Trip to Manila

I was in Manila for 5 days in October last year. Yeah I know, this post came almost 1 year too late. Well, I have not got the time to update my blog for the longest time! Since for now, I am basically a bit free from my research paper so I plan to update you guys with all the travelling I made from last year up to today.:)


Anyway, I was in Manila for a Bioethics conference. Yup, I went there all by myself. Good for me, I was sponsored by UNESCO for this conference. I was so excited when I received the email from the conference committee. But the down side, I need to present my research at the conference. I was a bit nervous but I am ready to do it. This is my second international conference where I need to present my research in front of God's knows how many people. But for the sake of gaining experience, why not.


I stayed at ...err..I forgot the name of the hotel.Hahaha...I was greeted by the committee at the airport together with few participants who are also sponsored by UNESCO. There are four of us from Malaysia and I am the only girl! That is cool and I am so proud of myself. We were part of the ASEAN participants.

 Arrived at my room at 4pm. It was quite a ride from the airport to downtown Makati town. The hotel was at a very good location because there is a huge mall just across the street and there are lots of eating places just around the area. Since I am alone, having a mall nearby help and you can basically get everything there including some familiar shops.

Can view the mall from my room. I have to admit, the hotel has it downside, it's can be very loud because you can hear the busy street down below & it does not help that the night I arrived, there are a bunch of teenager staying there. I basically can't sleep the whole night. Not forgetting to mention that the air conditioning is from the stone age era so it was very loud. But I tried to get some sleep because I know tomorrow will be a very long day.

The next morning, we were picked up my the committee organiser who are consisting of the university post-graduate students. The conference was held at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines oldest university or probably one of the oldest in the world. The guy in black is the representative of the university patron from the Vatican City itself. This is a fully Catholic university where all the deans from each faculty are a priest themselves. It is not something so new in a country where almost 90% of the population are Catholic.

 Before the launching of the conference, these choir groups presented us with a lovely song and an amazing voices! It gave me goose bump. Man..their voice is really damn good! All of them are student from the university conservatory.

 The conference was launch officially!

 I am in awe looking at the building in this place. It is well preserved and well kept. All these building are mostly, how they look like when they were first build. The university also has it own high school within the university compound.

All the participants taking group photo in front of the university main building.

 And I busied myself taking picture of me elsewhere. Hahahha...I am wearing the traditional Cheongsam because all ASEAN delegates were instructed to use our country traditional cloths for the first day of the conference. I choose cheongsam because it is easy to move around wearing it since I have to use it the whole day!

 I love the university ambiance because it is so relaxing. Look at this foundation..

 There is an outdoor cafe with some band playing some music to entertain you. Lovely atmosphere. Even the other M'sian delegates admit that.

 The conference is a part of the university 400th anniversary's celebration. Yes..you read that right, It is their 400th birthday!!

Look at this ceiling! Me & some participants were lost on our way to find the function room for our dinner that night.

 And we finally find it!

 I am seating with participants from the Land of Smile..Thailand.

 She really sang superbly.

And so is he. Both are students from the university's conservatory.

 The student entertain us with some folk song which is very common among the Filipino.

 Some of the dancers are lecturer at the university.

 We were asked whether we want to do any presentation on Malaysia but we all declined because we can't basically create a presentation within such a very short notice. Actually none of the ASEAN teams present anything except for this guy. He is one of the participant from Indonesia.

 A group picture with all ASEAN delegates and the speakers.

The Malaysia's delegate except for the guy in blue outfit. He is from Vietnam. The guy in Malays costume is from Unisel, the Indian guy is from UPM and the baju batik Chinese guy is from MMU. All of them are lecturers so that make me the only student among them.Hehhehe...

 Second day of the conference is my presentation day. Getting myself ready that morning with my new black dress. Armed with my USB, I am off to tell the crowd about my research. I was not expecting such a huge crowd and man am I nervous when I stood in front of the class and saw the whole room was packed with people. I was so nervous but I remain calm & do my thing. After 20min everything is over & I can feel that my palm are sweating.Hahhaha...

 On the last day of the conference we had a round table discussion regarding Bioethics among the ASEAN delegate and the discussion was lead by Dr. Macer from UNESCO in Bangkok.

 The Dean of the post-graduate unit of university of Santo Tomas giving the closing speech and prayer for the three day conference.

My last lunch with the participants. I was seating with some delegates from the Philippines, Singapore & Thailand. After the conference was over, we were given a tour of the city arranged by the committee, which was good because we were so busy during the whole conference. I am literally at the university hall from early morning to late in the evening. When we reach the hotel, it was already 6pm. I only manage to get some dinner & go back to my hotel room & getting for the next day. So, I am grateful that the organising committee did arrange for the city tour.


But that I will continue in the part 2 of my trip to Manila because now I need to get my beauty sleep. Nite..