Sunday, May 01, 2005

Touring Manila

Thanks to the 4 day working week, Friday was my first chance to really get out an about and see a bit of the more touristy side of Manila (there isn’t much!). I had the added bonus of being accompanied by our first real visitor – Paul J from Hanoi who is here for about 2 weeks. We met up in Makati where he is staying with another friend from Canberra, Daniela, and then headed off to Intramuros. Intramuros is considered the ‘old city’ of Manila which is pretty incredible really seeing as though the whole city was destroyed in the Second World War. Apparently after Warsaw, Manila is the second most bombed city in history. We started off at the Manila Cathedral, a huge European style catholic cathedral with the standard columns and cupola. We then walked up to Fort Santiago which sits on the Pasig River and was once the seat of Spanish military power here in the Philippines. Inside there are some nice gardens inside the walled fortress, a moat and a memorial to Jose Rizal, a national hero, who was imprisoned there in the final days before his execution.




We then walked down through Intramuros to the San Agustin Church and San Agustin Museum. They are both national heritage sites and at first glance they seem pretty unexciting. However, inside the San Agustin Museum, which is attached to the church are a lot of objects of ‘great historical and cultural merit’. There are also some beautiful gardens surrounded by an old moat like edifice which make for some nice photos (hope to post some here soon!). Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn’t get to explore the second story, but will definitely have to head back to this one.

Emily in San Agustin Gardens

Here's a great map on Intramuros. You can click on the separate sections which show a bit more detail: http://www.tourism.gov.ph/intramuros/intramuros.htm

We then went back in to meet Neil who had finished work for the week for a couple of drinks in ritzy Makati. Paul was keen to hit the more local ‘Malate’ area and while initially Neil and I weren’t too keen, we ended up going along. I’m glad we didn’t pike as Malate was great. There were people everywhere and they had closed one part of the street off to allow diners to sit out on the main street. They had also set up a large stage where they had a band and some singers performing some pretty decent covers. We joined the crowd in having a couple of rounds of San Miguel Lights and some nachos out in the open before doing some bar hopping. We went to a small place called Bedrock where there was a large crowd and some great singers. And then went on a mission to find ‘The Hobbit Bar’, a folk bar with ‘little people’ as waiters. After a bit of a trek we found it – it was playing fantastic folk music and the vibe was great. Pilipinos are really keen on their music and are very talented musicians!


After not wanting to have a late night, we eventually left Paul (who was meeting up with Daniela) at about 1.30 and taxied it back home. The next day we were pretty hung over, but eventually dragged ourself up to meet Paul at 4.30 at Rizal Park. After strolling around for a while we walked over to Manila bay to a restaurant which had a roof top balcony for a couple of kalamansi juices (the local lime here). They were masarap masarap (very delicious!) and the view was the best I’ve seen here so we chilled out for a while and watched the sunset over the water. It was sooooo pretty.

Neil at Manila Bay

We then headed back to Makati where we got changed, had some dinner and then met up with some more friends and went out to a bar to watch some local bands. The bar turned out to be someones house and was absolutely packed. We were still pretty tired from the night before and bailed pretty early (about 12.30).

The President has declared Monday a public holiday for Labour Day, but Neil will have to work.

Neil has what we think is Giardia. He’s not doing too good.

posted by batik billy @ 2:29 pm