When is it ok to hit children?

Chinatown, Central Manila.
I had read that the further north you get from the Pasig River, the more 'ghetto' things become.  I never intended to go right to the heart of the Tondo neighbourhood but I was a bit curious as to what this part of town was really like. I'm not really the sort of person to shield myself completely from these sorts of environments and I had just purchased a Canon 1200d the previous day so I was eager to get back into snapping a few photographs.
As I crossed the Pasig river a naked man ran along the footpath towards my direction. He wasn't sprinting like a crazy bath-salt-possessed mad man but he still had the cheek to pull the fingers at me for the entire duration of his approach.
I had barely passed through the Chinatown gateway and already things had started to get weird.

Travelling really brings out the bean counter in me and I had intended on stumbling across a 1 peso water dispensing machine at least once on my journey but for some reason they don't seem to be a big thing in central Manila. Spotting a 7/11 convenience store not too far in the distance I went in to grab a cold drink and gather my thoughts. Some guy had just tried to sell me an Iphone X without a charger out on the street a few minutes ago and then a naked man had just run across the Pasig river bridge in front of me, what else could possibly happen today?

I sat down at one of the tables inside the convenience store and opened up a cold bottle of Powerade before looking up to see a street urchin holding his hand out for money.  I quickly grabbed my wallet from off the tabletop and stashed it in my pocket. Not being in the mood for awkward confrontation, I handed over 8 pesos worth of coins. Shortly after, the staff and security guard forcefully removed the child from the premises. Had I waited a few seconds later I'd be 8 pesos richer but it wasn't a big deal, 8 pesos is the equivalent of 0.23 NZD (January 2019).

Outside the 7/11 there was a group of about 4 street urchins hanging around the entrance knocking on the windows and staring inside. At the time I didn't think much of this until I left the store and found three young children pinching my skin, tugging at my arms, unzipping my bag and wiping snot and saliva onto my t shirt. I clutched my phone and wore my backpack on my front, fending away their strikes as I walked down the road. As a sheltered New Zealander I had never actually had to deal with professional street kids before and I was feeling confused as to whether it was ok to use violence against a young child. It's an awkward situation because normally you imagine only really having to fight aggressive adults.

This was clearly not the time for someone to bring out the old "well what would Jesus do?" question. This was also the moment when President Duterte's policy of using violence to communicate ideas and concepts started to make sense to me. To be honest I felt like smacking them in the face but I was also faced with the potential for being that guy who takes things way too far.

After an aggressive shove, the last child broke off and I quickly made my way into a church where I sat down for a few minutes to calm my nerves. I had barely made it into Chinatown and supposedly isn't even the worst part of the city. Already my adrenaline was being released into my bloodstream and I was entering a very different frame of mind. For those who have ever ventured into a large south east Asian city (that isn't Singapore or Kuala Lumpur) you have may experienced a kind of mental burnout which is a combination of the high temperature, noise, and chaotic visual stimuli. There are a few things which has can accelerate the rate of mental burnout, such as dealing with poor public infrastructure and people trying to extract money from you. After around two hours my mental stability was wearing thin and felt as If i needed to 'resurface' to replenish my mental oxygen.

I decided to call the mission off and make my way to the nearest LRT station where I proceeded to waste the next 2 hours catching the wrong train and then walking back home after being unable to secure a space on one of the carriages. That's another story.

In the next blog post I'll discuss my experiences using the Manila LRT system and sound like a snobby dickhead who's standards of public transport have been warped by spending too much time in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

I'll leave yall with one of the few photos I took that day.

Give me 1 Peso every time I see black Jesus and I'll show you a man who could retire at 24 years of age.