TBK Travels to the Philippines- part seven - Manila with 5 star Tom

The Ilocos stall at Market Market in Manila

My next trip to the Philippines was in 2013 when I stayed in Manila and traveled by Victory liner to Angeles and Subic, and then flew to Puerto Princessa- my first trip to Palawan.

Jeff, my tour guide in 2010 - Boracay

You may remember my guide in some of my other blogs was Jeff. I met him when he was working in Bahrain and when he lost his job there and went back home I hired him as my guide. When I returned to Bahrain he started applying for jobs in the GCC and asked him if I would lend him 100 bd / 13,000 peso for medical and agency fees. He never returned and I never got my money back. We got back in touch in 2021 when he was stuck in Cebu due to COV 19 and he asked for another 50 bd / 6,500 Peso to fly home , get a job and then said he would repay my money. He never did and then wrote when a tree fell in his boarding house and complained I was spending too much money in Dubai and giving my anaks more money than him!

Having blocked and unblocked him over the years, and felt sorry for his situation and emailed him I finally decided enough was enough. I told him never to contact me again.

For my second visit I hired a guide called Tom who I used for a couple of vacations until he priced himself out of the market demanding I took him Pasalubong ( tee shirt and chocolates) . I ended up calling him 5 star Tom as he only ate the most expensive food when we went out and wanted Taxis everywhere. When I go on vacation I want to walk, use public transport and see how the locals live. However I always use a guide who knows the language, the area, and who will keep me safe.

5 star Tom fills his chubby cheeks

On my second visit to Manila we explored the markets around where Tom's family had a place ( he lived in the provinces but stayed with them in Manila when he had work there). There is so much cheap street food in Manila and its always Masarap!

The stall holders always smile and chat, but I would never buy raw meat that has not been refrigerated

The locals bargain with the stall holders - in this case for Mangoes and Bananas and other locally grown fruits

There are cooked foods ready to eat

Another happy smiley Pinoy

After seeing the vendors and his aunts place we headed to an upmarket shopping area ( Bonifacio High Street) where you will find Market Market where there are stalls from each region of the Philippines selling their local produce . For example you can find strawberry jam and peanut brittle which supposedly comes from from Baguio. I say supposedly as my Kuya Coco told me the other day that they are not made in Baguio, just like the Wallis Tamboo brush which has the BAGUIO name on it. You learn something new every day with this blog!

It is a great location to buy a lot of pasalubong from around the Philippines without the cost of traveling to each place! The only downside is its in a very congested upmarket area ( a lot of expats and diplomats live near here) and it can take a long time to travel a short distance in the heavily congested Manila traffic.

The famous strawberry Jam from "Baguio"

My first experience of what Palawan has to offer

After a lot of walking and shopping we were tired and hungry so we headed for dinner and Sosyal Maarte 5 star Tom selected a high end restaurant and then chose the most expensive items on the menu!

Am I imagining it or is that a snarl??

After dinner we walked again and found a book festival which was beautifully decorated with books suspended in the air. Another great thing about the vibrant city of Manila is that there is always something going on from Book Fairs to Elections to Fiestas and appearances by TV stars and singers. You just need a local guide to find out what is on where.

The Jungle of books- note the use of Spanish

I loved the way it was set out- to encourage people to read

We soon found a Coffee Shop and relaxed over a coffee. Remember I fall asleep early so for me this was a late night and the Philippines if 5 hours ahead of Bahrain

On my second trip to the Philippines I went to Villa Escudero after Manila and so on my second day there we had to find the Villa Escudero Manila office to pay the deposit for our room. It really took me back in time to the days of Manual booking systems in hotels as they had a series of whiteboards around the office showing all the rooms for each month and symbols to indicate if they were booked or not. The office was hard to find and I really appreciated having Tom as my Tagalog speaking guide! Villa Escudero does not accept credit cards for advance payments and so you have to pay the deposit in cash at their office!

The manual booking system for Villa Escudero at their Manila office

Tom turns Photographer

Pretty in Pink!

I managed to persuade the 5 star boy to slum it for lunch and so we visited a national Filipino institution - Jollibee ( the Pinoy KFC)

The British Kubayan at Jollibee in Manila in 2013

In the afternoon we went down towards Manila bay and Lunetta Park and visited the beautiful Japanese garden , where, being Pinoy, Tom insisted on lots of pics!