The city of Manila holds a dear place in my heart as I spent my 90’s childhood living in downtown Manila and watched the growth of the city over a long period of time. Returning to visit with my own children brings a different view to the city as I watch them take in the smells, tastes, and culture of a place that is deeply ingrained in who I am.
While the Philippines boasts over 7,000 islands to explore and it is easy to only transit through Manila in order to get to those many tourist destinations around the islands, I want to lay out a guide to what visiting Manila with children for a few days could look like. And why, as a city, in a way Manila has become ‘off the beaten path’ as it is skipped by many tourists who are coming for diving, sandy beaches, chocolate hills, and rice terraces.
So, let’s look into what to do with few days in Manila could look like for your family as you dive into the culture.
History – Intramuros
With over 300 years of Spanish rule, the Philippines was greatly affected by Spain in terms of religion and language. The Old City of Manila gives kids a picture of what Colonial Manila looked like. You can spend half a day at Intramuros, seeing the walled city and getting a glimpse into those 300 years.
Food
I’ve picked two different chain restaurants to focus on, which you should be able to find in most every mall around Manila! These two restaurant chains are Filipino through and through and a must try if you are to spend a few days in Manila, or anywhere in the Philippines.
Jollibee’s!
This Filipino fast food chain can be found in 19 countries around the world and all over Metro Manila. It is a Filipino classic. Not only do they have burgers and fries, you can also try fried chicken and sweet spaghetti (a Filipino classic!). They have a variety of family meals, so that your children can try several different foods without committing to one. And for the little ones, they also have kiddie meals, which were a huge hit with our kids!
Chow King!
There are several desserts I could recommend when visiting the Philippines, but for one found easily around town, I would always pick halo-halo. Halo-halo means mix-mix in Tagalog and it is a dessert full of different items and is eaten all mixed up. An assortment of savory and sweet, halo-halo can include any of the following different ingredients: shaved ice, ube (purple sweet potato) ice cream, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, leche flan, sugar palm cubes, fruit cocktail, yam cubes, sweetened condensed milk, and more! If your kids are anything like mine, the beans may not be that exciting to them, but they can easily move them to the side and try the other parts of the halo-halo.
Markets – Divisoria Market
The wet market is a common experience around the Philippines where many go to buy their fruits, vegetables, and meat. If you want to take your kids for the full blown market experience, I highly recommend Divisoria Market. It is busy and chaotic, but will have you immersed in the market experience. You can visit inside the main market building, but I recommend for the full sensory experience to walk around the outside streets, filled to the brim with stalls, people, vehicles, colors, and an array of smells.
Transportation
Trying the different types of transportation around Manila is a really fun experience for children. For easiest travel, we chose to use the Grab app on our phone to get us from here to there. If you haven’t heard of Grab before, it is similar to Uber, in that you put your final destination into the app and it will look for a driver to come and pick you up and take you there. You can choose to use a Grab taxi which will cost a fee+distance or a Grab car that will be a set fee. If you connect your credit card to the app, you can pay cashless.
So, I would strongly recommend using Grab for everyday use around Manila in you have a few days there, but often in our travels we like to use local transportation as a cultural experience for our children and so the trip itself becomes the experience. Nothing says the Philippines more than riding a jeepney. Common lore says that the jeepney was created post-WWII when the Americans left jeeps around the Philippines. Filipinos used their ingenuity to elongate the jeeps, put in side benches and an open back. Now they are used for set routes around the city. You need to have a destination in mind when you get on the jeepney so that you know you are getting on the correct jeepney.
There are signs on the side of the jeepney telling you where it is going, but if you are unfamiliar with your location, I would ask for a local to help you. Going from one mall to another close mall is a good first trip and easy to spot your location so you know when to get off. If you find yourself on a jeepney please remember, getting off it is normal for you to alert the driver. Banging the metal handholds of the jeepney with a coin is a normal and easy way to alert the driver.
The other type of transportation that I highly recommend around Manila is the taxicab or trike. These are motorcycles with sidecars or a small bench-seat behind the driver in the newer ones. These are usually used for smaller rides, specifically going from the main roads into neighborhoods. If you have a large family, it is really fun to squish in as many people as possible. There are a lot of different places to sit around the taxicab! As there is no meter on the taxicab, you need to make sure you set the price before you start driving, so that you now how much is expected at the end.
Mall Culture
Manila is a city full of malls. One way to experience the culture of Manila is by spending time in the malls. In a tropical country, having air conditioned malls where people can meet, eat, shop, and be entertained explains why it’s the city’s favorite pastime. Malls have sprung up everywhere, but here I will just share the largest! SM Mall of Asia has made it on the world’s top 10 largest malls list since it’s construction in 2006. As you enter the shopping complex, you are welcomed by a large globe. You can then meander through floors and buildings until you come to the edge of the water. Mall of Asia is directly on Manila Bay with restaurants welcoming you to sit and look out at the water and amusement park rides that let you look out over the water and the mall complex. There are many, many activities to do as a family and it is easy to lose track of time and find that you have spent your whole day at the mall!
This post has shown you how to experience culture around Manila. As traffic can often disrupt your movement around Metro Manila, I put together this list so that it can be applicable to many different areas of town. If Divisoria Market is far from your lodging, you can visit another local wet market. If SM Mall of Asia is across the city, you can visit another mall nearby. Oftentimes, a trip across Manila can take over 2 hours. Look around your area before choosing to travel to a different part of town.
Remember that Manila is a large city overflowing with people living daily life. Don’t visit Manila with the expectation of a vacation spot. But to see the culture of daily Filipino life up close, Manila will give you that chance.