Arrived in Manila

I am here in Manila to attend an ICT conference. The view of the city from my 17th floor window is very pretty. The city centre and the high rise buildings not that far away. The building in the fore ground, a huge underground DIY making IKea look meniscal. Having just arrived in from the airport my impression of this huge city with a population of twenty million is how modern the city is with a very established and well planned infrastructure. However my guide book tells me otherwise using terms like (evils of traffic and pollution an an infra structure stretched to breaking point). My mind is etched with Save the Children pictures of the rubbish tips and the children rummaging through for finds. I am yet to see this. I have seen one set of quite poor housing and there is another in this pic, the houses just above the roof of the DIY. I have also seen one chap asleep on the footpath resting on his bag of cans obviously for recycling. The bus service uses strangle vehicles with a sort of USA enlarged staff car look. They are plentiful and well used and not over crowded. First impressions of the city are great although I under no illusions I may be staying in one of the better areas. The people pleasant and helpful . The airport modem and efficient. They inspect all luggage leaving the terminal and luggage tab on boarding pass must match number on luggage tag on suitcase before you pass through