I wanted to visit the oldest Chinatown in the world so we made a stop here on our trip. I figured…read moresince we were on vacation we needed to visit something historical. We took a rideshare from our hotel. We crossed the Jones Bridge then drove under the Binondo Chinatown Arch. We got dropped off on Ongpin Street and walked to the Binondo Church then stopped by Eng Bee Tin for Hopia. It was crowded but a fun experience. I'm glad we got to check out the neighborhood.

The World's oldest Chinatown! (MANILA Philippines)…read more We booked a van to drop us off at Lucky Chinatown Mall and came here on New Year's Day. From there we rode a tuk-tuk cart (a 3-wheeled gas passenger novelty taxi tricycle). That thing fit 8 of us inside plus the driver and his toddler so ten total). It dropped us off at Ongpin Street. I would've thought that the place would be empty because of the holiday but surprisingly many businesses and vendors were open. We came back a couple of days after and the streets had a more vibrant and bustling atmosphere. Ongpin Street in Manila is lined with restaurants and many shops including jewelry stores. There were many shops to pop into. You can find the Ongpin Northbridge Arch, and the Chinatown Welcome Arch and the Arch of Good Will at the end of Ongpin Street (cross-street Ronquillo Street). It ends on Juan Luna Street. Review #3287

The Plaza San Luis Complex is a charming commercial subsection of Intramuros right next to San…read moreAgustin Church. Made up of five reconstructed Spanish colonial era buildings, it reminds me of the shopping area around Mexico City's Zocalo, although on a much smaller scale. We walked around Plaza San Luis a couple of times during my trip to Manila, both to absorb the ambiance and to get lunch at Barbara's and shop for souvenirs. I didn't love the restaurant, but the plaza was lovely. There was a stone courtyard with an old fountain that was particularly attractive. If you're visiting Intramuros, make sure you drop by the Plaza San Luis Complex. I don't know about all the individual businesses, but the area is quite pretty.

I am embarrassed to admit that it took me almost 26 years as a Filipino to actually set food in…read morethis beautiful, historic place. I was lucky that someone was nice enough to take me here, as I am pretty sure I wouldn't have come across this place on my own. Plaza San Luis is a great representation of Spanish colonial architecture that luckily has survived and has been revived into a well-maintained establishment that houses smaller stores, a restaurant, and a museum. Those establishments do deserve reviews on their own, so I would really, really love to talk about how beautiful this courtyard is. It's amazing how this place has retained so much of its old-world feel, with all the plants, the fountain, the stone walls and floors--it's all in the details. It's no wonder that this place is now being offered as an events place that can be rented for special occasions. You can actually do a bit of exploring. You must go up the staircase and see the majestic view of the whole courtyard from the top. It's really beautiful. I really do hope that this place remains well-maintained and taken cared of. It's a gem of a destination that our history and culture cannot afford to lose.

The Sidcor Market I grew up with can be found in EDSA corner Main Avenue--the current location of…read moreHypermarket Cubao. As far as I can recall, it was 8 years ago when it was launched again in Centris. I often visit every Sunday morning for my favorite Empanada, Pad Thai, and Buco Sherbet. This is home to a variety of food selection from regional cuisines to international flavors. Sidcor is also a great source of fresh produce, organic vegetables, and fruits. The price is at par with local neighborhood palengke and definetely cheaper than supermarket. Sidcor is open from 6:00am to 1:00pm but fresh market's stocks runs out easily. Be sure to arrive earlier. There are a lot of parking spaces available at Sidcor as well. Commuters can take the Quezon Avenue MRT station. It's a walk away from the train stop.

Spent a Sunday morning here is fun. Here you have 2 prices,…read morelocal and expat. Unlike in salcedo sat market, here you can find avocado for 150/kg, while it's 250-300php in salcedo! You can also find quite good collection of plants to decorate your home. Super hot though!!! But will come back!

Must visit if you're in the area on a Saturday morning. This market is held every Saturday morning…read moreat Jaime Velasquez Park in Makati. The market offers a wide variety ranging from Fresh produce, fruits , local Filipino snacks, seafood & a ton of food vendors. I loved the pumelo & went back to buy more. It gets busy so get there early. There's so much to choose from and wanted to try a little if everything. It's a great spot for a snack or lunch. Many vendors offer free samples. There are tables to sit but you can find a seat in the park to enjoy your food. I had a great time here. They also sell beautiful fresh flowers.

Just being here with all the plethora of food choices. In a setting right out of a movie, what more…read morecan you ask for. Considering you're in Makati a bougie neighborhood pricing is actually reasonable. They have everything, so I'm just going to tell you what we have. Puto bong bong made infront of you and Illocos empanadas fried fresh are the standouts. Just come here and take in life.

Who hasn't heard about Maginhawa? Seriously?…read more PROS: It has the perfect balance of the residential- and commercial-area feel that a middle-class millennial like me is looking for while gearing up and growing up into an adult; If you haven't heard, Maginhawa houses lots of restaurants that are NOT franchises or chain ones, but small- and medium-enterprises by young professionals. It's a "for the yuppies, by the yuppies" kind of place that has all kinds of eateries, in every form of quirk and theme. There's a food fest by October too. Aw yeah; It's perfectly accessible to and from a lot of places. CONS: It's not as urban as Makita with its high rise condos and corporate offices a few steps away, nor is it some gated subdivision with tight security. As the tarpaulins state, "Mag-ingat sa basag kotse." TL;DR: Maginhawa is home. I've always been thinking that if I could relocate anywhere in Metro Manila, I'd still be perfectly happy here in Teachers Village.

Living very near the Tomas Morato strip has been amazing. This foodie haven means a wide array of…read morefood choices to satisfy every craving. So when I found out that the company that I will be working for is located along Maginhawa, I was extremely excited. I have never really tried roaming around the strip so this was my chance to do so. My office mates and I vowed to try at least one new restaurant a week, but failed to do so. Not only did we keep going back to our favourites, eating out too often was hard on the wallet. Thankfully, most of the restaurants offer student-budget prices. My favourites would have to be Katsu Café, Gerry's Jeepney, Pino, Rodic's , Jeck's Ku-Bo, and Crepeman. I have yet to try so many restaurants on my list, and the list just keeps on getting longer because it seems like there is a new restaurant opening every week.

10A Alabama is really difficult to find, at least at the time before I knew of Waze. It's a nice…read morequaint little home that frequently becomes a venue for art fairs. I'm a pretty artsy person, or rather, I love to appreciate artists by purchasing their work. The first time I went to the Art Fair that took place here, I got myself comic books, stickers, and a few postcards. Yup, I'm willing to splurge on things like that! I'm looking forward to future 10a Alabama events. You should too!

This unassuming little building, located in a bewildering maze of streets, has housed countless art…read morefairs. Trust me when I say it's a haven for artists and art lovers alike. There's a ton of cool, unique things like posters, notebooks, prints, and even handmade bracelets you can take home to add life to your room or give to a loved one who's sure to appreciate such a pretty and thoughtful gift. And for the creative types, you can stock up on your fancy brush tools here as well. Due to the distance, I've only been here once, but it was worth the trip and my friends and I agreed we should go back for another event!

I am one who evelieves that art is everywhere and can be anything. For graffiti artists, the city…read moreis their canvas. This particular wall strikes me, not only because it's right by an intersection, but because the two biggest pieces contrast with each other so much. The first one is a cartoon, with eye-catchig colors of predominantly green and pink, it gives off a silly feeling of happiness and fun. I guess I'm attracted to it because that's pretty much who I am. The second one is a topless woman, mostly in shades of gray and black, with colored patterns radiating from her. She has a strong facial expression and her arms have what looks like tattoos. To me, she is a woman brave enough the be herself and bare herself to the world. Pretty much who I want to be. Each one is beautiful in its own and I just had to stop and take a photo of each. Because art is love and is meant to be shared, here I am sharing it with you.

As if I needed another reason to love BGC, the brilliant guys behind One Festival has given the…read moreblank walls of The Fort a new life with really awesome murals and public art. These murals that are varying in scale and size are larger-than-life version of provocative and inspired art from many artists and muralists from the Philippines and all over the world. The titles/artists of the murals, and their locations are the following: 1. Kristin Farr - Bonifacio Technology Center 2. Corleone - C1 Building (Near Banana Republic and Muji) 3. Faile - One Global Place 4. Cyrcle- Icon Plaza 5. Nate Frizzell - Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street 6. Drew Merritt - The Globe Tower 7. Egg Fiasco - Bonifacio High Street 8. Anjo Bolarda - Bonifacio High Street I went there with a friend who is one of the organizers and the festival coordinators, and he showed me around the works in progress. The artworks are going to be unveiled on May 30-31, during the culmination activity of the festival, but these works of art are going to stay where they are for a very long time - or until the next festival when they will be replaced with new, more awesome art. I saw some really awesome and colossal murals, and some tiny ones that are hidden from plain sight. I just love what they did to the city, and it's brilliant to see really nice public art being recognized as a legit art form here in the Philippines. These murals and artworks will make you pause awhile to ponder, and you don't even need to be in an art gallery or a highbrow museum to appreciate works like these - the muralists and the artists have made this artwork more accessible to the people.

"We're changing the face of the city." That's what One Festival founder Kayo Cosio said and I have…read moreto agree. They've accomplished such a feat! In May 2015, One Festival and Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc. (BAFI) brought 8 international artists together for a weeklong mural festival around Bonifacio Global City. It was absolutely awesome to watch them at work on these gigantic walls, riding lifts, spray-painting for hours at a time! I was happy to see that Egg Fiasco, a Filipino artist whose works I remember from Art Fair Philippines, had his own wall at Bonifacio High Street. I was able to find him working on his mural on the Thursday before the festival finished. I always thought that his stuff looked like a nightmare in the world of Lisa Frank, but not in a bad way. Egg Fiasco's stuff are colorful and bold, but also very aggressive. The BHS wall he did features the rare Philippine deer that he says is going extinct in his home island of Panay. You can find it on the back road to Seda Hotel. Nate Frizzell, or @natepaints on Instagram, did a number of "small" walls throughout the city. His works usually have kids in them, usually at street level, so kids can actually interact with these pieces. I saw a few of his works by Timezone and R.O.X. on BHS. I also walked past Faile. I heard Faile might have a problem because they painted a soda bottle that looks too similar to Coca-Cola; the Net Lima building right across the street is the Coca-Cola building so there's no way they could have missed that. It's one of the larger murals around. Cyrcle's "astronaut"/"Moon man" was a crowd favorite. I personally saw Rabi of Cyrcle (they're a duo, but his partner didn't make the trip down to the PH) spray painting that humongous wall. SPRAY PAINTING, okay? Can you imagine the real physical pain of spray painting the side of a building for an entire week? I think that's some crazy passion at work right there. I heard that this is Cyrcle's largest mural work to date from among their projects around the world, too. Good job, Art One BGC!

These aren't necessarily on the walls along Katipunan avenue, but a set of street art found in the…read morevicinity of UP Diliman's Shopping Center. So it's still technically "UP Campus Graffiti." PROS: A work by my favorite artist collective ever, Gerilya? YES, PLEASE! These people mostly hail from UP FA but you could see their work even outside campus. I saw them first on this old overpass on Philcoa. Sadly, the bridge was already demolished, along with their Andres Bonifacio street mural. My all-time favorite would be their print, Balasang Boombox. Check them out on Tumblr; The other set in front of Shopping Center has been a canvas for different graffiti pieces. It first had "You either win or you learn," which was then painted over with "You either win or you die," and then finally with "You either win in the revolution or die in submission." As of today, there is a different set of street art painted on those yero walls - colorful sea creatures and beautiful maidens. I hope I could find out who the artist/s is/are soon. CONS: Some naysayers say that graffiti is vandalism - it damages private/public property. I, however, have a different point of view. Street art is different from vandalism. When people destroy properties - like burning portions of walls or breaking glasses or painting messages of hate - then that's vandalism. Graffiti such as these, on the other hand, have aesthetics attached to them. Art evokes feelings and reactions, and if paintings on the street do, then they are art. Yes, even if they're just gang signs and names. Ever heard of Banksy? He writes his name on walls too, but it is art. Like auction-selling art. This is the type of art that is accessible and non-elitist, and I wish Manila would have more street art, especially those that are socially relevant and thought-provoking. TL;DR: I simply love how UP is home to wonderful street art.

Ang sabi ng ilan, mababang anyo ng visual arts ang Graffitti; vandalism nga ito kung ituring ng…read moreiba. Madalas tayong makakita nito sa kalsada at iba't-ibang bahagi ng syudad. Sa loob ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, makikita sa pader ng UP Shopping Center, College of Fine Arts at Philcoa Overpass ang serye ng Graffitti ng Katipunan at ni Andres Bonifacio, gawa ng grupong Gerilya. Hindi lang basta Graffitti dahil mural na rin ito kung ituring, may layunin ang mga imaheng ito na muling ipaalala sa mga Pilipino ang kasarinlang nakamit ng bayan dahil sa mga Pilipinong lumaban at namatay sa digmaan. Abangan at lang dumadaan daan sa UP para makita ang susunod na tema ng gagawing graffitti ng Gerilya. Makikita rin ang iba pa nilang gawa sa underpass ng Quezon Avenue, The Collective sa Makati at sa mga kalye tuwing may mga protesta.

One of the most celebrated and well known festivals in the Metro is San Juan's Fiesta. Being a…read morepredominantly Catholc country, festivals celebrating saints is commonplace. San Juan for instance, commemorates the birth of St. John the Baptist, who is known in the bible as the one to baptize Jesus Christ. The fiesta is celebrated on June 24th of every year. If you were to describe the San Juan Fiesta in one word, it would be 'wet'. Or would 'drenched' by a better term? Either way, since you're commemorating John the Baptist, the tradition is to baptize other people as well. This entails dousing passersby and commuters with generous amounts of water. Games involving the use of water are also common during the festival, which include but are not limited to water balloons, water guns, and even plain pails. If you do business in the area and have no plans of getting wet, avoid going here at all costs on June 24.