There are many stuffs that tourists should know when visiting Manila. As all of you know, Manila is one of the congested city in Philippines. So what are the stuffs that tourists should know? I’ve lived in Manila since high school until college and I have experienced lots of things even there are bad experiences.

Things you should aware in Manila

1. Traffic

Manila is one of the busiest road in Philippines and you will be experiencing heavy traffic during rush hours around 6AM to 9AM in the morning and about 4PM the road will slowly gets congested until 9PM or 10PM. You should leave early if you have  important appointment or else you might be trapped in the middle of the traffic.

2. Robbers

As I’ve said, Manila is one of the busiest city in Philippines but also crime rate is quite high. We do all know that there are lots of poor people in Philippines, life is not that good and salary is not that high and jobs are hard to find. There are many people from some provinces in Philippines took their chances to find a better life and jobs in Manila. If they are lucky enough they can find a job but if not, they will end up as robbers. So tourists shall be cautious about this, do not wear golds in any parts of your body, do not bring a lot of money but if you need to, put it at places where robbers can’t find it and lastly, do not use your expensive smart phones when you are in public places or you should consider using a cheap phone.

3. Pick-Pockets

I’ve witnessed lot of pick-pockets during the process or in the act of stealing during my high school life. They are really good and they can even steal your watch and you will not feel it until you realized your watch is gone. They use a blade to cut your bags and  the easiest target is your pants back pocket. Do not put important things in your bag and as I’ve said, don’t bring too much money in your wallet.

Places to go when visiting Manila

Ok, after all the precautions above, now I will talk about some places that are worth to visit.

1. MALLS IN MANILA

In Philippines, there are SM Department store nationwide where your can find variety of goods and foods to buy. It is a ALL-IN-ONE department store.

Robinson’s Place is also one of the top-notch department store or shopping mall in Metro Manila and they also have some branches in local provinces but unlike SM Mall which covered nationwide.

2. NIGHTLIFE

SM Mall of ASIA or what we call it MOA is one of the largest shopping mall in Manila, aside from variety of goods inside, at the back of the mall it has great ocean view. People goes here at night and roam around at the back because it has restaurants, bars with bands playing, variety of kiddie rides and amusement center. Lot of people of nightlife here because it is much safer than in Malate or Ermita in Manila.

There are many places where you can go out and have fun at night in Manila. Malate and Ermita have lots of places where you can have fun, there are bands, disco, comedy bars and places where men loves to go..haha.

3. AMUSEMENT PARKS

Manila Ocean Park is one of the favorite place that family would like to go, it has shows and amusement center where kids and adults would enjoy.

Star City have been operational for quite some time already, I have been here I think 7 or 8 years ago if my memory serves me right. It is fun and it has a lot of rides and amusement center where you will surely enjoy.

I hope all of you have learned something from my post. Tourists are easiest targets of criminals, my advice is you should be accompanied by locals that you trust. It’s much advisable if you use credit cards and just bring a little cash for the places that doesn’t accept credit cards. There might be places where I did not mention here, you can ask the locals or tour guide when you arrived in Manila. Thank you and have fun in Manila! Ciao!

(Images above credits goes to its rightful owner)