City Scene, Manila

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A Great Place to Gamble! (Yes I'm a Gambler!)

PAGCOR-PAVILION BINGO SCHEDULE:

a. 5:00 to 9:00 pm (M T W Th)
b. 2:00 to 6:00 pm (Sat & Sun)

SLOT MACHINE REGULAR PROMOTIONS:

a. Lucky Pick Promotion (Main)
12nn-4pm (Tuesdays & Sundays)
b. Payday Raffle Promo (Main)
6pm-12mn (15th & 30th)
c. Mucho Papremyo Raffle Promo (Ronquillo)
12mn (Thursdays & Sundays)
d. First Five at Four Early Bird Promo (Mabini)
4pm (Daily)
e. Raffle Mania (Mabini)
8pm-12mn every 2nd & 4th Sunday of the Month
f. Winner on Wheels (WOW) Car Raffle Promo
g. Jackpot To Joyride SM Promo

TABLE GAME REGULAR PROMOTION:

a. Araw-Araw Instant Papremyo (Main), 6pm-10pm (Daily)
b. Winner on Wheels (WOW) Car Raffle Promo

NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT

Mondays Sabor Latino (10pm-2am)
Tuesdays IAXE Band (9pm-2am)
Wednesdays Beat (9pm-2am)
Thursdays MixMatch Band (9pm-2am)
Fridays Joey Mulatto Band (9pm-2am)
Saturdays Moranos w/ Ledge Dancers (9pm-2am)
Sundays Silk (9pm-2am)

PAGCOR Club-Ronquillo

Mondays Tom Cat (9pm-1am)
Tuesdays Two Notes (9pm-1am)
Wednesdays Palito & D'Gang (9pm-1am)
Thursdays Henry Madrid (9pm-1am)
Fridays Black & White (9pm-1am)
Saturdays Quarter Notes (9pm-1am)
Sundays Elvis (9pm-1am)

ADAPTED FROM CREWROWER'S PHILIPPINE FORUM REPLY *

For layover sightseeing, one good thing is that the airport is in Pasay City, which is essentially part of Manila's sprawl. So from the airport you can get on a bus or taxi and you're already in the city. One bad thing is that Manila's traffic gridlock is notorious, so you won't want to cut things too closely.

I suggest researching Intromuros (the reminants of city wall from Spanish colonial days) and the San Augustin cathedral. Also the "BayWalk" along the Manila Bay is recommended by many - I like it too but less so in the day. It's a nice area to watch the sunset and listen to music with beer in the evening. Also a lot of interesting shopping malls - the "Mall of Asia" not far from the airport bills itself as Asia's largest. The Philippines embraces the concept of the American shopping mall, but with fun Philippine characteristics. If you hit up a mall in Cebu, though, that'll be enough. Otherwise consider doing it in Manila.

Jeepneys are the most common form of public transport throughout the many islands of the Philippines. In Manila they are so numerous, that there is almost constantly traffic congestion. The jeepneys don't have air-conditioning. They have open windows. Most of the time the jeepneys are constantly-packed with many passengers. Jeepneys offer one of the cheapest ways of getting somewhere. They seldom have a special place to stop. The drivers will slow down enough to enable the passengers to jump on or out.

In the countryside the jeepneys offer possibilities to carry all kind of stuff. Chickens, sometimes even a pork, 50 kg sacs with rice and so on. Passengers are inside the jeepney, but more than once hanging on the back of the jeepney. The jeepneys are many times overloaded. Overloaded? There's always room for "just one more". So, if someone asks you 'How many people can you fit in a jeepney?', you know the only answer: " Just one more!"

Jeepneys are of origin old American jeeps. They were used in the war against the Japanese army who occupied the Philippines for several years. After the Japanese army was defeated and the American military mission was completed, the jeeps were left

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Manila has a few other historical catholic churches, outside Intramuros:

1. Basilica Minore of the Black Nazarene, Quiapo, Manila

More popularly known as Quiapo Church, this minor basilica is actually named St. John The Baptist Church. Widely visited for its said-to-be miraculous statue of the Black Nazarene, thousands of faithful gather every 9th of January to parade and celebrate its feast day - a must see!

2. Basilica Minore of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, Binondo, Manila

This church is a site to behold, considering its old baroque architecture being surrounded by modern structures. Founded in 1596, it was destroyed during WWII and restored in 1972.

3. Basilica De San Sebastian, Plaza del Carmen, Quiapo, Manila

This all-steel church, first in the Philippines and in Asia and second in the world, was designed by Gustave Eiffel (designer of Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, etc.) in 1883 and was prefabricated in Belgium. Completely knocked-down for shipping to the Philippines in 6 ships, it weighed close to 50,000 tons. Its stained-glass windows were done in France.

4. Remedios Church, M. H. del Pilar St., Malate, Manila

Another beautiful baroque-era church, the Our Lady of Remedies Church was built in late 16th century by Augustinians. A 1624-statue of the Virgin Mary, unscathed after the bombings of WWII, is kept inside and revealed only during its feast day on every third Sunday of November.

5. Holy Spirit Parish, Sta. Cruz, Manila

The Araneta Coliseum is the largest indoor facility in Southeast Asia, with a dome diameter of 108 meters. It is located in Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed "The Big Dome", it hosts sporting and entertainment events in the country.

The beautiful campus of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Sampaloc, Manila is like an oasis in the midst of the city's dense concrete jungle. Old trees, parks and green fields co-exist with the institutions infrastructures and dozens of buildings housing various colleges, faculties, hospital, church, etc. The stunning main building houses the university's Museum of Arts and Sciences. At its Espana Gate stands the Arch of Centuries - part of the main entrance of the original UST building at Intramuros destroyed during World War II.

Founded in 1611, UST antedates Harvard University (America's oldest) by 25 years and is reputed to be the oldest existing university in Asia. UST is also the largest catholic university in the world, in terms of student population (Est: 30,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduates).

Since its foundation, academic life was interrupted only twice: 1898 to 1899, during the Philippine revolution against Spain; and 1942 to 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Manila, when the university was converted by the invaders into a concentration camp.

Among its long list of notable alumnus are four Philippine presidents - Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmena, Jose Laurel and Diosdado Macapagal; heroes - Dr. Jose Rizal (national hero), Emilio Jacinto, Apolinario Mabini and Antonio Luna; ten saints, including the first Filipino saint - St. Lorenzo Ruiz; fourteen national artists including Leandro Locsin, Ernani Cuenco and Alejandro Roces; business people Tony Tan Caktiong, Washington Sycip, Alfredo Velayo, etc.

In recognition of the university's achievements, a number of important dignitaries have officially visited, among them, during the last three decades: His Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 28, 1970; His Royal Highness King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1974 and 1995; Mother Teresa of Calcutta in January 1977 and again in November 1984; Pope John Paul II on February 18, 1981 and January 13, 1995.

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Let this be a thing to do, transportation, warning & a tourist trap tip rolled into one kind of tip...

It's fun to ride the kalesa (kah-leh-sah) & see the Manila sites, but before doing so, make sure the driver is telling you the truth. He told us that the fee was 250/hour & we had a 1 hr 1/2 trip, so more or less, the trip was PhP325.

I had my autistic savant brother, RJ w/ me because I didn't want to travel alone @ night after our VT meet & since we arrived Manila at around 4:30PM, we had ample time. I told the driver that "I'd pretend I'm a tourist, but please, don't charge us (his name is Jonjon) sky high because I only have enough". I made sure to tell him that even if I were dressed like a rich person I wasn't equipped. He said, "Of course, ma'am...don't worry"

I was thinking he was just going to give us a ride around the Malate area, but I was wrong, he brought us to Intramuros and Chinatown. I don't regret that, but I thought to myself, What's 325 for moments of pleasure & my brother seems to be having fun...

When we returned to Malate, the 325 became PhP1,000. I don't understand his logic...he said it became per person...so even if it were per person it's only PhP500, right? Then he reasoned it was a special trip...up to Chinatown...I already told him that I'm not really a tourist & he knew darn well that I even know the places...I said 500...then he begged for more..

Honestly, I was going to give him 500, thinking that the tip was already included, but man! The trap was he wouldn't let us down until we gave a good deal or maybe let the trained horse go on if we wouldn't pay his price...It only went down to PhP700!

People like that won't be able to sleep at night...wait a minute, I'm an insomniac. Let me rephrase that, people like that would never sleep like a baby. They will have restless sleep and will ALWAYS be disturbed by their consciences whether they get rich or not!

At any rate, now that you know, you can STAND FIRM that if it's only 250 per hour, it's only 250 per hour!

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As a tourist without friends who are members of this exclusive club, you can still "view" the Yacht Club from the outside, but let me give you a glimpse of how it looks from the inside.

The food is great and the service is superb, but I cannot put this on the resto review because it's for members of only (maybe I'll still do one later)