• City of Manila

    Meet The Other Met

    When one says something about the Met in Manila, it actually would mean either of the two locations in the city. The Urban Roamer has already introduced you to one of them, the Metropolitan Theater. Today, we shall get ourselves acquainted with the other Met, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. Despite the name, the Met Museum here is not actually associated with the more famous Met Museum found in New York. And to be honest, the Met Museum of Manila is not as prominent as other museums in the city. Nevertheless, it has its own charms which makes it an interesting museum to check out.

  • City of Manila,  Roamer's Roundup

    The Admiral Hotel and Anchor Land’s Deception

    Lately, Philippine heritage, most especially Manila heritage, has come under attack no less thanks to big developers who aim to “redevelop” those structures into something more…modern and commercially viable. And unfortunately in a number of cases, “redevelopment” for them means: “we’ll tear this old, historic building down and build something modern that is devoid of historic value, heritage be damned.” That may be the way of thinking developer Anchor Land has when it has decided to demolish the almost 80-year old Admiral Hotel and build a new structure which would be a boutique hotel that will, in their words, “keep its heritage alive and ensure that it remains as a historical…

  • City of Manila

    A Night at Malate

    Much has been said about Manila’s Malate district, more so about the nightlife scene in this fabled part of the city. Like the story of the city itself, the story of the Malate nightlife scene has been a story of a past glory that was lost and now trying to revive itself again. As someone who admittedly is not much into the nightlife scene, the Urban Roamer has been witness to how the district somehow became alive again in the early 2000s, especially with the popularity of the Roxas Boulevard’s Baywalk area as a hangout at night. Fell into a slump after 2007, which coincided with the disappearance of those Baywalk…

  • City of Manila

    remembering “the Guy”

    August 31 marks the birth anniversary of one of the most popular and well-loved presidents the Philippines ever had. We are talking about “the Guy” himself, Ramon Magsaysay who served as president from 1953-1957. His life and achievements have been immortalized; some may say they are a stuff of legend. I guess it is a testament to how much admired and well-loved was Magsaysay that until now his campaign theme song still resonates among the people who still suffer the same problems and are still hoping for the same ideals as was the case in 1953, the year Magsaysay ran and won as president.