Manila or Singapore?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Singapore at least lets you swim without leaving town. Sentosa's man-made beaches have calm lagoons sheltered by breakwaters, and a ferry to St John's or Lazarus gives quieter water, though it is rarely clear and tankers line the horizon.

Manila Bay is too polluted to swim in, so Roxas Boulevard is only for watching the sunset. The nearest real beaches, at Nasugbu, Anilao or on the Bataan coast, are two to three hours away by road and work better as an overnight trip. Both cities serve mainly as places to fly on from, Manila to Palawan, Boracay or Bohol.

Singapore's food is stronger and more reliable. Its hawker centres put dozens of specialist stalls under one roof all over the island, so chicken rice, laksa, chilli crab or a late biryani in Kampong Glam is never far away, and the cooking draws on Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan traditions at once.

Manila has its own rewards: lechon, sisig, sinigang and halo-halo, a dumpling and hopia walk through Binondo, and chefs reworking Filipino dishes in Poblacion and BGC. Outside those areas, though, quality is uneven and chains take over, so good meals need more seeking out.

Singapore has the stronger and easier set of sights. The National Gallery, Asian Civilisations Museum and Peranakan Museum sit close together in the Civic District, Chinatown, Little India and Kampong Glam each have their own character, and Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay skyline count as sights too.

Manila's history goes back further. Intramuros, Fort Santiago and the 16th-century San Agustin Church come from more than three centuries of Spanish rule, and the National Museum holds Luna's Spoliarium. Because the 1945 battle destroyed so much, the rest is scattered across the city. Both cities need two or three days.

Manila is the better place for a long night out. Poblacion's grid of small cocktail bars, dive bars and food stalls stays busy well past midnight, BGC has large clubs, and karaoke is something people take seriously with friends and strangers alike. The catch is that each district is cut off by traffic, so you pick one area for the night.

Singapore's strength is the carefully made drink, in rooftop bars above Marina Bay or in the shophouse cocktail bars of Keong Saik and Telok Ayer. The club scene is small, alcohol taxes make every round costly, and nights tend to end earlier and more calmly.

Nature is about level between the two, but in very different places. Singapore's green is inside the city: rainforest trails with macaques at Bukit Timah, the MacRitchie treetop walk, the Southern Ridges walkways and cycling on Pulau Ubin, all an easy trip from the centre but used up within a few outings on a small, flat island.

Manila has almost nothing green in town, but real landscape lies beyond the sprawl. There is the view of Taal's lake volcano from Tagaytay, limestone trails at Masungi, dawn climbs of Pico de Loro and Batulao, and reef diving at Anilao. Getting to any of it means an early start through traffic.

Manila gives far more choice for a day out. There is the ferry to Corregidor's wartime tunnels and gun batteries, bulalo soup on the Tagaytay ridge, the old towns and hot springs of Laguna, Kapampangan cooking in Pampanga and the basilica and ancestral houses of Taal. Traffic limits how many you fit in, and a driver helps.

Singapore has very little within a day. Johor Bahru is just over the causeway but border queues eat time, Bintan and Batam are mainly resort stays, and Malacca really needs a night.

Singapore is one of the easiest cities in Asia to bring children to, and far easier than Manila. Mandai's zoo, Night Safari and panda park, Sentosa's aquarium and Universal Studios, and the water-play garden at Gardens by the Bay fill days, and lifts, clean streets and familiar food make the rest simple.

Manila welcomes children warmly, and its malls, Manila Ocean Park and the free Natural History museum fill a few indoor days. Outdoors it is hard work: broken pavements, stressful road crossings and long hours in traffic, so a hotel pool becomes the most useful family feature.

This is where the two cities differ most. Singapore's MRT is clean, step-free and reaches almost everywhere from the airport to the rainforest edge, and a contactless card works on trains and buses alike. Only the midday heat limits walking.

Manila is a sprawl of separate cities with jammed roads and a few rail lines that do not link up neatly. Most visitors rely on ride-hailing and plan one area per day, with jeepneys and tricycles for those who learn the routes. Makati, BGC and Intramuros are fine on foot, but walking between districts is not realistic.

Both cities shop mainly in huge air-conditioned malls, but Singapore offers more beyond them. Next to Orchard Road and the designer stores at Marina Bay, it has independent boutiques on Haji Lane and bookshops and design stores in Tiong Bahru's Art Deco blocks, plus gold, spices and saris in Little India.

Manila's malls are just as large, and its advantage is bargains. Divisoria sells almost anything in bulk, Greenhills is the place for pearls and gadgets, and the stalls under Quiapo's bridge sell baskets and handicrafts. Look out for South Sea pearls and piña weaving, but expect little in the way of independent shops.

Manila is far cheaper. Mid-range hotels and serviced apartments are good value, street food, jeepneys and ride-hailing cost little, and the National Museum is free. Only the restaurants and bars of Makati and BGC push the bill up.

In Singapore the room is the big cost, alcohol is heavily taxed and the wildlife parks and Sentosa charge high entry fees. Hawker meals, the MRT and the free gardens keep daily spending down, but a stay still costs much more than in Manila.

The two are evenly matched on stage, with different strengths. Manila's best evenings are often in its bars, where Filipino bands play soul and rock with real skill most nights. The Cultural Center of the Philippines has the Philharmonic, Ballet Philippines and folk troupes dancing the bamboo-pole tinikling, and local casts perform Broadway and West End musicals.

Singapore's arts life is centred on the Esplanade, with a concert hall, a theatre and free outdoor shows by the bay. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra plays a regular season and touring musicals come to Marina Bay Sands. Chinese opera and Indian classical dance appear around temple festivals.

Both cities unwind mainly through massage, and neither has a bathing culture of its own. Manila's speciality is hilot, the traditional Filipino massage with warm banana leaves and coconut oil, and a long session costs little. For real quiet you have to leave the city, for the hot-spring pools of Los Baños or the cool air of Tagaytay.

Singapore offers foot reflexology, traditional Chinese medicine clinics in Chinatown and Ayurvedic treatments in Little India. The city itself is calmer and more orderly than Manila, and an early walk in the Botanic Gardens or around the reservoirs is restful without leaving town.