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Shopping
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There are
shopping malls
everywhere in Metro Manila and hardly anything you can buy in London or New York that you can't buy here, at least as far as chic designer labels and trinkets are concerned. However, the first stop for tourists looking for indigenous gifts and
handicrafts
is usually Balikbayan Handicrafts, which has five branches and sells an inspiring range of products, some to be coveted and some plain bizarre. Native
jewellery
, ethnic carvings and household dAİcor are a bargain. The biggest branch is at 290-298 C Palanca St, Quiapo, with others in Pasay Road, Makati and A Mabini Street, Ermita. There are plenty of other antique and handicraft shops along A Mabini Street, while opposite San Agustin church in Intramuros, is a complex of small art and tribal shops, selling everything from carved rice gods and oil paintings to native basketware and jewellery. For dirt-cheap
clothes
try fighting your way through the crowds at the immense Divisoria Market in CM Recto Street, Binondo. You can hunt down
woodcarvings
, capiz-shell items, buri bags and embroidery under Quezon Bridge in Quiapo. In Baclaran, at the southern tip of Roxas Boulevard, is a flea market selling clothes. Haggling is the operative word in these places. For a small but interesting range of Filipino
books
and environmental videos go to The Filipino Bookstore at G-72, Ground Floor, Glorietta 1, Ayala Center, Makati. On a more prosaic note,
CDs
are excellent value in the Philippines. In Tower Records in Makati new releases cost less than P500. Shops are generally open from 10am until 8pm. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Philippines,
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