Walking through Manila, Phillipines

One thing I find the most interesting visiting these cities, and Manila was no exception, is just walking through them and seeing how other people live. I walked a long way in Manila and saw quite a bit of it. I even saw a man paddle boarding down a polluted river.

Many of the streets were interesting, its a very populated place and there were lots of poor and homeless people which was sad to see. However, it felt relatively safe and I didn't get any hassle like a lot of places. 

Anyway, its been a really enjoyable city break. Back to work on Monday for a 10 week semester. The next holiday will be at the end of November. I'll be getting stuck into my masters and not doing much else.

Main tourists sights, Manila, Philippines

Today I went walking again to visit the main tourist sites in Manila. They are all situated in an area called Intramuros which is a walled area with a bit of history to it.

The first stop was a park called Rizal Park below the walled area.... It was okay. It was a park. I guess the highlight was a really big flat at the far end.

The next stop was the walled area called Intramuro. You couldn't miss it because there was a huge sign above the bridge.

The area was very nice and old fashioned. It was made during the time of the Spanish colonial period. More details can be found on this wikipedia link.

The first stop was the San Agustin Church which was pretty nice. 

After this was a big cathedral which wasn't very impressive. It was pretty restrictive as to what you could see inside so I didn't stay long.  

At the end before you reach the sea was an old Spanish fort with some prisons. This was quite interesting.

This lead me right to the end of the harbour where I could look out to sea. 

It was a really nice chilled day and nice to see a bit of Philippines history. Its only been a short break so I have one day to relax tomorrow before heading back to Saigon.

SM Mall Riverside, Manila, Philippines

Walked to one of the biggest malls in Asia today. It was called the SM Mall Riverside. It was pretty huge.

It was by the coast which had a nice walk along it. 

Tomorrow I'll be visiting the old city area which has all over the (very few) sites enclosed in it.

Around Makati, Philippines

Arrived in the Philippines and have been exploring the local area near my hotel. This is the main financial area where all the locals stay. There are some nice parks and big buildings.

There isn't really much for tourists here but I really like seeing cities like this. Over the next few days I'm going to be visiting the few sites that there are and doing so on foot. I'll be doing a fair bit of walking.

Manila, Philippines

My work schedule had changed and have some unexpected time off so I've booked a city break to Manila in the Philippines. Its only a 2-3 hour flight away and a country I've not visited before. I'm staying in the centre and just going to visit the sites and explore the city.