Travel Day 856 – Makati, Manila, PHILIPPINES
Makati is really just a small area within the city of Manila, but it seems to be a whole world apart and completely removed from capital city itself…
Local Houses in Manila, Philippines
It was almost a bit strange, but when I visited the Philippines 2 ½ years ago, I didn’t realize the divisions and contrasts as much as I did today. Last time around I was staying in a local area up north in Manila and only occasionally visited Makati for a short time, but now that I was staying directly in Makati and going about with my friends here, I was seeing much more of the separation between those two areas…
Yesterday for example we he had lunch at a shopping mall called Greenbelt. While this mall, consisting actually of 5 separate malls, was actually one of the nicest malls I have ever seen, it still seemed a bit out of context. The outdoor spaces, the palm gardens, the nice restaurants and the fancy shops were all great to look at, but nothing actually suggested that you were in the Philippines and in the middle of an otherwise pretty poor city. Also the 25 dollar price tag for the food seemed in stark contrast to the local food around which could be as cheap as 1 dollar for a meal…
Shiny glass World of Makati, Philippines
When I went for a long walk in the afternoon, I came to see the other end of the medal again. I just made my way on foot into Manila city and got lost in some of the many little side streets. While everything looked a little dodgy when coming from the shiny glass neighborhood, it actually appeared to be super safe and all the people on the streets were extremely friendly and happy to see me walking around…
It was great to see little kids running up to me and saying hello, while older people usually greeted me with a shy smile or a little wave with the hand. For me personally it was a simply amazing walk and it gave me not only the chance to interact with some locals, but also to see in what kind of different conditions they live and what kind of different live they lead…
Posh Resorts World Club in Makati, Philippines
My day of contrasts continued as in the evening my friends took me to a posh casino complex called Resorts World, which claims to be the Philippines’ first and most exciting integrated tourist destination. While I thought again that this big fancy casino complex had nothing to do with the Philippines and could have been anywhere else in world, it was still great to see it as it is in fact part of Manila’s face as well…
By the time we ended the day in the casino club which came with a 75 dollar cover charge (luckily we managed to get in for free), I couldn’t help but think again about how great the contrasts were within the city. It really seemed to me that Makati and Manila, even if part of the same city, were an entire world apart from each other…
Thank you for all the positive comments about Makati and Manila.Resort World is a part of Pasay City.When you come back I would invite you to visit my home province of Camarines Sur.It was one of the tourists destination in the country.Hope to see you again…www.camarinessur.gov.ph.
Thank you for the invitation Vicky. Camarines Sur sounds loveley and there are a lot of other places that I would like to visit as well. I guess I will have to come to the Philippines again soon… : )