A day in Manila

3^rd July 2008

Weather: 32C, cloudy, humid with occasionally sunshine

This is our 2^nd day in Manila, we slept so well the night before and by the time we woke up, it is already past 10am. Feeling a bit more energized and adventurous, we decided to walked to another malls within Ortigas area i.e. the Podium and the SM malls. SM malls are huge and covering 2 big buildings which is a bit overwhelming and made us feel lost in the mall. The brands are primarily the same but this place is definitely lack of charm but huge in size. We didn't spent very long here but head back to the hotel with a coffee pause at Starbucks located at the Podium.

Makati City

Having enough of Ortigas, we took a cab to Makati ciity which is may be 5 to 8 km away from Ortigas. The taxi ride experience was okay, not as scary as what described in lonely planet or hotel warning. Makati is a new blooming commercial and financial centers where most of the five stars hotels are located here. This is definitely a better part of Manila where again boasts of more shopping malls. We walked around the Greenbelt square which is like an oasis in the midst of the concrete jungle. In the center of the park,, there is a church and surrounding the church is a man-made ponds, plenty of leafy greens and fauna. The 5 Greenbelt shopping malls are evolving around the park. We spent most of the time walking at the park than actually going inside the malls (we already had enough!!). The place and concept reminded us very much of Florida, Miami. Partly due to the humidity of the weather, but mostly is due to the merchandised brands are predominately from the USA. Banana Republic, Bubba Shrimps, Guess, Nine West, outdoor cafe concept etc you name it, they most likely have an outlet here.