Manila, Day 1: Heat is Exhausting Edition

National park

 I am in Manila, capital of the Philippines, as the Canadian Department of National Defence is running a junket of experts or influencers or whatever I am to learn about the new headquarters they are standing up for a three star officer and to get a better understanding of the Indo-Pacific.

 

 

To be clear, the flight, hotel, and much of the food is on me and the other participant.  This has been the policy for quite some time, so I covered my expenses for similar trips to Latvia and Portugal.  For the trip long ago in 2007 to Afghanistan, that was on DND's dime.  They had a far greater incentive to share info (or conduct info ops) back then, resulting in multiple trips with larger groups.  I say this upfront as I have been clear to DND that their current policy selects against younger (and therefore more diverse) scholars as they tend to have less flexibility and resources in their grant funding.  This almost certainly had an impact on the attendance--two people.   I know I am lucky that I can do this kind of thing.  The other participant is from a Canadian think tank with mysterious funding.

UNESCO protected 
Cathedral

This policy may be changing given the flow of resources into DND, but I am skeptical.  I think fear of being accused by some folks in the media that the military is wasting money, running party trips, may deter a policy change.  Too bad as these trips are very, very helpful for getting very quick, extensive, expansive views of key Canadian missions.  My two books on Afghanistan (one with Dave)benefited greatly from having a brief (just one week) bit of ground experience, getting a sense of the geography, asking questions both in the formal briefings and in other encounters.  The Portugal and especially Latvia trips were similarly helpful in providing an opportunity to drink from the firehose--to learn a lot in very little time.  

Year of the Horse in 
Chinatown

We will be meeting with Canadian embassy folks, senior Filipino officials in the government and in their military, think tank folks, and more.  We will also be doing a bit of tourism together on Saturday--the American Manila Cemetery, the walled city, and a big mall.  We have Sunday free.  Monday, we meet with Filipino military education people and do some naval stuff in the afternoon: their coast guard, a Canadian ship that is here, and more.  I am frequently asked to comment on Canada's Indo-Pacific efforts, so I will be better informed to do so (while being aware that I am, yes, a tool for DND's info ops).

 

 

I have no idea what pissed
these spuds off.

I got here two days early so that I could adjust to the time zone (12 hours difference) and the heat (oh my, the difference).  Yesterday, it was in the high 90s and quite humid.  It didn't feel that bad, but it ultimately kicked my butt in a big way.  I took the local equivalent of an uber out to Chinatown, found a good restaurant, and then walked to a market.  I then walked from there to the big national park with the intent to go to the National Museum.  Along the way, I found two big cathedrals and a memorial to the massacre of Manila in February-March of 1945 (see my next post).  I also stopped by a garden.  I was then so tired I decided to skip the museum for the day and hit a nicely air conditioned mall.  It was full of fun signs.  

Manila is definitely not a walking city--the sidewalks go from wide to thin to non-existent--the distances are quite large between various places, and the traffic is a bit intense.  My adventure today will focus on two spots that are close to each other--the aforementioned museum and the bay.  Much less ambition, hopefully less heat exhaustion.  I had a great conversation with one driver, and, yes, when each driver asks, I say I am Canadian ;)  Which I am, but I am playing down my American id, as so far, Trump is not so popular here. 

So far, the biggest surprise has been how each bank has a guard in front with a very serious pistol-gripped shotgun.  Just as I know I am getting close to an American embassy anywhere in the world, I know I am near a bank when I see one of those guys (haven't seen a woman holding down that job yet).  The other gendered thing is that I have seen plenty of men sitting on the sidewalk watching their phones but no women. 

The big Cathedral has been rebuilt seven times--destroyed by earthquakes six times and by American bombers in World War II.  More on the WWII destruction in my next post after breakfast.  And more on what I learn from the briefings and meetings over the next few days.