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The ultimate list of things to do, eat, drink, buy and try in and out of the metro
29. Eye for an App: The Apps You Need To Have
MMDA 
- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has released an app that has become a must-have for all motorists for navigating the
often-tricky streets of Metro Manila. With real time traffic reports, you’ll know which best routes to take and which to avoid before even leaving your house.
Photosynth - Developed by Microsoft, this (free) photo app is the best panoramic capture app on the market today. One of the features is “full sphere panoramas,” giving you the ability to take both horizontal and vertical panoramic shots. After you’re done stitching your photos, which it does seamlessly, you can share it with your friends on Facebook.
Now Showing- Only recently released, the Now Showing app is a great guide for Manila moviegoers. There are a lot of websites and apps that provide movie schedules as well, but the Now Showing app sets itself apart with a few nifty features. First, it includes the Rotten Tomatoes rating for every film, with links to its aggregated reviews, so you can better decide on whether a film is worth your couple hundred or so bucks. Second, it has a feature that searches for the cinemas nearest to your location, ranking them by proximity. And, finally, to help you find that cinema, it also provides a Google map to help get you to the cinema on time. See, I told you—handy.
30. Fitness Mash-ups
Plana Forma
Plana Forma lets you move like Jagger by combining yoga, pilates and
dance in an intense 55-minute session that will let you feel muscles
you never knew you had.
Juice tip-off: Since everyone from models-with-billboards-on-EDSA to
the Azkals enjoy this workout, sign-up properly online to
make sure you’ve booked yourself into a class.
Zumba Fitness Party
Zumba Fitness Party is not your usual aerobic workout from the 80’s.
It combines Latin and International music for a wildly effective workout
that you won’t even realize you’re doing.
Juice tip-off: This is for the workout newbies looking to spend an hour
dancing their cares away in a place other than a smoke-filled club.
Cross-fit
Cross-Fit claims it is the strength and conditioning program for many
police academies and tactical operations teams. Most people say you
will last only 15 minutes for your first session!
Juice tip-off: For adrenaline chasers out there, this is the workout to
test your limits. Make sure you’re properly hydrated before you attempt
a class.
31. Next Hiking Spot: Mt. Pulag
So you’ve been to the best beaches our country has to offer, now what? Why not change it up and go for
a good old-fashioned mountain hike. But this ain’t any mediocre trail, Mt. Pulag is the third highest mountain in the
Philppines and Luzon’s highest peak at 2,922 meters above sea level. Hiking it is no easy feat, but we guarantee you,
when you reach the top, it’ll be worth it.
Juice tip-off: Pack some warm clothes, because temperatures at night can fall to 0 degrees in January!
32. Film Fests, Gotta Catch ‘Em All!
You don’t need to be a film buff to enjoy the slew of film festivals Manila plays host to every year, but it sure does help. The opportunity to view cinematic masterpieces by some of the great auteurs of the last century should be incentive enough! Expand your cultural consciousness and at the same time, support local independent cinema, it's win-win!
French Film Festival - June
EgaSai (Japan) - July
Cinemalaya - July
Silent Film Festival - August
Pelicola (Spain) - October
Moviemov: Italian Cinema Now (Italy) - November
Cinemanila - November
33. Get Schooled: Workshops
Why does learning stop after graduation for most of us? Keep that brain from going to mush and spark up your imagination with a class or two.
Entrepreneurial talks: GKonomics
The social enterprise arm of Gawad Kalinga, GKonomics regularly holds talks and forums on various entrepreneurial issues, to help you grow your business.
Most importantly, it teaches you that making money can go hand in hand with sustainable and ethical business.
Photography: Silverlens Gallery
On the forefront of Philippine contemporary art and photography, the Silverlens Gallery and Silverlens Lab (SLab)
regularly holds talks by resident and visiting artists, and also organizes photography workshops once or twice a year, affording photography
enthusiasts the rare chance to be instructed by some of the best lensmen (and women) in the country.
silverlensphoto.com
slab.silverlensphoto.com
www.facebook.com/slgalleries
Cooking: Gustare Kitchen
Tucked in a quiet area of Bonifacio Global City is a homey kitchen that welcomes any hungry tummy that comes a callin’—whether it’s to order a take-home specialty for a dinner party, grab a home-cooked meal to-go, or even learn how to fill the tummies of your loved ones (and your own) with a meal you cooked all by yourself!
www.facebook.com/GustareKitchen
DJ School: LooperBeat Academy
Do you truly, earnestly believe that Life is your dancefloor? Then make like a DJ and take the party full-time.
Before you leave your 9-5 though, you might want to give it a test spin first with a couple of classes at the country’s
best and most bangin’ DJ school, which will take you from an introductory class on the turntable, all the way to to your
graduation, party rockin’ your very own gig! If you’re more of a behind-the-scenes kind of audiophile, Looper also offers a music production course.
Writing: Filipinas Heritage Library
The former Nielson airport tower turned library is a treasure trove of Filipiniana books and other resources,
spaces for both quiet me-time and bigger private events, and, of course, wonderful workshops to realize your secret
dreams and untapped potential. They offer a variety of writing classes like creative writing and travel writing.
And if Silverlens isn’t organizing any, there’s also a great offering of photography workshops on everything from digital
photography to photographing food.
Art: Ayala Museum
The Ayala Museum’s event calendar is practically bursting with creative and educational events: talks, tours,
and workshops to set your mind and imagination aflame. With everything from Children’s Book Illustration classes with
Ang INK and free Saturday art activities to summer workshops on acrylic and Chinese painting and Design Talks, you’re sure
to find something that gets your creative juices flowing.
Juice tip-off: Your homework for today: do your research! Keep tabs on the websites of these establishments, “like” them on Facebook, or better yet sign up for their newsletters, to get updates on upcoming events and classes.
34. Best Bike Path: Timberland Heights
For the hardcore:
Park at Aling Tina's then bike up 'The Wall' going through Timberland Heights.
For the not-so-hardcore:
If your legs are not ready, you can just walk it to the trail.
When you head up to the trail there are two options:
Yellow Zone - for the newbie
Blue Zone - more advanced
Cortez Compound- a tough challenge guaranteed!
35. Toys Aren’t Just For Kids: Secret Fresh
At Manila’s hipster HQ, the Ronac Art Center, you’ll find the mecca for collectibles and various other hard-to-find designer toys at Secret Fresh.
Not only does it boast an impressive and extensive selection but it also houses an art gallery where you’ll find art from various local street
and visual artists.
Juice tip-off: Many of the shop’s featured street artists’ work can be found on the walls of a skate park in Intramuros.
36. Happy Home Stuff
Heima: Puke hearts and sh*t rainbows.
Heima is the place where happy thoughts, adorably quirky furniture, and paper crafts dwell.
With indie music vinyls playing in the background, owl lamps and pretty fabrics setting the mood,
and design magazines from Japan and America to pore over, it’s an easy place to be drawn into and a hard one to leave.
Expect the afternoon to roll along (without you), leaving you behind in a world of precious things and creative inspiration.
Juice tip-off: Their line of paper products, Paper Club, are sure to fill you with oodles of happy.
Space Encounters: Mad Men goes K-pop.
A curiously delightful mix of oh-so-groovy mid-century modern (read: retro mod) furniture pieces and thingamabobs (definitely more than twenty) from flea markets and travels abroad, especially Korea. Not excluding, of course, K-pop paraphernalia. Lots of it. But the design aesthetic behind all the retro-pop-ness is the real deal, with Wilmer Lopez, Outerspace’s interior design partner, using vintage fabrics from Germany and elsewhere to design their pieces, drawing inspiration from their own experience (and collection) of iconic ‘50s and ‘60s furniture from designers like Eames. To be tackled in their upcoming collection are “Capitalism and cold, cold cash,” shares partner Thor Balanon. Space truly is the final frontier.
Juice tip-off: One of our favorite finds is the fold-it-yourself paper monsters, like the Abominable Snowman.
37. The Race to Be(AT)
Best Offroad Race: Putik Pare
The Xterra Putik Pare is a two-person off-road duathlon that combines mountain biking (about 18 kilometers of it),
an 10-kilometer trail run, and, of course, a whole lotta mud. This year it will be held in Nuvali in Laguna, just south of Metro Manila.
Most Extreme Run Race: The North Face 100
This isn’t your grandma’s fun 5km run for charity. The North Face 100 is serious business. It’s the ultimate challenge
of endurance for runners and it pits them against nature like no other race does. Your limits will be tested in this 100km trail run,
when you cross the dangerous mountain terrain surrounding Baguio and maneuver your way through tricky knife ridges, all while competing
against four hundred other runners for lead.
38. Coolest Thing We’ve Seen All Year: Isang Litrong Liwanag
The Dream: To brighten up one million Philippine homes by 2012. ILL is a sustainable lighting project, which aims to bring the
eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to unprivileged communities nationwide.
Juice tip-off: Learn how to make your very own Solar Bottle Bulb on their website isanglitrongliwanag.org!
39. Video Game of the Year: Skyrim
The immense dragon-slaying world of Tamriel's nether region, Skyrim, is eerie, chilling, and of course,
can take hours exploring—without regret. Bethesda’s latest release has proved that Elder Scrolls is an epic game, perhaps
the best in a long time. Choose to either follow the story as a Dragonborn, or complete tasks from an endless quest
log that will make you as giddy as your girlfriend on Valentine's day. In Skyrim, you are the hero who must save the
humble townsfolk from destruction by a flying medieval beast who terrorizes everything in its path (maybe it's just hungry).
Exploring a cave, crawling through a dungeon or solving puzzles in the dank and decidedly creepy Nord mist will show you just
how far the tale goes. In this game, you are but a speck, albeit a pretty powerful one, in the Elder Scrolls universe.
Juice tip-off: Don’t spread your skill set too thin—trying to be good at everything won’t allow you to focus
on more important powers! Also, kill giants from the beginning. Trust me.
40. An Alternative to Therapy: Off to the shooting range, we go
Sometimes playing Modern Warfare 3 isn’t enough to take the edge off. There’s nothing like feeling the weight and power of a
real gun in your hands and releasing all that angst into the bright bullseye of a target board.
Juice tip-off: The Stronghand Shooting Range promises a toxic-free environment to unleash your ex-Spetsnaz alter ego.
41. Wake, Skate, and Surf in the City: Republic Wake Park Nuvali
Slated to open early this year (hopefully), the Republic Wake Park (from the guys who created the CamSur Wakeboarding Complex, CWC)
brings the beach a little closer to the city—a 45-minute drive from city, to be exact, to Calamba, Laguna. Featuring “the newest and most
innovative wake park in the world”, a wave rider, and a skate park, the park has something for every kind of board-rider and adrenaline rush.
Seems like that endless summer is a little more within reach.
Juice tip-off: Need some new gear? Grab some bikinis and boardshorts at the Quiksilver and Roxy store in Solenad 2.
42. Our Very Own Woodstock: Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival
On a grassy amphitheater at the foot of the Malasimbo mountain in Puerto Galera, musicians, artists and vagabonds alike come
together for the most ambitious music and arts festival that the Philippines has ever seen, and as unforgettable as the pristine
scenery of Mindoro's coastal plains. Malasimbo is definitely an experience you can't afford to miss!
Juice tip-off: The Malasimbo 2012 Festival is just around the corner this coming March 2 & 4; with Joe Bataan as their headliner,
you’d better scout around for tickets soon. Oh yeah, and bring a hoodie—that mountain breeze is freezing!
43. Best Place to Get Inspired: Co.lab
Co.lab = the social feel of your neighborhood café + the creative vibe of a studio + the functionality of an office.
A vibrant, shared workspace and collaborative hub perfect for freelancers, artists, and start-ups!
Juice tip-off: “Like” them on Facebook or go to their website to get updates on the events and collaborations they’ve got lined up!
44. Alternative Date Night: URCC
Have her gasping at someone else’s machismo
If you're just another couch potato taking bets for UFC while your girlfriend rolls her eyes
in the background, then it's time to throw away that controller and take her to see a real MMA show, LIVE.
Definitely more intense and action-packed than flipping a channel, the Universal Reality Combat Championship
or URCC is some in-your-face action that will make you regret not having a set of abs to own. Pound for pound,
our very own local mixed martial artists contend to the end with a set of hybrid skills that can knock you dead
in seconds, so putting up a fight with one of these bad boys might just see you to your death bed. Definitely
a sport that will have your date gasping, this is one night you'll never forget!
Juice tip-off: The URCC website is full of fighter stats, scheds and pre and post fight reviews, so log on now
to get the latest info and to grab the best seats in the house!
45. Get Inked by the Best (Best Tattoo Parlor): Dyuntats
Self-taught tattoo artist and all-around self-made man Dyun Depasupil started out as a graphic artist for corporate companies,
but after having enough of the Man, he did what any self-respecting artist does: he quit corporate life and started working
as a professional tattoo artist. A true master of his craft, Dyun does stunning stuff.
Juice tip-off: While he’s an all-round skilled tattoo artist, Dyuntats is especially amazing at color-work, so this is
definitely your man if you’ve got a color-heavy design in mind.
46. Meme of the Year: the characters from the Rage Comics
The past year, we’ve seen many memes emerge from the seventh circle of Hell that is the internet, and the one that
stood out the most to us are definitely the characters in the Rage Comics. Rageguy, Trollface, Cereal Guy, Okay Guy, F*ck
Yea Guy, Forever Alone Guy, Y U NO Guy, and Me Gusta Guy. We use these characters to convey our frustrations so much we’re
beginning to wonder how we expressed ourselves before them.
Juice tip-off: Why not make a meme of your own at memegenerator.net?
Who knows, it might just go viral and make the hot list on 9gag.
47. Battlecry of the Year: Winter is Coming
Need we repeat? Say the words. Never before has fantasy been so acknowledged and appreciated by the normal,
emotionally balanced, socially adept members of society. The winter of our social pariah-dom is coming, along with
the second season of A Song of Ice and Fire, Clash of Kings. Frodo-what now?
Juice tip-off: At the risk of endangering our newfound social acceptance, I am compelled to ask you this: what
do you get if you put Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings together? GOT COK. Yup, there it is.
49. Next Not-so-secret Beach Paradise: San Vicente, Palawan
With its 14-km expanse of powder white sand (rather straightforwardly named Long Beach) it’s no wonder
that all the major resorts have bought up tracks of land in this so-far-untouched paradise a couple hours drive
from Puerto Princesa. Be one of the first few to set foot on its sandy stretch, before all the Bora hordes arrive, because this is The Beach.
Juice tip-off: Not willing to camp out but can’t wait for the hotels to be built? Port Barton has quaint but comfortable guesthouses.
50. Thing We’re Most Excited About: Mind Museum
Goal: to build a home for science, aiming to be the 1st world-class museum in the Philippines. Check out a museum that
aspires to present science as entertaining, fun, and engaging!
Juice tip-off: Excited enough to want to be a part of it? Find out how you can volunteer at www.themindmuseum.org.
48. Social Retail: Kada Clothing
Saving the world one tee at a time:
If what you wear defines who you are, then is it possible for it stand for what you believe in? Kada Clothing is dedicated to saving the world—one literate child and urban chic tee at a time. In partnership with the Cartwheel Foundation, for every twenty shirts sold, Kada will send one child to school from the indigenous tribes of Bukidnon, such as the Umajamnon, considered one of the country's poorest tribes, they survive on a hand-to-mouth existence by the Umajam river, and education is a privilege that they can only dream of. If this isn't enough to convince you to start wearing their oh-so-good-looking goods, then maybe it's about time to start re-thinking your priorities.
www.kadaclothing.com