The Real Face of Metro Manila

This blog is the continuation of the previous post: "Singaporing" Manila – Reversing the Reality Part 1

Here are some facts and figures about Metro Manila. In 2011, the population of Metro Manila (or Kalakhang Maynila) is 11,855,975. Consisting of 16 cities and one municipality, its total land area is 638.55 sq. km. A permanent resident of Manila is called Manileño. As of 2010, Metro Manila is the 11th most populous city in the world.

Here are some of the photos taken from different areas of Metro Manila today.





































You’ve just seen how Manila looks like today. In February 2013, I wrote “Why Business will Grow in Manila?” In this post, I cited that business will grow in Manila or in the Philippines provided that these three conditions would be met.

Condition #1: Mind your own business.
Condition #2: Forget about varying political and religious point of views.
Condition #3: Save for real. Invest for real.

I wrote this article three months after my arrival in …

I stayed in Singapore as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) for one year and half. To be honest, I like staying in this country. However, I don’t love working in this country, the main reason why I only worked that long. But I could definitely say that I’ve done my mission of working abroad for good. I saved some. I helped some. Now, I am with my wife and my dogs, plants, and living and working in my own house. Simple life is the result of my short patience and sacrifices while working in Singapore.


I am a kind of OFW who is very thrifty when it comes to travel and leisure. If it’s about spending for fun, I could definitely say that I am at the bottom of the list. Instead, what I like to do is explore those places where I will spend less or almost nothing and during off season when fares and cost of tickets are low. I am talking about places in Singapore. As you know, this country is very small in terms of land area. It ranks 190th(out of 249) in terms of total land area. With excellen…

Last January 4 to 6, 2014, I and my wife visited Malaysia, a neighboring country of Singapore. This is one of my most thrifty 3-days international trip ever. With good planning and preparation, we only spent a total of around Php10,000 (all-in) – that is from Singapore to Malaysia then back to Singapore. How were we able to do it? On this blog with amazing photos, I will share with you the tips and guides on how Php10,000 became enough for our once in a life time trip.




A Thrifty Trip - Overview
Well, believe it or not, in this 3-days thrifty trip we have been able to ride these 5 modes of transportation – airplane, bus, train, ferry, and car. From Singapore, we took Tigerair (a budget airline) at the cost of only Php5,200 (or S$152 for 2 pax on a two-way trip). This was made possible with 3 months advance booking and at the same time availing a $0 promotion on the return flight to Singapore. Budget airlines like Tigerair and Jetstar (my preferred airlines going back and forth to the Phi…