Two sides of the same coin

Manila is a very big and busy place. It's a city of skyscrapers, cars, tricycles, big shopping malls and food everywhere you go.

Manila is a city with many modern and chic buildings and people who eat at expensive restaurants after shopping luxury designer brands from Greenbelt Mall. There are even a few green spaces where you can relax and sit for a while.

Though, Manila is also a city where you find a lot of poverty, misery and trash (lots and lots of trash). In Manila, I've seen more poor people than in Cambodia and Myanmar combined, which are the most poor countries in southeast asia together with East Timor. There are so many people living on the streets, sleeping on cardboard and looking malnourished, it's really heartbreaking. I don't know if it's been like this before the pandemic, but a friend, who lived here, told me that the situation worsened a lot during the last two years due to travel bans and missing money from tourists.Read more