Like India, the Philippines is one of those countries I have a love-hate relationship with. Along with Norway, it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited, and at the same time I swore I’d never go back.
On my first trip to the Philippines, I visited the islands of Coron and Palawan. A boat trip through the stone pierced turquoise waters displayed otherworldly scenery. As if the landscape above the water wasn’t enough, the landscape below it was even better. The Philippines has the best coral reefs I’ve ever seen. It was also the first place I’d seen a giant clam and a lionfish in the wild.
As a young boy I was fascinated by the deadly lionfish, one or the most venomous in the world. In addition to reading about it in books, I marveled at seeing it for the first time in the aquarium’s poisonous fish section. As I was swimming close to the reef in the Philippines, I saw one hovering just in front of me. While I could identify it immediately, it took a second to realize that there was no thick plate of glass between us. I quickly back paddled and headed for the boat.
For lunch on our boat trip, we were served fried chicken wings. Unfortunately, it was only the beginning of the fried foods I’d be offered on my trip. The Philippines can be compared to the Southern United States for their love of fried foods, and it can be as difficult to find food that is not cooked in saturated fats.
Filipinos also have a love of pork that is only rivaled by Hawaiians. I remember one tour I led where we pre-ordered sandwiches for the group. Without the opportunity to take their order in advance, we did the usual split of 45% roast beef, 45% turkey and 10% ham. Usually the ham sandwiches are the last to be taken, but what I learned on that tour is that when you have a group of Hawaiians, you’d better order 100% ham.
No matter where I’ve gone in the Philippines, it’s difficult to find a vegetable. Like Mexico, the markets are filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, but where they go, I have no idea. They never seem to make it to any of the restaurants or food stalls I visit. In the Philippines, your choices are fried pork or fried something else. Since eating healthy is a top priority, I removed the Philippines from my list of places I needed to return to, and that’s saying a lot given its stunning beauty!
This year, a friend of mine told me that she and her husband were going to one of my favorite islands in the Philippines so I decided to give it another chance. Perhaps because I stayed in a fishing village, the options were better this time: fish, squid, and even seaweed. All of those were acceptable to my palate, and I was able to get the former grilled and not fried.
I’d learned in Mexico that you can find vegetables if you get away from the street food and into some of the nicer restaurants. Fortunately, most of the world has been going through a food revolution, and I decided to give Manila a chance to impress me. I also wanted to see what the Philippines’ biggest city had to offer.
I’d been there before but only to transfer between buses, and we all know what the area around bus stations is like. I figured there must be a nicer business district and came across Makati. It appeared to be just what I was looking for.
I booked a top floor apartment overlooking the park and headed out to explore my new neighborhood. Like Bangkok, social life in this hot and humid metropolis entails going to the shopping mall. The first one I visited was called Greenbelt, but it wasn’t just one. There were Greenbelts 1 through 5, each its own shopping mall connected by a skybridge. I found it an ironic name for a mall, since it’s the opposite of a green space, but I observed on the orientation map that all five malls surround an inner tree filled park. The mall restaurants took advantage of this by setting up seating around the park. It all felt a bit artificial but no less so than a restaurant at a city park.
In addition to Greenbelt, there was the Venice Grand Canal Mall, a mall designed after Venice. If you’ve been to the Venetian casino in Las Vegas, you have a pretty good idea of what it was like. The thing that really made me laugh is that the restaurants were all American chains. There was a Denny’s, a Friday’s a Taco Bell, and some I don’t even know if we have anymore, like Shakey’s Pizza. I grabbed a Starbucks coffee and sat next to the canal for a little before moving on to the next shopping area.
Bonifacio Global City (BGC locally) turned out to be what I was looking for, and after a short walk around, I began to regret not booking my accommodations there. Unlike the other areas I’ve visited, which consisted almost entirely of enclosed shopping malls, BGC is a neighborhood filled with shops and restaurants that you could explore while walking outside. That’s not always a good thing in this part of the world, but I chose a time of year that wasn’t particularly hot.
What also makes BGC unique is its walkability. Most of Manila is dominated by cars which is why the traffic is abhorrent, but BGC has a pedestrian only core consisting of 10 blocks. The nature of the pedestrian mall also lends itself to more interaction with people. There are playgrounds, art exhibits and dog parks that bring the community through conversation as opposed to apart with consumerism.
The restaurants are also unique, offering exceptional food and great atmosphere, unlike the chain restaurants at the malls. They are scattered about the neighborhood, and it’s nice to walk around to find just the right one for your mood. Afterwards, you can grab a cookie at one of the numerous dessert bars in the neighborhood. I have never seen so many cookie vendors concentrated in one place as I have in Manila.
All that said, I can’t say that Manila is a place I will rush to get back to. It lacks the temples of Thailand, the food of Vietnam, and the traffic makes getting to everything laborious. I am happy to have found a part of the city to base out of, but really, the best bet is to get out to the islands!