One month in Manila

After three very active months in Japan, followed by ten busy days in Hong Kong and Macau, my plan for the Philippines was to slow down and relax. And that's precisely what I did. The weather also contributed to my decision to stay home most of the time, as I had rain during about three of the four weeks I was in Manila.

The City of Manila is the capital of the Philippines. However, it is surrounded by fifteen other large cities, all of which are connected into one big megalopolis. Therefore, when people say "Manila", they are usually referring not to the actual City of Manila but to Metropolitan Manila, this urban monstrosity of fourteen million people. I rented an apartment in one of these cities, Makati, known for its skyscrapers (138 buildings taller than 100m) and upscale shopping malls.

My 9th-floor apartment has a little balcony with a view of a park full of trees. There's a large shopping center a couple of blocks away, with a good variety of restaurants. This area is actually an oasis of civilization in Metropolitan Manila, because most of the other places I visited in the region look uninhabitable. Broken down houses and buildings, damaged sidewalks full of street vendors, and dirty streets with insane traffic.

They have some curious vehicles here. The jeepneys are elongated Jeeps with two long benches in the back, and colorful decorations. They are driven by independent operators or small-scale franchise holders, and cover routes set by the government. The tricycles are motorcycles with sidecars, functioning as taxis. Interestingly, both the jeepneys and the tricycles originated in the aftermath of the Second World War, when there was a surplus of American military jeeps and numerous motorcycles with sidecars left behind by the Japanese invaders. And indeed, some of these vehicles circulating today look like they've been around since the war. Fortunately, there are also regular taxis here.

Spain colonized and ruled the Philippines from the 16th to the 19th century. When the locals finally managed to start a revolution and establish a republic, at the very end of the 19th century, Spain sold the country to the USA, which remained in control until the end of the Second World War. Spain's long-lasting legacy was religion. The Philippines has the largest catholic population in Asia and the third in the world (behind Brazil and Mexico). The USA's long-lasting legacy was the language. There are two official languages in the Philippines: English and Filipino (which is a standardized version of the original native language, Tagalog). Everyone here speaks English, with an accent that's almost American, which enables the Philippines to have a large international call center industry employing more than one million people.

Filipino English has some unique expressions. In a restaurant in the USA you would say "check, please", and in the UK you would say "the bill, please", but here you say "bill out, please". Also, here you don't turn the light on or off, instead you "open the light" or "close the light".

I visited a few good museums. The Ayala Museum, located inside the Greenbelt Shopping Mall, was probably the best, with several interesting permanent exhibitions. Gold of the Ancestors showed pre-colonial treasures from the Philippines (it has more gold objects than the whole Museo del Oro in Costa Rica). There were also exhibits of ceramics and textiles, as well as works by Fernando Amorsolo (a painter of portraits and landscapes, known as the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art") and by Fernando Zóbel (a Filipino abstract painter). But the star of the museum is The Diorama Experience of Philippine History, which chronicles Filipino history in sixty very well-made dioramas. I also went to the National Museum of Fine Arts (some great Filipino art, including works by Botong Francisco, Nunelucio Alvarado, Vicente Silva Manansala, and, of course, Fernando Amorsolo), the National Museum of Anthropology (where I learned about Filipino history and geography), and the Yuchengco Museum (they had exhibitions about photography and high fashion shoes - yes, shoes).

The national hero of the Philippines is José Rizal. He was a doctor who wrote novels and essays advocating political reforms, and for that he was arrested and executed by the Spanish Army. I visited the Rizal Park, which hosts, among other things, a large monument to Rizal, a small memorial marking the place of his execution, life-size bronze statues reenacting his execution (a bit morbid), a small Japanese garden and a small Chinese garden, and the big statue Sentinel of Freedom, which celebrates Lapu-Lapu, the leader of one of the islands that are now part of the Philippines and the guy who defeated Fernão de Magalhães (aka Ferdinand Magellan) when the Portuguese tried to conquer his island.

Not far from there, there is the Fort Santiago (or what is left of it), a citadel built in 1571, as well as the Manila Cathedral (originally from the 16th century but now in its 1950s version) and the San Agustin Church (the oldest stone church in the country, finished in 1607). This last church is the only one I've ever seen that has a façade decorated with granite Chinese lions.

Another place I visited was the American War Cemetery, the largest of all American overseas military cemeteries, with over seventeen thousand graves of soldiers who died in the Asian campaign in the Second World War.

I also visited the SM Mall of Asia, the world's 6th-largest shopping mall. It has all kinds of stores and restaurants, and even a sports arena (where the Men's Volleyball World Championship 2025 was happening). However, I still prefer the Siam Paragon in Bangkok, which is prettier, features more interesting stores, and is much better organized, despite being only the 20th-largest in the world. Visiting shopping malls in the Philippines highlights a bizarre local tradition: they start celebrating christmas in September and "enjoy" four months of Santa Claus decorations and xmas carols.

What about the food?

The national dish of the Philippines seems to be the adobo. It's not exactly a dish but a method of preparing food. The meat, typically pork or chicken, is partially fried in oil and then marinated in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic before the cooking is complete. Very yummy.

Spanish dishes are also typical here, in their local versions. I had a delicious paella campera, with the chicken grilled separated from the rice and the seafood, and then added to the mix with aioli. Not as good as the original Spanish paella, but still very interesting.

Japanese and Chinese restaurants are everywhere in Manila, and I had my quota of salmon teriyaki and shrimp fried rice. American-style barbecue is also common around here, often served with java sauce (a mixture of peanut paste, soy sauce, and cane sugar). Another popular Filipino sauce is banana ketchup, which is dyed red and has zero taste of banana.

Any side trips?

I went to Tagaytay, about 70 km south of Manila. When Ronald Reagan was scheduled to visit the Philippines in the early 1980s, dictator Ferdinand Marcos decided to build a mansion on Mount Sungay just to host him. Then the visit was canceled, and the construction was abandoned. Today, it's just a decaying structure, renamed from the original Palace in the Sky to People's Park in the Sky. The unfinished mansion has no interest, but the view from the top is worth the visit. From a height of over 700 m, you can see (when you're not surrounded by clouds) Taal Lake and Volcano Island at its center.

And after Manila?

This weekend I fly to Sydney, Australia, where I will stay for a month. But that's a story for another time. Cheers, mate!