Why getting the blues in the sprawling capital of the Philippines is no bad thing Manila is not an easy place to explore. On a recent trip I was told that the huge capital of the Philippines – part of a sprawling metropolitan area home to some 24 million people – is only for “advanced travellers”. They’re at least partly right. For most tourists Manila is a point-of-entry from which they advance to the staggering Filipino countryside: its volcanos, beaches and pulsating wildlife. But no large city is worth avoiding altogether. Manila may be short on tourist-friendly sights,...