Manila Sights & WoWoWee!!!
Our first full day in Manila started with a breakfast buffet at the hotel. Wow!! A filipino breakfast with fried rice, longinisa sausage, talapia and aros caldo! yummy!!!
Saw the popular Rizal Park and the changing of the guards at the monument. Went to Intramuros to see Dad’s alma mater MIT (Mupua Institue of Technology) where the guards were amazed that a graduate from 1964 would come and visit the school all the way from the US. Saw where the CE classrooms where and the gymnasiums was packed with ping-pong matches going on. This was saturday and classes were being conducted. It was a lively campus.
We then started to head out to look for the church mom and dad got married in. That’s when we heard about the stampede tragedy. Mom and dad had considered going to the event, but decided against it ’cause of the weather and the number of people. I did get a few e-mails to see if we were safe. While taking a taxi and navigating thru the Manila’s infamous traffic jams, we saw on more than one occasion as ambulances were speeding as best as they can to get to the tragic site. This happened not too far from where we had been.
We never did get to the church where mom and dad got married, but we were getting tired from the hustle and bustle of a big city. We had the taxi for about 3 hrs and it cost us less than PhP 1,000 that’s equivalent to less than $20.
That night we met mom’s brother Pepe his wife Gina and their kids Sabrina and Markos. Markos is a cutie and full of energy. He could keep still. We went out to eat. This buffet place had everything from traditional filipino dishes and fruits to steaks on order. Of course I ordered grilled squid. Yummy good. The Lechon (pork roast) was excellent as usual. The mariachi band was awesome! Dad requested about 3 songs. It was fun to see uncle Pepe again and it’s been awhile since I’ve seen him too.
Overall a great day, as I had my first legal drink of San Miguel in the PI.
until next time, “bahala na.”
Tags: D 2006 Phillipines Trip, manila, Philippines
Administrator
Leave a Reply