Manila... Ooh La La!

Being in Manila the past trip, all I can say is.. this place is cool! There's many things to like about this place.. and here are the many that I like..

Pinoy cartoon. There's just something very distinctive about their drawings.. which at one glance, u can tell if a cartoon is 'made in the Philippines'!

USA influenced. I may not have been to the USA yet, but well, I believe that Manila is closest we can get to it in this region here. The USA culture is quite heavily seen here, either brought in directly or inspired by USA... and can be seen especially in the food & fashion brands (eg Krispy Kreme is super big here & so is this Yellow Cab pizza with cool bikes to boot!).

Open Minded Culture. Being in a more closed culture like in Malaysia & Singapore, Manila breathes one big fresh air... things are open here (or seems, at least).

Just take their T shirts as a good example! There's nothing pretentious, shy or hush hush about!

Happy & Free! Close to being open is being free.. seeing Pinoys dancing & singing openly is normal. You won't get stares or weird looks, or worse scolded. Now, this is the real open life that is not bounded & restricted... but just live freely instead! (yea, forget the 'dont dos' but instead 'do as long as its okay').

*This dance in the restaurant is apparently done every 15 minutes!

Cool Designs & Creativity. Just like Thailand or even Indonesia, I'm impressed with the flow of creativity here. This bookstore design may look simple, but just a bit of creativity & arrangement (& willingness to spend some $), and it makes this bookstore all good & different!

Delicious Pinoy Food. The food is not spicy, but still, it has this closeness to the food in our country, in some or many ways. While I may miss the sambal/ chili at times, but eating local food here daily is really okay with me too!

And for someone who do like pork, Philippines serves just well. Pork comes in all types of cooking, with one of the most famous of them all - the crispy patta (crispy pork knuckle)! Now, u don't need to go to the German restaurants only to eat this.. instead, just to any food court or restaurants in the city!

Celebrity City/ Nation. Turn every corner, and pics of celebrities are everywhere. They are ambassadors for nearly everything... even coconut stalls! This goes to show the star power of them, I'm sure (and the size of the media industry... hooray to Pinoy power!)

Franchise & Booth Culture. Walking into the malls, I see so many booths selling all types of products. Interestingly, most of these are all franchised. The thing is - the stuff they sell, are not complicated - like fresh juice, hot dog, ice cream, and loads of other food.. now that's a biz idea?

Friendly with a cute English Twist. Not as gracious as the Thais with their soft spoken Thai, but still, their oh-so-cute English, and ever willingness to assist is what makes the Pinoy stands out. Talking to them is easy - language wise.. and is nice for the fact that they wouldn't mind starting a conversation.

I can't say more.. this city is cool. But be informed, you can only enjoy this if - first you are open minded enough, and secondly, it would help with some good Pinoy friends to show u around. Then you can join me and say "Manila.. Ooh La La!"