Los Galacticos F.C. is a group of football and futsal players that train at the Palm Village Gym in…read moreMakati. It's in a private village near Rockwell and Bel-Air. Every Wednesdays of the week, they meet up to train from 8pm-12mn. On Saturdays they train at Turf from 10pm-12mn. I'm not up to speed with my football skills that's why I was so keen on learning football again. I had no idea where to play football that fit my schedule around 2012. That's when my friend, Gwen, told me about Los Galácticos which she was a part of! What helps is that it's near my former high school. So I'm very familiar with my route going there. Trainings do start on time! You got to hustle, bro! So if you ever do decide to learn more and get to play the games, arrive on time and bring the necessary equipment. The thing with beginners is that you're encouraged to start with trainers. Nothing of the fancy variety yet like futsal boots and socks. You'll get to that part. Also, you get to play on the floor/field on your first day. Don't be nervous about making a fool out of yourself! It's normal. Plus there may be a possibility that 20 other people are watching you including your coach. Take it easy! The training fee is P250. If you're a beginner, just come in your trainers and active wear. Bring a jug or bottle of water and towel. Tip: Their coach, Ram, is a die-hard Real Madrid fan! Best not to argue with him if you're an FC Barcelona fan. I'm an Atlético de Madrid stan and got beat up with banter when we lost during the Champions League semis.

Besides basketball and badminton courts, a gym and other training facility mostly for the use of…read morethe Ateneo de Manila sports teams, (though most of these are also open to non-team members) The Moro Lorenzo Sports Center is also home to an indoor track oval that covers 200 meters. I find the facility most useful when the weather goes cray-cray, yet I still find myself harboring an obsessive need to do some laps - literally come hell or high water. The track is situated on the topmost level, traversing the periphery of the building. It is laid with an artificial rubber surface designed to lessen the impact of my footfalls so yeah, my knees thank me every time I run here. One thing about the oval, however, is that the size and structure can be a challenge to those who have the tendency get cabin fever. Also, having to go around it so many times in order to achieve my target distance means having to exert more effort to amuse myself or to keep myself motivated to cover yet another round. (Thank God for Spotify.) There is a changing and shower facility though if you are not a gym member, you don't get a locker. I'm not sure how much they charge non-alumni, but I pay 30 bucks to get in and go trigger happy until my legs fall apart - or until 10 pm, which ever comes first.

Tucked into one corner of the huge Ateneo University is the Moro Lorenzo Sports Complex. To many,…read moreit's the home of the Blue Eagles but if you make a trip here, you'll find that it's way more! It's three floors of sports everything! They have a gym, basketball court, running oval, medical facilities and other things you might not even know you'll need. They have one of the best sports clinics in the Philippines, headed by Dr. Canlas. They can help you with therapy and other sports related injuries. Some of the country's best athletes have gone here to recuperate after a bad injury. They also rent out their other facilities like the basketball court (some PBA teams use it), their badminton courts also! If a quick jog is all you're looking for, their oval is open to the public for jogging and running. It's good to note that these are available in case one day you'll need it!

We all know that basketball is part of our culture as Filipinos. Boys or girls, young or just young…read moreat heart, NBA or PBA or UAAP or just your neighbourhood basketball liga, Pinoys are just into this sport. I guess this explains why in most parts of the Metro, it's impossible for you not to see basketball courts - whether it's an indoor hardwood court, open cement court or even a makeshift half court on the streets. Some basketball courts have been put up for quite some time and recently, there have been a good number of new basketball courts that are popping in the city. Since my boyfriend is into basketball (just like most boys are, really) and has been regularly joining different basketball leagues, I have been exposed to a few different basketball courts. One that I have frequently gotten to visit is the Dumlao Gym found along Shaw Boulevard. The gym has been an institution for many generations of (pro and non-pro) basketball players living in the Mandaluyong area. The very first time I saw the façade of Dumlao, I wanted to run. It looked like a horror movie's set! Hahahaha! The gym definitely looked older than most courts I've seen based on the structure of the building. Despite this, a lot of professional and amateur basketball leagues have set this as their stage. I should know, I've watched countless of Pau's games in Dumlao, from different leagues, mind you. Dumlao Gym has 2 indoor basketball courts found on the first and second floor. Upon entering the gym, you will see trophies, newspaper cut outs and other memorabilia of the person the gym is named after - Cesar Dumlao. (Quick trivia: Cesar Dumlao used to be a basketball superstar back in the day. He was actually recorded to have had 162 points in one game. I don't know much about playing ball but I think that's pretty extraordinary!) For someone who watches games at Dumlao, one major complain that I have with it is the humidity and temperature inside the gym. It has poor ventilation and can really make you feel exhausted especially between 11am - 2pm, which is usually the time they have their games. Dumlao has shower rooms available for men and women, which my boyfriend says is pretty decent. I've only ever been to the normal bathrooms. They are clean but also a bit old. They also have a small sari-sari store where you can buy drinks and munchies while watching the games. Dumlao Gym is open 24/7 so all you hard core basketball fanatics can go here to play. Price of court rental at Dumlao is 900/hour. The courts can also be used for volleyball games and badminton competitions!

Dumlao Gym is one of the most commonly used basketball courts in Manila because of its central…read morelocation. Barring bad traffic, all it takes is a short drive to get here. Having said that, I'm not exactly a fan of playing at Dumlao. First off, parking is extremely limited. There are two basketball courts so you can only imagine how crazy it is when all the players bring cars. If you arrive and there are no slots available, you're out of luck and you will have to look somewhere else. The façade of the building looks decrepit as well. It's an old building and you immediately see it both inside and out. What Dumlao has going on for them is that they're open 24 hours, 7 days a week. This is good especially for call center employees who are night owls and might not have another place to play at.

Back when I wasn't all that busy, I used to join a friend's weekly basketball group at Treston…read moreCollege. It is located in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Despite being absolutely horrible, I kept on anyway for a good sweat. You can actually see the Treston building when passing by the "Fort" area of C-5 Avenue, but to get there, you will have to enter the BGC proper. If you're familiar with that part of the BGC area, Treston is near the building of Victory Christian Fellowship. The basketball court of is one of my favorite courts to play on, and is up there with Ronac Art Center's. The court area has some of the basics: a dressing area, restrooms and standard height hoops, fiberglass backboards. As for the actual surface, the wood is of good quality and is not slippery at all. It makes sense that this was Gilas Pilipinas' (the Philippine National basketball team) practice venue during the FIBA-Asia Championships that Manila hosted in 2013.

One of my favorite basketball courts to play is in The Playground at Ronac Art Center. It is a…read morereally good looking and well-designed court. It wasn't haphazardly made. Attention to detail and impeccable design were important factors in the creation of this facility. The wooden floors are always maintained. There are no misplaced floorboards lying in wait to injure you. Renting the court out will give you access to a very nice locker room as well where you can keep your things safe. The biggest testament on how good the court is the mere fact that professional teams from the PBA hold their practices here. If you're a basketball fanatic, you can actually stalk them here though it's a move I don't suggest making. The best thing in playing at The Playground however is that you can immediately eat at Charlie's right after. Hey, I already exercised. It's time to reward myself with a big, fat, juicy burger.

It is no secret that the Philippines is a basketball crazy country. The Nation just lives and…read morebreathes the popular tagline of Nike: "Basketball Never Stops." You'll see a hoop pretty much everywhere you go, whether its beside a rice field or by some random urban alley. For those who want to experience higher quality facilities in the Metro Manila area, there's the Playground at the Ronac Art Center. The facility boasts a well-maintained wooden court, a hoop with a fiberglass board on each end, and air-conditioned locker rooms. For the horrible basketball player and out of shape person that I am who wouldn't even cut it in the most remote barangay's neighborhood league, it's the closest thing I'll ever get to experience a professional setup. Speaking of the pros, local PBA team Purefoods sets up shop at the Playground for their practices. The court can also be converted into an events place. I find myself usually here during the month of December for Titan's annual Jordan holiday release events.

Just when you thought you've heard and seen what Manila has to offer, in comes a hobby that's…read morestarting to gain some traction. Though parkour isn't a new hobby in Manila, a few groups here and there have been training parkour enthusiasts for a while. One of these groups is called Parkour Intramuros. Their aim is to promote parkour in Intramuros and make you appreciate how thrilling the sport can be. The usual meet up for a training session is across Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros. The time is rather tricky as they are announced sometimes on the day itself. Doesn't it sound like a secret group or what? It doesn't matter if you don't have a gymnastics background or you slept your way through gym class, these guys will put you into shape and have you jump from one wall to another. Okay, so that's too much for a beginner. But if you go to training sessions or "jams" as what they'd call it, you'd be able to live out that scene in 22 Jump Street where Channing Tatum does parkour at the Zeta frat house and at MC State. You could also live out your action star dreams minus the explosions when you start doing vaults and jumps properly. I'd say 10/10 will always go to trainings or jams whenever I could. Manila may be unreachable (due to traffic) at the usual time when they meet up, but it's always worth a shot.

I've been to many badminton courts in the Metro, but The Zone remains to be my favorite. For one,…read moreit is conveniently located if one lives and works within Makati CBD. After work, I just walk to the court. I don't need to bring my car, even if there are ample street parking slots in front of the building. The Zone has a total of fifteen standard badminton courts. Six of which have wood flooring, while nine are equipped with Taraflex material. There's also a basketball court complete with digital scoring system. The shower and comfort rooms are air-conditioned and personal lockers are also available. A food stall in the receiving area makes sure that players don't have to worry about drinks and food. If you forget to bring accessories, there's even a small store that offers sports socks, apparel, and other badminton stuff. Recently, The Zone improved its security by placing surveillance cameras in strategic places inside and outside the building. With this, fees and court rentals have slightly increased. At present, the entrance fee is PHP 75.00 per person. During peak hours, weekends, and holidays, you can rent a Taraflex court for PHP 300.00 per hour, while a wood court can be used for PHP 250.00 an hour. A play-all-you-can promo is available during weekdays from 6:00am to 5:00pm for just PHP 150.00 per person. The basketball court rate is PHP 1,500.00 per hour during off-peak time and PHP 2,000.00 for peak hours.

The Zone Badminton Court has one of the best locker rooms among all the badminton courts that I've…read morebeen to within its price range. Nicely laid badminton court mat. However, some courts are damaged and they just patched the damages instead of replacing them. White stuff coming from the ceiling also fall down which I assume are bird feathers. They did not even bother to fix the damaged lights. Most of the staff are either lazy or rude. I have only come across two staff members who are nice so far (mostly women). Half of the time that we go there, they do not automatically turn on the exhaust on each court. We either have to turn it on ourselves or go back to the counter to ask them to turn it on, which, of course, consumes the time that we paid. Rudest of all is the guy receptionist who I think is on his late 20s or 30s. He once switched the light off of our court when we just started playing. When approached, not even one apology was heard from that guy or from any of the staff present. This guy also tends to answer sarcastically. They also have a very inconsistent rescheduling policy. Or so said this guy. We have asked to reschedule more than once before this incident because of an unexpected conflict on our schedule. We thought that that would be better instead of cancelling. All of the receptionists that we talked to have always been happy to accommodate this. However, on one eventful day, same receptionist guy said that they don't allow rescheduling even if it is on the same time period that we have scheduled and that it should be done at least 2 days before our supposed schedule. That is the first time that we have heard of that policy although guy insists that that is always how things go. Weird how that is not how it always was for us and only happened when he was the one we're talking to. When asked about this rescheduling fiasco and the unwarranted-turning-off-of-the-court-lights-incident, this receptionist guy even taunted that we should go there so we can discuss it in person. AGAIN, NO APOLOGY WAS HEARD. They suck at complaint resolution. Lastly, expect that when your schedule is near their closing time, they will turn off your court light without any warning 1-2 minutes before the supposed end of your playing time.

Me and my friends were looking for something to do that is a little unusual and Google introduced…read moreme to Power Smash's Facebook page. The gym itself was a little hard to find but once we were there, we had an amazing time. We actually showed up with no reservation so we were lucky it was a Monday because that's the day of the week you can just join other people and play a doubles game. Unfortunately, we lost the game but at least we had the excuse of not having played in years! The staff was very nice and they sell some drinks and crisps as well as a little treat after the game! Looking forward to going again! Anyone?

Huge 12 badminton court complex. Floor renovated mid 2016. Not a perfect reno but it will do. When…read moreit rains hard for 30 mins, there are drips from the ceiling. Locker rooms are small and smells. You'll have a slim chance of playing between 6pm to 8pm. It's full and difficult to get reservation. Good luck on that. But the good news is, no one is playing anytime of the day except the above mentioned time. Now get your ass up and play!