We flew to Manila from Helsinki, Finland via Hong Kong.
Landing in Hong Kong
The flight from Hong Kong to Manila was about 2 to 2,5 hours. We arrived an hour late. Passing through controls and picking up the luggage at the airport was easy. We had the luxury of having a car and driver assigned to us from work.
First picture of Manila
The humid air hit us and a faint smell of coal was in the air. It was already dark.
There is a lot of talk and writing about the traffic in Manila. The driver was skilled and the car was moving almost constantly, but at a low speed. The traffic was not as bad as we had understood from all the writing on the internet. But certainly it was overall very slow, comparing to a complete traffic jam in Helsinki. It was like squeezing toothpaste. Churning out the paste of cars with an occasional active crystal motorcycle or moped that sparked ahead. Hooting frequently, but not very aggressively, everyone was just squeezing and squeezing.
We arrived at the hotel and checking in and the rest was smooth.
Our first day in Manila had passed.