The Story Behind the Rose
We didn’t set out to build another big tour company.
Back in 2019 a bunch of us – a history nerd from Intramuros, a Binondo kid who grew up selling hopia after school, a mountaineer who camps inside Pinatubo, and a Poblacion bartender who knows every rooftop – realized one thing: most visitors leave Manila thinking it’s just traffic and malls.
We started giving friends-of-friends “the real day” and suddenly strangers were messaging us at 2 AM asking for the same. That’s when DROSE was born – five locals who refused to let Manila be misunderstood.
No giant buses. No megaphones. No 50-person herds.
Every guide still plans the route the night before based on what’s happening in the streets right now – a new street-food stall that just opened, a surprise free concert, or a sudden road closure we magically avoid.
If we grow bigger than we can keep that feeling, we’d rather stay this size forever.
