Postcard from Manila

Manila, capital of the Philippines, represents a challenge, both blessed and cursed, slums stand alongside venerable churches and several universities contrast with the many nightclubs and exciting, round-the-clock street life.

Manila is the political and economic nerve centre of the Philippines, and it serves as a drawcard for people from all over the Philippines. For most visitors from North America or Australia, this metropolis does not seem to merit more than a few days’ visit, after which the tranquility of the provinces may seem all that much more attractive. Although a visit to Manila can be taxing, it nevertheless gives the visitor important insights into the culture, history and current state of this island republic, insights that stem from its very wealth of contradictions.

In the sights of foreign conquerors

Natives who settled at the mouth of the Pasig River in Manila have seen a great many rulers come and go. The first to come were the Malaysians, who arrived in the Philippines during the pre-Christian era. Hindu and Buddhist rulers from Indonesia followed. Islam reached Manila at the end of the fifteenth century. The Muslim reign established in the mid-sixteenth century had been in existence for barely a decade when Spanish Catholic seafarers appeared on the horizon.

Colonial Manila

Miguel de Legaspi conquered Manila in 1571, declaring it to be the capital of the Spanish colony of the Philippines. Despite the ravages of World War Two, when Manila was heavily bombed, traces of the city’s colonial past are still in evidence, particularly in the Intramuros district. Intramuros, literally “within the walls”, meaning within the wall enclosure of the city/fortress. The city centre, with its partially restored wall , is the site of a number of sixteenth-century buildings including Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral and the church of San Augustin, the oldest in the city.

At the centre of power

The heart of Manila is now elsewhere, in Makati, the modern commercial and banking quarter. Elegant high rises, gorgeous residential estates, super-modern shopping centres and numerous 5 star hotels can be found there. The modern development of this quarter began in the mid-twentieth century. Like much of the growth in Manila, Makati is closely connected to the politically powerful Zobel de Ayala family. The family name is found throughout the city, on streets, buildings and public monuments.

They come here not only to pray

Pasay City is located in the south-west of Manila across the superhighway from high-class Makati. On Wednesdays, Pasay is overrun with people. In Baclaran, the faithful crowd into Redemption Church, where weekly services are held in honour of the Virgin Mary. But one suspects that even more Manilans make their way to Pasay in order to patronize the neighbourhood’s famous lech6n stands, known to be the best source of that quintessential Philippine specialty, roast suckling pig.

A bit of folk culture

Throughout Manila, a light rail station is never far away. If your stomach is complaining after a feast of suckling pig, a gentle ride on this elevated railway is highly recommended. The trip back to town can also be made by Jeepney, of course, though it will be slower and more crowded.

Jeepneys were originally former US Army surplus jeeps that had been converted into passenger vehicles with as many as fourteen canopied seats. These days, however, most Jeepneys come fresh from the factory. Beautiful painting and ornamentation are a must have for genuine Jeepney status. Most have religious figures as their central theme, but they may include lighthearted comic strip images.

Many Jeepneys are so thoroughly covered in advertising that they resemble moving billboards, while others looks like temples on wheels. What’s important for visitors to remember, however, is that Jeepneys follow specific routes, just like buses. It is always best to inquire about the route before getting on board.

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Finding content for blogs

Here’s an idea to generate an unending supply of unique web content articles in just 17 minutes. Go to a free web content site like Find-an-Article. You’ll see these sites break down the articles into niches. Select the category that most closely matches your target. As an example, choose weight loss articles if the web site you are wanting to increase traffic to is in this area.

Because the articles are in English, copy & paste them into Google’s translator, convert them to Spanish, copy & paste the text again and convert to German, then convert this back into English. Be sure to correct any words for readability and confirm that the keywords and phrases you desire to promote remain intact.

Particularly if you know nothing about the subject when you start, another great idea is to locate an article wizard program that creates free content such as Instant Article Wizard. I’ve purchased and used many such programs. For the money and ease of use, IAW is the best I’ve found. You can create several unique articles on the same topic keywords in a few minutes. This affords you the capability to post to as many blogs as you want, submit to article directories as many times as you want and get as much content about a topic as you want. The benefit to you is fresh content, more pages indexed by Yahoo and more backlinks to your blogs.

With the capability to crank out quality content, several doors open up for you. You can create several niche web sites and constantly add fresh content to them. Or, create articles to post to free content sites and get hundreds of back links to your own websites. Another benefit is to get into the business of writing articles for other webmasters on any topic they desire. The future is unlimited and up to you.

How to Sell Your Car

Unless you are considering keeping your old vehicle and passing it on to someone else, you will eventually need to sell it. There’s many ways to sell it, but first let’s consider the preparation of your vehicle prior to advertising or trading.

Presentation is the key factor

The first thing one should consider when selling an old vehicle is how you can sell it for more money. The technique, which most people seem to overlook, is to simply make it look absolutely beautiful!

This does not mean just washing and vacuuming it, although that’s a excellent start. It is the overall preparation and detailing that gets a good price. This is a well-known secret of most used motor dealers.

You would be surprised to see the condition of some of the vehicles they purchase, but after a few hours in the detailing shop you wouldn’t think it was the same vehicle! The best advice to anyone selling his or her car, is to have a professional car detail carried out. This will cost you around the $200 mark and it will be money well spent.

It will, in effect, save you hours of hard work trying to do it yourself with nowhere near the same result. This alone will add hundreds of dollars to your vehicle, particularly when selling privately.

I know of people who have had their car detailed and fallen back in love with their car deciding not to go ahead with the sale.

Once the detailing has been completed you should make sure any small defects are repaired. It is also important that you have the service logs and any relative mechanical history at the ready, as this is now becoming a major factor when buying or selling a used car. If a service is due or near due, make sure you have it done prior to selling. This will give a prospective customer a good idea of how well you have kept your car.

What is your car worth?

Before you start selling your vehicle, either privately or to a dealer, you must know its market value. There is nothing worse than advertising your vehicle with a highly inflated price.

One way to find out the approximate value of your vehicle is by studying the used car section of your local newspapers, which will give you a reasonable guide. Another way is to look in dealership yards to see what price similar vehicles are being sold for, but you must remember these vehicles have margins built into them to cover the dealership’s operating costs and over-stock.

Alternatively, the web can provide a wealth of information on vehicle pricing. This is only web-based information and is generalised, so it does not give you accurate pricing on your own vehicle because of the specific condition and accessories fitted.

This information is only to assist you in making a qualified and rational decision when buying or selling your vehicle. Remember, these sites are to be used only as a guideline, they are not entirely accurate as they do not take into consideration the individual buying or selling trends within the different states.

There are always variations to the rules about pricing, so you should follow your intuition when setting a price and be sure to leave room for negotiating in your asking price. Your starting price should be higher than the price for which you really want to sell your vehicle.

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