manila: where the density hits you like a truck

so manila. yeah it's a place. i just checked and it's...there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.

they say it's the densest city on earth, 43,000 people per square kilometer. that's not a typo. someone told me that during rush hour you can walk faster than traffic moves in parts of tondo.

the pasig river cuts it in two with intramuros on one side - this old walled city where they say everything started. then they rebuilt after the war and now it's just...messy. in a good way? maybe.

if you get bored, quezon city, taguig, pasig, mandaluyong, san juan, makati and parts of parañaque are just a short drive away. or at least they used to be before the traffic got apocalyptic. someone told me the harbor's supposed to be one of asia's finest but i haven't seen it yet because i've been stuck in gridlock for three days straight.

sixteen districts. sampaloc, quiapo, santa cruz - all these names i can barely pronounce. the air's thick with pollution and sweat. but hey, it's got history. and daniel burnham tried to make it pretty with his big avenues. though honestly you can barely tell now.

so yeah. manila. it's loud. it's crowded. it's probably going to flood or get hit by a typhoon tomorrow. but it's...there. and sometimes that's enough.

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