Manila

Theo's popularity is not decreasing. He keeps getting scooped up in people's arms for photos. When he ran under a barrier manned by a policeman at the airport, the policeman grabbed him, and I thought here goes, we're in big trouble - and then insisted that I take a photo of them both.
The beauty of travelling with a toddler is that you live in the moment. There is an immediacy and intensity in the experience of your surroundings. I am such a restless soul, always focusing on the future, what is happening next, that being with Theo grounds me, makes me enjoy the present.
Perhaps one of the reasons that people are so tolerant and kind to kids is that there are so many children. They are ever-present. One of the biggest problems facing the philippines is the ever increasing birth rate. As a Catholic country , the use of contraception is not promoted or widespread, resulting in large families living below the poverty line.

Manila is one of the most densely populated cities in the world - you sense this in the continuous queues; for groceries, on the roads, in the petrol station, at the jeepeny stop ( a highly decorated converted jeep used for public transport). Even trying on clothes in the mall takes a a good 20 minutes of patient queuing.

Manila is, to use the tired cliche, a city of contrasts. Shining new skyscrapers stand next to shanty towns. The slum areas of the city are not on its outskirts, but peppered throughout. It seems that any available patch of land is made use of, with families of squatters transforming the space into their homes, building lean to shacks with pieces of rusty corrugated iron, bits of wood and woven bamboo.

Apparently, not all the makeshift houses are occupied by squatters, with some being rented out by landlords to people working in the city. Next to buildings in progress lie the shacks of the workmen, who also use old shipping containers as their homes. The multi-million dollar apartments of the super- rich are built by men living next door in tiny metal boxes.

In some areas of the city the air feels thick with pollution. On our way back from laguna hot springs we experienced a hefty traffic jam. A 2 hour journey lasted 5 hours. 6 lanes of traffic, total gridlock, with people packed into the back of jeepneys and pickups in the sweltering heat. Circumstances which would test the coolest character, yet through all this people wait patiently. No shouting, no losing tempers, only a serene look of resignation on their faces. It is in many ways inspiring. My new years resolution is to be more patient.

Despite the scenes of desperate poverty found across the city there appear to be very few beggars, or even people in a state of total degradation, unable to look after themselves or keep clean. This is perhaps a result of the strength of community ties and family bonds.

There is definitely communal, rather than individualistic mentality. You behave in a way that benefits the group. This interdependence is a vital survival strategy in the face of great economic challenges.

Filipinos speak Tagalog, which has numerous words of Spanish origin as a result of Spanish colonisation, and American English (it was an American colony in the early C20th ). The polite way to address to a lady is the very american 'Ma'am' - Lala addresses me and mum in this way. The influence of American culture is huge, clear from the obsession with big cars and super-malls (endless air-conditioned shopping centres) to the popularity of what Filipinos term 'junk food', which loses its negative connotations in this context.

I shopped in a huge pristine super- mall today, a very surreal experience, particularly after arriving by motor bike side car, with mum, Theo and I cramped in a tiny metal box, and leaving in a heavily packed jeepeny.

I dropped theo of with mum at the mall at a kids play area, so I could have a quick solo shop. I had to be fingerprinted and buy socks for them both before they could enter. The assistants hurry along after the kids, frantically wiping the surfaces down once touched by their little hands. Bacterial gel is compulsory on entering. A lady in surgical gloves stands permanently by the slide catching children as they descend - a kind of bizarre futuristic take on Salinger's catcher in the rye.

Tonight is new years eve. A big celebration, perhaps even more so than Christmas, feted by setting the skies ablaze with fireworks. I am surrounded by continuous bangs, a war-like assault on the senses. We have a huge pile to light on the stroke of midnight. Dylan I climbed up the water tower to see the city bright with explosions and the air thick with gunpowder and smoke. Theo, who is terrified by big rockets, has finally dropped off.