Manilla

We flew with Philippine airlines to Manila from Bali. After a late board onto the plane (1am) we were then served the evening meal- not the best time to have this but we never turn down food! The food was reasonable and we topped ourselves up with wine in order to try to sleep. This was not that successful and then we were soon there, arriving into Manila at 5.30 am. After getting through security, grabbing bags and sorting money we used the airport wifi to call a grab. We had booked at Z- hostel after being recommended this in Makati. Manila is a huge place and it is not somewhere I would try to use local transport, as it can be very dangerous.. It was a decent taxi ride into Makati and we had to pay the driver 45 for one part for the toll road but we were so tired we didn’t really care. However, due to it being so early on our arrival we were unable to check in and had to crash out trying to sleep on the sofas in the reception of Z-hostel for a few hours before we could get into our dorm to sleep properly. We also made full use of their café for coffee (50 each). Z-hostel also had its own breakfast buffet you could have that looked delicious but it was a bit out of our price range so we walked to 7/11 for breakfast where we found nutella and caramel pancakes that they warmed up (like the toasties in Thailand etc)- surprisingly delicious (39) and we didn’t see them anywhere else apart from there.

On checking in to our room we were pleasantly surprised with how clean it was (8 bed dorm) and nice decent size lockers. We took advantage of having a hot shower and chatted to 3 British guys that were staying in our room, who had just finished their trip around the Philippines, and told us about lots of different places we hadn’t heard of. After having time off hostels in Bali away from other people it was a surprisingly nice change of pace to be in a hostel and chatting to random people. We did not really know what to expect from Manila as a lot of people had told us to just avoid it and get straight out due the dangers and there not being much to do. Unfortunately due to us wanting to go up to Banue to see the rice terraces and the only overnight bus to get up there only running on certain days we had to stay for a couple of days. We also knew that we would have to stay for a couple of days when we came back to Manila from Banue before we were able to get a flight out to Palawan. But we were determined to make the most of it and explore a few places.

There are not endless things to do in Manila but we had seen that there might be a Sanuk shop in one of the malls so we thought we would venture there. Malls are also air conditioned and cool. The staff at Z-hostel also told us that Manila was very dangerous so apart from the few streets around the hostel, it is best to get a grab to where you want to go as many of the malls or Spanish area are in different parts of the city, that you have to go past dangerous parts to get to. We headed off to Robinsons Mall for the afternoon (grab 160) and spent a long time trying to find the Sanuk shop that clearly wasn’t there. We grabbed some food at the Eat Mall- Longanisa sausage, rice, veg and sauce (84) before getting a grab back to z hostel. In the evening we headed up to the roof terrace of the hostel which had great views all out over the city and it is actually a very popular bar even for people not staying at the hostel. During happy hour if you are staying at the hotel you get a free drink each night you stay. We chatted to a Finnish guy (whoses first time it was in a hostel) and Ben de vera who is a local philipino that runs a dj night at the roof terrace and is part owner of Z-hostel. Mainly we talked to him about his puppies and he invited us to meet them the following day giving us his Facebook details. If you had the money you could definitely spend your whole evening up there admiring the view and chatting to other travellers as well as Philipino people. Certain nights have club nights up there and there are also a couple of bars along the street and a night club so I think that is the normal progression for the evenings if you want to party. Not really being club people and not having the funds we headed down after a few drinks to get dinner at 7/11.

After an early night recovering from our flight the previous day, we got up leisurely and grabbed breakfast at 7/11. Pancakes and freshly ground coffee- may be budget but surprisingly good! We got a grab (297) to one of the only tourist attractions in Manila- Intramuros, which has lots old Spanish architecture to see, from when the Spanish colonised the Philippines. We had a gently stroll around the sites- you only need an hour or so before we walked to Rizal park and headed to Robinson’s mall again to cool off and get some cheap food. In the afternoon we got another grab, this time to the residential area of Bel air where we had been invited by Ben de Vera (the Philipino guy from the previous night) to his house to meet his dogs. Having a weak spot for dogs we couldn’t say no, and after initial trepidation that we were going to a stranger’s house in Manilla we rocked up to a lovely area and met all his adorable puppies and went for a walk with them. We walked back to the hostel for a shower and to book our bus tickets to Banue to see the rice terraces. In the evening we headed the other side of the main road to El Chupacabre as they had a deal on tacos (1 for 50 for adobo or piccallo) so we had one of each plus a barbacoa and a carnitas. The meal was excellent and there were a couple of restaurants around it that looked nice. As we had missed happy hour cocktails we settled with ice creams from the minimart and chatted to an English guy in our dorm.

The following day we packed up and had a 7/11 breakfast ready to check out at 11. Due to us not going to Banue until the evening we chilled out at the hostel for a bit before walking to the Powerplant mall in Makati. This was a nice mall, but very upmarket for us- part of the business area of Manila so we had to settle with McDonalds for a cheap lunch. We spent some time looking for places to stay when we got up to Banue before having a cheap 7/11 curry dinner. When it was time (or probably quite a bit before as I like to be early and make sure nothing can happen) we got a grab the 45 minutes to Ohiyama Bus Station (267). We exchanged our details at the small counter for real tickets before sitting with all the locals in a very hot open air waiting room on wooden slats watching basketball on an old TV. We boarded the bus at about 9.30pm excited to see what the north of the Philippines held for us.

Alex