On our second day in Manila, we wanted to explore more of the affluent Makati neighborhood where our hotel was located. Located to the south of “metro” Manila, Makati is known for its Greenbelt mall complex (five luxury malls in a beautiful greenspace), the Landmark Mall, the Powerplant Mall, and a variety of other smaller sites (other malls, churches, restaurants) and museums, such as the Ayala Museum (conveniently located in the Greenbelt complex).

The Greenbelt malls are an experience – each has a slightly different vibe (from extreme luxury like Cartier and Dior to accessible brands like Marks and Spencer or H&M), with a variety of restaurants interspersed. It looks a bit like Beverly Hills, with sleek glass and metal set against a lush green backdrop.

First things first, we stopped in for a coffee among one of the many coffeeshops in the mall and tried the croissant with flan de leche as well as the Barako coffee, a local strain. They were both delicious!

Set among the Greenbelt is the Sto. Nino de Paz Greenbelt Chapel, a functioning Catholic chapel with beautiful décor and a lovely open-air sanctuary.

The highlight of the day was the Ayala Museum, which is also set in one of the malls. The museum is four floors, each of which details a different component of Filipino history. The top floor includes a stunning exhibit of gold pieces, with some incredible finds from across the islands, such as woven gold ropes, lots of jewelry (especially dangling earrings and necklaces), and ceremonial and dining vessels. It also includes a variety of recovered pottery artifacts.

The following exhibit chronicles all of the amazing textile production and beautiful garments utilized by various groups across the Philippines. These include incredible weavings (including an overview of the loom a woman might wear on her body while doing the weaving!), garments (including a garment with sequins, which represent a male overlay on a traditionally female practice), and a variety of interesting and unique textiles (for example, a canopy that would have been viewed by those in bed created for a sultan).

The final item on this floor was a fascinating exhibit of pottery and items in “storage” (i.e., they’re in storage, but in clear cases so people can still enjoy the artifacts).

The next floor included a more experiential exhibit about one painting made by a famed Filipino painted and displayed at the World’s Fair in Paris in the late 1800s; the painting has the (somewhat unfortunate in English) name Hymen, oh Hyménée! While beautiful, I actually found the room dedicated to Pinoy pride (aka the Filipino spirit) more interesting – the curation was fascinating, with fresh live plants native to the Philippines interspersed.

The final floor with a full exhibit was dedicated to a series of dioramas, which chronicle everything from prehistory and ancient archeological finds to the settlement of the Philippines to more modern colonial scenes. My favorites included:

• Dioramas of the major ships that would have been used during the Spanish colonial and later periods
• Examples of early history, including individuals living in caves where they have subsequently found early human remains, as well as overviews of how those populations became more agriculturally focused and later pre-industrial
• An overview of the early hospitals and adoption of religion in the Philippines
• Some amusing overviews of the ways in which Filipinos pushed back on natives, including a hilariously gory exhibit about how Magellan chose the “wrong side” and was ultimately murdered for his efforts
• Multiple more modern events, from the adoption of Free Masonry in the Philippines to items such as Rizal and Quezon’s freedom fighting or major battles during WWII and later, the Philippines independence from the United States

The final floor of the museum only includes a couple items, but this beautiful altar piece is a wonder representation of the ornate items in churches here.

After the museum (and a quick lunch at one of our favorite Japanese ramen places in the mall!), we decided to head back to our hotel for high tea, which is (somehow!) included with a room booking at the Raffles Hotel (which is famed in Singapore for their incredibly fancy high tea and variety of prestigious restaurants). The high tea was lovely – we were given a selection of pastries and sweets (such as a delicious opera cake, a wonderful chocolate and orange sponge cake and many finger sandwiches), as well as some scones.

Since we were having a more casual afternoon at the hotel (and packing for our trip onwards to Cebu the following day), we decided to attend the hotel buffet again (knowing that they would change up the offerings and give us the chance to try some additional Filipino goodies!). We tried a number of new items, including:

• Lumpia with the traditional coconut vinegar, garlic and fish sauce dip, which is much more refreshing and light than the cloyingly sweet Sysco sauces I’ve tried before
• Maja blanca, the coconut custard cube topped with sweet corn (very light and refreshing, the perfect palate cleanser!)
• Lato (seaweed salad with tomatoes and red onions – and interesting and thick bite)
• Ensaladang pipino (cucumbers with red onion and a light vinegar sauce)
• Chicken pochero (almost like a chicken and tomato stew, a flavor that really reminded me of home-cooking growing up)
• Ginataang lanka, which is essentially shredded pork in a similar coconut cream sauce to the ginsing-ginsing I tried yesterday (the similarity in name is not a mistake!)
• Sinigang, a sweet and sour tamarind-based soup with veggies and, in our case, “lechon” (aka pork); apparently the inclusion of pork is somewhat uncommon, but this brought back so many memories for me of a version of this my Tita Nita (childhood nanny) used to make – I can see why it’s the favorite dish of the Philippines!

Overall, a fantastic way to end our time in Manila – we can’t wait to explore more of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu / Mactan (where our hotel is!) during our final few days in the Philippines.