Welcome to Manila - now get me outta here!

---

We arrived in the Philippines very tired around 3:30am and given the reputation of this city for safety (or lack thereof) we decided to “sleep” in the airport til morning light before going to our hostel. Sleeping on hard benches intertwined with your luggage to avoid theft is not the prime way to sleep but we managed to get a few minutes of rest before the restaurants opened at 6am with their loud music and singing staff (hey, at least they enjoy their jobs!). We hopped in a taxi from the departures area (cheaper) and rode 20 minutes into the heart of Manila to Friendly’s Guesthouse. This guesthouse had a great rooftop patio/lounge but other than that had little going for it. Our room was dark, small, not so clean and a little musty. It was also the most expensive room we paid for in all of the Philippines (about 18$) with the fewest amenities (shared bathrooms, no hot water).

Our first impression of Manila was that we were definitely back in Southeast Asia! The streets were packed with cars, motorbikes and jeepneys, these old converted trucks that carried passengers in the back and spewed out pollution like it was their job! From the horn honks to the vendors on the street selling everything from gum to water to cigarettes to food, the bustling city was as vibrant and colourful as it was crowded and polluted. We would later come to appreciate the city much less and spent over half of our time in Manila getting out of the city for day trips!

After a short nap, we went out in search of food and came across Robinson’s Place, a huge mall, and were somewhat happy to have a something with a little familiarity. To enter the mall, men and women form two different lines and go through a bag check and metal detector screening before being allowed to enter. In large letter by the doors are signs stating that “Firearms, explosives, poisons and deadly weapons are not allowed in this facility”. Awesome. NOW I feel safe…or scared… This mall was about 80% filled with restaurants over 3 floors so we had a broad choice of any kind of food you could imagine! After stuffing out faces with pizza and salad, we wandered around the streets of the Malate district until getting caught unprepared in the afternoon downpour. We waited out the rain before going back to the hostel hoping to watch the incoming storm from the rooftop balcony! On our way back Mike had yet another experience with pick pocketing, this time by a pair of 7 yr old boys. They clearly had an act worked out and were pros at their job. One of them would push against Mike’s right side while the other one tried to sneak his hand into Mike’s left pocket. Tough luck for them that Mike’s pants had zippered pockets and they couldn’t get in! When Mike tried to stop them by raising his hands and saying “Hey!” the kids immediately put their hands in the air showing us that they had nothing in their hands.

The next day we explored the top sights of Manila which included Rizal Park, a nicely landscaped park with a large 3D map of the Philippines and lots of overgrown and unkept gardens. The top sight was Intramuros, a walled part of the city dating back from Spanish rule, most of it kept intact nicely. Inside of walls very few pieces of history remain but there are still a couple original buildings where you can just make out the etching in the stone of the original street names. Manila was the first place we’d been in over a year that was a Christian-based country rather than Buddhist based, so in place if visiting temples and shrines, we visited cathedrals and convents. Because of the Philippines relative bad luck with weather and war, most of their current buildings are not very old and therefore not as impressive. The Manila cathedral had been rebuilt some 7 or 8 times over the course of 200 years!

Rainy season in Manila does not disappoint and a good portion of this day was rainy to the point where the streets flooded and we were walking through ankle deep water to get from sight to sight. Of course there were no shortage of taxis and moto drivers offering us rides at outrageously high prices at every corner, but we stuck to walking. We managed to get back to the hostel just in time for the massive afternoon downpour and planned our escape from the city the following day.

---

Photos

Rockin' Wheels!
The pick-up truck transportation were all painted colourfully and given creative names by their drivers!

REAL ST
If you look closely, above the new REAL ST sign, there is the old ingraving of the street name from the 1600s

Comments

[Mark]

fresh perspective
Thank you for your honest impression about Manila, Philippines. Yes you are right, as a third world country we have a number of 'ugly' things here and there, made worse by corrupt government officials and enforcers whose greed further flushed the education, medical, security, tourism further down the abyss. I'm sorry about that lousy hotel you got and that experience with the pickpocket kids, I admit there are many out there (and worse). Anyways, but Philippines isn't all that bad. The entire country is abundant with parks, wildlife (a few number of reservations), beaches and historical landmarks outside Manila. I suggest you visit next time (if you want) our Bamboo Organ Church here in Las Piñas City (I live here), a few minutes drive south from Manila. From there have a go for Tagaytay and see the Taal Volcano, or go northward straight up to Baguio City and the Banaue Rice Terraces. These are only a few of the many wonderful places we got here. And yes, even as you enjoy the tour, never let your guard down. God bless!