Manila - Malate

Malate is a poor neighborhood near the bay. It is perhaps the closest thing Manila has to Bangkok's Khao San Road, a quasi-backpacker's haven with a range of hotels, restaurants, and discos, but without so many tourists. Malate is a slice of real life. Small children selling peanuts or roses or just begging for money. Waiters working 7 days a week for $200 a month. The guy with the stack of cheap guitars on his shoulder. The rich cruising down the street in big black cheuffeured SUVs. Groups of young Filipinos out for dancing. Japanese or Korean guys with their young Filipina escorts. Trash. Pedicabs and motorcycles. Guys hawking Viagara or cheap old coins. There is a Starbucks in the middle of it all where you can pay 10 times more for a cup of coffee than at the Filipino coffeehouses down the street. There is an enormous clean Western-style shopping mall a couple of blocks away with all the western chains. Across the street it is all run-down storefronts of money-changers and lotto booths. Down on Remedios and Atlantico streets there are nice restaurants with great live bands inside, while outside there are cheap plastic tables and chairs with very cheap food and drinks.  
I don't know who the statue is, but it sits in a park at the entrance to Malate. We saw a show of a famous Filipino ska band in this park one evening.
  
There is an improbable number of these stainless steel bus things. They are a form of privately-owned public transport.
  
Pedicabs abound as well, if you don't have far to go.
  

  
The church in Malate. 80% of the population in the Philippines is Catholic.

  
Late afternoon at a fruit stand on a sidestreet in Malate.

  
Need a new hairstyle?

Boracay

Started off my first Philippines experience with 3 days on the island of Boracay. The Philippines has 7,101 islands, and Boracay is one of the smaller ones, with no airport of its own. From Manila we took an hour flight to a neighboring island, a 2 hour van ride to the other side of the island, and then a half hour boat ride to reach Boracay. These are the only two good pictures that are accessible at the moment, but I may add more later.

Comecei minha primeira experiencia nas Filipinas com 3 dias na ilha de Boracay, uma pequena das 7.101 ilhas das Filipinas.
  
Boracay is perhaps the Philippines' most famous touristy resort island, with one whole side of the island lined with hotels, restaurants, and discos. There are tons of foreigners there, lots of people hawking diving excursions, surfing and parasailing and jet-ski rentals, and there are loads of Muslim vendors selling fake watches and sunglasses.
  
It's a beautiful place with fine sand and very clear water, but a bit overpriced by Pinoy standards and it was a bit too tourist-heavy for my tastes. I had a good time there but was glad to get back to Manila.