How to Have Fun in Manila

By Jennie Santos

Manila is a bowl of halo-halo: everything Filipino all mixed up across sixteen cities. It's vibrant, overwhelming, overcrowded, and yes, a bit smelly.

 

This is your guide to having a blast in the real Manila, far beyond where tourists usually tread. Rock out at an indie bar, walk the paths of Philippine revolutionaries, get a library card (seriously!), ride transit to beat the traffic, rub shoulders with hipsters, hunt down rare smoked balut, choose your dinner while it's still swimming, go 8-bit retro-gaming, and savor a rooftop sunset bay view with a $1 drink.  

 

Forget the guidebooks written by AI bots. Explore the views, the eats, and the experiences that only locals know. 

 

Every recommendation includes a QR code and Google Maps link, so you'll navigate like a champ.

 

You'll be ahead of the pack even before you arrive, because this book has all the details on arrival formalities, the online immigration form you need, choosing your mobile data service (pick wisely!), the inside scoop on hotels, and the local hotel booking app that can be 50% cheaper than the foreigner price.

 

Want to date Filipinas? You'll learn how to fish in a stocked pond, and why Manila's hostess bars are a tourist trap.

 

Overcome the challenges of the Philippines -- scams, petty crime, bad service -- and revel in the beauty and raw energy of Manila.

 

Don't just see Manila. Live it. Mabuhay!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jennie Santos
• Release date: Mar 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224024179

Book preview

Visas and paperwork

Visa-free

Citizens of first-world countries pretty much universally can enter the Philippines visa-free for thirty days. Here’s the official list of visa-free countries. The only English-speaking country I can think of that’s not on this list is India.

https://dfa.gov.ph/list-of-countries-for-21-day-visa

Even if you don’t need a visa to enter the Philippines, when you check in for your flight at your home airport, you will likely be asked for your departure ticket (from the Philippines) and your hotel reservation (in the Philippines). Also, you may or may not also be asked for your pre-arrival online QR code when you check in with your airline, but you’ll definitely be asked for that QR code when you arrive.

Pre-arrival online authentication QR code

After you arrive, before you can even get in the immigration line, you’ll be asked to show your etravel QR code.

At this point, 95% of foreign visitors tell the immigration line minder, My what code? And they’re directed out of the line, and to the URL for filling out (in our local English, filling up) the application using their phone — which they then have to do awkwardly on their phone, memorizing their passport details and arriving and departing flight numbers while switching between apps and standing around an airport.

But you can fill out the form on your own, before you even get on your flight. It has to be done no more than 72 hours before your arrival. And you can do it at home, on your PC or whatever — but you will need to take a selfie (using the web applet) when submitting the form, so make sure the device you’re using has a user-facing camera.

The form is here:

https://etravel.gov.ph/authentication

After you’ve submitted it, you’ll be emailed (and also shown) a QR code. Show that QR code to immigration. Don’t worry: they’ll still ask you all the questions you already answered in your online application.

And you’ll also need to visit the same website and submit the same form before you’re allowed to exit the Philippines, also no more than 72 hours before your flight. For exiting, you will be given a QR code, but you won’t need to show it to the immigration officer. Don’t worry: they’ll ask you all the questions you already answered on the form.

Note for US Citizens: for your nationality, select American. There is no option for US or USA or United States.

Airport arrival

NAIA

We Filipinos love acronyms. The airport is locally called NAIA, Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It’s named after Ninoy Aquino, an anti-Marcos activist who was gunned down (in political retribution) at this airport upon his return from US exile in 1983.

Manila airport has four terminals, usually called T1-4, and those four terminals are between two and five kilometers apart. That is not a typo. There is no walkway between them. They are pretty much four separate airports. T1 and T3 are for international flights. T3 is much bigger and most international flights arrive at T3, but Philippine Airlines uses T1. T2 and T4 are for domestic flights: T2 for Philippine Airlines and T4 for its competitors.

This may be relevant if you are meeting someone arriving at a different terminal. You can’t just walk over to the other terminal. There is a free shuttle between the terminals, but it runs only once an hour, and it’s often completely full and has no more seats. Use a Grab to get between terminals, or get a taxi driver to take you between terminals for around 200 pesos. Scam taxi drivers will demand a few thousand pesos for the trip. Make sure you agree on the fare before going.

Immigration processing

The airport arrival and immigration process is pretty straightforward. Make sure you get into the line for foreigners. Any automated electronic gates you see are only for Filipino citizens.

Once you come up to the immigration officer, you’ll be asked for your QR code. Then you’ll be asked all those same questions you had to enter when applying for that QR code. I have no idea what the purpose of that thing is.

You may be asked for details of what you’re doing in the Philippines, where you’re staying, and similar questions. I have no idea what first-world-country person would want to come to illegally work or live here in our country, but I suspect a lot of these immigration requirements are for face-saving and politics. There are always elections around the corner!

Once the immigration officers are satisfied that you’re not giving up your life in your country to earn $8 a day in the Philippines, they’ll direct you to the luggage pickup area.

Luggage retrieval and customs

In terminals 1 and 3 (where most international flights arrive), you can find ATMs in the luggage pickup area and get some pesos while you wait for your luggage. The most reliable bank brand is BDO, and the withdrawal limit is 10,000 pesos, with a 250 peso fee. Always decline the optional conversion.

When you’re exiting the customs area, there are signs for items to declare and nothing to declare lines, but those signs are usually ignored. Just follow where everyone else is going. I suggest you hold out your first-world-country passport as you pass through customs: customs officers are less likely to hassle you or try to get bribes if you’re from a first-world country. This is especially true if you aren’t white.

A few years ago, there was a well-known scam where Philippines Customs would pull foreign visitors (usually from Asia) aside for inspection, then claim to find illegal items (usually ammunition) in their luggage. Of course, the customs officer had actually pulled that contraband from his own pocket. The poor hapless tourists would need to pay a bribe to clear things up. As far as I or anyone else knows, that scam is no longer operating at NAIA, but never say never. If you encounter anything like that, make a big scene and try to get many people’s attention and they’ll back down.

Then you’re done with customs!

If you’re arriving in Terminal 3 (where most international flights arrive), go to your right after you exit. That’s where the stuff you need is: ATMs, currency exchanges, and the dual Smart and Globe (two major phone carriers) sim card selling desks.

ATMs and currency exchange

The most reliable ATMs for me are BDO (Banco de Oro), but all the banks at the airport should be ok. The withdrawal limit is usually 10,000 pesos, with a 250 peso fee. Always decline any optional currency conversion you’re offered by the ATM. That’s the ATM trying to make extra profit off the exchange rate.

As for changing actual cash, currency exchange rates at the Manila airport are about the same as rates in the city. And the airport money changers are more honest than random money changers in the city, just because they’re under closer supervision.

Check what Google says your money is worth in pesos (Google search something like 100 USD to PHP), then compare it to what the money changer is offering — it shouldn’t be more than about a 5% decrease from the value Google tells you. You do need to allow the money changer to make some profit, of course; if they gave you the wholesale rate, they’d be operating for free. Note that the departures-level money changers generally only accept pesos for change to foreign currency, and the arrivals-level money changers only accept foreign currency for exchange to pesos.

Sim cards

And for sim cards for getting online, you have two good options. Mobile plans are cheap in the Philippines, so don’t waste money paying your home carrier’s roaming charges.

The first option is to buy a Philippines sim card before you arrive. These Philippines sim cards sold online are almost always sim cards actually intended for Hong Kong or China, but that have free roaming in the Philippines, so they’re sold as a Philippines sim card. This option is fine, with two drawbacks: you won’t have a local phone number (which is always needed to register for cafe wifi, ride apps, and other stuff), and your internet will be based in Hong Kong or China, so it will have some latency issues. That latency may be a problem if you plan on videoconferencing (or gaming!).

The second option is to buy an actual Philippines sim card from one of our two major carriers, Smart and Global. They both have identical desks, right next to each other, in the international arrival terminal halls.

The downside of getting a real Philippines sim card is you’ll need to go through a cumbersome government-mandated registration process (see the communications section of this book) and after you upload all your documents (which you can only do once you’re in the Philippines), you’ll need to wait about a day for approval (or non-approval) of your sim card service. Whew. But I still think having a local phone number is worth it. Maybe the best option would be if you can have a friend who can buy and register a sim for you before you arrive, or if you can find a shady seller who sells pre-registered sims.

Into the city from the airport

The good news is that the airport isn’t far from the central city. It’s in Pasay,