Manila — a concrete jungle. Before I arrived, its traffic was often spoken about with weary resignation. What struck me instead were the shopping malls, astonishing in their scale.

Woven deep into the urban fabric, these vast complexes are far more than places to shop. In a city shaped by heat and density, they function as social spaces, air-conditioned refuges, pedestrian routes, and transport hubs.

I spent much of my time moving between three interconnected malls, repeatedly losing my bearings as I emerged onto unfamiliar streets before finding my way back inside. It was disorienting, chaotic, and strangely surreal. A brief visit to the historic centre — with its Spanish colonial walls and civic buildings — offered a sharp reminder of Manila’s imperial past.

With every brand imaginable already present, and many repeating if you walked far enough, Manila felt like a megacity in the truest sense: vast, overwhelming, and operating at a scale of its own.