Manila is mammoth – a
vast, sprawling metropolis
that appears to never end.
With its beautiful Spanish
buildings, resourceful
people and truly astonishing
food, the city deserves its
reputation as the ‘Pearl of
the Orient’. Underneath its
glossy modern shell there is a
treasure trove of life, colour
and tradition.
A Bit Squeezy
The Metro Manila area is a
massive urban sprawl radiating
out of central Manila. This is
a true megacity, home to 22
million and counting. The old
core of central Manila has
nearly 43,000 people living
inside each square kilometre
(0.39 sq mi), making it easily
the most crowded place on
the planet. There’s no point
moving to the suburbs for a bit
of room, either. The next two
most crowded cities, Pateros
and Caloocan, are also in the
Manila Metro Area!
Bullfighting in the Tropics
Many of the buildings in Intramuros, the oldest part of Manila, are
decorated with statues of Spanish kings and queens. The Spanish
made Manila the capital of their Philippine colony for over 300
years – even the word ‘Philippine’ comes from the Spanish
monarch, Philip II. Manila Cathedral is the most famous building
in the Intramuros. It was first built in 1581, but the effects of
war and earthquakes have meant that it has had to be
rebuilt seven times since. The square outside
the cathedral was once used as
a bull-fighting ring.
Far-out Foods
Newcomers need to be brave when they order from a typical
Manila menu. Those who have grown up eating balut
(a
boiled duck egg with the unborn duckling cooked inside),
betamax
(cubes of solidified chicken blood, grilled over
coals) or sisig
(chopped pig’s face and ears, mixed with
chicken livers) know how scrumptious these things can be.
Everyone else might need some time to adjust!
Whatever you Want,
we've GOT It...
If you can’t buy it in this city, you probably
won’t be able to buy it anywhere! Anything and
everything is for sale – chicken heads, fake mobile
phones, branded T-shirts and exotic fruit by the
barrow-load. Divisoria Market in Chinatown is a
huge, noisy, overwhelming maze of stalls. Nobody
could visit them all, even if they shopped from
breakfast to bedtime.
The Amazing
People of Payatas
Manila is the capital of a country still
trying to fight its way out of poverty.
Nowhere is this fight more desperate
than in the neighbourhood of
Payatas. The community has become
known for the Payatas Dumpsite, a
massive open-air rubbish tip that’s
home to more than 80,000 residents.
The millions of tons of garbage piled
up on the site makes for a dangerous
environment – fires often break out
and in 1998 a landslide killed more
than 200 people. Despite this, the
dumpsite offers some refuge for
people who have few other ways
to keep themselves alive. The
scavenger-citizens of Payatas are
resourceful and highly organised, and
even have their own football team.
Underground Manila
Underneath Bonafacio Global City, a modern part of Manila that
bristles with skyscrapers and businessmen, lies a huge network of
tunnels. The 32 chambers were cut into the rock by Americans in
1910, and once ran under the military complex, Fort McKinley. The
tunnels were later taken over by the Japanese when they captured
Manila in 1942. They were returned, along with the fort, to the
Filipino people when they gained their independence in 1946.
The underground passageways are off-limits to the public, but the
entrances are still hidden behind unmarked grates and doors all
across this busy part of town.