Week 1 of 50…
Today we said goodbye to friends and family today and boarded a plane to Manilla with Philippine airlines. Easy through Heathrow, a simple (but very long) 13 hour flight which landed at Manila at 5.30pm (10.30am UK time). We tried to beat jet lag by only sleeping for 5 hours on the plane so that we’d be tired enough to sleep later than day. We effectively woke up at about 11am Manila time. Sleep on the plane was not easy though so it was not good quality. The rest of the flight was spent watching films and eating.
Despite initially being annoyed that our onwards flight had been delayed by 24 hours months ago, by the time we landed we were super glad as we really would not have wanted to hang around in an airport for a few hours and then sit on another plane for 8 hours! Long stopovers are definitely a good thing. Although Aiden would have been ok – he seems to be able to sleep anywhere.
After picking up our bags we had some fun trying to find out where we were staying as my assumption that I’d look that up on the plane was wrong – the wifi wouldn’t seem to work properly ☹. After a stressful 30 minutes trying to buy a SIM card for the data (and avoid paying £6 to use our phones abroad), which wouldn’t work in Chris’s phone for some reason that they couldn’t explain, Chris finally made it onto the internet and we had a destination. We booked a grab for 440pp (Philippine Peso’s – approx. 57 pp per pound) as we were tired, but it was cancelled within a minute and no other driver could be found, so we headed to the airport taxi. This was 1,850pp so a lot more! We saw the yellow taxi’s on the way out which run on a meter. They may have been cheaper…?
The taxi drive should have taken about 15 minutes according to Rome2Rio, but we hit the famous Manila traffic during rush hour and some serious rain so it took closer to 40 minutes! The ride was pretty interesting; watching all the Jeepneys, bikes etc doing some questionable driving across junctions and through road-wide puddles in the heavy showers. The main thing that struck me was how all signs were in English. Even the non touristy ones.
Note to self – if the Airbnb instructions on finding the place seem too simple do NOT assume that’s because it will be obvious when you get there! Our instructions were simply Suntrust Parkview 15D and the check in instructions seemed to only have Step 1 and a picture of the lady. Stupidly assumed that meant we’d turn up at the reception and ask for her. But Suntrust Parkview has at least 5 towers and the first question we were asked when we sought help upon arrival was ‘which tower’. No idea! The helpful security men phoned around and found out where we should be though.
As it was half 8 local time, raining and we were tired we decided against heading out in another taxi to the Bay and wandered across the street to a mall instead. We were immediately surprised by how Americanised the mall was – but it was all locals, no tourists so a true reflection of how far the western world is spreading. It was also odd being a minority and getting stared at – especially with Evie’s red hair! Chris also felt incredibly tall as at 6ft he was a foot taller than most the locals. We refused to have Wendys, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Costa etc for dinner so found a cheap fast food chain that looked entirely Filipino. The mall was closing at 9 so we didn’t have many restaurant choices unfortunately. For fast food it was pretty good and at about £7 for 4 rice dishes and drinks pretty cheap by Western standards.
Back to the apartment to bed at 10 – pretty much in sync with this side of the word time already – score!
Day 2 – Tour of Rizal Park and Intramuros Manila with kids
Now laughing at my optimism of yesterday evening! Last night did not go to plan at all! Despite being tired and it being dark sleep was not properly forthcoming and we all kept waking each other up. The (false) fire alarm at midnight, the cockerel at 3am and the chanting at 4am from the local mosque didn’t help either. We kept trying till about 10am before giving up. I hate jet lag!
After waking ourselves up with a shower we headed to the local 7/11 to pick up some breakfast. Not many options, but the locals were all picking up this weird white spongy things so we got one. Picked up a couple of yoghurts, bananas and a banana soya milk drink too. The white thing was some sort of pudding bread filled with some sort of meat and gravy thing. Pretty ok but very sweet. The kids weren’t a fan so stuck to the yoghurts. Not the healthiest breakfast as everything was high sugar, but it did include some fruit at least!
Time to get out and explore. The forecasted thunderstorms and downpour seemed to have worn themselves out the day before and it was barely raining. Given that it was in the high twenties and muggy the light rain showers were quite welcome.
It seemed that the best places to explore in Manila were Intramuros and Rizal Park where there are some free museums so we headed that way. Crossing the road is quite an experience so we generally headed to where some locals were trying to cross and followed them when they walked. Manila is one of the most densely populated cities in the world (and one of the oldest apparently) and the roads are thick with traffic. Luckily this means it all moves pretty slow giving pedestrians a chance to meander amongst it.
We got to the National Museum of Anthropology just as the rain started and headed in to learn a bit about the Filipinos. Let home-schooling commence. We spent over an hour wandering the exhibits looking at cultural artefacts and learning about early trade (particularly ivory) before heading out into Rizal Park. As we passed the Japanese Gardens a man was calling to us to tell us that it was free to enter. At this point we were looking for lunch. He offered to take us somewhere to eat local food and then take us on a tour of Intramuros as he’s a guide. Then followed four great hours in Manila courtesy of Paul. We followed him into town to Max’s Restaurant, which initially looked like a fried chicken house, but does lovely and cheap Filipino food as well as some pretty good fried chicken. He left us here for an hour to eat before coming back to walk us through Intramuros. Paul has over 40 year experience as a Tour Guide in the area so knows all the places to go.
Intramuros is the walled area which was the original city. The walls were built by the Spanish in the late 16th century shortly after they arrived and conquered it from the natives so they could protect it from other invaders. We also learnt that it was called the Philippines in honour of King Philip of Spain by the conquering Spaniards. Paul took us up onto the walls, over to the 14 original cannons and through the poor area where people are allowed to build homes on government land. These homes are built out of whatever they locals can find.
We also visited the San Augustin Church and walked through a lovely area of alleyways around the Bambike Eco tour company (who offer bike tours of Intramuros on their bikes made from bamboo). Whilst we like what they do, we couldn’t fit a tour into the budget as they are not cheap.
Manila Cathedral was our final stop as we were flagging at this point. We started talking about ending it and payment. He’d been great and whilst it was a free tour he had been honest up front and said that we should then tip him based on how good the tour was. Going round we were loving the tour and were unsure how much to give, and also very aware that we had very little cash left and didn’t want to get more out as we were leaving that afternoon… Evie wanted a ride on the Jeepneys or in a tuk-tuk but that required some cash. ALthough Paul negotiated a good deal for us we wanted to give all our cash to him (we were short of what he was after but he was super nice about it) so he walked us back to the mall via the shortest route. Thanks Paul 😊. As we were saying bye a group of girls asked if they could have their photo with Evie. They were so excited when she said yes and took loads of selfies. One even came running back to get another one! Evie was pretty bemused but she enjoyed it. Better get used to this I think…
After this it was back to the airport. We booked a grab from the apartment and headed over. Again, traffic was awful and the journey took us almost an hour. Our transit through the airport was smooth, as was the flight. Unfortunately the time between meals on the flight was only about 4 hours as we made great time, so even though we tried to sleep (with varied success), we didn’t get much ☹.
Next stop Sydney…
Reviews
Transport reviews
Philippine Airlines
Given that we’d paid £1,241 for four of us to fly from the UK to Australia we weren’t expecting much. We were pleasantly suprised.
The planes were new with lots of headroom, the fish dinner was actually really nice. Breakfast was ok. Large choice of films on the screens. Couldn’t fault it really.
Activity Reviews
Paul’s tour of Intramuros
Overview
Paul has been a tour guide in the area since 1975 so he knows his way around. He initially helped us find a lunch spot, and we then accepted his offer of a free guided walking tour around Intramuros.
Cost
It’s free but he expects a tip based on how much you enjoy the tour. He was after about 1500pp which is under £25 for a private tour that lasted about two and a half hours. We only had 1150pp and he didn’t give us any grief when we explained that was all we had.
Tour
The tour took us from Rizal Park to a gateway into the walls, up onto the old walls where we could walk along an intact section. Coming down we headed down a couple of streets before taking us up to the section with the 14 original cannons. Then we headed through a slum district where people build their houses out of whatever they can find, through some alleyways and to the San Agustin Church before finishing at Manila Cathedral.
We felt that the route was determined based upon what we wanted, what was interesting us and how far he thought the kids could walk. After all, his tip depends on us enjoying ourselves.
Paul was great with the kids, asking them questions and offering many interesting facts on the history of the area and the buildings.
We would definitely not have enjoyed our walk through Intramuros as much without him!
Contact
If you want to find him he told us that he generally hangs around the entrance to the Japanese gardens in Rizal Park. Ask around for him in the Japanese Garden if he’s not there (Paul the tour guide) or contact him on mabuhaypolc@yahoo.com for a great tour.
Rizal Park
This is a reasonable sized park with a lake in the middle (and speakers playing music), a couple of museums (free), an area with chess board tables and the Japanese Garden (free).
From 6pm the fountain lights up and the jets ‘dance’ to the music. Unfortunately we had a plane to catch so couldn’t stay to witness this.
National Museum of Anthropology
A reasonable sized museum with quite a few galleries about the history of the Philippine people. Mostly made up of old artefacts from the local ways of life on different islands and the items salvaged from sunken trading vessels. There’s a good section on the ivory trade in the region too.
A good place to do some worldschooling and escape the rain for an hour or so.
Logistics
We’d booked our apartment so that it was within walking distance of the park and Intramuros so didn’t need to use any public transport, but the Jeepneys were everywhere and you would be able to travel around easily on them if you didn’t fancy walking. You just get on where you want and pay 9pp per person. Then hop off when it stops at some lights near where you want to be.
Costs
We were in Manila for 29 hours and spent a total of £121
Accommodation – Suntrust Parkview apartment £26
Food – £31
- 460pp (£7) for dinner at the fast food place in the mall.
- 278pp (£4) for breakfast from the 7/11.
- 750pp (£12) in Max’s restaurant for lunch
- 266pp (£4) for a take away pizza for dinner
- 255pp (£4) on snacks and drinks at the airport
Activities – 1160pp (£18) on a tour with Paul around Intramuros
Transport – £29 on an airport taxi and £14 on a Grab taxi to the airport
Other – ATM fees £7
Next stop Sydney…