G3: Manila
See My Link M 2008 Manila for pics
Well, looks like Maria found out a way to write entries on the blog and stole the my thunder and gave you all the synopsis of the last 3-days. But I’ll still write my own version of events as Maria wrote her entry while having a few San Miguel beers. OK, actually just 1 or two or three! We couldn’t remember as it was getting late. But it was really hopping at the bar!
Anyway, we got to Manila and checked in at the Heritage Hotel. I picked this hotel because it was near the airport (about a 15 min taxi ride), close to the mall of asia (you can see it from our hotel and depending of the traffic, it can take 10 to 30 min. to get to the mall, Luneta Park (again traffic dependent and within a 30 min taxi ride) and same with Intramuros.
After a little rest and relaxation at the hotel, we had to stay awake and “get with” the time change. We had the lunch buffet at the Hotel, with was really good. Lots of seafood and traditional Filipino food available. The desserts are out of this world. There were basically 30 different types of cake and also a variety of breads and sweets.
With our full tummies, was another period of rest and relaxation as we prepared to go to the Malls of malls. Mall of Asia. If you’re interested about the specific of the mall, refer to the 2007 trip, as I wrote about it there. I won’t bore with the details here. We wen’t to the mall to just get a few essentials, a pair of slippers for me, some lotion and toothbrushes, etc. Walked around to see the different shops and see the view of Manila Bay as the sun was setting down. Very Beautiful.
We then had dinner at the mall at Max’s Restaurant. One of the more famous restaurants for the locals as well as for the Balikbayans. We had the pork sinigang and the world famous Max’s fried chicken. The chicken is so tender, the meat litterally falls of the bones and it’s not greasy at all, unlike KFC fried chicken. You can barely see any grease on your plate. That was a very delicious filipino meal and Maria’s first in PI. Yeah!!!
We had back at the hotel and had a beer or two at the hotel bar and called it the night at 8pm! Very tired with the jet lag and the beer certainly helped with getting us to sleep right away.
The next day Friday, Aug 11. We woke up around 5 am, somewhat rested. Even though we had plenty of sleep, it still did not feel right as were still fighting the effects of the jet lag. But sightseeing we must go.
First we stopped at Luneta park in front of Rizal Monument. It was really nice day as there was a slight breeze that cooled the air. But, standing in the sun was very brutal as the temps rose to near 100’s. After Rizal Monument, we started walking for Intramuros. Maria was really getting weakened by the heat. At St. Augustine Church we were approached by a Calesa Driver Ray and his horse Romeo. He offered a guided tour of Intramuros in his Calesa for 600 pesos an Hour. You can make it as short or as long as you want. 600 pesos is about $15. Since Maria was really getting tired of walking on this oppressive heat, We opted to take the tour. Ray was very informative at every stop. We saw different parts of Intramuros that I haven’t seen before when I did my own walking tour. Like walking to the prison cells that the Japanese used during WWII. or the seeing the remaining gun emplacements from WWII and during the time the spaniards occupied Intramuros. The location of the old universities and churches. Intramuros covers 63 acres. It was the original fort built by the spaniards during beginning of the spanish occupation. Maria also got to see the Manila Church. It’s designed like the old european catholic churches with it’s beautiful stained glass that encircles the church. Oddly enough, people don’t like to get married here because the main door has a column in the middle. And superstition has it, when couples depart the church the ones the goes to either side together tend to stay married and the ones where the bride goes out on one side and the bride on the other, tend to divorce. I don’t know if this is true as much, but Ray gave examples of famous actors and actresses that have divorced because they did the “split” thing when leaving the church after the wedding. But don’t the actors and actresses tend to divorce more by nature, so this really is just a high coincidence, and just adds to the allure of the church? Anyway it adds to the colorfull tour. The last place we saw was Fort Santiago at the north end of Intramuros. This is where Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his execution. They’ve turned this into a park with a water fountain and a nice flower filled walkway. We had a nice stroll thu this area. That concluded our tour and it took us 2 hrs. It was nice because it saved us alot of walking in the heat and sun and this was really a concern for Maria. It probably prevented her from turning into a lobster.
We had a hard time catching a taxi back to the hotel. But once back we just relaxed and rested. Then went to lunch at the Mall of Asia with a view of Manila Bay. The afternoon was filled with shopping and rest at the hotel.
We then met my cousin at around 8pm. She came directly from work. We all went out for dinner at the Seafood Restaurant at Diosdado Macapagal Ave. It was quite a scene as the “Baklas” touts inundated Maria with offers to try their seafood and restaurant. We picked the one that my uncle took me last year. We ordered grilled squid, grilled fish (lapu-lapu (a type of grouper fish?)). We also had fresh lobster, grilled shrimps and shrimp sinigang. That was more than what we needed and my cousing took the leftovers home.
We called it the night after dinner. It was around 11:30 by the time we got back to the hotel. It was a long and exhausting day but was nice for Maria to meet my cousin. Who happened to have just moved to Manila 2.5 months ago to start a new job. She’s doing really well and the company is really doing well. They’re having their company outing at Alona beach later on this year. Sounds really fun!!!
Tomorrow we leave for Boracay Island!
Until next time, bahala na………………..
Tags: G 2008 PHILIPPINE TRIP
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