The best time to go is in the middle to late afternoon and shop around until the early evening. By that time, all the shops are out and open. Wednesdays and Sundays are the most crowded days but also the time when everyone is in full bargaining swing.
Wear your plainest but comfortable clothes and shoes. Some sunscreen may be useful too since half the market is on the streets and under broad daylight. Have your money changed into small bills.
Put everything in your most reliable backpack. Preferably, bring a medium-sized one so you can stuff most of your smaller purchases in it. You will want to keep your hands free to maneuver your way through the crowds and to rummage through the goods. Wear the backpack on your front. As much as possible, don't put anything in your pockets. Now you have to get to Taft Avenue from EDSA. Take the Southbound MRT for the most direct and most comfortable route. The other option is taking the bus but that's if you feel like soaking up the traffic as well (or if you feel like practicing how to elbow your way through). When you get to Taft, you have three options:
1) Walk. It's a good ten-minute walk and you will probably beat those who took the jeepney ride. There are also some stray stalls along the way that could be hiding some good stuff.
2) Take the jeepney. Look for the jeepney with the Baclaran sign. Fare is P4 per person. When you start seeing stalls on the sidewalks (e.g. women's underwear in hangers displayed in a row), get off.
3) Take the LRT. From the MRT station, proceed to the LRT and then get off at the Baclaran station. When you get out into the streets - voila! You will find yourself smack in the middle of a swirling sea of humanity.
Taking a cab or bringing a car is not advisable. The traffic is bad, vehicles can barely squeeze through the stall-eaten streets and there are no guaranteed safe parking areas.
As in any place where people literally brush shoulders with everyone, stay alert and watch your stuff. Use that backpack as a shopping bag and cram all your purchases inside. Keep your hands free as much as possible.
The vendors outside are more amenable to haggling (we suspect it's because they don't have space rental fees to worry about). The stalls are spread out up to Baclaran church and beyond, where some of the nearby stalls actually sell wedding gowns!
The sun would have set before you are even halfway through the market and its spillover on the streets. If you need a break, head off to any of the fastfoods --- McDonald's, Greenwich, Jollibee. Take stock of your purchases and repack some items as necessary so you will not have to be carrying too many bags. There are children walking about selling shopping bags made of sackcloth or plastic weaving - you can opt to buy one for P5-10.
Haggling Tips
· Never show your excitement over a particular item you like - no squeals of delight, no shouting of "Eureka!" or jumping for joy at finding the item! If you do these things, you might as well put a neon sign over your head that reads "I'll buy this merchandise at any cost!".
· Start haggling at 50% the original price, e.g. for a P120 t-shirt, ask to buy it at P60. The markup is usually this much.
· You can also try chopping off the few extra pesos from the total of more than one item. For example, if your total purchase is P165, ask to pay for only P150.
· If you want to be extreme about it, say that you will buy the merchandise of the neighboring stall because they have offered the same item for a much lower price (well, there might be karmic repercussions for this one…).
· Practice that poker face. Most tiangge vendors are good at detecting interest. In China, shoppers wear dark sunglasses because the vendors there are good at detecting pupil dilation - a sure sign of interest. · If you're bad at poker, then smile. Smile a lot and it's better if you get the seller to laugh with you. It can get you at least an additional P5 off the "last price".
Links
Views of Manila from the Pan Pacific Hotel
Intramuros - The Old City
Malate
San Augustin Church
Cathedral of Manila
Rizal Park
Robinsons Shopping Center in Emrita
Spectacular Manila sunset
Main Manila Post Office
Makati
Baclaran
Tour of Manila links page
Main YWAM Balut Page
YWAM Philippines bases and other YWAM links
