I have been looking at apartments in Manila. the plan might be to go there for 3 or 4 months and stay in an apartment. This place is around $600 CAD a month plus a/c costs and water. So, it would be around $1000 or so. A bit pricy compared to my places in Thailand but gosh it looks sweet.
I could stay at beautiful place like this, for my entire trip and travel daily to areas around the city (mostly like the slums) to tell the important stories of the people who live there. The apartment would be a refuge from the slum worlds, similar to what I had in Mae Sot Thailand when I was doing the photos at the dump in 2018 (that room ran only about $400 CAD or so with AC and water.
This place is a bit far from the Happyland section of Tondo Slum, about 35 minutes by vehicle. I am sure I can find stories to tell that are closer, if necessary.
