We hit up an exhausting number of malls in both BGC and Makati because, frankly, there wasn’t much else to do. By the end, I was sick of escalators and food courts. On the bright side, we got haircuts in one of them for a steal—about $5 each. Less bright? Lunch at a Japanese spot where the shrimp tempura was outright spoiled and the meat was questionable at best. Safe to say, we didn’t roll the dice on Japanese cuisine again.
We lived in BGC, in a new apartment in a new building – top accommodation by local standards. But, the bathroom smelled disgustingly, there was no hot water and some of the furniture was flimsy, devaluing the worthiness of the apartment. Plus there was still construction going on in the building right next to it, so the dust was everywhere every time.
The National Museum of Fine Arts was my one true highlight in Manila—free entry and a genuinely nice art collection. Fort Santiago? It was okay. Getting there was fine thanks to Grab, but the return journey during rush hour was a nightmare. Thirteen kilometers, which should’ve taken 15 minutes, turned into a two-hour endurance test. The only things moving were motorcycles weaving through the gridlock like traffic ninjas.
Looking back, one day in Manila would’ve been more than enough!
