I didn’t set out to try and review every place I went to eat, but as a person with a lot of opinions and a partner who loves to eat out and try new places, it felt natural to share all of my experiences and findings through reviews. I really do it just because I like to, but I was very surprised to find out the usefulness of it to people who are not only new to an area, but to locals looking for interesting places as well. People have actually said to me, “hey, I saw your review and decided to go eat here”, and it’s always a pretty good feeling knowing I got someone to a place they would really enjoy.
There are a lot of small, local places that people should know more about, and I really want to support, so if I really believe in a place then I’m gonna write about it and let people know this is a place to be. I also dislike the proliferation of good reviews that are bought by places, so as much as I can I try to put a fair and impartial review to any place that I can. I know that when I travel to a new place, I really depend on Google Maps for info about the places around me, so I wanna make sure that my local area is as up to date and accurate as possible. If I can steer people towards great places and new experiences, then that’s really good too.
In as much as this is really just putting some stars next to place along with a few details, this is my contribution towards making the city a little bit more complete. Maybe I’m just putting my stamp on Metro Manila, maybe not many people will see it, but it feels good to have it out there for anyone that needs it.