Leaving Cebu traveling to Manila for next adventure.
Cebu City vs Manila Makati
To compare a little bit about Cebu and Manila; First of course is language. Cebu speaks Cebuano while Manila speaks Tagalog. However, most of the people in Philippines speak English which is a great advantage for tourists.
Manila has a huge traffic congestion that makes some foreigners frustrated about Manila. It will take you an hours when traffic is bad. While Cebu you will experience a bit less traffic during peak hours.
The taxis in Cebu are a lot better than Manila. Most Cebu taxis uses metered taxi while in Manila the taxis want to pay extra over the meter or a set price. They will not let you in the taxi unless you agree to the price. If you say meter they will drive off. We payed extra for airport taxi going to Makati for about 800 pesos.
Accommodation in Cebu are cheaper than Manila is many cases. The main City in Cebu has lots of hotels are on Ayala and IT Park. There are many hotels in Manila but it is difficult to find a good hotel at a cheaper price.
Restaurants in Cebu are cheaper most establishment open for breakfast are fast-food like McDonald's, Jollibee, Starbucks and others.
Cebu
Nightlife in Cebu is safer than Manila, we can go out with friends and walked at night.
Screenshots source from Numbeo.
Manila
E-Hotel Makati
We stayed at E-Hotel Makati few minutes walk to the busy Makati Central Business District and first class shopping and recreational areas located at the upscale Greenbelt and Glorietta Malls. The check in time was 2PM. We booked Deluxe twin room for about 1500 pesos per night for a week with basic amenities. The 2 comfy double beds are enough to make your night in sleep tight. WiFi went out for a couple days and not as good as what you expected in Manila internet it goes on and off.
Lots of potential but the carpets are very dirty. Our feet and socks turned black if we walked on carpets in the room without sandals. However E-Hotel has a great location is great right across Greenbelt.
Greenbelt (Ayala Center)
Greenbelt is a shopping mall with a lot of restaurants located at Ayala Center, Makati, Metro, Manila, Philippines which is just near Glorietta malls and SM Makati. They are open at 10:00AM to 10:30PM.
The malls offers a mix of high-end retail shops, restaurants, amenities, leisure and entertainment. Currently, the mall has five sections: two enclosed areas, two buildings with open-air shopping areas, and Greenbelt 5, which opened in 2007.
Greenbelt 1 features mostly appliance and supply stores.
Greenbelt 2 features mostly restaurants.
Greenbelt 3 features a mix of international brands.
Greenbelt 4 features high-end boutiques.
Greenbelt 5 has boutiques of Filipino designers, high-end department store Adora, and other boutiques.
Restaurants can be found in Greenbelt 1, 2, 3 and 5, with Greenbelt 1 being concentrated more on fast-food, while Greenbelt 2, 3, and 5 feature sit-down restaurant.
Walking at the courtyard 10:00 in the morning most of them not open yet this is mostly like for afternoon and evening place. They also have a couple places for smoking areas but I don't smoke you can't smoke anywhere in the mall.
Bulgogi Brothers Korean BBQ Restaurant
After a couple minutes of walking we decided to eat in a Korean restaurant the “Bulgogi Brothers Korean BBQ Restaurant”. Most of the restaurants here in Greenbelt has great ambiance but also expensive from other restaurant I have experienced. The food is good but the dumplings sauce is too spicy for me. Remember that when you order a food in a Korean restaurant don't ask for spicy or says a little bit spicy because it will be super super spicy. More than what you expected. I'm not a fan of spicy but I do like Kim chi more than other spicy dishes. They will give you a side dishes like Kimchi, sweet corn, sweet small fish, spinach salad and green letus salad. The Bibimbap and Dumplings are good but don't forget the spicy hot sauce. I dip it too much before knowing this was too spicy for me.
Wildflour Cafe + Bakery
Wildflour Cafe is just a couple minutes walked from our hotel.
French modern bakery with Asian dishes included in the menu but mostly its a great place for pastries. Probably one of the best cafes in manila. It is a bit more expensive but you are paying for the best quality. We keep saying we were going to try other places but found ourselves walking back to Wildflour. Pastries are so good but expensive from other pastries. Box of any 4 pastries costs 450 pesos.
Wildflour Breakfast
Monte Cristo
Oatmeal Brulee & House Cured Salmon and Eggs on Toast
Ham Mushrooms and Eggs on Toast
Chorizo Fundido
Shakshouka
Cyma Greek Restaurant
Its a Greek food franchise we tried in Cebu and now in Manila we go there to look for vegetables when we are feeling the need for more healthy food. They have a good Greek salad and one of the best Tuna we had. The restaurant is easy to overlook it was next to Watami Grill & Sushi Bar Japanese restaurant at first floor of Greenbelt 2 near 8 Bits Burger Place and close to smoking area.
Greek Salad
Tuna
J.CO Donuts & Coffee
The best donuts in the Philippines and many foreigners like it better than Crispy Cream and Dunken Donuts.
You only found this donuts in some areas in Philippines but not every cities has it. They have a plenty choices of flavors for 6 pcs box cost 252 pesos. The colorful flavors will make you want to try every pieces. Many Filipinos will take a large box of donuts home to the province on the airplane or ferry with them.
You can find good things and bad things in each city. There are probably more similarities than differences. Let your heart focus on the good things wherever you travel.
I hope this post helps you for your future travel plans.
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