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 Manila, Philippines travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Manila, Philippines.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Baguio city guide,
Bohol city guide,
Boracay city guide,
Cebu city guide,
El Nido city guide,
Manila city guide,
and Puerto Galera city guide.
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| A Dias |
25 February 2005 |
Stayed at Prince Plaza II - Manila, Philippines.
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Beautiful country, it's a wonder it isn't being promoted more as an ideal tourist destination. Manila city life, Boracay beaches, Palawan snorkelling, Tagaytay volcanoes, Baguio mountains and more. I had one of the best holidays there and am eager to come back and exlplore some more. Friendly people and cheap food everywhere.
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| G Fowles |
25 February 2005 |
Stayed at Asian Mansion II - Manila, Philippines.
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I arranged with the hotel for a transfer from/to the airport. Don't, because a taxi is cheaper. But when using a taxi make sure the driver starts the meter. We struck one that didn't until we asked. My fiancee is from Mindanao and preferred using a taxi with a driver that spoke Bisaya. On the third day we found one who was very friendly so we used him for the rest of my stay. Easy with cellphones & texting. But beware if you text "come now" he starts the meter immediately if he has no passengers. So we planned our trips and made bookings the previous day to avoid the extra expense. We avoided using buses on the advice of my government which was timely as there was a bus bombing a few blocks away at the Ayala bus terminal when I was there. We only went to two restaurants, Hard Rock Cafe and Tony Romas, both in Glorietta. Tony Romas was expensive, poor value. I sponsored a family lunch at Hard Rock Cafe for my fiancee's family where we announced our engagement. 10 adults and 5 children. It cost me 10,123.70PHP or $185US including drinks. Good value for me.
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| M Icasiano |
22 February 2005 |
Stayed at Fraser Place Serviced Residences - Manila, Philippines.
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Metromanila was great for shopping. The highlight of our trip was a 4 day stay in Boracay Island. White beaches and clear water enabled us to jet ski, snorkel, scuba dive and rest and relax on the beach. We even enjoyed a beach front massage and manicure. Restaurants on the island were great as well. We experienced Pagsanhan Falls, Villa Escondero and Los Banos for the hot springs. Overall there was a lot to see and do, even took a trip to Baguio City, which was a relief from the heat and humidity.
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| A Rigby |
20 February 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Hotel Nikko - Manila, Philippines.
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Manila is a difficult place to get decent food. It's either unpalatable Filipino food or American-style ribs 'n' fries. Two restaurants that I go regularly in Greenbelt 3 (2nd level) in Makati are Cascada and Pasha (Mediterranean). Prices are reasonable too.
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| J Hanusin |
16 February 2005 |
Stayed at Garden Plaza Hotel & Suites - Manila, Philippines.
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From Manila I went to Cebu, Bohol, Negros and Mindanao. I stayed at the Dakak Park Resort on Mindanao and found it wonderful and very beautiful. Also, the Bohol Tropics Resort on Bohol was very nice.
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| L Kwok yiu |
07 February 2005 |
Stayed at Citadel Inn Makati - Manila, Philippines.
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Visited bars on the same street, but seems there is a new regulation. Small area bars cannot allow smoke and if the bar is big enough, then a smoking area can be established. It makes the overall environment there less fun than before (for myself as a smoker). Lastly, went down to Hard Rock cafe (big enough) where a large area you can smoke makes me feel better. Taxi right now is having regulation and the minimum is 30 Peso. There are more shopping malls being built and different variety of resturants and shops around. Feel comfortable in having my leisure in Manila.
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| A Ho |
29 January 2005 |
Stayed at Pearl Manila, The - Manila, Philippines.
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Shopping & eating out at Robinson Plaza nearby while in Manila; I like "Mario's Kitchen" at "Taste Buds" one floor above National Bookstore, inside that mall. I found better USD to Pesos rate offered by the foreign exchange counter inside Robinson Department Store than "Robinson Bank" branch inside the same mall. If you like open air diner w/loud music bands, go to one of those restaurants at Manila Bay sea-side; the other option is "Ratsky" at Tomas Morato Ave. in Quezon City, a little bit faraway by taxi but music band w/ filipino (dirty??) jokes, I found it crowded but my filipino friends like that place very much.
For inexpensive seafood, I went to DAMPA (wet marked), beyond the int'l airport in Paranaque; you buy your own seafood from the market & take it to one of those existing restaurants nearby & they cooked it the way you want. Always went around by taxi as I found the fare not expensive by my benchmark, but be prepared to tell the driver by which route you want to arrive at your destination as most of the time taxi drivers will make a long detour in order to have a bigger fare. My solution was to tell the driver once inside that I'm in a hurry & that I will give a tips when the trip is quite long.
Always lock both rear-doors once you are inside a taxi & beware of cellphone snatcher when you talk with or when your cellphone is visible while walking on the street/road. Don't let your wife/girlfriend/daughter dangle the cellphone by a lanyard. Keep in mind that your USD150 valuable is more or less equal to one month salary for the majority of the locals. If you use Philippines SIM card for your calls, GLOBE is ok for major cities, but use SMART at places in the provinces as the latter network coverage is much better.
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| J Lanteri |
19 January 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Hotel Nikko - Manila, Philippines.
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There is plenty of shopping, dining and clubbing in the immediate area of the Dusit. Dining out and taxi services are very cheap. Do not prepay for airport transportation. A metered taxi only costs about 100 pesos with the tip (about $1.80usd) between the airport and hotel. I paid $30 for the roundtrip in advance through asiahotels.com and then had to pay for the trip back to the airport because nobody at the hotel could find proof that I had already paid in advance. We climbed Mt. Pinatubo and went to Corregidor Island (Gen. MacArthur's "I shall return"). Find a tour agency to book your tours with instead of the ones offered through the hotel. You will save about 40%. There are numerous fine dining establishments in the Greenbelt area to satisfy every cultural taste. I've never dined so cheaply on such quality food and service. The Filipino driving habits (no rules at all!) are amusing and I for one can never get road rage again after witnessing their road maneuvering. I'm surprised that there are no Filipino NASCAR or Formula 1 drivers. They can weave with the best of them.
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| T Martin |
18 January 2005 |
Stayed at BSA TOWER - Manila, Philippines.
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I had a friend with an auto but after a few days selected to take taxi's because they are inexpensive and the drivers are more familiar with areas. Through the doorman at B.S.A. Tower I arranged with a gentleman to drive me on private tours to different area Provinces outside Manila. It was quite good and very inexpensive a typical 12 hour tour with him providing vehicle and gasoline ran $50 and less per day. It could have been cheaper but I gave him $50. I felt comfortable with him going to areas that I would not have gone alone. I was interested in seeing the new and normal tourist areas but also experiencing how the real Filippino people lived so I went into areas that tourist would not have normally ventured in to and felt very secure.
I advise that you take at least three credit cards. I only took one for I thought since I had a $25,000 limit on the card that I would not encounter any difficulties. I ran into problems when Landmark Department Store on the first day made an error on the card processing. Through out the 18 days there it created some difficulties in some stores from then on. Communication was no problem since nearly all the people speak English. I found the people to be extremely friendly and wanting to help.
If traveling by air for more than 12 hours to get there I found it miserable going economy and changed coming back to Business Class for the seats in economy are just too close and too narrow. At first I had concerns because security is so obvious in every store, bank, mall and public building but once I came to understand that this is just part of life especially in Manila I became comfortable with it and it made me feel more secure. I am looking forward to possibly returning towards the end of 2005. I met a lot of wonderful people. The average income of the majority of the people with good jobs is only approximately $190 per month but they are an extremely happy and polite people.
One should decide exactly what they are looking for before deciding to go if they do not have time to visit several islands. Cebu is for the tourist that enjoys the beach and Manila for those that enjoy museums, shopping and the large city, the northern part if you are looking for the mountains and cooler weather. Traffic is unbelieveable so I do not suggest that any foreigner rent a car and expect to drive themselves. The rule of the road is who is the bravest and willing to take the most chances. Thank you for making the arrangements. I would recommend your services to others.
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| P Wong |
07 January 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Hotel Nikko - Manila, Philippines.
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The shopping centres near the hotel are big and modern. However, we spent most of our time in another shopping area - Greenhills Shopping Mall which is about 30 mins from the hotel. Taxis are safe there despite many negative advice. There's no need to pay for expensive hotel taxis. All speak good English.
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