Watching the famous sunset at Marina Bay is one of the things that anyone should not miss doing when they come to Manila. I didn’t get to do it back then because I stayed in the Makati area which is quite far from the coastal bay so when I found out that the hotel that I was going to stay in is located so near to Marina Bay, I knew I wouldn’t miss doing it this time.
And of course, if they was one place that I wanted to do it at, it’d be SM Mall of Asia although I was not sure if the ladies were going to like it. I really thought they were not a big fan of shopping malls.
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I had to explain to them why we should go there, that it is the biggest shopping mall in Asia and 3rd in the world although I wasn’t sure if the information was still valid (or not). LOL!
SM Mall of Asia is still as crowded as I remembered it was last time. It’s like the whole population of Manila was there to celebrate the end of another week.
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The iconic globe in the roundabout was still there. Too bad it was raining so we couldn’t take a photo of it from the angle that we wanted it unlike in my previous visit when we had all the time in the world skirting around and cam-whoring and totally in oblivion to the traffic and people around us. 😀
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Women will always be women. Just when I thought the ongoing sale wouldn’t excite them, I just looked in disbelief as they rummaged through the piles of shoes and bags and everything there was on the display as if there was no tomorrow.
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Those things that I had expected to not excite them seemed to excite them most. I had to explain to them how risky it is to go down there when we had many more days to go in Manila. I told them how Ice-skating can break one’s legs like hell if something goes wrong.
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I used to go ice-skating a lot when I was in my Uni days so I know how miserable it can cause to one’s legs if he is not used to doing it.
After a little bit of asking around, we went out to the esplanade at the back of the mall just in time to catch the sunset. People were already there in abundance, perched all along the seawall to witness the beauty of sunset at Marina Bay.
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Almost every space was occupied so we had to be a little bit kiasu by pushing our way in and find a good spot to slip in. It’s not like we could go there every day anywhere. The locals can always go there anytime they like. LOL
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I found my own spot and watched the sunset in peace while the others were busy taking pictures in all the poses that they could possibly think of. In fact one of the guards had to come to them and asked them not to stand on the seawall for security reason. Good thing about building janitors and guards in Manila is that they are always polite (as most locals are).
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So, the sunset at Marina Bay as seen from the SM Mall of Asia esplanade really was beautiful. Somehow it seems to linger longer than most sunsets that I’ve seen anywhere else before.
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I had almost thought that it was Vietnam until I searched the map and found out that it was actually still the Philippines on the other side of the bay – even the same island as where Manila is. LOL.
The seaside esplanade or promenade or whatever you like to call it really is a perfect place to saunter up around and spend an evening in Manila. They are people all over but the place is not overly crowded. There are street performances and flying fox in addition to the theme park.
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When the sun had finally disappeared, we stayed on for a little bit longer before the legs began to demand that we should call it a day.
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Catching a taxi at SM Mall of Asia was much easier than we thought. I remember how we had to get on a long queue to get a taxi at SM Mega Mall when I first came to Manila 2 years back. It was so long that we decided to use jeepney to go to all the places that we wanted to go unless we really had to take a taxi.
If there was one thing that I was so thankful of finding in Manila, it’d be this little restaurant called DQ Logan which is tucked somewhere along the Mabini Street. I mean, being a place where everything seems to have been made tourists, DQ Logan seems to be there for all kinds of reasons.
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Being a budget traveler, I’d consider anything over RM7 for a meal as expensive unless the place really has the looks of an expensive eating place (air-con etc). I’d consider an RM6 noodle soup at a food stall in KL expensive because I know I can always get one for RM4-5 just a little bit further down the road.
Here at Mabini Street, I couldn’t find any other place that serves foods at cheaper prices than DQ Logan.
It really is hard when you’re traveling with first-time travelers. They expect they can order whatever they want to order. I have to remind them over and over again not to ask something that is not in the menu. They always want to order according to their likes and needs.
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We became regular visitors there and ended up ordering pretty much the same dish every time all throughout our stay in Manila. For the first time in my years of traveling, I’d eat just for the sake of eating something to keep my energy going and not to savor the local foods as I usually do whenever I am traveling.
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Good thing about Manila is that they don’t seem to charge tourists more than they do to locals. Everything is in the menu. The prices are displayed in the menu so you know you’re paying the same price as the locals do. You wouldn’t feel cheated or angry. I think I’d give Manila my highest credit for that.
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So that was how our first full day in Manila had turned out to be. We’d be heading to the Walled City of Intramuros the next day. It was the place that I was most excited of bringing the ladies to.