ASIA-PACIFIC ISSUE: ENCHANTMENTS OF THE FAR EAST : With Every Change Manila Is More the Same

The advice I received at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport said it all. A Filipino friend with whom I’d been traveling told me: Do not leave the airport on your own. Do not accept a ride from a non-yellow (or non-black) cab. Do not go out at night on your own. Do not change your money in Ermita (the tacky-homey tourist belt of nightclubs, strip joints and money-changers in the heart of Manila).

“But I know you’ll have a great time,” he added. “Manila is a terrific city.”

Plus ca change , I thought, smiling. I’d received the same advice (with the same optimistic addendum) the last time I visited Manila, three years ago. Manila can survive: seven coup attempts since the People Power revolution ousted Marcos in 1986, a devastating earthquake (in Baguio City--to the north of Manila), economic downturns and worsening power brownouts and industrial strikes--but the city remains the same. As does the airport.

Huge, extended families mill around the waiting room; taxis compete for fares outside the building (double- and triple-parked in haphazard formation). And I’m given the same dire warnings (tempered with typical Filipino “but what can you do?” fatalism). Plus ca change . . . .

The largest English-speaking city in Asia is not for the squeamish. It is also not for those individuals who prefer their cities straightforward and organized. It is no Singapore. There are no whopping fines for smoking or littering in public places in Manila. It is a city awash in chaos. Of all kinds. It is also a cheerfully dilapidated, extremely polluted place, an exotic city (plenty of coconut palm trees and interesting, local foodstuffs)--but one with a decided Stateside sheen. This is just one of Manila’s Great Contradictions.

But in Manila, with 300 years of Spanish rule and 40 years of American colonization (“300 years in a convent and 40 years of Hollywood,” to use a popular Filipino saying), contradictions abound.

There are shopping malls everywhere--alongside beautiful Catholic churches from the 1600s. Top-40 American hits play constantly on the radio. Gaudy, neon signs advertising hot dogs, hamburgers and fried chicken proliferate--right next to bagoong (tiny fish fermented in brine) and buko (coconut juice) vendors. Native pinoy (Filipino) culture thrives in close proximity to American culture--in a city founded by the Spanish in 1571.

Jeepneys--small, open-sided buses adapted from World War II jeeps left behind in the Philippines, crammed with passengers and brightly decorated--belch continuous black diesel fumes. They compete with chauffeur-driven Mercedes and BMWs on the roads. “Loverboy,” “Dream Lover,” “Midnight Rambler.” The names painted on the jeepneys are prototypic pinoy , amalgamations of American and Filipino popular culture.

The jeepneys often have holy relics on their dashboards, pictures of saints and Jesus statuettes, St. Christopher medals and photos of “bold” stars (from Filipino soft-porn movies). The jeepneys blast their U.S. music. MC Hammer vies with the paraphernalia of fervent religiosity. Filipinos have the most fervently Catholic country in Asia. But they always know how to have fun.

Metro Manila has a population of well over 10 million. It is actually quite a large area (more than 400 square miles) and runs from Pasay City, right next to the airport in the south, to Caloocan City in the north.

Grinding poverty is everywhere. On street corners, small children carry smaller children in their arms and beg for pesos. Tattered gangs, colonies of children roam the city. Manila is often a heartbreaking city. (Annual per capita income in the country is about $700.)

And yet, despite even the Bangkok-style traffic bottlenecks (it can take 60 minutes to go three miles), Manila is charming. Beautiful, even, in many places.

Roxas Boulevard, the main street in Manila, palm-fringed and still elegant, curves around Manila Bay and provides a breezy and scenic 20-minute ride from the airport (at the southern end of the boulevard) into metropolitan Manila.

There’s lots to see and do in Manila. But a little knowledge of geography will save you considerable perspiration and money.

Metro Manila is a vast urban sprawl, roughly crescent-shaped. It’s composed of five cities--Manila, Makati, Pasay, Quezon and Caloocan--and 13 towns. Manila Bay and Roxas Boulevard (scenic places to stroll at dusk) form the western boundary. Along the eastern border is the Epifanio de los Santos Highway (called EDSA).

The Pasig River, once Manila’s busiest waterway, now a sluggish, polluted, yet strangely evocative sight, divides the city into north and south.

The oldest districts of the city are Intramuros, an ancient walled city dating from 1571; Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown, just north of the Pasig River; Quiapo, east of Binondo, home of the Quiapo Church with its famous Black Nazarene statue of Jesus, and Malate, south of the Pasig, a quiet, residential area with old Spanish-style homes behind high stone walls.

Manila is a walker’s city only at dawn and dusk. Because of the pollution and humidity, it is advisable to tour the city by air-conditioned tour buses (which stop at all major hotels) or by air-conditioned taxi. Several reputable travel agencies, such as American Express and Thomas Cook, offer guided tours.

You can hire taxis for the day at any hotel. Agree on an hourly arrangement with the driver (expect to pay at least $10 per hour) before you set out for the day. If you choose a taxi from off the street, make sure the meter isn’t clicking too quickly (a favorite scam). Cabs from the Golden Cab Co. (they’re black in color) are good choices. Renting a cab for the day can be cost-effective. It’s possible to pay as little as $25 (excluding tip) for the day. But bargain first.

Intramuros is a good place to begin sightseeing. It’s a compact three square miles and is encircled by formidable walls, 30 feet thick, with cannon emplacements still visible. Intramuros is a quiet oasis of cobbled streets, baroque churches and university buildings. A haphazard restoration program is under way. It was built by the Spaniards in the 16th Century on the site of a former native Malay settlement. A surreal touch: A golf course is laid out in what was formerly the moat. The Intramuros Golf Club is cheap to play and is surprisingly challenging.

Of special interest is the San Agustin Church on General Luna Street in Intramuros. It’s the second-oldest stone church in the country, with 14 side chapels and a trompe l’oeil ceiling. Adjacent to the church is a small museum featuring Philippine artifacts and religious art, including antique religious vestments, religious paintings and icons.

The Manila Cathedral, a large, Romanesque structure, is two blocks from San Agustin Church. The cathedral has three arched doorways and lovely stained-glass windows depicting the history of Christianity in the Philippines.

Also in Intramuros, the Casa Manila is a terrific re-creation of a 19th-Century Spanish patrician’s house, complete with carriage entrance and an inner courtyard.

Several blocks from the Manila Cathedral is Fort Santiago. It preserves the memorabilia of Dr. Jose Rizal, a medical doctor, linguist, botanist, novelist, educator and national hero who was imprisoned in the fort by the Spanish and executed in 1896, because of his reformist views.

Up the street, toward the bay, is Rizal Park, a rectangular field broken into three sections. In the central portion is a monument to Rizal, which is under 24-hour guard. The regular drill maneuvers of the sentries, plus a Japanese garden to the north, make the park worth visiting. Across Roxas Boulevard from the park is Manila Bay; the seawall that hugs the shoreline is a popular spot for strolling, sitting and watching the sunset over the bay.

Across the street from Intramuros, on the edge of Rizal Park, is the most famous hotel in the Philippines, the Manila Hotel. This is where General MacArthur lived during much of the American colonial era; Ernest Hemingway also stayed there, as do many visiting celebrities today. Actor George Hamilton and international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi were friends of the Marcoses and frequent guests at the hotel. The bars and restaurants (including the Tap Room, known as the most intimate hotel bar in the city, and the Maynila, a very posh restaurant) are some of the best in the city.

The spacious lobby of the hotel, with its ceiling of Philippine hardwoods and floors of Philippine marble, is perfect for resting. Newspapers are provided. Dignitaries and celebs dart through. Should Imelda Marcos ever return to the Philippines, the lobby might well be her very first stop.

After you’ve rested here for a while, take a 20-minute taxi ride to J.P. Laurel Street--to the Malacanang Palace, former headquarters of the Spanish governor-generals, the colonial American administrators and the Marcoses, and now open to the public. Current President Corazon Aquino, who did not want to reside in Malacanang, lives in the guest house adjacent to the palace.

The chandeliers in the reception hall, the hardwoods used for the grand staircase and the portraits of former presidents are beautiful. The bedrooms of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos add a touch of the macabre. His bedroom is dominated by a hospital bed and a dialysis machine. Her bedroom is enormous, with a parlor grand piano and a giant canopied bed. In the basement is the famous Imelda shoe collection, along with row after row of designer dresses and a bulletproof bra.

Then, for a change of ethnic pace, take a cab to Binondo, about a 25-minute ride north of the Pasig. Binondo is a maze of traditional Chinese apothecaries (selling dried sea horses and ginseng tea); dilapidated, atmospheric old houses with arched wooden windows and fancy grillwork on balconies, and small commercial shops selling anything from eyeglasses to construction supplies. The streets are narrow. Horse-drawn carriages clip-clop past open-air vegetable markets. To the north of Binondo is Recto Street, a long commercial street with a huge marketplace and a small, intriguing bird market.

East of Binondo is the Quiapo Church with its Black Nazarene statue. At the Quiapo Public Market you can buy clothing and handicrafts at bargain prices, but watch out for the pickpockets.

South across the river, off Roxas Boulevard, is the $10-million-plus guest house, the Coconut Palace, built by Mrs. Marcos. This grandiose structure, located within the Cultural Center Complex on the boundary of Pasay City, faces Manila Bay and has seven suites with inlaid mother-of-pearl chairs, 24-karat gold bathroom fixtures and other extravagant trappings.

On Roxas Boulevard, south of the Cultural Center, try the Baclaran open-air markets for clothing and handicrafts. Again, be careful of pickpockets; hold your handbag close.

There are usually plenty of cabs on Roxas Boulevard outside the Cultural Center Complex, from which it’s a 25-minute ride to Manila’s business district, Makati. It has wide, clean streets, luxurious high-rise condominiums, upscale shopping malls (the Makati Commercial Center, for example) and well-guarded compounds for the rich. It also has the best hotels in the city apart from the excellent Manila Hotel and the Philippine Plaza, overlooking Manila Bay.

The difference between Makati and the squatter colonies along the bay, or north of the Pasig, could not be more startling, or more sad.

GUIDEBOOK

Manila

Getting there: Philippine Airlines, United and Northwest fly direct from Los Angeles to Manila, with stopovers (depending on the airline) in Honolulu, Seoul and Tokyo. Round-trip fares average about $1,000, with seven-day advance purchase.

Where to stay: There are a variety of accommodations. Inexpensive accommodations, though, have frequent power brownouts.

The Manila Hotel, on the edge of Rizal Park, is the most popular/famous hotel in the country. Great restaurants and bars, pool and views of Manila Bay. Rates: single $140, double $160. Call 011-63-479-011.

The Westin Philippine Plaza, Cultural Center Complex, Roxas Boulevard. Good food, pool, Manila Bay views; deluxe single $160, double $180; 011-63-832-0701.

The Holiday Inn, 3001 Roxas Blvd.; single from $95, double from $100; 011-63-597-961.

Mandarin Oriental, Makati Avenue, Makati. Top-rated luxury hotel; Tivoli Grill may be best hotel restaurant in city; single $165, double $180, suites from $280; 011-63-816-3601.

Admiral, 2138 Roxas Blvd.; budget hotel; single $70, double $80; 011-63-571-0711.

Manila Peninsula, corner of Ayala and Makati avenues, Makati. Four-story lobby lounge, good Asian restaurant (Spices), power businessperson’s hotel; deluxe single $175, double $190. 011-63-819-3456.

Where to eat: All of the upscale hotels have good food and commendable night life. Beyond that, try:

Truffles, in Makati’s Greenbelt district, for innovative continental cuisine. Very popular, book early; call locally 817-2971.

La Gondola, on Makati Avenue in Makati, for Italian food.

Via Mare, in Greenbelt district, for Italian food.

The Aristocrat, at corner of Roxas Boulevard and San Andres Street in Malate, for inexpensive Filipino food; 521-8147.

The Tempura-Misono Restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel, 2702 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, for inexpensive, good Japanese food; 831-2611.

Guided tours: Dependable city tours are available from American Express in the PhilamLife Building on United Nations Avenue, 506-480, and Thomas Cook on Ayala Avenue in Makati, 816-3701.

Where to shop: In general, try the Makati Commercial Center. For antiques and handicrafts, a good street is A. Mabini, in Ermita. Pistang Pilipino on M.H. Del Pilar Street in Ermita has numerous stalls with handicrafts and jewelry.

Warning: Because of the coup attempt early this year and tension concerning the presence of U.S. military bases in the Philippines, the State Department urges tourists to exercise caution.

For more information: Contact the Philippine Ministry of Tourism, 3660 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 216, Los Angeles 90010, (213) 487-4525.