Manila VS Cebu: No contest.
This is another long overdue post since we got back from Manila over a month ago. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post about how excited I was to visit Ann, I failed to mention that the anticipation was bitter-sweet.
I was born in Manila and spent the first half of my life there. In 1990, my mom and my other siblings moved to Cebu. I stayed with my brother in Manila because I simply didn’t want to leave my friends and the life I knew behind. It took 2 years’ worth of resistance before I finally followed and moved in with them.
Here we are, 15 years later… and I can’t imagine myself living anywhere else in the world. It would take a very very VERY attractive package before I would even consider moving back to Manila.
Manila has its perks… compared to Cebu, the shopping is simply incredible (though we are catching up faster now than we ever did). The nightlife is in full gear too. But it’s the food that I love the most. Whatever I was craving for, it was so easy to find… and then some.
But during this last trip to Manila, I was horrified how much smog developed during the past few years. A tall building as close as a 100 meters was as hazy as trees on a foggy day. I can’t believe how much concrete surrounded me.
The traffic was also horrendous. A usual 30 minute drive for us here at home would take about an hour and a half there. Which was why we missed our flight. A sudden downpour caused a web of traffic. Ann’s usual 1 hour travel time from picking the kids up from school and going home turned into a six (yes, SIX!) hour wait.
It was such a relief to be back home. Though Manila offers a very glamorous lifestyle: the shopping, the dining, the nightlife… and Cebu could be very backward in that sense… I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone glamorous in Manila.
Yes, I will miss the food. But I won’t miss the smog… the traffic… the high stress levels… the floods… the acid rain… the expense. Cebu is home. Cebu is laid back, hot and sunny, cheap… PROVINCIAL. Just the way it should be. I love Cebu for its flaws… for it is why Cebu is Cebu.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:26 am
cebu is better than manila
September 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
so true, john… oh so true.
and i’m so happy that i live in cebu.
May 15th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Thanks, I enjoyed reading your post. It?s nice to see someone writing something worth reading. Take care.
- Jack
June 21st, 2009 at 5:01 am
Cebu outdoes Manila for once!!
Visited parkmall today. Out of Africa BBQ and Steakhouse is on soft opening.
So this is great, a major international franchise has come to Cebu first, before Manila! This should happen more often.
This is my report! Details come from the manager and owners who gave me a tour….it is like a museum!
The restaurant is amazing, animal heads, African paintings and sculptures. There is a African Safari Lodge upstairs that is not yet finished, since they are on soft opening. An original 100 year old bar from South Africa and separate antique wine rack.
They have a Father’s Day special of CROCODILE. The owner told me that they would have Ostrich, Wild Boar, Water Buffalo, Turtle, Deer, Lamb, Venison, Goat, Iguana and other exotic meats after their grand opening in July of 2009.
The chef was trained by two of the Out of Africa Group chefs from South Africa. I met Mike who is the on site consultant from South Africa.
The manager told me that they tested the menu for 6 months in Cebu, before opening the first franchise and their flagship restaurant in the Philippines of Out of Africa BBQ and Steakhouse in Parkmall.
The crocodile was great!
intp
July 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am
I haven’t had the opportunity to visit Parkmall lately but thanks to your comment, i will very soon.
I’m not that adventurous when it comes to food, i like my food normal but maybe I should let my inhibitions go and try out the exotic menu. Thank you!!!
August 7th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Going back home to Cebu from Australia we used to stop in Manila and catch a domestic airplane to Cebu. But, after an 11 hour flights and getting off at Manila International Airports. The first thing we notice is the pollution, the pollutions is just so high, it is like breathing carbon dioxide. So after many years, we now just catch a direct flight to Cebu. No more stopping at Manila. What’s the best way do you think the Government can reduce the pollution in Manila? There must be away…Because at the end of the day, Manila is also a very modern and a very beautiful city…and beautiful people…
September 21st, 2009 at 5:07 am
i would rather say cebu lags behind manila far ahead, manila is such developed city that it is the 2nd richest city in southeast asia only singapore beat manila. cebu is such a clean and well settings city because it is not modern yet, manila is such a polluted because it experience wars and modern industrialization.
October 24th, 2009 at 2:49 am
Cebu is a whole package. It has the modern night life, beaches and resorts, historical places, waterfalls, mountains and rural life. It’s very easy to escape from the city’s hassle by just going to beaches in the north or in the south and come back again. Manila maybe the second richest but Cebu has been always the fasting growing economy in the Philippines and Asia. If only Philippines is a federal country like USA, Cebu might have already outlasted Manila in no time. And unlike Manila, Cebu rarely gets typhoon. I love Cebu. I miss Cebu.