to Manila, Philippines

As part of our trip to the Philippines, we spent a couple of days in Manila.

Intramuros tour
Aside from seeing friends and family, the highlight of our trip was the “Walk this Way” Intramuros tour by Carlos Celdran.  Celdran isn’t just a tour guide, he’s also a performer and cultural activist. The three-hour tour of the walled city was an interactive history lesson, one that  included minor costume changes for Celdran and treats for the participants (ChocNut anyone?).

I wish that some of my history teachers in high school or college would have been as creative. Where one might see an empty lot, Celdran sees the former site of Ateneo de Manila, alma matter of national hero Jose Rizal. Where one might see an old pink church, Celdran sees the only structure that survived World War II bombings and  a symbol of the Filipino culture’s artifice.

Celdran talks about Old Manila as if he were a time traveler who had spent time there. He sees the city for what it was, what it could have been, and what it should be.

Definitely worth the price of admission (Php 1,000 for adults, Php500 for students). There were about 35 other participants on our tour. It was conducted mostly in English and some Tagalog sprinkled here and there. Celdran went into the more colorful parts of Manila’s history and its relationship with the U.S., Japan and Spain, making it interesting for a broader international audience.

Also: Your tour guide will be more famous than you. Celdran is known by a lot of Manilenos, particularly for this stunt, after which he was arrested.

Last September, Celdran, wearing a Jose Rizal costume, stood up in the front row of the Manila Cathedral and raised a placard during holy mass (photo here). The placard read, “Damaso,” the name of an unlikable friar — one of the key antagonists in Rizal’s novel “Noli Mi Tangere.” The satirical work of fiction, published in 1887, exposed the Church’s hypocrisy and the widespread abuse of power during Spain’s 333-colonial rule. The book indirectly caused a revolution.

The stunt was in protest of the Philippine Catholic Church’s lobbying against a reproductive health bill, which would provide family planning and HIV/AIDs prevention services to the country’s poor.

Celdran also does other tours, such as a  “Living La Vida Imelda” tour of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Eats!
Also memorable were some of the meals we had in Manila. My friends took us  to some awesome restaurants. My boyfriend– who has only sampled Philippine cooking by my one dish (Chicken Adobo) and the occasional buffet we enjoy in Woodside, Queens (offered during Manny Pacquiao fights)– was quite impressed with Philippine cuisine.

I’ve often described Filipino cuisine to others as a mix between Spanish and Chinese food. I’m not sure that’s accurate, except to say that Filipino food has various influences.

It looked so yummy, I started eating the tapa before I realized I wanted to take a picture of it.

My favorite restaurants of the trip:

Cafe Via Mare
Greenhills Promenade
Try crispy tapa (crispy cured beef) and puto bumbong (taro)  before plunging into the madness of flea market shopping

Abe’s
Serendra, Fort Bonifacio
Try the lamb Adobo

Sentro
Serendra, Fort Bonifacio
Try the “Rated GG” or galunggong filet (fried fish in garlic oil), and catfish in Japanese sauce

Kanin Club
West Gate, Alabang
Try the Sinigang rice (the rice is drenched in soup)

Lorenzo’s Way
Greenbelt 5
Try the beef ribs ninja (more food photos here)

Kabisera
near Bonifacio High Street, Fort Bonifacio
Boneless bangus (fried milkfish)

Our friends also took us to Dampa, where one can buy seafood at an outdoor market and take it to one of the restaurants next door to have it cooked. The shopkeepers were very aggressive vying for customers, but the food was very reasonably priced, fresh and yummy!

Shopping
I did take my boyfriend to the madhouse of Greenhills, where we shopped for last-minute beach necessities such as board shorts and flip-flops. The deals were good, even if we didn’t haggle as much as we should have.  It’s hard to say if the goods were export overruns or imitation, but the sheer madness of the place makes for an experience.

My regret? Not buying South Sea pearls while I was there.

Where we stayed, how we got around
We briefly considered staying at the New World Hotel in Makati – the prices seemed reasonable, reviews good, and the location was central… but after discovering that there were condos  for rent, we opted to go that route instead.

We stayed at South of Market Condos at the Fort — and that was a good decision. Taguig isn’t as busy as Makati (we also avoided traffic and car “color-coding,” where some vehicles can’t travel certain streets during rush hour). The Fort has a pretty mall and lots of food options – ranging from the food court at Market! Market! to the high-end restaurants of Serendra. The condo was fine, without the hotel comforts of housekeeping and plush linens (you basically have to bring/buy your own TP and shampoo). But the condos did have DSL and a clothes washer, so that saved us some $$ and was convenient. The check-in and check-out process took slightly longer… but it was definitely a good financial and logistical decision.

On the days where we visited a lot of different areas of Manila, we hired a car and driver. There are services with daily rates of Php2,500 and above, plus gas. It was nicer than grabbing cabs and having to worry about getting overcharged (if you do get in a cab, always ask them to turn the meter on!) It was also nice to just text the driver and him pick us up.  It was chauffer service for the daily rate equivalent to a cab ride to Newark Airport from Manhattan.

Speaking of which: if you have a tri-band cellphone, bring it and pick up a SIM card from any mall or the airport. It’s much cheaper to make local calls and send text messages from the local networks. (We bought a new, limited-feature Nokia in Greenhills for $20).

Contact: Pearl’s Letting if you’re interested in one of these short- or long- term condos (they were efficient but completely transactional)
Abode Manila was also very responsive, and I almost rented from them or Re-Manila (they were fully booked – but seemed to be well-reviewed)

For car rentals, Viajero Rent a Car provided great service and was extremely easy to work with. Their drivers were also very prompt, reliable, and friendly. Rent a Car Manila seemed to have similar rates (can’t really vouch for them).

Other itinerary suggestions (places-we-almost-visited): Sonya’s Garden Tagaytay for a relaxing sleepover and Corregidor Island for more history.