At midnight on New Year’s Eve the whole city sets off fireworks at once. From the ground you see your street’s. From higher up you can see all of them.
Five places
A rooftop bar in Makati or BGC, if you book in November. The Marikina river bank, where the hills frame the view. A friend’s condominium with a west-facing window. The hills of Antipolo, for the whole skyline at once. Or the bay walk in Pasay, if you don’t mind company.
Staying safe
Fireworks in Metro Manila are not limited to official displays, and stray rockets are common in residential streets. Watch from indoors or from a height if you can, keep children and pets inside and have a bucket of water nearby if you are on a rooftop.
The air quality after midnight is usually poor for a day or two. Keep windows closed overnight and wear a mask if you have to go out early on the first.
Hospitals see a rise in injuries every year. The safest view really is the one from a distance.
A quieter idea
Some neighbourhoods now hold a single organised display instead of everyone lighting their own. It is safer, cheaper and easier on pets and older relatives, and the shared show has become a small tradition in its own right.
If your barangay holds one, it is worth going: you see more of your neighbours than on any other night of the year. Bring a folding chair, a thermos of something warm and a bag for your rubbish.
Then go home, close the windows and listen to the rest of the city celebrate.
The next morning the streets are quiet and covered in paper. The sweepers start early, and by noon most of the city looks as if nothing happened at all.
Wherever you go, bring a mask for the smoke and leave before the traffic does.
