The Philippine Military Academy: A City Within a City

The Philippine Military Academy, Baguio City, Philippines

It's not all the time you visit a school with its own road signs and public transportation vehicles that expands a land area that would equal most of the small cities in the country.  Then again, it's no ordinary school - it's the Philippine Military Academy, the one and only training field for our country's heroes.

A 3-hour tour doesn't even cover half of what is to see here.  Old war planes and artillery are candidly situated throughout the grounds, as if you were in previous-day Philippines fighting for that long-awaited freedom.  The place is spic-and-span, too, and the grounds are very well tended.  During my visit there a couple of activities were happening in a localized section of the academy. Foundation Day, they said.  But I didn't get a chance to see how they celebrated that day - I was too busy touring the place. 

As for the site, I would say that Baguio City is the best place for the military to train.  First of all with its high terrain, if you can work out and breathe at that altitude, then keeping peace in the city where the oxygen is abundant will be a piece of cake.  Secondly, since Baguio is the Summer Capital of the country, and the temperature here drops to at most 13 Centigrade, doing all those push ups and jogs and all that stuff would literally be "no sweat" compared to when you're training down under.

The place is open to visitors.  It's a good thing the government isn't keeping all this glory from us. In fact, there are dozens of souvenir shops inside.  All you need is a valid identification card, which you leave at the entrance, and you're good to go. 

NAIA in 12 Hours: The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Can be a Place to Live in, Only That...

 It was four o'clock in the morning when I arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport to wait for my flight from Manila back to my hometown after a week-long lecture.  Because of some scheduling issues, my plane had to be the one that left at four in the afternoon and so I had no other choice but to spend the entire day at the airport.

I couldn't go out even if I wanted to, first of all, because of all my luggage.  Secondly, I knew nobody in Manila and I didn't want to get lost in such a big city just when I was about to go home. And last - this is the most important - I had not much money left.

Well, one word that describes NAIA when we venture into their souvenir shops, fashion stores, clothes and apparel, food stations, and all the other glistening luxuries you would want to get your hands on: Crazy.  I mean expensive crazy.  Take this for example.. even a local food chain, that's got all its food and prices in an exclusive, confined standard all over the country, nearly doubles its prices here.  Well you would understand why such an increase in cost without an increase in value would only be reasonable in such a place as an airport - to keep the dollars coming - but to the local Filipino, it's not such a friendly notion.

Don't get me wrong, the services are good.  The floors are mirror-shined, the elevators good enough to be bedrooms if you put in the right furniture, and the ventilation cold enough to cause hypothermia if you don't have the right amount of fat for insulation.  All in all it was a grand place to be.  The government did a real good job in maintaining it.  But whether I was able to maximize my stay or enjoy my 12 hours at NAIA, I still cannot figure out.