10.4.026 – Day 8 – The Girls International Whirlwind Restaurant Tour. Jan. 2026: Eating and Shopping!

A sleep in today as we have a free day around the area before a walking food tour this arvo/evening. A good sleep was had by all.

Relaxed breakfast at the usual, Wildflour. 

Then it was a short walk across to and around Landmark (closed for inventory till 12) to the next shopping mall/complex – Glorietta 1,2,3,4and 5. Also SM Mall. We checked out a tiny Marks and Spencer (just some women’s clothing) then each to their own to hunt for whatever they fancied. I took a walk looking for camera bags – and just curious to see what was different. No luck with camera bags though I did get to check out a couple of brands and styles I’d only seen online. While some of the stores differ, shopping centres are similar everywhere I’ve been. Landmark was saner and less busy when it opened. I must say that the range of brands, colours and styles is more varied than at home. 

Plan was to meet at rooms at 4:30 to walk to the starting point for our Foodie Walking tour at 6pm. 

I headed back to room for a bit of time to catch up on state of fires etc back home and to have a swim and chill for a bit. 

We finished the day with a ‘Get Your Guide’ booking for a Makati Street Food walking tour. 

We walked the 1.7.km to meeting point in the rain and saw some sights along the way. 

Jenny our guide was very good, she was generous in sharing about herself and fed us some interesting street food and led us through some cool streets and speak easy and hidden and rooftop bars. 

Jenny is a 26yo Grandma baby, her parents separated and her and her younger brother were raised by Grandparents in the north near Angeles. 

Jenny studied tourism management and does the tour part time and also works as a host in an online casino. 

The meeting place was Garden City Grand Hotel in Poblacion, the area the tour focussed on. We were the only folk booked so that was great. 

First stop was a local “filling station” basically a local street food market with music and plastic tables and chairs under a marquee roof. 

We kicked off with a choice of juices – Suzie and and Hayley had kalamansi (lime), Bron and I opted for pandan in coconut milk.

Then came the food. Almost all on skewers. Jenny selected the food then the stall holder cooked them and delivered to our table. 

The list of things on offer.

Quail eggs in light batter 

Cheese filled jalapeños in a spring roll type wrap. Jenny referred to them as dynamite 

Fried rice

Fried noodles 

Chicken intestines 

Pigs ears

Chicken hearts

Pork blood (black pudding)

Chicken skewers

Pork skewers

Chicken Maryland type thing (a bit like honey soy) 

Milk fish 

Sizzling pork with egg.

We rejected chicken feet option. 

There was so much food. 

I was hesitant about a couple but gave it all a go. 

The quail eggs and Jalapeños dynamite were really good as starters. 

Surprisingly the Pig Blood and Chicken Intestines were not too bad. Didn’t eat a lot. Pigs blood had a nice charred taste. 

I was not keen on the pigs ears at all.

The pork skewer was ok, the chicken one delicious, as was the soy Maryland. 

Both the rice and noodles were very good. 

My favourite was the sizzling pork. 

There was so much food, and of course so much leftover. Thankfully Jenny made a couple of plates up and gave one to a man on the street and the other to a street seller to give away. 

Then we walked around the very busy and chaotic streets of Poblacion checking out the sights, bars and eateries. 

A very cool bar and blues/jazz joint – The Spirits Library which we went into for a look. Jenny pointed out a few more cool bars, speak easy’s and hidden bars, also Bottoms famous for the midget boxing – thankfully we walked past. 

Then onto dessert and good look around a place called ‘The Filling Station,’ an American Diner established 35 years ago by an ex- US Navy Chief cook. The collections of “stuff” and memorabilia contained in the place is amazing.

There was a Filipino Elvis impersonator roaming around along with a small statured Chucky. The staff were all dressed as either diner staff or movie characters – Superman etc.

We had a good look around and then dessert of cakes, we shared apple pie, cinnamon scroll, mango graham cake and a local ube macapuno cake. 

From there to our final stop-

a 36th floor rooftop bar with 270 degree views around Manila. This was at I’m Hotel. Thankfully the rain had stopped and the views of the lights of Manila were awesome. 

We grabbed a Grab taxi home which was easy and efficient. 

Another fun day in Manila.