MANILA

Manila is a city of many striking contrasts. Glass and steel skyscrapers stand alongside the concrete images of heroes past. Sleek cars drive past horse-drawn carriages. Ancestral churches are a stone's throw away from modern shopping malls.

Manila, the home for nearly 12 million people, is the result of a merger between 12 cities and 5 municipalities - now called Metro Manila. Metro Manila is also a city that's fighting against the most horrible traffic situation I've ever seen (worse than Mexico City!) and against exhaust pollution. However, Manila still has its pleasant side:

• Rizal Park (also called Luneta Park): a haven of peace and quiet; venue of concerts; the place to enjoy the wonderful sunsets at Manila Bay; etc.
  Important for tourists: the Department of Tourism (DoT) is also located in Rizal Park
• Intramuros ("within the walls"): it serves as a monument to the Hispanic period in Philippine history. Today the Walled City is seen as a priceless treasure that should be shared with the world.
  One can walk through cobbled streets paved with Spanish colonial buildings and old church plazas. Within Intramuros complex lies the Fort Santiago (one of the oldest fortifications within the walls) and Rizal Shrine, the Manila Cathedral (a magnificent architectural feat with its intricate stone carvings, stained glass mosaics, and rosette windows), and the San Agustin Church (the oldest structure in the country with its Baroque interiors).
  Important for tourists: the Immigration Office is located near Manila Cathedral (important when the visa expires!)
• Chinese Cemetery: a cemetery big as a town with the probably most flashy graves in the world!
• Chinatown: Situated in bustling Binondo, Chinatown is filled with all things Chinese from Peking duck and Buddhist temples to gold watches, snake soup, and wonder herbs.
• Various museums: Ayala Museum, Casa Manila, Cultural Center Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, National Museum, ...)
• Antipolo: perfect view down to Manila, especially at night (very romantic place!)

Manila is also home to various universities, markets, cinemas, bars, restaurants, and shopping malls. To sum up, Manila is a fast growing metropolis with countless possibilities for the enterprising tourist.

During my 2-months stay in Manila I lived in Makati. Makati is the premier business, communications and financial center of Metro Manila. Its 2,986 hectares comprise some of the most valuable real estate in the country. Banks, embassies, airlines, multinational concerns and at least 57 of the country's top 100 local corporations have established their offices here (as well as the Austrian Trade Commission).

A "city" in its own right, modern-day Makati is a metropolitan landscape of sprawling residential villages alongside congested tenements, tree-lined roads and shaded parks nestled with concrete jungles, hushed museums cheek-by-jowl with bustling malls, elegant limousines, cozy jazz bars and pulsating night clubs.

Although I liked Makati and Metro Manila in general, I was glad when I had the chance to get out of the city on weekends - to breathe some fresh air again, and to enjoy peace and quiet.

On May 17, 2000 we sadly left the Philippines, and via Hong Kong and London Heathrow we made our way home...

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