Manila

RAfter a short stopover in Hong Kong to meet up with 80 of my classmates who were there for one of LBS's global business experiences, 60 of us made our way to the Philippines. Two of our classmates are native to the islands and took advantage of the fact that we were all in Asia by showing us their country. The trip started out with two nights at the New World Hotel in Makati City, Manila. We enjoyed a fun opening dinner of not so tasty Filipino food before a big night out at Raven, the penthouse club at the W Hotel. Of course, only the best for LBS. 

On our second day in the Philippines, we took a bus to Tagaytay to ride mini-horses to the top of Taal Volcano, the smallest active volcano in the world. I was afraid I was going to break my horse, it was so small. The heat was pretty excruciating so I stuck to the horse, but a few of the more ambitious guys in the group decided to hike the 4 km to the top. 

We had another group dinner at a place called Mamou after our fun day out. Called it an early night after dinner to pack before heading to Boracay early the next day. Manila really impressed me with how modern and developed the city is. There are a lot of American chains in the malls, like PF Changs, California Pizza Kitchen and Starbucks. I guess the Americans left their mark!