Life in a day: Manila January 2013

Fort Bonifacio Shopping Town

Last January 2013, I visited the Philippines for about seven days and I stayed most of the time in Manila.  The last time I was in the Philippines was in 2007, I was quite surprise with the changes, definitely an upgrade from what I remembered.  The roads are much wider, the international airport has cleaner and new bathrooms.  There are also lots of new developments going on around the city – new real estate and commercial buildings.  For today’s post, my average day during the trip while staying in Fort Bonifacio, Manila.

Fort Bonifacio is a very urbanized district, and it is quite pricey here compared to other towns in the Philippines.  However, you feel much safer going around at night in this area.  I also like the various restaurants available and the different shops around this area (and the Market Market mall too!).  As soon as I got up in the morning, I went straight to check out the shops around.

Abe Restaurant Serendra Mall

After shopping around, my family and I went to eat at Abe Restaurant in Serendra (still in Fort Bonifacio).  This is a Filipino cuisine restaurant that offers bottomless rice (yea!).  Pretty much you order different entries to share with your family.  We got Tilapia (fish), Adobo (chicken with soy sauce), Kare-kare (similar to curry), Sisig (pork chopped into small pieces), and different fruit smoothies – dalandan (similar to orange), kalamansi (a small-looking lime), mango flavors.  We were quite happy with the food and we also had lots of fun catching up with each other during our lunch here at Abe.

Crossing Serendra to go to Market Market Mall

Then, we went to go to Market Market mall for groceries and a bit of shopping.  I really loved staying here in Fort Bonifacio since everything is in walking distance.  I do however, wish that I got a chance to take the jeepney while I was there but we didn’t have enough time.

The Snacks section of the Grocery

Inside the Market Market Mall

The Market Market mall has about 520 shops with five floors.  I enjoy shopping in the Philippines especially checking out their local brands like – Bench, Kamiseta, Penshoppe, and Bayo.  The prices for these brands are quite affordable and the quality is pretty good.  I got a shirt from Bench for 200 Pesos (about $5 USD).

Outdoor food stalls in Market Market

Outside the Market Market mall is an extension for their outdoor food bazaar.  I’m not quite sure how many stalls there were, but the food selection was definitely plenty.  On our way home, we bought our dinner from a couple of stalls – we got bulalo (beef soup), pork bbq, mango and bagoong (shrimp paste), and liempo (marinated pork belly).

Goldilocks Halo Halo with ube!

After with all the shopping and groceries, we took a mini-break to get Halo Halo (shaved ice with milk, jelly, taro, etc.).  I still remember eating this Halo Halo, and it was refreshing.

I hope you enjoyed reading my life in a day: Manila January 2013.