The author's mother once protested outside Manila's Peninsula hotel. On a recent visit, mother and son stayed there.Peninsula Manila
As soon as I land in my birthplace of Manila, I’m struck anew by my countrymen’s signature friendliness, from a gauntlet of flight attendants, still cheerful after a 20-hour journey from New York, to gate agents and luggage handlers who exclaim, “Welcome home!” I pass by groups of smiling locals, waving at strangers as they eagerly wait to be reunited with relatives and friends.
Visiting other Southeast Asian cities like Hanoi, in Vietnam, or Cambodia’s Phnom Penh, filled with historic architecture, can be like taking a trip into the past, but the capital of the Philippines is a metropolis constantly looking to the future. I visit Manila every few years since I moved to America two decades ago, and I remain shocked by how much has changed each time I return.
The Philippines, which was dubbed the “sick man of Asia” during the ’90s because of its sluggish economy and political corruption, is undergoing a resurgence. Thanks to a steady stream of foreign investment, dollars sent home by overseas workers and an increase in infrastructure projects, the World Bank recently reported that the Philippines is one of the best-performing economies in Asia. Manila has also seen a cultural renaissance — trendy restaurants, galleries and nightspots have opened up that cater to a growing urban middle class who crave western luxuries. But the country’s large income inequality remains: brand-new condominiums occupied by the ultra-wealthy stand alongside crammed shanties filled with squatters.
And despite president Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial (and often violent) war on drugs, Manila has seen an overall drop in crime. It’s also an affordable mega-city compared to neighbors like Singapore and Hong Kong. A large English-speaking population helps, too.
The city’s young and fashionable hang out at blingy nightclub Revel at The Palace.
Revel at The Palace
Thanks to a new four-lane highway, our car takes a faster route into Fort Bonifacio, a district southeast of the city center named after Andres Bonifacio, father of the 19th century’s Philippine Revolution, which resulted in the archipelago’s freedom from Spanish rule. Fifteen years ago, this sparsely populated land contained former military bases, a mass grave for World War II veterans and the international school I attended. In the past 20 years, it’s been transformed into the city’s flashiest commercial district and rebranded “Global City.” Everywhere I look there are growing high-rises and office buildings, their construction cranes saluting the sky.
We pull up to the Shangri-La, the Asian chain’s third and newest outpost in Manila (from $181); its glassy exterior transports me into a Sofia Coppola film. A brigade of kitten-heeled concierges greet guests, and one of them leads me past the marble lobby and into a gilded elevator that shoots us up to the 50th floor.
Manila, Shangri-La-style.
Shangri-La
Opened in March 2016, the hotel embodies Manila’s claim to modernity, featuring 576 rooms decked out with glass cabinets and surround-sound audio systems. The staff’s de facto language is English, not Tagalog, the colorful dialect spoken by most natives of the northern Philippines.
On the third floor is a two-story gym with basketball and squash courts. The lobby connects to a string of high-end designer stores; on the second floor is Provenance Art Gallery, which features works by local artists.
To stave off jet lag, I head across the hall to meet my grandfather at the hotel’s members-only lounge, which offers a bevy of complimentary snacks and top-shelf liquors. From our table, we could see Manila’s country club and Forbes Park, a green space that’s home to virtually all Filipino one-percenters. The view stretches into Makati, the city’s high-gloss financial district.
I order champagne, and my grandfather, a retired electrician who’s never stepped foot in this hotel before, asks for a glass of Hennessy without ice. His daughter — my mother — was a dirt-poor single mom who left her family’s provincial home to create a new life for herself in Manila.
“Don’t forget where you came from,” he warns. We clink glasses.
Typically, we’d eat at a family-style Filipino restaurant and scarf down meat stews, fried pork and stir-fried noodles. But tonight, for dinner, my grandfather and I meet my mom at Raging Bull, the hotel’s art deco-style steakhouse, which serves some of the best filets in town. It’s popular for business lunches and dinners, and a happy hour spot for professionals who work nearby.
It’s a sign of a larger shift. Over the past several years, Manila’s food scene has transformed from mostly mom-and-pop eateries and fast food restaurants into a wider selection of international and fusion spots that offer cool twists on Filipino cuisine.
A handsome dish with colorful beetroot at Hey Handsome.
Hey Handsome
A few evenings later, we eat at nearby Hey Handsome, an industrial cafe dreamed up by a ragtag group of local culinary students and frequented by yuppies and hipster types. Menus inspired by Asian flavors are written on chalkboards. Tapas-sized dishes include pork belly with sambal matah (an Indonesian salsa) and a quinoa salad mixed with yogurt, beet root and paneer, an Indian cheese (entrees from $10).
A 15-minute, $5 cab ride away, down an alley in Makati, is Toyo Eatery, a sleek restaurant with a seven-course tasting menu. Some highlights are the belly and loin of bangus, a milkfish entree grilled over charcoal, and the restaurant’s signature sweet, a chocolate truffle baked with caramel and fish sauce (which is ubiquitous in Southeast Asia’s savory dishes but virtually unheard of in a dessert) (tasting menus from $30 per person).
Back in Global City, hidden behind the back of a 7-Eleven, is Bank Bar. A dimly lit speakeasy where handsome servers clad serve Old Fashioneds, it’s the perfect place to begin a Friday evening.
Later on, a friend introduces me to two raven-haired models — one who’s regularly appeared in local fashion campaigns, the other is a soap opera actress. They wind up serving as my unofficial tour guides to the new Manila.
We head a few blocks north to the Palace Pool, a mega-club stacked with the city’s rich and beautiful (and those aspiring to be either). It’s surrounded by a series of other bars where patrons shake hands like Americans and air-kiss like Spaniards — two cultures that previously ran the Philippines. Some guests on the second floors of other bars look down at poolside dancers and clap and laugh as if watching a show.
For a taste of old Manila glamour, head to the Peninsula (from $140) in the heart of Makati, where my mother and I stay during our last night in the city. Built in 1976 during Ferdinand Marcos’ embattled presidency, it’s one of the city’s oldest extant hotels. His shopaholic wife Imelda (known for her vast shoe collection) would often host foreign dignitaries there during her stint as First Lady.
Poolside at the Peninsula.
Virgile Simon Bertrand
During the People Power Revolution in 1986, my mother and legions of activists protested outside. Now, we’re sitting in the hotel’s Manila Bar amongst the city’s fashionable set, sipping on martinis as cigarette smoke wafts around us.
And though the hotel has seen change in the past four decades — even surviving an attempted military coup in 2007 — it’s still retained its retro charm. Rooms are furnished with a mashup of marble, Filipino art and bamboo weaving, while gracious bellhops are clad in Chinese collars.
But in Manila, change manages to seep into even the most old-school establishments. Next to us at the bar, a well-appointed couple is deep in conversation about politics. Word on the street is that an executive order is being considered that would ban smoking in all public areas in the city, as well as implement a tobacco tax. The woman pulls out a Marlboro, which the man lights with a Zippo.
“Is it really necessary?” she says in Tagalog. “We’re trying to become too American.”
Tellingly, six months later, Duterte’s smoking ban passes.
The author was a guest of the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila, and the Peninsula Manila.
https://nypost.com/2017/12/04/a-manila-native-charts-the-rapid-progress-of-his-hometown/
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