Fruits of Manila

We were headed for the historic center of Manila when we decided to take a horse-cart ride through it. While Rambo the horse pulled us not through but around the fort, our driver Rolando Miguel Gonzales played guide and informed us about everything we saw.

“This is the old wall.” (it is, obviously)

“This is the statue of Magellan who died here in the Philippines.” (ah, nice)

"This is China Town." (Lots of banks)

“This is a child factory” (oh my God, this street is sooo full of kids, some just naked, seemingly living in these cardboard houses.)

“This is a papaya tree. Do you have papaya trees in Turkey?”

“No.”

“And this is coconut. Do you have coconut trees in Turkey?”

“No, we don’t.”

“This is a banana tree.”

“Yes, yes, we have banana trees in Turkey, in fact we have them everywhere and Turkish bananas are so much sweeter than the bananas here.”


I learned to enjoy tropical fruits but it took some time and I still have some reservations. And although I saw all sorts of fruits growing wild in tropic countries it was still surprising to see these around the crowded streets of downtown Manila. But each city has it’s surprises. And I know some blueberries in downtown Istanbul.