We arrived in Manila on April 3, around midnight. Needless to say, at that point, it had already been a while since we had slept.
We didn't make life complicated: we headed to our hotel, which we had booked near the airport, to recover as quickly as possible. And there, big blackout. More than 10 hours of sleep. Clearly what we needed to cope with the time difference.
The next day, we took the time. A real slow morning as we like them. Wake up peacefully, then a little sports session to get the machine going again.
Very quickly, we let ourselves be carried away by the city, without a specific program. Just the desire to discover, to walk and get our bearings (or not, it’s such a huge city).
One of the first things we did was find a local SIM card. And honestly, that changes everything. Having a Filipino number is much more practical for traveling, ordering or booking. But above all, it avoids a lot of unnecessary costs: with a Swiss number and foreign payment methods, you quickly find yourself overtaxed. So it’s a little reflex that we clearly recommend.
We also arrived during the Easter weekend, and you can feel it straight away. The Philippines being very religious, there were quite a few ceremonies, especially on the first evening (Good Friday). We came across it quite by chance, and it was quite impressive to see. A first immersion in the local culture from the first hours.
During these two days, we explored different neighborhoods, each with a very different atmosphere. We really liked Intramuros, with its historic side and its ramparts which completely contrast with the rest of the city.
We then went to Poblacion, in Makati. And there, a very pleasant surprise. The neighborhood is super lively, a little messy, with lots of small bars and restaurants that make you want to stop everywhere. There is a real atmosphere, especially in the evening, something simple and spontaneous that we really liked. It’s typically the kind of place where you wander around without a plan and where you always end up coming across a nice spot.
And then there was the Quinta Market, which we really loved. The atmosphere is super lively, very local, and that’s where we ate our first Filipino dish in a market… for less than a franc. Difficult to make it simpler and more authentic (without an additional tourist key).
Conversely, BGC convinced us a little less. It’s a very clean, very developed area, but it almost felt like we were in a big European city. As a result, less of a change of scenery than what we were looking for here.
We walked a lot during these two days, in quite intense heat. We also took the time to walk by the sea, even if swimming is not really possible. It's still a nice place to see another side of Manila.
In the end, Manila allowed us to gently get our bearings in this new country. An interesting first step, even if we feel that the best is yet to come.
We are writing these lines to you from Manila airport, while waiting for our next flight to a place that promises to be more exotic 🌴.