Visiting Manila? Tips Here

I visit Manila a lot so thought I would brain dump some tips here — from the perspective of an affluent foreigner who wants to save time, avoid chaos and enjoy things on my own terms rather than being stuck in traffic (spoiler alert: lots of traffic in Manila).

Here’s my bullet point guide to visiting Manila for business, and PH in general.

Prelim note: The Philippines has recently suspended Uber for one month due to conflicts between them and the transport authority. Great. Not having Uber is actually quite a bother there as its so much better than taxis. But it may be all fine by the time you get there.

General Culture Shock and Differences

• People are nice in the Philippines, in general, and will speak English fine. Some taxi drivers might be a bit confusing since they may not practice English much or are not highly educated, but the majority of people you interact with will be native English speakers more or less.
• Manila is noisy and has a lot of traffic issues. Expect to drown in a sea of horns, watch driver discipline go out the window, see stupid driving manouvers, no one in their lanes, etc.
• There are a lot of security guards in Manila and its normal to see guards with shotguns outside banks, hotels, even 7-11s. Don’t be alarmed… even tho it is a bit crazy.
• At malls and other places, expect to have people try to pad you down or touch your lower back to check if you are dumb enough to have a handgun stuffed in your pants. Also expect to see them use beep sticks (they just beep every time) and the magic wooden stick they poke in people’s bags and whack around. I think they are dolphins trained in the art of echo locating weapons, only explanation for the stick. As a white foreigner you can basically just walk through tho, security is not suspicious of you and will usually ignore you but stop Filipinos to check their belongings. Lol it’s convenient discrimination.
• Expect the internet to suck. Basically the worst in Asi ...