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.