My experience in Manila. Crazy city, polite people.

We landed in Manila after a 20 hour night of flying from Vancouver via Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. Our stay was only two nights long, after which we continued on to the island of Palawan. This is the first leg of me and Jana’s four month tour of Southeast Asia.

The thing I like about massive cities like Manila is that you can see the vast variety of people from around the country, all from different walks of life, going about their lives. I liked Manila for the same reasons that I liked Moscow, New York and London. This is the capital of the third largest English speaking country in the world, and the largest metro area by far in the Philippines. It is teeming with life and you can feel the distinct energy of the country pulsing through its heart.

We stayed in Malate, a neighbourhood where we stuck out (very literally, Jana and I are both very tall), with a fairly lower to middle class population. Not many tourists in that area. Manila is a densely packed city so you’ll be able to find food and other amenities any time of day, but with this it is also always busy with people.

We bought fruit, steamed corn, coconuts and various street food on the street for dinner and ate at the local Jollibee, the national fast food chain with amazing fried chicken. You will find that Filipinos love their fried chicken, almost as much as they love white rice (they say it’s not a meal unless there is rice).

On our full day in Manila we visited Makati, the business centre of Manila which is a modern urban centre like any other. Very clean and orderly with tree lined streets and pleasant little parks interspersing the tall skyscrapers making up the downtown core. While we didn’t find any official lookout points, there are a few hotels near Makati like the City Garden Hotel (shhh) where you can quietly go up to the rooftop and enjoy the view of downtown.

If you want to take out money, Makati is the place to do it. Major banks like HSBC and Citibank are all there and there are no low withdrawal limit issues at ATMs (this is a problem elsewhere in the Philippines). Makati is expensive though, so be prepared to pay North American prices for food and other amenities there. We were frugal and ate in a few nice places like Goto Monster not far outside Makati and enjoyed traditional Filipino cuisine on a budget. Street food is even cheaper, if you aren’t afraid of eating on the street. Whatever your budget is, you’ll find something that suits you.

We were staying at Wynn Plaza, an Airbnb in the Malate district of Manila. On the way to our onwards flight to Palawan, we stopped at the Mall of Asia, a massive shopping centre near the airport where you can find just about anything and everything if you forgot to pack something from home. Also pricey, but you get what you pay for here for sure.

If you travel for experiencing and immersing yourself in the culture, food, music, history and nightlife of a place then Manila is definitely a city I would recommend. It is a massive, loud, fast paced metropolis and it’s important to take the same precautions you’d take in any other big city, but I didn’t find it inherently dangerous as a non-Filipino, foreign visitor. My girlfriend prefers quieter places, so if you are like her and want to relax, you will not find that here, but there are many onward flights from Manila to beautiful islands like Cebu, Palawan and Boracay which provide a pleasant contrast to this city.

My highlight was waking up early to watch the sun rising over the Makati Skyline from our balcony. We were still on Vancouver time for the first few days so I woke up at 4:50 AM while it was still dark outside. Now that we are on the way to Palawan, I’m sure waking up early will be great as I’ve been told the sunrises over the ocean there are stunning! Keep checking back to stay updated as we continue our travels through Southeast Asia

As a side note on the culture of The Philippines, you will find that the Filipinos are a very polite and formal culture relative to North America, so expect to be called “sir” or “ma’am” on the regular. They do however smile a great deal, a pleasant change from traveling to places like Russia where strangers are expected to be formal but also very stern and serious. The biggest cultural difference I noticed, as a Russian speaker raised in Canada, is that the Filipinos are very subtle in gesturing, and in saying no, which led to some confusion. They don’t gesture like North Americans (pointing is rude here, especially at people) and you will notice that they are much more subtle in saying no. “No” might sometimes be accompanied by a smile and nod, or just no specific answer, so if they don’t say yes (sir/ma’am) outright, it might be a no. However, as I mentioned earlier, it is an English speaking country so if you speak English and are culturally sensitive, you will have no problem communicating. I found the people I spoke with to be very honest, friendly, and kind to strangers who are unfamiliar with their culture. A lot of respect and extra accommodation is given to seniors, pregnant women, women with young children and others who may have more needs. It is polite to give up your seat to them or even offer up a spot in line in some cases in this country, as it is a culture of equity rather than equality. I was very pleased with the Filipino culture and people, just use your common sense and don’t forget, you are the strange one. You are in their country after all, take it as a learning opportunity 🙂