It's hard to believe almost 4 weeks have already passed
since arriving here in Manila. I have
primarily been working while I am here and that has made time just fly right
on by. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to
any of the other Philippine Islands while I have been here, but the city of
Manila itself has been a joy to explore.
That is except for the Smog. It's
amazing how crippling staying out in the smog too long can have on you. Especially if you have really bad
allergies.
But I digress...this truly is a city worth visiting at least
once. The people here are very friendly,
fun, and love to sing, dance and have a good time. Interestingly enough there are a lot of Big
name brands in every field here. For
example: Starbucks, KFC, McDonald's, Outback, Louis Vuitton, Coach...the list
can go on and on. So if at any point you
have had enough local food and wish to have a burger from McD's you can. Although you could also get fried chicken
with rice or spaghetti while there as well.
lol.
The vast amount of stuff here is what truly amazes me. The city itself is HUGE and seems to go on
forever. There are probably about 5
million people in this city and no matter what time of day you are out, the
streets are always packed with people and cars.
There has to be at least 5 HUGE malls here. At least... And by malls I mean 3 to 7 story
buildings. Some malls even have 4 to 5
buildings. Everything is pretty much
located at the malls. Grocery stores,
any retail store you can think of, restaurants, movie theaters, hair salons,
etc... The largest one I went to is
called SM Mega Mall (also known as The Mall of Asia). For quite a while it used to be the largest
mall in Asia. It has 7 floors, seems to
be about half a mile long and they are building on more! Crazy!
Another favorite for the bargain shoppers is Greenhills. Think of the largest Flea Market you've been
too and times that by 5. It's all
indoors and you can find pretty much anything you want. They have great knock off products of major
brands in purses, bags, and watches. In
addition to pearls, clothing, souvenirs. Honestly, they have just about
anything you could want. And the great
bit is you can bargain with them to get the best deal. The trick is to get their early and be a
vendors first customer. They believe in
the luck of the first sale for the day and will often work even better with you
to get that sale. It can also be
overwhelming as people from every vendor you pass are calling out to you trying
to sell their products. Get used to
ignoring them and just going straight for what you are looking for. Don't worry they won't mind. ;-)
Now for the history buffs, you will love Intramuros (Old
Town). The Spanish arrived here in the
late 1500s and you can really see a lot of that influence in Intramuros. There is an old stone and brick Wall that
surrounds the whole are of Old Town that was built in the 1600s. To help bring in tourism they actually built
a golf course around the stone wall. It
was actually really cool. Not only does
it help keep the area around the wall well kept, but it also provides a neat
environment for golfers that not many other places have. There is Fort Santiago (also known as
"The fort within a fort").
This is where José Rizal was held captive during the revolution of the
late 1800s. There are several old
churches that are beautiful to tour and for fun there is always a horse and
buggy ride you can take for a 30 minute or hour tour of the town.
For the WWII buffs there is the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. This was a great memorial. Very well done and peaceful, which considering its in the middle of this large city is amazing. Come here to pay your respects to the fallen and missing Filipino and American men from WWII.
An attraction that all will enjoy is Rizal Park. It's about a mile long and has monuments and
statues sporadically displayed throughout.
On one end is the National Filipino Museum and at the other is an
aquatic park. There are also several
gardens to walk through along the way, including Japanese, Chinese and Orchid
themed gardens.
All in all so far this has been a good trip here to
Manila. I have seen a lot of interesting
things and have made a lot of new friends along the way. Hopefully I will be able to make it back here
in the future and get to tour some of their other islands.
Live Long and Travel -
Peace out Nerds!
