It’s a pity that Manila is often disparaged, as there’s much here to like. For one, all the adjectives often used to describe the Philippines – jovial, laid back, casual, corrupt, shambolic, earnest and more are on display here more than anywhere else in the country. It’s a truly teeming metropolis that gets bigger each day, both in population, with people pouring in from the hinterlands, and size, as new developments in all directions swallow up villages and rice fields.