I wasn't sure what to expect of Manila as all I ever really heard about was how poor it was and that it is generally an unsafe city.What I found was that the Philippines is EXTREMELY Americanized! I had never known this before but after my time there I would absolutely say it is a country that most closely emulates American culture from food to clothing to television. Much of this I learned, comes from the historical American occupation of the Philippines after the Philippine-American War.
My stay in Manila was very busy with work, but I did get to sample some local Filipino food which was delicious. Their style appears to be quite simple in style but flavorful and aromatic. For example, lunch came served wrapped in a large banana leaf containing a portion of steamed rice, a chicken breast gently seasoned and then some sweetly fried bananas which they topped the chicken or rice with. I was told that it is quite common for them to mix a fruit with each meal to add flavor to the dish. I enjoyed its simplicity.
The hotel I stayed at was likely what I will most remember about Manila. It was beautiful and full of every amenity you could imagine, the Peninsula Manila.
While the hotel was absolutely lovely, I will most remember the hotel for it's History. You will notice in the picture that the hotel has two towers which you can see to the back left and right of the photo. The massive structure in the middle is actually the lobby which you are driven up to from the back after going through Security. The lobby area is relatively new and came to be after a Political situation. In 2007 right around Christmas, a political coup was staged in the former lobby of this hotel. It ended with tanks being driven into the lobby of the hotel to end the coup. I find it interesting that not a single shot was fired. It appears that the initial attempt to end the coup was to drive tanks in. An interesting way to begin resolving an issue!
And from that rubble the new lobby came to be.
Here is a link from the BBC reporting on the event at the time:
Manila itself seemed to be an example of extremes, you either had money or had none, buildings were either new and modern or very old. I stayed in the "city" within Manila called Makati. It is their prime business section of Manila and relatively safe and clean. Within a few blocks of my hotel were all the major upscale Asian hotels that you would expect to see (Shangri-La, etc) and some very nice shopping malls.
Traffic is insanely bad there and they commonly employ persons to drive for them. It is inexpensive to have this service in the Philippines and allows them to get to and from their destination without worrying about parking or the safety of their car. It is hard for me to imagine being driven to work each day and knowing that the person who drove you is sitting outside my office all day waiting for me. They often are very loyal, the driver I used was the personal driver for our medical director for the past 15 years!
