48 hours to spare in Manila?

You or your cleints have 48 hours to spare Manila?

Then Reuters correspondents with local knowledge can help visitors make the most of the city:

FRIDAY

6:00pm  Take in one of Asia’s most breath-taking sunsets at Manila Bay. Grab a mango shake at one of the many cafes lining the boardwalk, sit back and enjoy nature at its best.

7:00pm  Hop onto one of Manila’s famous jeepneys, the colorful, noisy and iconic national mode of transport, and aim for Makati, the financial district where many of the capital’s top restaurants are located.

8:00pm  Rise above the heat and din of the streets at Top of the Citi, a high-end restaurant nestled on top of the headquarters of Citigroup. The menu offers a mix of oriental, Filipino, Japanese and French dishes. The pasta a la Jesse, with prawns, scallop, sun-dried tomatoes and asparagus, is a popular choice, followed by passion chocolate cake or deep fried ice cream.

9:00pm  Head to M Cafe at Greenbelt 3, Makati’s trendy mall, and sip cocktails while watching the beautiful people cruise by.

10:00pm  Grab a private cubicle and a microphone at Red Box, the karaoke club on the third floor of Greenbelt 3, and let rip with some 1980s hits.

11:00pm  If dancing is more your thing, take a taxi and hit Embassy, Manila’s swankiest club, where Imelda Marcos recently had a twirl and foie gras is the de rigueur post-groove snack.

12:00pm  Still standing? You deserve a hearty serving of halo-halo, a popular Filipino dessert comprised of shaved ice, milk, boiled sweet beans and fruit all served cold in a tall glass or bowl. The plush Manila Peninsula Hotel has the best version in town.

SATURDAY

7:00am  Stock up on native specialities, pastries and organic fruit and veg at the Salcedo Market in the heart of Makati. Grab a steaming bowl of pancit (noodles) and an iced tea and watch the chattering locals doing the week’s grocery shopping.

9:00am  Stroll around the American Cemetery, one of the most tranquil spots in Manila. In a white memorial at the centre of the graveyard, twenty five mosaic maps chronicle the World War Two battles in Asia. Tens of thousands of white headstones are set in a circular pattern amid a variety of tropical trees and shrubbery.

11:00am  Visit the famous Walled City of Intramuros in the heart of Manila. The walls are all that remain of what was once the centre of Spanish power in the Philippines. Inside, the gates, churches and cobblestones give visitors a feel for how beautiful Manila was before the destruction of World War Two.

1:00pm  Take a horse-drawn carriage or calesa around Rizal Park, dedicated to the country’s national hero. Check out the giant relief map of the Philippines, scenic Chinese gardens and locals playing chess, one of the country’s favorite pastimes.

2:00pm  Grab lunch at one of the seafood restaurants lining the bay in front of Rizal Park. A must try is Pantalan, where you can feast on crispy ulo ng pusit (crispy squid head) and nilasing na hipon (shrimp marinated in alcohol).

4:00pm  After the calm of the park, get your adrenalin pumping with a visit to the Cinema Square shooting range in Makati. Gun ownership is widespread in the Philippines and signs requesting patrons to deposit their firearms at the door are common in some bars and clubs.

8:00pm  Check out up-and-coming Filipino bands at saGuijo Cafe + Bar in San Antonio Village in Makati. If you need some respite from the electric guitars, climb the stairs and check out the art gallery.

10:00pm  If you are looking for something a little off-the-wall, go to Burgos Street in Makati’s redlight district, where female, or “foxy” boxing, complete with gloves and headgear, takes place in one of the main bars, Ringside.

SUNDAY

7:00am  Breakfast at Jollibee, the Philippines’ most popular foodchain and a national institution, will sort out the groggiest of heads. Try local breakfast classics such as tapa (beef jerky), longganisa (native meat sausage) and tocino (cured pork) all served with garlic rice and egg.

10:00am  If you are going to stay on the mainland check out Sunday mass in a shopping mall, a truly Philippine experience. The Catholic ceremony is held in Glorietta mall in Makati on Sundays, combining the twin Filipino passions; shopping and religion.

12:00am  In the city that brought you the shoe queen par excellence, Imelda Marcos, a trip to Marikina, the home of the Philippine shoe industry, is a must. The Marikina City Footwear Museum houses over 700 pairs of Imelda’s shoes, including the black espadrilles she wore when fleeing Manila in disgrace in 1986.

2:00pm Take in a cockfight at one of the special arenas for the event in the Pasay City district. Everyone bets on the outcome of each of the fights, and dozens are held in a day, with the number rising at weekends.

3:00pm  Stop for coffee at one of the Figaro Coffee stores, which serve only local varieties of organically grown coffee, including a rare bean called “barako,” or wild boar, that will pep you up for the rest of the day.

4:00pm  Suitably fortified, head east to the Chinese cemetery in La Loma, Manila, where Buddist, Confucian, Taoist and Catholic traditions are blended together. Reflecting the wealth of many of its occupants, areas of the cemetery are referred to as Millionaire’s Row and Little Beverly Hills. Some of the more luxurious mausoleums have airconditioning and flushing toilets. One is even designed to look like the Sydney Opera House.

6:00pm  Close to the graveyard is Retiro Street, where you can buy lechon (roast pig) from the lines of vendors roasting the meat on spits.

8:00pm  Finish off the weekend with drinks in the Hobbit House in Malate, a Manila institution that predates the Lord of the Rings films. A smoky, live-music venue, it is decked out like a fantasy tavern for hobbits with short people serving drinks.

Phew – exhausted!

Report by The Mole