about to leave manila

so im about to embark upon my first long distance, low cost bus trip since morocco, and im a little worried. one, i havent had any diet coke all day, so i've already got a headache. a bus ride into the mountains will probably not make this better. two, my ear is still occassionally closing off and making me deaf. this, too, will probably not be alievated by high altitudes and bumpy roads.

but all complaining aside, im pretty excited about all this. i think that, since everything that could have possibly gone wrong at the beginning of this trip did, now everything that happens to go right feels incredible. i actually have a seat on a bus to a place i want to go. wow. also, in the roughly 9 hours i've been in manila, ive managed to:

1. get a general feel for the city and where i should and shouldnt be in it
2. find a neighborhood that agrees with me
3. find a few nice little outdoor cafes
4. find a place that serves me campari for CHEAPER than i got it in the states!!!
5. refrain from smoking
6. locate several establishments that are open 24 hours, should i for whatever reason be unable to find a place to sleep (this is very important)
7. master the taxi system - approximately how much for how far

all this makes me very happy. but i still have some goals:

1. figure out this jeepney business. a jeepney is a little truck-bus, brightly and artistically painted to the driver's taste, that runs (generally) from one point to another. you get on in the back (much like in senegal), and pay as you leave through the front. i have not figured out a) where these things go in manila, or b) how to indicate that you need to stop, or even know that stopping where you need to stop is possible. i would like to master this.

2. learn some words in tagalog. english is an official language my ass. yes, they are SO MUCH BETTER than the taiwanese, but many people still cant communicate. sometimes english here actually sounds very spanishy to me, even though no one seems to speak spanish. in any case, in manila at least people speak tagalog (filipino), and i should, too. (though i did get to talk to the money changer in arabic :) :) that made me really happy. neither one of us really spoke arabic, but he was muslim (from mindanao) and i took it in college, so we got to say "assalamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam" and a few other token phrases. it was fun.

3. trek. i want to go on a trek. it doesnt have to be for days or anything, just a few hours. but i want a guide, and i dont want to get lost. i want to be forced to walk a little further than i could motivate myself to do alone. this will probably be in a couple days, though, because i want to trek through rice terraces.

so anyway, that's my trip so far. it's 9:33 PM, and my bus leaves at midnight, so ill probably have to leave for the bus station from where i am at about 10:21 PM. yay. this is fun.