I got a tip on where to stay in Manila, there’s a neighborhood called Makati that was supposed to be really good. After some searching around on the internet I found a hostel that looked quite promising, made a booking, and went.
I arrived at the Manila airport during the evening, and after some fiddling I managed to fit in my enormous kite bag in the front seat of a taxi. It felt like I wrecked the car of the poor guy, but there were little choice on transportation.
It proved difficult to find the hostel, and honestly I was quite skeptic that we found the right place when I opened the ill maintained iron door down on the bottom of the building, with nothing but a hand written note saying “OMP”, short for “Our Melting Pot”. However, a short ride in the elevator later, it proved to be the right place.
The morning after, after a sweaty sleep on the top floor I stumbled down the stairs to get some breakfast in the common area. Wow, there was truly a specific feeling about this place. It felt just like I was back again where I started in Singapore, some 5 months ago. I don’t know if it was the feeling of being in a big city again, having breakfast with a group of travelers I never met before, or just that the standard of the hostel was very much alike the one I stayed at back then.
Anyhow, it was a really pleasant feeling and it made me feel in a sense like “the circle now is closed”, which was pretty accurate as I only had a few days here before leaving for Qatar and then on back to Sweden.
On Monday, after spending the weekend in Zambales I started exploring the city more seriously.
Wow, every single guide book I have read so far say the same thing about Manila - “don’t spend any time there, avoid it, it can be done in less than a day, it’s dangerous…” etc etc. The list of negative images about the city is long. And that made me want to make my own opinion even more.
We spent the Monday and Tuesday walking in the city and getting around with jeepney, metro, and taxi. This city has great contrasts. Enormous skyscrapers, people in big shiny brand new SUV’s, luxury boutiques and the biggest mall in all of Asia mixed with poverty and ghettos so run down it stings your eyes just looking at them, filled with people living directly on the streets and in simple shacks made up from things they managed to collect, kids running up to you, encircling you, trying to get their hands in your pockets… All this mixed with houses probably built in the 50ies or 60ies, giving the impression time stood still. Wow.
During our two day walk around town, honestly, I think I spotted just one more tourist, an American photographer visiting to take pictures of the holy week celebrations. Simply put, there was no tourists at all, and this helped making it an even greater adventure.
We visited some historic sites, the Manila hotel, the intramuros section, the china town and mostly just plan less walking around town.
Although a lot of people obviously had a pretty hard time, they were all friendly, most of the time smiling and and simply just great. So, if you’re looking for a true adventure, nothing like the boring “off the beaten track” section in the lonely planet where thousands passed before, go to Manila and get lost and absorbed in the city. I can really recommend it!
Riding the jeepney to get downtown. A jeepney is a modified jeep, making it into something like a bus. One of the main transports in the city.
One of the streets in Malate
A lot of arabic restaurants there, but where were all the arabs??
“This way to Fortune care”, can you see the sign? Leon talking a local into taking a picture.
Some NGO organization helping out the Police where insisting on having a photo with us. Probably the first tourists passing by them that day.
Having a beer at the Manila hotel. This place was really cool and retro, they kept all the interiors since the 50ies or whatever year it was built.
This cool guy tried to convince us be our guide around the intramuros section. Leon asked what his necklace and rings meant, and got this answer - “You know what this is?” he said, pointing at his necklace “It’s stainless… And this ring here – stainless. And this ring – …..stainless man!” :-) He was really nice, although he looked like quite a bad guy.
RC Cola! Wow, those were the days. Some 20 years since I saw this brand I think.
A parked jeepney
Hep?!? Some kids having a swim in a pool, right on the sidewalk.
You can see the gate leading to china town just down the road here.
A quick lunch at some fast food place
Park at your own risk!! What does that mean? :-)
Street life
A view down Salazar street.
A random bridge in Chinatown
A curious little kid with his mom who hung around while we had a rest and something cold to drink
More Manila street life.
The Plaza Fair..
Fancy a hot dog? Leon accidentally managed to place an hot dog order, we noticed it first when we started to walk away.
A view down the street from the metro stop.
What the…??? It took a while until we understood that “Midget” in Filipino English is not what you believe is a real midget, but rather small children.
A rooftop view of Manila off one of the skyscrapers
There’s a lot of skyscrapers being built in Makati..
People in general were very happy to pose :-)
Lunch at one of the food stalls in Makati.
Cool! It was a long time since I saw one of these mechanical displays. Made in Italy! :-) My flight to Doha was on time..
Both shaken and stirred.. but almost in Doha! I never think I have flown past so many thunderstorms in one flight, ever.
