Trip to Manila (Overview)

Assalamua'laikum wbt & Good Day,

When the route was temporarily introduced somewhere in the first quarter of 2014, I was too eager to check if there is any special promotion. Oh, I forgot to share that eye-ing for newly introduced route is another trick to get special fare for any flights.

Although there's no more direct flight from MYY to MNL, I am somehow thankful that I get the opportunity to visit the country of Jose Rizal, one of Philippines warriors during old days. It takes us about 2 hours and 30 minutes to reach Manila from Miri. We spent 6 days 5 nights there but in reality, we just have the luxury to explore Manila for four days since our departure flight arrived Manila at dusk and we have to leave for Miri as early as 11 am.

Rizal Monument, Luneta National Park, Manila

Our first impression upon arriving at Manila is it is almost like Las Vegas as the hotels near to the airport were all luxuries; on top of the Spanish American English accents spoken by its citizens. I was lucky that day since my Philippines colleague was also boarded the same flight so his presence is quite helpful; at least to get a slightly lower rate for taxi to Makati.

It takes about 30 minutes from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to reach our hotel in Makati. The reason I selected that hotel on top of quite good reviews from Trip Advisor was there's one Pakistanis halal restaurant which takes us less than 10 minutes walk from the hotel. Mind you, searching for halal food in Manila is quite challenging on top of expensive.

In general, we only spent one day to visit historical places in Manila and the remaining three days were all utilized for shopping. I cannot deny the fact that Manila is a heaven for handbags shoppers. We spent our first day by visiting Intramuros. We searched for handbags extensively on second day at Greenhills Shopping Centre, Tutuban Centre and Chinatown on third day and a day before we returned to Miri, we spent our time at Mall of Asia, one of the biggest shopping centre in South East Asia.

The Mall of Asia Amusement Park

The Eye, Mall of Asia, Pasai City

Although it is quite challenging to find halal food in Manila, a good thing is in every mall, there'll be at least one halal food cafe. But of course, whenever the supply is less than the demand, the price is somehow not worthy for that kind of taste. But back to our initial intention, we are traveling to experience the various cultures and environments, not just to fill our empty stomach.

Oh, our return flight from Miri to Manila only cost us 86 MYR per person. So this is the main reason I traveled to Manila although this city is not in my checklists. After all, it is the experiences and life lessons that matter while we live as Allah's slave in this temporary world.

Have a nice day :)

Wassalam.

P/s: This post is drafted while I am heading for Kuching from Miri via MH 643.