Manila or Makati? Baranggay Poblacion in Makati is the coolest place in the city!

Ok you accidentally thought that manila, the capital of the philippines would be very cosmopolitan. Well you have to remember that metro manila is one big sprawling metropolis with subtowns and cities and the old capital Manila maybe a bit raunchy or challenging for some travellers. Yes old Manila has fast deteriorated in recent decades compared to more upscale cities near it,  due to lack of urban planning and inconsistent policys by suceeding city mayors. Though the old capital Manila has retained some of its old charms and attractions, travellers now prefer other places to stay in the country's premiere capital.

There is one particular place in makati city that is fast becoming the biggest attraction for travellers who are looking for both reasonably cheap  accomodations and a more secured and clean urban playground for rest and recreation. Baranggay Poblacion Makati is the most happening place in this crazy capital of more than 15million people. Though it may not yet rival Bonifcacio Global City and the Makati business district in terms of five star accomodations and as a prime location for billion dollar financial investments, this old spot of makati is the perfect balancing act to the more expensive areas near it if the traveller is looking for something more affordable place to stay for some rest and fun.

Looking for some action? P burgos might just be your street playground. Dont compare this one with the seedy streets of ermita and malate or the one at fields in angeles city pampanga. Establishments here are more dscreet with their activities though walking at the street at night its pretty obvious that with the flashy neon sights of bars all around, and uniformed women offereing massages, yes its not a good place for families to take a stroll. Though during day time P burgos looks like a regular touristy street with nice hotels and restaurants. Its a relatively safe place with good police visibility but people are caution to accept offers from street merchants and sex workers.

Baranggay Poblacion is also home to many medium range hotels and cool hostels. Trip advisory has a long list of the popular ones. But i would suggest hotel durban, city garden hotel, city garden grand hotel, clipper hotel, residence Y, st Giles to name a few. Both city garden and grand have swimming pools with a majestic view of the city. St Giles is a favorite of local companies hosting their conventions, seminars etc and it also has its own rooftop swimming pool.

What makes Poblacion, Makati a mecca for backpackers and budget travellers are the multitudes of hotel accomodations available that would suit every visitor's budget. Im extremely fond of Ritz Astoria's value for your money amenities and comforts. Yes the hotel doesnt have a pool, nor a gym nor parking they dont even have a big restaurant its more like a bar. But for P2000/night you get a spacious room a queensize bed four fluffy pillows and comforters and it feels like staying in one of the more expensive hotels in the area for LESS. You can even checkin an hour or two early and even get an hour extention on your checkout for free! What it lacks in character in the more funky hostels and the more glitzy pricier hotels in town it compensates with its modern spacious rooms and the comforts and amenities 

Are you looking for something modest but comfortable place to stay? Baranggay Poblacion Makati is home to many of the country's best run hostels. Lokal Hostel is one hostel in the A list of many travellers, known for its big beds, large communal areas, and private rooms with bath. It also has a fantastic rooftop common area where travelers can chill and enjoy makati's skyline and the nearby bonifacio global city. Its location is just walking distance to many restaurants, sports bars, convenient stores, and the newly built century mall is like a ten minutes walk.

Around the hostel are many convenient stores, the popular mexican resto el chupacabra and sports bar like handle bar which is frequented by many foreign tourists. Filling station on P. Burgos with its American style diner interiors has been around for 30 years serving milkshakes, breakfasts, pizzas, tacos etc. 

Theres a night food market nearby and places like greenbelt, and the ayala center plus the makati's financial district  is a mere jeepney and taxi ride away. The glitzy Rockwell Center mall is like a fifteen minute walk. The Ayala triangle park is a great place to people watch, dine, jog and during the month of novermber to december the place brightens up with thousands of christmas lights, entertaining park goers with the annual light sound show for the holidays.

Definitley makati is a very attractive alternative to stay in metro manila if you dont have to be in the city of Manila. Its cleaner, safer, its closer to the airport and you have manila's wallstreet in makati. Most people find the shopping and entertainment factor here can  rival those cosmopolitan cities in nearby countries like KL or singapore. 

Manila in one day!

Manila bay sunset, old manila and binondo

Alot of tourists dismiss Manila as a mere transit point to other famous tourist spots in the country but there is enough things to do in the city for a day or two to make the visit more enjoyable. In fact you can have a quick tour of Old Manila for say like 12hours if thats all you got before you leave the city for something more exciting times up in the mountains of luzon or a plane ride to the tropics of visayas or mindanao.

If youre staying somewhere in malate/ermita area you can start your day doing a pleasant walking tour along the famous manila bay promenade and watch the early risers do their exercise routines while a few locals do some fishing. Head up north still in roxas boulevard, go  pass the US embassy, you will see the country's most famous landmark, the jose rizal monument(RP's national hero) and park. Turn left on orosa street  before you reach the half naked statue of lapu lapu and you will be minutes away from entering the spanish fortress city of intramuros. 

A manila highlight will be a  tour of old manila, Intramuros.  It dates back to the 16th century as an exclusive enclave for the spanish colonizers and their dependents. Its a walled city with alot of history from centurys old buildings and churches, lots of museums and today it  houses several universities and goverment agencies. It gets its share of tourists wanting some history and culture in a city that is more known for its large population density and urban decay. A cool way of appreciating intramuros is to take a calesa ride around the walled city. 

Worth a look are fort santiago, the manila cathedral, san agustin church and museum, casa manila, bahay tsino,  among others. If your feet get tired go get a cab and visit old binondo district for lunch. It is reputably the oldest china town in the world so definitely you will find something worth looking into. Its far bigger and more interesting than the famous san francisco chinatown so this has to be a must visit for all chinatown lovers. There are many blogs on binondo so you can make for a more definite itinerary. If you take a cab or jeep going to divisoria make sure you drop off at ongpin street beside the old binondo church to begin your tour along ongpin. 

Not far from binondo is the famous Divisoria streetmarkets, lucky chinatown and the popular 168mall and tutuban center for old timers. Divisoria is actually a spillover of binondo and is still considered chinatown by most old timers. If you have your fill of shopping and food tripping its time to leave people mayhelm and headout to witness the city's most famous tourist attraction...the Manila Bay sunset. 

First option to witness this natural spectacle is to view it from Harbour square. Make sure you leave binondo or Divisoria  late in the afternoon around 4pm before traffic gets crazy in the area. You can take a mabini bound jeep and dropoff at vito cruz and head towards the  roxas boulevard direction, harbour view square is on the right of CCP complex, the one with the big fountain theater venue. A cab ride is the most convenient and cabs are very cheap in the city, always ask the driver to use his meter. 

Harbour square has a beautiful view of the manila bay skyline, it has a short but pleasant promenade lined with inexpensive restaurants. Theres also a starbucks and an army navy resto. This is one of the best place to appreciate Manila and its sunset.

Second option is to drink  san miguel beer, at Harbour view restaurant and be awed by the majesty of watching one of the best sunsets in the world, the manila bay sunset. This is most frequented by foreigners as they seem to enjoy the view over the water and the atmosphere here is quite relaxing. Its the perfect chill place to escape the addicting mayhelm that is manila. You can take a cab in binondo and ask the driver to go to manila ocean park, its just right beside it. 

If the night is still young and you decide to move on from mushy sunsets, Robinsons place Manila is both a short cab away from both harbour view resto and harbour square. Its safe to say  that robinsons place manila is the best mall in manila city proper. The bigger one MOA or mall of asia is 20-30mins away by cab and yes its MOA is the premiere mall of the philippines. They say its not enough to spend one day in there. 

Both malls house shops that sell good quality  philippine made souvenirs. Worth mentioning is kultura at MOA, a favorite of tourists and filipinos for its extensive display of Philippine themed products. and whats outstanding about MOA is that they have their own waterfront with bars and theme park rides like the moa eye, the tallest ferris wheel in the city which gives you a paranomic view of the manila, pasay, makati skylines. 

Happiness management and how to defeat the scary clown!

ok whats the first thing that goes in your mind when you see a clown ....

Ahuh. its a horrific smile. very deceptive, fake and looks like its out to do something nasty. I have always been picturing certain adults as "strange" scary even. No its not about fictional characters
its really "them". You encounter these scary clowns everywhere. It could be in the form of people you know at work, school, neighborhood. 

Yah right its pretty traumatic! We can be scarred for life  from these made in hollywood symbolisms that turnout to be real life diabolic smiley creatures. You really cant tell them from a crowd sometimes....

Too bad i cant go on detail about my personal experiences on  these scary clowns or i might get myself into serious trouble. What i can divulge are my basic elementary appreciation of defensive tools to make your experience with scary the clown, more tolerable and yes happy. 

Afterall, happiness is universal.  A happy face the geunine kind, is infectious and mood soothing. A very genuine person in your conpany or random, is a pleasure to your senses and spirit. 

Think of your life as a series of empty colored buttons or circles and imagine what it would be like if you had control to these buttons and tag them according to what pleases you the most. . . 

You can tag them randomly according to the things that motivates you the most, people who you value the most and which circle gives you the most fulfillment and happiness. The color may not reflect the importance that you give it. You dont need to arrange it according to the "most" important or the "least".

Now imagine yourself having a tough time  something like  someone stole  your box of original 70s vinyl disco album records of abba or barry manilow  or something as lamer as you cant pass the entrance exam in a very competitive university cause youre good at everything else except algebra. Or worse something as a game changer as perhaps you lost a loveone or youre about to lose a job. 

These circle charts or as i may describe as "HAPPY POINTS" OR "SMILE BUTTONS" are your guide to keep you staying afloat and gives you more confidence to do what has to be done to increase your chances at happiness better. Ok no fast rules on this one. This is not even a solutions chart. Its just a guide to what can make you smile more when that scary clown starts making his presence known. Keep pressing on those buttons and gain your reservoir of happiness and confidence from your stronger colored circles. 

It works  this way peeps...if you got more power strengths on your relationship with God, keep pressing  on that yellow button to gain your peace and gather your strength to keep you going!

If you recently lost your girlfriend to some hunky rich guy,dont fret! something better is on your way and since the color red for "interests" keeps you occupied in basketball or academics, keep pressing that red button and be relieved that you can accomplish something better than having to spend months crying over something that wasnt meant to be. You can draw  your strengths from one or more circles and keep pressing it to relieve you when bad times struck.

Happiness is what you make it to be. If you want to be happy, start young and develop positive qualities. Dont allow the rat race to consume you and devour all the positive attributes that you learn from your parents, your school and your mentors. 

Its that simple? NO. But you will always get the relief that you are not the owners of all the burdens in the world. Youre never too ugly youre never too poor (unless you wanna stay that way) youre never too fat and youre not the unluckiest person out there. And if you are, then you need one giant circle for that or something more complex. If you believe youre the least lucky, go contact national geographic and let them do a special on you.

In the end, it doesnt matter what the scary clowns do to you and its really how you treat the world and how you define your happiness. You can get lost  those evil clowns and even develop a few of their traits. But remember, its just a facade. Their battles are different from yours and its never too late to shed evil and negativity off  your system. Camouflage yourself amongst those evil clowns and live the life that you always wanted! You cant always pretend. Be the real happy person that you deserve to be! 

Those fake smiles are a routine fixture of the world around us. Its make believe. You are in charge of your own happiness, be brave, be productive, manage your defenses and smile all around!