Two years ago, I arrived in Manila at the start of (what was then to be) a year-long trek around Asia. It was my first time traveling alone and though excited for the journey, my unemployment at the time had saddled me with crippling anxiety.
Fast forward to 2017 where I found myself returning to the capital city of the Philippines under vastly different circumstances. Now traveling for business, I traded in the shoestring budget, shared dorms, and harrowing jeepneys for a per diem, the Shangri-La, and Ubers. I went from $2 sisig on the street to the tasting menu at Manila’s famed restaurant, Gallery Vask.
The stark juxtaposition between my visits to Manila was a sobering reminder to be grateful for the opportunities that living in Hong Kong has afforded me. It’s been far from easy but I’ve had experiences I couldn’t dream of while wistfully job hunting from the shared kitchen of the Our Melting Pot hostel two years ago. And for that, I am incredibly thankful.
That all said, much like my last trip to Manila, this visit provided me with another interesting exposé on Filipino culture. Only this time around, my observations were gleaned directly from the wisdom of Mr. JP Ong, markets specialist for Bloomberg TV Philippines, with whom I partied on Friday night. Thus, I present the sequel to Manila Musings, inspired directly by quotes from JP throughout the evening.
“Filipinos have the biggest sweet tooth in Asia”
And they’re not shy about it either. Filipino people absolutely love their sugar. Asian countries are known for their street food but nowhere else have I seen such a diverse selection of sweets available on the sidewalk.
The streets of Manila can offer decadent delights ranging from fried turon to spongy bibingka to refreshing buko pandan to my personal favorite, the silky, smooth taho which often draws a crowd around the peddlers spooning it out from the two aluminum buckets they delicately balance on a beam across their shoulders.
Even the dessert sections on restaurant menus across Manila are extensive. But on the other end of the spectrum, Filipino palates aren’t too fond of spicy foods. Only regional cuisine from the southern Bicol region manages to dabble in any sort of spice and even then, it falls well behind that of it’s southeast Asian counterparts. That said, Filipino cuisine as a whole is not without its appeal however…
“Filipino food suffers from poor marketing”
Filipino food doesn’t carry the same universal appeal as say, Chinese or Thai, due largely in part to an unfavorable marketing approach. For one, Filipinos have a bad habit of using the more peculiar delicacies to introduce others to their cuisine. The likes of isaw (aka intestines) or the infamous balut are often called upon to be the lead off hitters versus more innocuous dishes like sisig or adobo. As a result, many people are turned off to Filipino food from the start.
This is further exacerbated by the Filipinos’ staunch dedication to the their family recipes. They remind me a lot of Italians in that they’re both resolutely against any deviation from “how grandma used to make it,” though the latter shrewdly positioned foods like pizza and pasta at the forefront of their gastronomical line up. Unfortunately, Filipinos haven’t done the same nor have they really embraced the innovation that fostered fusion fads and broadened the appeal of Asian cuisines such as Japanese or Korean.
“The national sport of the Philippines is pimping others”
Remember in the Fast And Furious movies whenever the characters came upon a garage of nice cars and their eyes got wide while a big smile crept onto their faces? That’s how Filipino people react when they find out two of their friends are single and living within the same city. They absolutely love to play cupid. Who needs Tinder when a simple announcement at the dinner table can easily lead to a slew of blind dates?
“There are 16 cities, each run by a different mayor with different visions for managing traffic and urban planning”
The traffic in Manila is like the psychotic ex that never leaves you alone. No matter where you go, no matter what time of day, no matter what day of the week - traffic will be there. It’ll follow you home, it’ll watch you sleep, it’ll haunt your dreams, and it’ll be breathing heavily by your side when you wake up. To give you a sense of the madness, my hotel quoted me a 30 minute taxi ride for a three quarter mile trip at 10 AM in the morning. But with sixteen different opinions on how to approach the issue, it’s no surprise the Philippine’s capital is plagued by an infinite gridlock.
“Nobody wants to be more like the U.S. than the Philippines”
Out of all the countries in Asia, none have embraced Western culture as openly and as willingly as the Philippines. Allow me to run down my Saturday for you. I switched on the TV in the morning and caught an episode of King Of Queens. The taxi to lunch was playing Drake’s Forever (more on this in a bit). The restaurant aired the Sacramento Kings game and my waiter was wearing a New York Yankees cap. And on the way home, I drove by not one, not two, but three different Shakey’s. Remember Shakey’s? Of course you don’t, but it still remains one of the leading restaurant chains in Manila along with (unexpectedly) Buffalo Wild Wings.
The images below speak for themselves. All captured within less than a mile of each other in Manila’s Bonifacio Global City, one could easily mistake them for a strip mall in the United States.
Nowhere does Western influence manifests itself more prominently than in the music though. However, what’s playing can vary dramatically…
“Old music doesn’t die, it retires in Manila”
Per JP, the best way to spot a Filipino in a room is to play a track from the 80s and see who starts struggling to hold back the urge to sing along first. But it doesn’t stop there. A typical night out in Manila will likely feature an eclectic soundtrack mined from the depths of over 30 years of Now That’s What I Call Music! discography. The local taste in music is immune to the natural passing of trends with venues all over town blaring hits from Thriller to Livin’ La Vida Loca to 99 Problems. And to answer the million dollar question: yes, a 30-year old man can still get down to M2M’s Mirror Mirror.
So there you have it. One more trip to Manila in the books and my feelings towards it haven’t changed. It’s loud, chaotic, and crazy but an intriguing and enjoyable place to visit. The locals are still some of the friendliest in Asia and their quirky eccentricities only bolster their unique charm.
