PfG: Manila Hospitality

I'm going to warn you up front that this is going to be a visual overload post. I may not write a whole lot but I think a lot of the pictures speak from themselves. We had a terrific day here in Manila and I just want to share as many of the sights we saw as possible.

As we approached the islands that are at the mouth of Manila Bay we started to see these small fishing boats everywhere, you can see how miniscule these vessels look on the seas.

I zoomed way in on one to get a better look.

And another as we got nearer to Corregidor at the mouth of Manila Bay.

Here's Corregidor after we'd passed. This location was the American military headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur following the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese during WW2. He and his family were secretly evacuated from there via PT boat on March 11, 1942 to begin a journey to Australia, where he pronounced those famous words "I shall return" upon his arrival. Major General Jonathan Wainwright, with his American and Filipino troops then held out for 27 days before finally surrendering. It is also the site of the begining of the Bataan Death March. Needless to say there is a memorial on the island. It's a spot we would have like to have gone to but tours leave from Manila much earlier than we arrived. Another time perhaps.

These were the first locals to welcome us as we neared the dock. All were waving and hollering as they swam in the dirty water.

Here's Karl as we approached the city.

My quick photo of Serenade as we got off the ship to walk to our tour van.

The first thing we saw as we got out of the van were these palm bundles, and people carrying them. It took a moment or two to realize that they were for Palm Sunday. They were everywhere throughout the city as you'll see in the photos.

Our first stop was the oldest part of Manila, Intramuros, which was settled by the Spanish in 1571. It continued as their colonial headquarters until 1898 when the Americans took over. There was a brief stint of English occupation in during the 18th century but they never got beyond Manila. The Philippines achieved independence on July 4, 1946.

The walls of Fort Santiago encompassed all of the area of Intramuros.

I'll let some of the signs and monuments tell the story here.

Obligatory selfie, I definitely needed my hat in the sun, and oh was it humid.

The large open space in the middle of the fortifications, which were actually surrounded by a sort of moat that you'll see later. And a pretty Whorled Plantain flower.

Some of the many ruins in the area. Part of the area has been damaged by earthquakes throughout the years but the greatest damage was done by the Japanese who burned their occupation headquarters before they left.

Here's the promised "moat". In earlier days this space between the walls, which was near the bay, could be flooded with sea water to create another barrier. At one point the red roofed building was a part of this battery that was protected by Our Lade of Guadalupe, the preserver of life.

In later years, following Philippine independence, this narrow space was turned into an 18 hole golf course. There were many golfers out and about on that Sunday morning.

Chuck and LeaAnn posed for me in front of one of the cannons still on the grounds.

More of the barracks. During the Spanish heyday in Manila the Spaniards were the only ones allowed inside, the many Chinese in the area camped outside the walls.

You can get an idea of how close the old city is to the new.

A little more ordinance left on site.

These were above one of the gates in the Fort Santiago walls. These are remnants of Spain, the one on the right the coat of arms.

The full view of the gate.

These walls are what's left of some of the military barracks. In 1967 the area was converted into the Rajah Sulayman Theatre

This lovely blossom is called Pride of India.

The back way into the fort today looks across the Pasig River into the back of Chinatown. The waters were calm, creating a nice reflection photo.

Supplies were brought in through this gate to the fort here at Postigo del Nuestra Señora de Soledad . Today it has quite an odor as you look around and take photos.

These boys didn't seem to mind the nasty water on their makeshift boat. They did a little begging but when no one was responsive they continued to paddle until the one on the left knocked the other boy into the water. Boys will be boys all over the world.

Another memorial in the fort was dedicated to Dr. Jose Rizal.

He was instrumental in helping to educate the Filipino people at the end of the 19th century and eventually became a martyr in 1896. His death symbolized the birth of the Filipino nation, which finally came about a half century later.

Our final stop in Intramuros was a sobering spot noted by its white cross.

Below this building in the photo were spaces originally created to store gunpowder that were used as dungeons by the Japanese here at Fort Santiago. In the Battle of Manila in 1945 the Japanese locked over 600 prisoners into the small "cells" where they were left with no food, water or sanitation. None of them survived their ordeal.

All of the prisoners were buried in a mass grave nearby and this cross erected here to commemorate their torture and loss.

The entrance and cells were too crowded for us to go down to look inside but you get the idea of how cramped they were as you see how people had to duck down to go in.

One last photo at Fort Santiago.

At one point in time this plaza, next to the Presidential Palace, was a bull fighting ring.

It's in front of the lovely Manila Cathedral. I had to include the photo this angle as from the front you can't see the dome in the rear. More on the cathedral later when we had time to go inside.

This view is part of the former Presidential Palace built by Imelda Marcos.

Time for lunch so we headed to a Filipino buffet called Barbara's Heritage Restaurant.

The buffet was served upstairs. I think the only reason they called it a heritage restaurant was for all the antiques used in the decor.

These two sisters were performing Spanish dances as we arrived. They were talented and it was lovely, but loud for when you're eating a meal.

Some of my lunch. The main dishes were only so so but the desserts, which I forgot to photograph, were nicer, a meringue dish, a sort of tapioca, a coconut sweet, and another made of cassava. And yes, I tried almost all of them.

There are a multitude of Catholic churches in Manila, not surprising since about 80% of the population of the Philippines is Catholic. When you consider that 100 million people live in the country that's a lot of Christians. This house of worship is the third iteration of the San Augustin Church, and is the only church in Manila to have survived all of the major earthquakes that have damaged the city, as well coming through WW2 intact.

This Baroque style church is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I liked these notes above the entrance proclaiming 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

Outside of St. Augustin they had multiple signs like this for the stations of the cross.

The ceiling here was a work of art. It is painted in a trompe l'oeil style so that it looks three dimensional. Completed in 1795 it took two Italian artists ten years to complete.

The beautiful interior of San Augustin.

Here is the pretty courtyard to the Casa Manila, which is off to the left.

Near the entrance were these fun bamboo bikes.

Here's the entrance to Casa Manila, built in the Colonial Spanish style and furnished as it would have been for a wealthy Spanish family from around the 1850's.

Picture overload here but I loved seeing all the beautiful pieces here in Casa Manila so just scroll fast if you want to. This first shot is of a guest room on the first floor, which we would consider the second floor. There were two of these located near

the office, where all of the business of the house would take place.

This carved chest reminded me of my dowry chest from India, only it's much more detailed.

Look at the gorgeous wood filigree decorations at the top of the stairs and the details on the ceiling.

This would be the room where much of the entertaining would have been done in the house.

Notice that most of the wood throughout the house was dark.

Interesting to note that the existence of Casa Manila is thanks to the infamous Imelda Marcos when she was first lady.

The painted details on the walls were all done by hand,

they weren't wallpaper.

The music on the wall was especially appropriate next to the piano.

Windows in the house were interesting. There were two panels on each that you could slide open or closed. One panel also had louvers that you could adjust, all of which made for good cross ventilation which would have been appreciated in hot and humid Manila.

Most wealthy Spanish homes would have had their own personal chapel for the family to worship in.

This lovely ceiling was in the master bedroom.

And here's the bedroom itself.

I loved this view out one of the windows.

A nice long dining table for twelve or so, excellent for entertaining. There were two kinds of chairs, those with higher backs were for the men and lower backs for the women, no low chairs at this table. The other interesting thing here is that black ruffle in the center. If you look closely you'll see that above it is another length of cloth. All of it is attached to a rope that ended about where I stood to take the photo. The black cloth is actually a fan, the maid would come in and pull on the rope to swing it back an forth to cool off the diners as they ate...and maybe to keep flies away.

Here is the home's oven.

These are biscuit, or cookie molds. When anything was ready to be baked it would be inserted in the oven and then the kitchen maid would say the rosary "at normal speed" a certain number of times to know when it was time to take out the goodies.

Check out this fancy refrigerator/ice box, a luxury in the 19th century. We heard the ice may have come all the way from Boston, not sure how they could make that happen!

You can probably guess what this two-seater is, yep they're potty chairs. Unique thing about these is that our guide, Letty, told us that it was customary for a couple to only use them together. Seemed like a weird custom to us, and no thank you!

And here we have the bathtubs. The smaller one is for the man, he just stood in it and the maid would pour water over him, the one behind was for the woman, she had a little more room to sit down. Neither tub probably got used more than once a month or so.

Remember that view looking up from below? Here's the one looking down to the courtyard.

Just a couple of photos of the group we traveled with today. Some of the usual suspects and a few different ones,

all nice people.

Here's the Manila Cathedral again from the front, you can see how busy it was here on Palm Sunday, not only with worshippers but with hawkers selling palm fronds and all kinds of trinkets.

A bit closer view with a few less people.

A favorite among Filipinos the Manila Cathedral had many worshipers inside as well.

The altar was simple but lovely.

The stained glass was glorious.

There was plenty of it inside.

It is interesting as well to note the Asian features on the faces.

This intricately carved cross decorated the inside of the cathedral as well.

A couple of places of note that are related to MacArthur. Just below this tree is a spot where he would set up shop to use as an his office headquarters.

The Manila hotel was MacArthur's second headquarters and place of residence. He and his family lived up there on the top left, fourth floor which overlooked the bay.

These jeepneys are iconic in Manila and a mode of public transportation.

The only entrance for the passengers is through the back.

They are colorful and come in different sizes. Letty told us that there's a new version in the works that will have a side entry for passengers to make them safer.

And it was off to Chinatown! What an adventure!

The traffic was crazy and the crowds crazier as you'll see shortly.

How anyone could ever figure out what wire went where would have been a miracle. Our guide called it "black spaghetti".

There were dragons on most of the light poles on the main street. I wasn't sure if they were always there or part of the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

We took a side trip down this alleyway, which was surprisingly empty.

We were headed to this little shop that sells the best

lumpia in Manila. Supposedly. This Filipino favorite had been recommended by our assistant waiter, Jojo, so when our guide asked if anyone wanted to try some I told her I'd like to, even when everyone else said "no thanks". Once I got mine the rest of the group followed suit and tried it as well. Lumpia is like a large spring roll, filled with shredded carrots and cabbage, maybe a little chicken, and with this one you got some sweet peanut sauce to dip it in. Super delicious!

Colorful produce on the carts

and shops along the streets.

In the midst of Chinatown was this Catholic shrine at the Binando Church. The cross here had a miracle ascribed to it when it was found floating in the sea straight up and down. It also is supposed to give protection.

People come here to light incense (kind of a Buddhist way of Catholic worship) to pray for protection. Letty asked if anyone would like to light a stick of incense and naturally I volunteered when no one else did. Only issue here was that the shrine was next to a foul smelling canal.

I think these were dipped strawberries. Just one of the many types of street food we saw.

More black spaghetti, it was everywhere!

I couldn't figure out what this girl was selling. Turned out it was dried squid.

This store was crazy busy when we went inside, the checkout line running its length.

Everybody was lined up to buy their famous sweets. Letty made her own line, went to the cashier and quickly paid for several packages so we could try some.

Karl and I ended up with Ube flavor, it's a purple sweet potato. The "biscuit" was a thin, barely crispy pastry with the sweet potato "paste" inside.

So much eye candy all around me throughout the streets of Chinatown! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the sights. Loved these springy little duck hair clips, they reminded me of Lydia, who loves rubber ducks.

We made our way down the narrow sidewalk towards the chaos.

More of the lovely palm fronds.

Shoes anyone?

Some of the sellers kept their wares on the sidewalk, until there wasn't even space for that.

I cannot tell you how much I wanted to try some mango!

So much beautiful produce everywhere, displayed in various ways.

Another sweet lady who let me take her photo.

Fabrics in all sorts of colors that cost next to nothing.

Street candy to go. It was tough maneuvering this cart through the crowds. The bags cost the equivalent of about 35 cents each.

Brooms and baskets, real fake watches and jewelry

were just a few of the things these crowds were buying. This was in front of me

and this the view behind. I just held up my camera on the selfie stick and hoped for the best for this shot.

Things got smelly as we got to the dried fish sellers.

Definitely time to get Jane out of there, she has a real aversion to seafood.

The pink stuff this lady is putting in the bag is salted shrimp paste.

More unusual types of produce,

including, lots and lots of dragonfruit.

Eggs anyone?

Crossing streets was taking your life in your hands, a lot like in India.

Pretty dragonfruit drinks.

A little laundry.

Just outside of Chinatown is Muslim town.

These cuties were shy about having their photo taken while the woman in the background encouraged them to let me take it.

The big fish here are smoked tuna. Apparently the price of these has risen a lot lately.

A little more laundry!

I wondered what "praise fries" tasted like!

I was so disappointed with this picture. This man had posed so well for me but I snapped the photo at the wrong moment and got him with his eyes are closed. Note to self, double check your photos when you have a model.

Definitely in Muslim town!

Our final stop was one of my favorites, the San Sebastian Church.

This one was the. most crowded church we'd actually stopped at all day with worshippers filling the inside and the outer courtyard. There was a service going on when we arrived and there were speakers outside so people there could hear, the message was in both Tagalog and English.

The unique thing about this building is that is that the exterior is made of metal.

We went down along the side of the church where there was a doorway open, people were outside of it listening as well. I didn't feel right ogling the inside with a service going on so I only got the picture of stained glass I could see from the doorway. I honestly just stood outside, closed my eyes, tried to listen and to feel. There was such a sweetness and warm spirit there at the church. It brought tears to my eyes. I loved being in the. midst of so many faith filled people.

On the way back to the port we passed this home that Letty said would have been a typical Mestizo style home in the 19th century. Definitely different than the Spanish colonial.

I thought this sign in the cruise terminal was perfect for the day, as crazy and chaotic as it was in some ways I still loved it, I felt like we'd seen and experienced some real Manila.

Later that night on the ship we had a marvelous folkloric show on the ship by the group on the sign above. That's our incredible cruise director, Joff, onstage to introduce them.