Arriving If you haven’t prearranged for a car to whisk you to your destination from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, join the queue for an official taxi, which will take you downtown in around 30 minutes (assuming good traffic, and that’s quite a big assumption). Look for the yellow taxis to the left as you exit: more expensive than those you flag down on the  [ Read More ]

  It’s almost a cliche to take home a T-shirt as a souvenir, but not if it’s designed by Team Manila. Their fun, eye-opening, often cheeky visual representations of the Philippine capital’s street culture allow you to wear a piece of the city on your sleeve (or rather torso). Recently released tees include a shirt depicting skewered meats with the slogan IT’S BETTER ON A STICK, a POST NO BILL  [ Read More ]

One of the abiding images of Manila is that of a loyalist armored car crashing through the lobby of the Peninsula Manila, in the suppression of an attempted 2007 coup during which rebel soldiers had occupied the building. Shots were fired and tear gas discharged, but fortunately there were no fatalities. Every society hotel worth the name needs a dash of spice in its history, and the Peninsula is most  [ Read More ]