The rain hit the window of the plane like someone was throwing buckets of it. I landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and the first thing I felt stepping off the jet bridge wasn't the heat, it was the pressure. The humidity. It wraps around you like a blanket that's been left in a dryer too long. My glasses fogged up instantly. Welcome to Manila, I guess.
I cleared immigration, grabbed my bag, and stepped out into the arrivals hall. The noise hit me second. A wall of people holding up signs, drivers shouting, the low hum of a hundred conversations in Filipino and English. I stood there for a minute, just taking it in. I was in the Philippines, not as a tourist, but as someone about to try and make a life here.
First things first, I needed a local SIM. New rules, the SIM Registration Act. If you're a foreigner, you do it in person with your passport. Tourists usually get about 30 days of service. I walked over to a kiosk in the terminal, picked up a prepaid Globe SIM, and handed over my passport. It took maybe ten minutes, and I had a Filipino number. Small win. That's what matters in the first 48 hours, right, the small wins.
Next, the bank. Opening an account as a new arrival is a whole other beast. I took a Grab to the Makati CBD because the train with luggage is a bad idea. At the BDO main branch, I learned the drill. You need your passport with visa stamp, proof of address, and a TIN from the BIR. It's a bit of a runaround, but they're the most expat-friendly. I got it started, deposited a bit of cash to open the account, and walked out with a receipt that said my money was safe.
I felt that familiar pinch in my wallet. The bank was done, but my list wasn't. I had the accommodation hunt. I wasn't staying at a hotel forever, that's a quick way to burn cash. A night in a mid-range hotel runs you about ₱2,500, maybe up to ₱3,500 for something nicer. That's around fifty bucks. Do that for two weeks, and you've blown a chunk of your moving fund. I needed a flat, something in the range of ₱18,000 a month outside the centre.
I found a place in Poblacion, Makati. It's the dynamic nightlife and dining enclave, cocktail speakeasies, craft beer, and late-night food on Don Pedro Street. My new flat is a one-bedroom, not too fancy, but it has a window that catches the breeze. The landlord wanted a notarised lease and a barangay certificate. That's what you need for proof of address. Another stamp, another queue, another step closer to being legal.
But to really get this city, you don't do it from a Grab. You do it from a jeepney.
The jeepney is Manila's rolling folk art. Repurposed US military jeeps from after the war, now painted with rainbows and horses and fierce-looking eagle heads. You flag one down, you shout 'para!' when you want to get off. The fare is about ₱13, less than a quarter. I got a bit lost on the route, but that's the point, right. You see the city up close, the exhaust, the vendors hopping on and off, the driver's personal saint on the dashboard.
The thing about Manila in August is the rain. It's not a drizzle, it's a monsoon. The streets flood, the jeepneys become boats. I was crossing the street near the Arroceros Forest Park, what they call Manila's last lung, and the water was up to my ankles. I saw a kid swimming in the gutter, laughing. There's a phrase here, bayanihan, a community spirit. You see it when a jeepney stalls in the flood, and ten guys just get out and push. No one asks, they just do.
I went for a walk after the rain eased, to clear my head. I ended up at the coffee shop, Café Y Ruedas, right near the university belt. A cup of coffee set me back about ₱150. I sat by the window, watching the city steam. The heat, the noise, the smell of fried food and diesel fumes. It's a lot. But there's a rhythm to it.
The next day, I hit the paperwork trail again. I had to go to the Bureau of Immigration in Intramuros. The plan is to extend my visa in 29-day increments to get the ACR I-Card, the biometric ID you need for everything. It costs roughly fifty dollars. The building is old, colonial, heavy stone. Queues, forms, windows, more forms. It takes patience, but the people in line were helpful, telling me which window to go to. You can't do this without a bit of help.
After I got the stamp, I was in the heart of Intramuros. The walled city. There is history here, the slow weight of it. Fort Santiago, where José Rizal was imprisoned in 1896 before his execution. I walked the cobblestone streets, past San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church in the country, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's atmospheric by day, and the old walls block out a lot of the city noise. It was quiet, a nice break from the chaos of Makati.
I stopped for lunch at a little karinderya outside the walls, the local eatery. I ordered a plate of chicken adobo with rice. One of the best things I've eaten so far. It cost about ₱80. A full meal for less than a dollar and a half. I sat there, plastic spoon in hand, watching the traffic, and I thought, yeah, this is going to work.
The next night, I was starving. I went back to the Makati area, to Poblacion, and found a spot on the list. Manam at the Triangle. They do a really good version of a Filipino classic, a creamy chicken adobo. A proper meal, mid-range restaurant, cost me about ₱700. It was rich, savoury, with a bit of a kick. The place was buzzing, full of people after work. It felt good to be out, the humidity of the day finally lifting into a warm night.
But I wanted the real food crawl, the one you read about before you even land. So on Sunday, I took a tricycle into Binondo. The world's oldest Chinatown, founded in 1594. It's a sensory overload. Ongpin Street, the narrow alleys, the smell of hops and fried dough and soy. I did the food crawl: dumplings from a hole-in-the-wall stall, hopia for dessert from a shop that's been there for a hundred years. I spent maybe ₱350 for a feast. My stomach was happy, my brain was buzzing. This is the city.
I wandered out of Binondo, crossed the bridge over the Pasig River, and ended up near the National Museum complex. It was late afternoon, so I only had time for one. The National Museum of Natural History has this incredible 'Tree of Life' atrium, and you can spend hours in there. The best part? Admission is free. I just walked in, no queue, and stood under that huge artificial tree, full from the dumplings, tired from the walking. The city was settling into the evening.
On my last night before I really settled into the flat, I went for a drink near the bay. The Manila Bay sunset is something people talk about, but it was too cloudy. Instead, I sat at a bar along the promenade near the Mall of Asia complex. I watched the ferries and the tankers out in the bay, blinking lights in the grey haze. The sea breeze was a welcome change from the stagnant city air. I thought about the path ahead, the idea of this journey, moving slowly west and south to Mindoro, and out to Palawan across the typhoon-sheltered seas. That's for later, though. Right now, I'm here, in the monsoon season.
I took the LRT-2 back toward my new neighbourhood. The new automated fare collection system is live, you can tap a bank card at the turnstile now. I used my new BDO card, the beep sound it made felt like some kind of validation. I'm becoming a unit in this system.
Now I'm back in the flat. The rain is starting again, a soft patter on the tin roof. It's a sound I'm getting used to. The city is a constant negotiation, a push and pull. The floods, the queues, the heat, but also the adobo, the dumplings, the smell of the wet streets, the feeling of the bay breeze. I've got my SIM, my bank account, my ACR I-Card in process, and a roof over my head. The first week is almost done. The paperwork is a mountain, but you eat the mountain one bite at a time, or maybe one plate of adobo at a time.
Catch you next time from somewhere a little further from the middle of the storm. Kumusta. This is Manila, August 2026.
So, if you're thinking of doing this, of moving to Manila, a few notes. Bring a jacket for the aircon, you'll freeze in malls. Get a Beep card for the trains, and learn which lines go where. The LRT-2 is the elevated one, the MRT-3 is the crowded one. The EDSA Carousel bus runs 24 hours and is the fastest way across the city. And don't be afraid of the jeepneys. They're a map of the city, you just have to learn the signs. That's where the adventure is. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a life here.
I'm going to check on my laundry. Until then, this has been Miguel Santos, living in Manila. The Philippines is not a place you just visit, it's one you feel. See you on the road.