Banks and Money

Changers are available in the airport but it's better to change money outside where competition abound. Money changers are everywhere and most homecoming Filipinos prefer to change them here than in banks or, Western Union or M. Lhuillier. There is no commission. The farther it is from the Tourist Belt Area, and the nearer it is around a town or city public market, the better the exchange rate is. Safety is not a problem especially if you change them during busy hours (safety in numbers). Be sure to count everything and put them safe in your person before you leave the premises.

Money can be withdrawn from ATM and they are also everywhere. The Philippines are one of the countries with the most available ATM machines per capita.

Credit Cards are accepted almost everywhere especially at all upmarket shops.

A part of the Philippine's bustling capital is a remarkable melting pot of Asian, Oceanic, and Latin cultures, which are thick with history and flavor in tune with most traveler's interests. The best way to get a feel for Manila shopping is to go to a ‘tiangge’, a market of stalls where everything can be bargained. Market! Market!, St. Francis Square, Greenhills Shopping Center and Tiendesitas in Pasig City are examples of such. There are shopping centers catering to handicrafts, antiques, and curio souvenirs. Aside from Ilalim ng Tulay in Quiapo are the shops in the districts of Ermita and Malate around M. Adriatico, A.Mabini, and M.H. del Pilar.

Shopping is one of the things tourists love about the Philippines. One of Asia’s largest bargains are found in the Philippines, with items cheaper compared to those in neighboring Asian countries. Not only are the products cheap, they are also of good quality.

Three of the biggest shopping malls in the world, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM City North EDSA are all located in Manila, Philippines. Other well-known shopping malls are Robinsons, Greenhills in San Juan, Greenbelt, Glorietta, Power Plant Mall in the city of Makati, TriNoMa and Gateway Mall in Quezon City, and The Podium in the Ortigas Business District.

If you are interested in a Western-type mall, you cannot pass SM Mall of Asia, currently the 4th largest mall in the world. Warning to shopaholics and their spouses: You could spend a day there and still not see every shop or have to time to ice skate. That's right, there is an ice rink as well.

Public markets are one microcosm of Manila. Practically, Manilans from all walks of life come here to buy their everyday needs. They are as lively and colorful as any market in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, or Vietnam. Generally, they are divided into wet and dry sections and another section for dining. Dining is very cheap and can be wholesomely hygenic. Just look out for the huge block of ice dragged along the floor on its way from the delivery truck to a stall. If you see one delivered in that manner, never mind, don't eat there, ever. Joking aside, a filling meal will cost you as little as US$1.25.

Ukay UkayIf you happen to see just about every Tom, Dick, and Harry in a blighted neighborhood in Manila wearing Abercrombie & Fitch get-up & Levis jeans, chances are it's original and bought at Ukay Ukays. How can they afford it? Ukay Ukay is the answer. It's the Philippines' answer to Salvation Army. Nowadays, they are everywhere and Manilans love them. It's actually a contraction of the Tagalog word " Hukay" meaning to dig, the description for the exact action done while rummaging through the bins of clothes. But there are actually no bins installed in those stores, only clothes neatly hanged on the racks. For less than $2, one can find hand me down good qualities of branded wear. The more enterprising provide home delivery and roaming services by hanging them on racks installed on pedicabs, as they make the run on neighborhoods. Judging by the unafforable cost of living to most of the middle class and the soaring gasoline prices, they may be here to stay.

It's also great for the budget tourist who would not want to have the hassle of packing and carrying tons of clothes by simply buying them here, then discarding them somewhere as his piles of souvenirs accumulate.

Make sure you buy the traditional barong Tagalog. These are long shirts made of very light-weight, semi translucent material, often with Filipino arts and decorations and are worn by both men and women on most special Filipino and formal occasions. Cotton varieties are much more affordable, but for the real deal, go for one made by the strands of a pineapple leaf. It is worn outside trousers, i.e. not " tucked in".

If you really want to look the " bee's knees" travel to the Visayan island of Negros and buy some barongs hand woven from Abacá fibre (used to be called Manila Hemp made from the trunk of Musa textilis, a species of banana native to the Philippines) with geometric design details from the mountains to the west ofBais City.

Manila is a huge city, so individual places to eat are not listed here but rather in the individual articles on the various Manila district.

Manila is a national hub of regional cooking and has almost all the regions of the Philippines represented either in exclusively regional eateries or featured with other cuisines. General restaurants, either catering for the working class or the elite, can offer varied dishes coming from every region and cater for almost everyone's taste palette. For example, the northern region called Ilocos has its favorite fare called Pinakbet approved by practically everyone but still closely identified as Ilocano fare.

Northern Luzon Island Region or Ilocos (Ilocano) Ilocanos are known as industrious and thrifty people who living in the limited cultivable strip of land bounded between the sea and the Cordillera mountain range.

Central Luzon Island Region (Kapampangan) Pampaguenos lead in the art of combining the best of Spanish and Chinese legacies.

TASKS

I. Practice the pronunciation of the following proper names:

Manila, the Philippines, Pateros, Navotas, Caloocan, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasay, Pinatubo, the Kingdom of Medang, Brunei's Sultan Bolkiahand, Bahay Tsinoy, Quiapo, Sampaloc, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa, Tondo, Rizal Park, the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Planetarium, the Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion, the Quirino Grandstand and the Manila Ocean Park, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam.

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What city is the capital city of the Philippines?

2. Where is the City of Manila located?

3. What city is sitting in the throes of two notoriously dangerous volcanoes?

4. What lake is Manila fringed to the south by?

5. How do they often describe Manila?

6. Is Manila more modern and western or ancient and eastern judging from the steel and glass skyscrapers dotting the skyline?

7. What is the earliest written account of the city?

8. What does the 10th-century Laguna Copperplate Inscription describe?

9. When was the city invaded by Brunei's Sultan Bolkiahand and Islamized?

10. When did the Spanish explorers first arrive?

11. When was Manila colonized by the Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legazpi?

12. What made Manila more attractive than Cebu, which had been the capital?

13. Why was the city eventually given the moniker of the " Pearl of the Orient"?

14. When did Manila eventually become the center of Spanish activity in the Far East?

15. What do you know about Chinese insurrections, local revolts, British Occupation and a Sepoy mutiny?

16. Since when has Manila been called the Paris of Asia?

17. What were Intramuros and the surrounding districts busy with?

18. What did the month-long Battle for Manila between the Japanese and the Americans result in?

19. How many legislative and geographical districts is the city divided into?

20. What notable landmarks are located in Manila?

III. Complete the following sentences:

1. Manila is one of the sixteen cities (along with the municipality of Pateros) that comprise …….

2. Manila sits on an archipelago just at the edge of the Asian continent …….

3. Ever so physically endowed, it is sitting in the throes of two notoriously dangerous volcanoes …….

4. Manila lies in the path of the tropical monsoon bringing those more and more powerful typhoons ……..

5. A foreigner will be surprised that …….

6. For over three centuries Manila had been colonized and administered by …….

7. Manila began as a settlement on the banks of the Pasig River, and its name originated from …….

8. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, Manila ……..

9. King Philip II of Spain conferred on the city the illustrious title …….

10. Manila eventually became one end of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade route linking …….

11. Manila also saw the rise of the Philippine Revolution which was followed by …….

12. Manila was a thriving trading centre, its multicultural mix providing …….

13. In 1905, Daniel Burnham, the master planner of Chicago, was hired …….

14. Present-day Metro Manila is a conglomeration of 17 cities and municipalities unified by …….

15. Manila can be a very discombobulated place, for it is …….

16. The walled Intramuros area was the traditional centre of Manila, but …….

17. At the centre of modern Manila is Makati …….

18. As the cultural center of the Philippines, Manila houses …….

19. Some geologists theorize that Corregidor was once part of a huge volcano that …….

20. Getting out of Manila by bus is harder than you might expect, as there is no …….

IV. Explain the meaning of the following word combinations and make up sentences of your own:

Tadpole-shaped rock island, major bastion, weird osmosis, inter-island boat trips, budget junkies, most used gateway, airport metered taxis, security guards, upmarket shops, shopping mall, budget tourists, tropical monsoon, steel and glass skyscrapers, mangrove plant, historically significant venues, generic-mall syndrome, diorama display.