contact with the opponent, it was usually the end. The referee would lift the lifeless bird and drop it onto the ground to make sure the fight was gone out of it. Even an injured cock with the will to go on was allowed to do so and one that I was even ended up winning. Sometimes there was no blood, and the birds simply ground one another down until they were barely able to stand with exhaustion.

Manila Cockfighting
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My second visit to Manila brought me to the shopping districts. A side of the city that I really didn't think existed showed itself. Ever designer under the sun had a space in the 'malls'. The shopping centers were scrubbed clean and looked nothing like the grubby city center that made up the city all around it.