History, culture, etc. in Manila

What most people call "Manila" actually refers to Metropolitan Manila, the primary metropolis of the Philippines comprised of 17 adjacent cities and municipalities, including the city of Manila, the nation's capital. Within its borders can be found the main business districts of the Philippines, industrial areas, the buildings that house the seats of national government, many of the Philippines' best colleges and universities, and 10 million residents, most of whose families originally hail from other parts of the country.

As a major metropolis, Manila has all the conveniences that any traveler needs: a working (though sometimes chaotic) transportation system, banks and ATMs, a plethora of malls and shopping centers, and  restaurants that serve a variety of cuisines (and at least one restaurant in the city for each kind of diet). At the same time, Manila has many of the same problems that many big cities do: pollution, traffic, petty crime, and some impoverished neighborhoods. Many travelers treat Manila merely as a stopover to the paradise that is the Philippine rural countryside. Nonetheless, for the patient and open-minded traveler, Manila presents a rich and unforgettable experience that is worth a trip in itself.

Quick Tips:

- Tour historical Manila. This is a 500-year-old city that has seen two colonial occupations (Spanish and then American), a world war, a dictatorship, a violent revolution, and a peaceful revolution.

- Enjoy the wonderful Manila nightlife! The Philippines has the best local bands and hippest bars in Asia.

- Dig more deeply into the folk culture that lies deceptively hidden beneath the veneer of westernization.

- Indulge in all kinds of shopping, from brand-name shopping in the swankiest malls, to bargain shopping at incredibly low prices.

- Live as the middle class locals do: like kings. Pamper yourself with weekly massages, weekly trips to the hairdresser, and daily foot scrubs. Pampering is incredibly affordable in this city.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis are most convenient; there are a few companies that you can call for pick-up. The mass transit train system plies some major routes, but avoid it at rush hour if you want to stay away from the maddening crowds. The more adventurous traveler can learn the intricacies of the bus, "jeepney," and "tricycle" systems if they are willing.

This charming museum is in Intramuros, the original 500-year old city that was the nation's capital during during the 300-year-long Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Amid the preserved cobblestones and centuries-old houses is this house, whose owners transformed into a museum by reconstructing it to what it must have looked like 200 years ago. Walk through this authentic colonial-period house to see how the upper-class lived, slept, entertained, and ate during the Spanish colonial times. The walk through takes about an hour, and the entrance fee is less than a $1. It's a good place to include in your larger Intramuros sightseeing trip.

 

Ivan Dy specializes in Chinatown walking tours. A native of Chinatown, he provides homegrown insight into the nooks, crannies, lifestyle, and history of this colorful part of Manila. Interested parties can found out more information at his blog, http://www.oldmanilawalks.blogspot.com/. Tours are in English.

A short, fast boat ride away from Manila is the fascinating island of Corregidor. This is one of the most important historical spots in the Philippines as the site first of the headquarters of the Allied forces and the Commonwealth Government after Manila had been flattened by bombing, then as the site of the last stand of Filipino and American forces against the Japanese during the Second World War.

On Corregidor Island the ruins of the war still remain. Commonwealth headquarter buildings, tunnels and barracks, and even an official government vehicle remain on the island where they were when the war ended in 1945. The full guided tour is rewarding, educational, moving, and worth every cent. At the wall, which pays tribute to the heroes of World War II, a World War veteran himself describes his memories of the war and its significance for the Filipino people. In the Malinta tunnel, where soldiers hid during the siege of the island, a haunting light-and-sound show, created by the late National Artist Lamberto Javellana, brings to life the pain and horror of the heroism of the war but also the heroism of so many soldiers who fought and died in it.

Allot a full day for this trip. The guided tour is about US$30, including lunch and transfers, and there is also an option to stay overnight at the only hotel on the island. Interested parties can see the Sun Cruises, Inc., website at http://www.corregidorphilippines.com.

Manila itself does not have windsurfing spots, but the windsurfer itching for some action needs only to drive 2 to 3 hours away. The four top windsurfing spots around Manila are Lake Caliraya in Laguna, Anilao Beach in Batangas, Taal Lake in Tagaytay, and Subic Bay in Zambales. The northeasterlies (amihan) blow from November to March in the Philippines and bring winds of 10 to 20 knots to Lake Caliraya and Taal Lake. Anilao Beach and Subic Bay are windsurfing destinations during the habagat season from June to September, when the southwesterly winds blow. The windsurfing community in the Philippines is small and friendly, and interested parties can Google "Philippines windsurfing" to find point persons at the various windsurfing destinations.

Children will enjoy Museo Pambata, a small museum with interactive educational exhibits. There are exhibits on Philippine history, Philippine culture, biology, physics, and ecology. Children will enjoy manipulating the exhibits in this completely interactive environment. Allot about 2 to 3 hours to go through the entire museum. Entrance is about $1.

My husband and I decided to go on a Carlos Celdran walking tour last December. It was a lovely day for a walk, breezy and not too hot; we'd purposely planned to do this in December for the more pleasant weather, but we actually needn't have worried about that, because we ended up walking less than we'd expected (compared with walking tours we'd done in England).

The 3-hour Intramuros tour took us from Fort Santiago to the facade of Manila Cathedral, to San Agustin Church and Father Blanco's Garden, and finally, to Casa Manila (all just a few blocks away from one another). Of course, being a native of Metro Manila, I'd been to all those places before a number of times, but what made the tour amazing wasn't the locations per se (though I'm sure the locations delighted first-timers to Intramuros), but Carlos' colorful, theatrical, sometimes-funny-and-sometimes-extremely-moving romp through the history of Manila.

Indeed, I felt a lump in my throat a number of times during the tour, most especially during Carlos' dramatic description of the rape of Manila during World War 2. I'd learned about it all in high school, of course, but the version in our textbooks had been a highly sanitized version, a month of atrocities crammed into a paragraph. As we sat there in the crypts of San Agustin museum, Carlos' voice transported us back to 1945, and we were surrounded by cries, screams, tumbling walls, and the smell of death and decay around us. (Incidentally, the bones of the famous painter Juan Luna are kept in that crypt!)

Most of the tour was very lighthearted, though--funny most of the time, sardonic many times--and we laughed a lot with Carlos, and together with the other Filipinos in the group, we also often laughed at ourselves.

Carlos' love for Manila was evident and infectious. His final line of the tour said it all: "If you want to change the way Manila looks, start by changing the way you look at Manila" (a slight change from the tagline often mentioned in relation to him, "I can't change the way Manila looks but I can change the way you look at Manila"). As Carlos himself pointed out, a lot of tourists consider Manila an "ugly" city, something that travelers should preferably skip over if they're on the way to any other place in the Philippines. But Manila's story is beautiful, tragic, poignant ... and Carlos is one of the best story-tellers we have out there right now.

In a nutshell: Carlos is a really, really good tour guide, among the best I've ever listened to. If you haven't yet, go, go, go on a Carlos Celdran tour; it's an excellent way to spend half a day, and I daresay you'll find yourself a little more in love with Manila after the tour is done.

Carlos Celdran's tours are around P600 to P700, depending on which tour you attend. Check his blog at http://celdrantours.blogspot.com for current rates and tour dates.

Manila really is the place to pamper yourself silly! For starters, get yourself a luxurious massage as often as you like! Getting a massage is something of a hobby for Manila residents. The more expensive spas charge about US$20 for an hour-long full body massage and free use of their facilities (which typically include saunas, steam baths, and Jacuzzis). Locals, however, can tell you where to find good spas that offer hour-long massages for as low as US$5. (Specify that you are looking for a Health & Wellness spa, as some prostitution rings work under the guise of providing massages as well.) This is also the place to get your hair done: haircuts and shampoos cost US$3 on average, though there are more expensive and cheaper ones as well. Hair treatments are likewise cheap, with rebonding processes at only $30. (You may need to ask around for recommendations if you are not Asian, however, as hairdressers here are used to styling Filipinos' fine, smooth hair.) Manicures are similarly affordable at less than US$5. When getting any of these treatments, remember to tip your massage therapist/hair stylist/manicurist around 15% to 20%.