Prior to World War II, Manila was known as the “Pearl of the Orient,” now it is just an over crowded asian city with as much smog as Beijing and the smell of Calcutta. I did not find much about Manila to make me like it. It’s worth maybe a day or two at most perhaps a few days longer if you use it as a base for day trips. I’ve ruled it out as a place I might want to live in. I did encounter the best scam I’ve ever come across there, perhaps I’ll write about that later.