Corregidor
Here are some pictures of us at Corregidor Island.
Corregidor is a small rocky island in the Philippines about 48 kilometers west of Manila which is stragetically located at the entrance of Manila Bay. This island fortress stands as a memorial for the courage, valor, and heroism of its Filipino and American defenders who bravely held their ground against the overwhelming number of invading Japanese forces during World War II. Or so says the Corregidor Island
website.
We went there last weekend. Sorry, can't be bothered writing too much more at the moment but I hope you like the pics. It was a nice day trip.
Wissy G - notice the baby goaties in the background!!
Santo Nino
So here we are back in Manila - the holiday honeymoon of China has worn off and we are facing the daily grind of commuting, work, heat and pollution again. But I for one am feeling positive about it. Perhaps it’s the fact that I'm exercising more partly thanks to a fellow AYAD Nat who is also on a health kick and is making a reliable gym partner, or because I actually am working on some tangible work outputs at the moment In any case, it is making life an enjoyable thing at the moment which really it should be all the time.
Neil and I promised to get out and about in Manila a lot more to enjoy the time we have left here. So far in 2 weeks, we haven't done or seen anything new! Well so much for that! However, last weekend I gave up a Saturday night out to get to bed early so that I would wake up at 7 on Sunday morning to head to a religious festival in an area of Manila called Pandacan. Ok, so giving up big Saturday nights aren't that difficult for me anymore (in fact, going out on a Saturday night is a big achievement now a days!!) but getting out of the house by 7.30 on a Saturday still is! Anyway, I left Neil snoring and hungover in bed to head to this festival where I was going to meet one of my workmates. It was the festival of Santo Nino - the Jesus Child and I expected it to be a smallish, traditionally religious procession. Well it was my first real religious festival in the Philippines. But I was really surprised upon arriving to see hundreds of people gathered around the Santo Nino church with drums beating, people chanting, fireworks, dancing and little dolls being held by everyone. At first my worry was that I wouldn't find my workmate (I never did!), but then I had a look around at the people in their groups dancing, at the 3 cars decorated with Santo Ninos and even got splashed with holy water by the priest and had a lot of fun.
So with only 3 months left to go (ahh- 2 and a half already??) we really are starting to feel like we are in the final stages. It is still some time to go, but the way time is flying it will be over in no time. We have our mate Glenn from Canberra coming to visit next week and hopefully mom will come soon after in mid- early Feb. There are plans in early March to go down to Bicol and see the Whale Sharks and Mount Mayon. Hmmm, I wonder how much leave I have left!
To add to my ramblings I've read 2 interesting books lately - The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst and a fantastically interesting, and slightly sad read, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. The first I received as a Christmas present from Uncle Andrew in 2004, the second I remember giving to Uncle Tim the same Christmas. Anyway, here are some pics of Santo Nino . . .
Santo Nino Church in Pandacan
One of the cars elaborately decorated with Santo Ninos
Some of the great dancers at the festival
China posts
Hey everyone - we're finally back. I'm starting to put up some posts of China but there is heaps to write about and a lot of photos. It's probably best to read the posts backwards - by their date - as I'm trying to post what we did each day in China. So be sure to check back for the completion of the China posts and some more updated Philippines ones!
Shanghai part 2
Our last day in China we had a tour of the sites of Shanghai. After about a 20 minute walk from Jasmine and Mark's appartment, we took the underground into one of the main shopping roads, Nanjing Road. We walked down to the river and the famous Bund. Unfortunately it was a really gray day and the view across to Pudong wasn't the best.
Mark, Jasmine, Amber and Dave on Nanjing Road (looking west)
Emily on Nanjing Road (looking East)
Neil with the buildings of Pudong in the background
We then headed to 1221 restaurant where we ordered heaps of Chinese food including salt and pepper squid, some great duck, chicken, Szechuan beef, tofu and vegies, dumplings and wontons. They also served tea of course, but I wasn't a huge fan of it. I liked the way they served the hot water though.
Neil at 1221 restaurant with the waiter pouring hot water for the tea
The boys then went home to 'rest' and the girls headed out to the Shanghai 'Old Town' to have a look around at the markets. We spent most of our time around the Yu Gardens and restored Bazaar which was very commercial, but very interesting.
Yu Gardens area
Yu Gardens area
Yu Gardens
Amber and Jasmine at Yu Gardens
That night we caught up with some other friends from Canberra, Justin and Eli. Unfortunately Fiona had the same bug that many others had been dealing with the last few days and wasn’t able to meet up. But all the same it was great to see Justin and Eli even if it was for a little while. We capped off our trip with what else but food at a Xinjang restaurant where Neil and Dave went a bit crazy with the lamb kebabs. But they were pretty good, and cheap too.
Neil, Jasmine, Mark and Dave at the Xinjiang restaurant
The next morning was an early flight back to Beijing and a bit of another administrative overkill getting out of China. Of course the Philippines airlines flight getting back to Manila was late in departing, but we had a great taxi ride (joining part of a police led VIP escort through the peak traffic of EDSA – the main highway) to make it back home at a decent time.
China was a great place to visit and even having 6 whole days in Beijing didn’t seem like enough to see the highlights of that city. China itself is huge and I would have loved to have more of a chance to really get out and see some of the other mega-cities, the other amazing sites (like Nanjing, Xian, the West, the gorges, Yellow and Yangtse rivers – no river cruise though! - and some of the southern areas that Mark, Jasmine, Amber and Dave had just visited). As well as really going to see how the ‘real’ China lives in the countryside. China is definitely a boom country that can be seen when visiting Beijing and Shanghai. There are heaps of new buildings and construction projects, the place seems pretty clean and organized, and there is an evident pride in that it has been done the ‘Chinese’ way. I guess just how ‘Chinese’ that way is, and what kind of other development related issues (like how much does the success extend to the countryside, the huge numbers of rural to urban migration, pollution) is in a way hidden from the average tourist and could not be easily grasped in a 2 week visit staying with friends and relatives. But it definitely sparks an interest in the place. The food for the most part was great, the sites inspiring, the language was interesting and the variety offered seemed broad. Of course it was great to see Dad again and we always (I guess with most families) seem to be able to pick up where we left off – normally around a few plates of food!!! By the way, did I tell you all that my New Years Resolution is to eat more sensibly? Smaller portions, get rid of that junky stuff I eat all the time and don’t stuff myself just because the food is in front of me. Arrrgh. Not sure how long I will last with this one!!
