MANILA –FOR TRAVELERS
November 11, 2009 by admin
Filed under Tourist Attractions
MANILA –FOR TRAVELERS
At one o’clock on a weekday night Manila’s Roxas Boulevard (of Baywallk, as I is better known) is buzzing with a variety of entertainment. A group of young stand-up comedians in lurid polyester overalls, sporting gelled Mohawk manes, tumble across a temporary stage shrieking Tagalog lines that send the crowds into hysterical fits of laughter. A little further down a band called Harmony belts out mushy hip-hop to people sitting at a café. Vendors selling corn on the cob, cigarettes, guitars and ballot-a duck’s egg boiled once the chick inside has reached a certain stage of development (often having grown feathers too), a very popular and very grisly local delicacy- weave in and out of the crowds. On another makeshift stage, a group of young rappers keeps the audience dancing. A warm breeze sweeps in from Manila Bay, shaking the coconut trees, sending the decorative neon globes that line the boulevard into spasms, and distorting the faint light of ships anchored in the bay. A steady stream of traffic flows by.
The first thing that strikes you about Manila is not the beautiful bay, the smoggy traffic, the fantastic sunsets of the many different types of food-it’s the music. It’s everywhere. At the airport a 11-piece Pinikpikan band plays a harmonious (sometimes frantic) fusion of local folk music and modern jam-band rock, using bamboo reed pipes, flutes, xylophones and percussion instruments, singing in English and local dialects.
If there’s one thing Manila is not, it’s a walker’s city. Metro Manila is 17 different cities (Or administrative areas) rolled into one large National Capital Region (NCR), of which Manila city is one. Apart from a few areas in Intramurous (the old Spanish city) and parts of Malate and Ermita (the area around Baywalk,) the others are either too chaotic or too crowded to enjoy walking through.
GETTING AROUND IN MANILA Moving around in Manila is fairly cheap- taxis are the most comfortable and usually will not cost more than P250. Jeepneys are a much more fun way to see the city and talk to Manilineans but they can get hot and dusty
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OUTSIDE MANILA Buses are the easiest ways to travel around Luzon,
But the bus system is fairly disorganized and there is no central station-it’s best to ask at your hotel. If you’re planning to travel to other islands you’ll have to take a boat. There are three major shipping lines, which handle inter-island traffic Negros Navigation Sullpicio Lines and Super ferry.
TOP TIP
SOUVENIR the Philippines has a lot by way of handicraft- from detailed wood carving to garments made from pineapple and banana fibre (barong Tagalog). But one of the nicest souvenirs is one of these gaily-coloured hand- painted vases. They are elaborately patterned and come in many different sizes. You’ll find them at a shop called Kultura at the Mall of Asia in Manila.
WHERE & WHAT TO EAT There’s a huge variety of food in the Philippines-every island has its own specialty. In Manila you can sample nearly all the different regional cuisines- from Tocino (honey-cured pork) to inihaw (grilled seafood, often including milkfish, marinated in kalamansi juice). If you’re adventurous you can try novelties like Balut or Tenga (pig’s ears).
WHAT TO DO
>An evening on Baywalk is a must do. Listen to some of the local bands; drink coffee at one of the many cafes, of hang out at one of the open-air bars with wonderful views of Manila Bay.
>its well worth doing a walking tour through Intramurous. Star at the Intramurous Visitors Center at the entrance to Fort Santiago, the seat of Spanish power. Don’t miss the San Agustin Church-the oldest church in the Philippines. The ornate interior is filled with significant historical objects. Stop by at EC. Manazan Handicrafts on Santa Clara Street to pick up some local handicrafts.
>The Greenbelt shopping mall in Makati can be fun to hang out at, after which you can visit the Ayala Museum, around the corner. It’s an excellent museum with dioramas on Filipino culture, art and history.
>Walk through Rizal Park, a 60-hectare spread of lawns, ornamental gardens and wooded areas. Every day hundreds of people come here to jog, picnic, sing, and practice local martial arts like arnis de mano (stick-fighting). There’s an open-air auditorium, which has concerts on Sunday.
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Can Pasay City Still Excite People?
For most Filipinos, Makati and Ortigas are two of the best cities to check out, since both offer exciting spots as well as discoveries evoking human senses. Pasay City being one of the original four cities of Metro Manila and was famous back in the American era is still capable of competing with its neighboring districts.
It is bordered on the north by the country’s capital, Manila, to the northeast by Makati City, to the east by Taguig City, and Parañaque City to the south.
What can actually excite visitors of Pasay City? There are at least five interesting finds visitors should not fail to experience.
Touring Pasay City via a Jeepney Ride. Riding a Jeepney is not only cheaper, and it gives visitors a taste of real Manila. A tour in Manila, particularly in Pasay City would not be complete without trying a Jeepney. Jeepney routes start from Baclaran to Taft Avenue, then from Taft corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue to Makati City, the country’s central business district.
A Jeepney is a chrome-plated vehicle, known to be an automotive icon in the Philippines. Filipinos ride on this type of war-ravaged American military-inspired vehicle [a surplus from Second World War], but manufactured brand new by enterprising Filipinos to fit the Philippine setting. These vehicles with elaborate decors accentuated with eclectic colors, carry one-third of the city’s commuters daily.
Witness the talents of Singing Cooks and Waiters. The Singing Cooks and Waiters combine Filipinos’ love for food, music and socialization as they never fail to wow their diner-guests. For decades now, it has become a Manila institution as they serve their guests by serenading through metal platters as musical accompaniment along with the best Filipino cooked dishes such as such as Kare-Kareng Baka [beef in peanut sauce] and Adobong Pusit [squid cooked in stew-style].
The Ongpaucos of and their business partners of the Barrio Fiesta fame take pride in their 17 years of food business experience and are responsible for success of Singing Cooks and Waiters.
http://www.barriofiesta.com.ph/site/index.php
Cultural Center of the Philippines. With the purpose of promoting and preserving Filipino arts and culture, the Cultural Center of the Philippines [CCP] was created back in 1966 and had its inauguration in 1969. Today, a trip to Manila should include a visit to the country’s premiere institution for culture and the arts that hosts four art companies, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater, the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company and the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group.
At present, Cultural Center of the Philippines is attached to the Office of the President and is under the umbrella of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as stipulated in Executive Order No. 80. It envisions being the home for artistic excellence that promotes Filipino aesthetics and nurtures cultural values, social responsibilities and national identity.
Cultural Center of the Philippines is at the heart of CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. For more information, visit CCP’s website www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, 7th Largest in the World. SM Mall of Asia is a 2.5 billion-peso two-storey superstructure that stands on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. It is owned and managed by Henry Sy, a Chinese-Filipino business magnate.The mall includes branches of all of the standard anchor stores found in most of the SM Supermalls. Main attractions include the first-ever IMAX theater in the country; the Director’s Club Theater, an intimate venue with 30 La-Z-Boy seats for unrivaled guest comfort; the digitally superior Premiere Cinema; and the CenterStage Cinema, a popular venue for live musical concerts and theatrical performances.
SM Mall of Asia is the seventh largest mall in the world. For a quick tour online, visit this link. ->
http://www.smprime.com/Supermalls.php?MallsID=14
A Roomy and Cozy Stay at Copacobana Apartment – Pasay City Hotel. For visitors looking for an affordable place to stay while touring Pasay City, Copacabana Apartment Hotel is an ideal choice. This Pasay City hotel is an 11-storey edifice with newly-refurbished, apartment-style accommodations offering roomy and comfy living for its guests.
The hotel is situated at 264 EDSA Extension, Pasay City. Just a 15-20 minute drive from Ninoy Aquino International Airport or the Manila Domestic Airport. Copacabana Apartment Hotel is accessible by two major train routes in Manila, the Light Rail Transit [LRT] and the Metro Rail Transit [MRT].
For inquiries and reservations, visit its website, www.copasuites-manila.com.
Call Center Lifestyle in the Philippines
Yuppie Filipinos get the chance to be employed easily once they obtained their bachelor or diploma degrees because of the emergence of contact centers everywhere in the Philippines. These workers started to fill the 24-hour skyscrapers that gives a colorful background to metro Manila’s financial districts at nighttime.
This only shows that people employed in this job for a couple of years were used to on their ticking biological sleeping habit. They slept all day long just to regain their strength and wake up again at the wee hours to prepare themselves for a nightlong work. Clad in casual attire with matching fashionable coats are the most common props if you are a customer service representative. During break time some even used to occupy the al fresco various dining areas in Manila. In Ortigas for instance, call center agents enjoy their 30-minute to 1 hour break at McDonald’s, Starbucks, among others. For those who have extra pennies, they enjoy the hot aroma of Brazilian coffee in various blend. Others may sit on the corner and lit up their cigarette in a way of releasing their stress from work. It is enjoying isn’t it?
At 8 pm. about 100 people, most 25 younger, sit in a room of enclosed cubicles outfitted with phones and computers. They’ll be working until 4 am. or depends on the schedule of their shifts. As their shifts starts, it is usually morning in the US. These contact centers are following US standard zones such as Pacific, Eastern, Mountain and Central.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Luisa Geneta disclosed that call center is her first job when she finished her bachelor’s degree on May 4, 2007. At 12 am., Geneta left her house in Tondo, a suburb village in Manila, as her shift starts at 2 am. This Banking and Finance graduate from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) is one of the top caliber representatives for Unique Interaction, an American call center based in Ortigas.
“Working in a call center in the Philippines is really a big challenge for me especially that I’m new to this business. I spent most of my time and energy on this job,” she said, who handles an inbound account.
It is a very risky to leave my house at midnight for a young lady like me. However, I consider that this is the most rewarding career that we have nowadays and this will be a big help in creating another means of livelihood for us Filipinos especially for fresh graduates like me, she claimed.
On the other hand, Margaret Estanislao, 19, a team leader of the same company, disclosed that placing the agents into action challenge her in keeping her job.
Estanislao, who started as an agent added that they tried everything in sorting out the problem of the customers. “We need to maintain our empathy if the customer is upset. They are pissed and upset not because of the representatives but to the products itself”.
Both Geneta and Estanislao agreed that this job has given them the opportunity to enhance their skills and boost their confidence when it comes of interaction with their clients in a phone-to-phone conversation.
“Not to mention the financial aid that it gives to me and my family. I think this industry will continue to prosper in the succeeding years and it will continue to be one of the leading providers of career opportunities for Filipinos,” Geneta further said.
It cannot be denied that outsourcing business is one of the most flavored industries in the Philippines and other Asian countries. It appears that contact center executives preferred this country because of the number of students produced every year, which can speak English in American way. As the third largest English-speaking country in Asia no doubt that business process outsourcing is in demand today.
BPO companies provides a state-of-the-art equipment in outsourcing their business in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. These companies trained their employees to speak like American way. In Unique Interaction, they provide fundamental call center training before the call center trainees will be allowed to take calls. The trainees has to learn account information first. Once they know the account then they are deployed ready on the floor and receive as many calls as they want. The company also teach their employees on how to handle their customers well. It is so hard to lose a customer, we know that they are considered as the lifeblood that gives full stream of support to make the company up and running and stay on the business for long.
The fact is call centers are part of the Philippine economic activity. Almost half of the 86.2 million people in the Philippines are younger than 20 years old. So don’t be surprised if you will be able to meet supervisors, team leaders, managers below 25. This is because that call center has the fastest way of promoting a career development. If the agent is performing better and receiving good CSAT ratings then no doubt that within six months or less than, this certain employee is entitled to move to another level in his or her career path. The Philippines is also one of the potential factors for outsourcing. It has been also forecast by the XMG Inc., Manila-based research and advisory firm that the nation will surpass India by 2008 as home to the world’s largest call center companies.
The Philippines offers attractive environment for the BPO companies, which is one of the key requirements by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) in applying for this business. Even now big contact center firms also expanded their centers not only in Manila but targeting the provincial levels. So it means, the revenues will not only take place within the National Capital Region (NCR) but it will also circulate to the provincial areas after passing the standard set by the Peza. Largest call centers are also found operating in Pampanga, Laguna and Baguio in Luzon; Bacolod, Cebu, Dumaguete and Iloilo in the Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro and Davao in Mindanao.
The Philippine Government is very supportive to this. Under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, she said that BPO companies will generate billions of pesos in the country with target by 2010. When it starts to operate in 2000, now off-shore call center industry estimates to employs 60,000 people.*
