Starting Somewhere I Would Never Have Found
My counterpart took me to a bar in Poblacion that I had walked past several times without recognizing it as a bar. The entrance was through a gap in a building that appeared to be residential — a corridor that opened into a courtyard that served as the bar's outdoor seating area. Inside the courtyard: plants, string lights, a bar serving drinks I had not seen anywhere else in Manila, and about 20 people who clearly knew the place well. This is the Manila that expats and locals with genuine city knowledge keep for themselves. The cocktails were 380 PHP each and worth considerably more than that.
A Live Music Venue I Did Not Know Existed
From the hidden bar we walked to a venue three streets over that gave no indication from the outside of what was inside. Inside was a small music venue — not a bar with occasional live music but a space specifically designed around a stage and a sound system. A Filipino band was playing original material: Filipino indie-folk with jazz influences, performed to an audience of maybe 60 people who were clearly familiar with the music. Several people were singing along. I had spent four months primarily in the BGC-Poblacion axis and had missed an entire layer of the city's musical culture. The band was genuinely good. Beer: 150 PHP. Wine by the glass: 250 PHP. We stayed for two hours.
The Lesson About Manila's Depth
At some point around 1:30 AM she said something about Manila that I have been thinking about since: that the city does not reveal itself to people who are only looking at its surface, but for people willing to go past the obvious layer, it shows you something that most places do not have. Total cost: hidden courtyard bar approximately 760 PHP per person, live music venue approximately 450 PHP per person, BGC rooftop approximately 1,100 PHP per person, Grab rides approximately 160 PHP per person. Total per person: approximately 2,470 PHP. The most memorable night in Manila cost 2,470 PHP and was almost entirely planned by someone who knew the city.
