Travel to Manila with Mi Hyeon

We reached Manila NA3 Airport at about 0030 in the morning. Once we were in the arrival hall, a few guys approached us for taxi. There were two methods to hail taxi. One was from the front of arrival hall or another from the departure hall entrance. Taxis from arrival hall was a fixed rate of 500pesos while the other one you could haggle the price down to 350pesos.

So we dashed to the departure hall for the obvious reason: budget ^^. There were a lot of people sleeping at the cozy and spacious departure hall which I should had done too but I discarded the thought (hehhe..I slept in Hongkong Airport before). Since Manila was cheaper than Korea; I didn't mind the price so much for another night stay.

We stayed in Malate Pensionne which was walking distance from Robinson. Checking into economy room for 750pesos per night was not a wise decision. I didn't check the weather ahead before arriving in Manila. The room only had a fan and it didn't help that much when the air was so humid and temperature was around 34 degree celcius at 2 in the morning! Apparently, we went during the hottest summer season in Manila. So guys, help Mother Earth. Let's reduce this global warming effect together.

The bathroom was shared around the floor and we stayed at the highest level which was 4th. We should have booked an air conditioned room. Other than that, Malate Pensionne was really a nice place to stay. The interior was nice with antique ambiance throughout the place. There was a Starbucks cafe' attached to the building, next to the receptionist and the coffee price was much cheaper than in Malaysia! I love that ^^.


Sugar coated fried banana and sweet potato. Nice ^^ I felt back in
Malaysia except that we don't have this version of banana fritters.
I didn't try a lot of food in Manila because not all food was HALAL. 


Pedro Gil Street. The metro station is just behind Mi Hyeon.

Pedro Gil Station's ticket booth.

Somehow, this reminded me of Patong/Phuket, Thailand. The feeling
was almost the same. 

Our trishaw guy. Paid 200Pesos for an Intramuros Tour. Actually,
you could enjoy Intramuros more if you walk, but the heat was
killing us so we decided not to. The same thing here, you should
haggle the price and tipping was a norm. 

In front of Intramuros's entrance. What I like about staying around
Malate was because of old historical buildings. There were so many
to appreciate and marvel at. 

A disfunctioned canon on top of Intramuros


Puerta del Parian was named Parian de Arroceros (Chinese Rice Dealer's Market).  
It was the official gate for the governors-general after the British occupation (1762-1764).
Source: Asiatour

Inside Puerta del Parian.

Statue of the ASEAN ministers inside Puerta Del Parian. 
One of them was Malaysia's Tun Hussein Onn. 

Another entrance from behind.

After leaving Intramuros, we walked along the main road to visit
Rizal Park. We passed by Manila Hotel and I thought it
looked like government building. 


Manila Cathedral. I was stopped by the guard from
entering the church. He told me I should open my hijab
before entering. I told him that I am a Muslim. He was
curious and asked me why I wanted to enter. I was 
simply a tourist. ^^

After that, we skipped the heat by entering Robinson Mall. 

When we entered the supermarket in the mall, we were welcomed by
delicious fruits. I was tempted to buy all because in Korea, fruits were
rather expensive and not as much variety as in tropical countries.

This was the first time Mi Hyeon ate a whole mango. Before this
she could only eat mango slices from the top of the cake or mango
juice. I pity her. Koreans, please come to Malaysia. We have so 
many fruits available here..hehe. 


We had buko pandan drink. It was heavenly delicious!
I missed the pandan taste so much!

We found this unique multi handphone charging adapator
in 7-Eleven. I didn't try it though. Should have one of this
in Malaysia too. It is very convenient. 

Clark Airport. We took our AirAsia flight from here. 

Our dinner and breakfast at Clark Airport. 
Outbox by San Miguel. They had only one dish for vegetarian. 

A gift for all Kim Bum's fan out there. ^^ 
I think the lady must be a famous local artist in the Philippine. 

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4 Comments

Joyce said…
Wow you stayed here in Manila too .. :) there are more nice places to visit here but mostly on provinces if you're into historical & cultural trips .. :) And yes, the lady with kimbum is a talented actress here in the Philippines ^^
Nicole Joson said…
hello, i am Nicole. I am living here in Manila, Philippines. I've read your blog :) I just want to tell you the term we used to call that 'Sugar coated fried banana and sweet potato' you mentioned :) the banana on a stick is called banana-que, just like the bar-bee-que :) and the potato is called kamote-que :) in case you come back here in the Philippines you might want to buy one..it really taste good..it is the best for snack time :) and oh by the way, the one that is wrapped beside the bananaque is called turon :) it is also banana inside :) one of the best filipino food :)

you should try halo-halo too :) chowking has it. just sharing my culture :) happy travel!
Zarina BT2K said…
Hi Nicole,
I wish I could visit Manila again.
Maybe we could meet? ^^
cleng said…
i hope you enjoyed your travel in the philippines!!! ^^ hehe.. yes, philippines is a VERY tropical country so you will be surprised at the weather if one is really not used to it. hehe!! i agree, manila hotel didn't looked like a hotel from the outside.looks old right? hehe. i love pandan too! yum yum. you picked the right place on going to intramuros because you say you like historical places. ^^ that's good! hehe. you're from malaysia? nice to meet you! hope you could visit again here soon! ^^ the girl with kim bum is an actress, famous here. hehe. hope you could visit philippines again! take care!!! ^^