Manila Philippines Exposed
The most exciting city
The capital of the Philippines is Quezon City but this city is part of the metropolis Metro Manila. Thus, Manila is considered as the capital of the Philippine. There is however, a separate City of Manila beside Quezon City. The seat of government in the Philippines is in the city of Manila.
Metro Manila is a very large metropolis. The cities within metro Manila are Quezon City, City of Manila, Makati City, Pasig City, City of San Juan, Pasay City, Caloocan City, Paranaque City, and Muntinlupa City.
Manila is an exciting place. Like any capital of the world, Manila is the center of trade, politics, entertainment and culture in the entire Philippine. All government institutions have their seat in Manila. This includes the senate, congress, and the supreme court.
One problem that this poses, according to many Filipinos, is that too much of the government is centered on Manila. Thus, if you need anything like a birth certificate, a foreign visa, or some other government permits, if you cannot find them on your own town or province, you have to go to Manila to find them. However, the Philippines government is doing all that it can in order to streamline the bureaucracy by providing Internet services to Filipinos all over the seven thousand island nation.
If ever you visit the Philippine, you must include Manila in your itinerary. There, you will find the entertainment and gimmick center in the country. If you want to indulge yourself in the country's most popular restaurants, you simple have to visit Manila. The Tomas Morato road in Quezon City is a place of restaurants. Both sides of the road are entirely filled with restaurants. These restaurants cater to all sorts of cuisine you can think of.
There are also several gimmick places in Manila. A "gimmick" place, in Filipino parlance, is a place where you dine, drink and party. Among the most popular gimmick places in Manila are Eastwood in Quezon City, Greenbelt and Glorietta in Makati City, Malate in Manila, Metrowalk in Pasig City, and Alabang in Muntinlupa City. All these places have very good restaurants and bars where you can simply dine or drink your favorite liquor.
Of course, Manila is also a historical city. It was bombed in world war II but has long risen from the rubble. Historical places in Manila include Fort Santiago, Rizal Park, the National Museum, Quezon Circle, Intramuros, and Corregidor among others. If you visit these places, you will know more about Philippines art and history.
If you are the musical type of person, then you should visit Manila's music scene. There is the music museum at Greenhills, in the City of San Juan where the country's most popular music artists perform for music shows--whether they be plays or bands. Several restaurants also give live music. So if you'd like to enjoy live music while dining, you may check out "Chef and Brewer" or "Metrowalk" at the Ortigas Center in Pasig City. If you are into jazz music, you may want to visit the "Captain's Bar" at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Makati City.
How about shopping? Well, the Philippines is home to some of the top 10 largest malls all over the world. The number one chain of malls in the Philippines is the "SM Malls". The "SM" in "SM Malls" mean shoe mart, since the owner started with shoe marts. The shoe marts, however, have transformed into humongous shopping malls. Which mall should you choose? You can take your pick from SM City North Edsa, SM Megamall, Mall of Asia, Glorietta, Rockwell, Robinson's Mall, and many others. In the Philippine, malls have restaurants, entertainment centers, billiard halls, bowling lanes, movie houses, bingo floors and coffee bars. If you simply want to relax, you could go to a mall and do some window shopping. Malls in Manila are so large that you can stroll for hours inside them.
Of course, Manila is also rich in its religious heritage. The Philippines is a Catholic nation and many of the country's most important churches are found in Manila. Some of these Churches have adjacent convents, used then by monks, but have now been converted into museums. If your itinerary in Manila includes Churches, don't forget to go the San Agustin Museum beside the San Agustin Basilica at Intramuros. There you will find artifacts and religious items used several centuries ago. It would also be good to visit the historic Manila Cathedral also at Intramuros. The Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City and the Quiapo Church at Manila are popular Catholic churches since they house important religious images that have been venerated for centuries.
Manila is indeed a place full of color and life. Add some spice to your trip to the Philippines by spending some days going around Manila. It may be difficult to get around the Metropolis but Manila is surely a place worth visiting in the Philippines.
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