There is only one flight a day to Manila so we had to waste the morning in KK as it was an afternoon flight out to Manila. We arrived in Manila around 5 pm. Here's Dad camwhoring for me.
Air Asia planes land at Clark airport which used to be an American airforce base (read: very far away from the city). We went through 3 army checkpoints but all they did was wave us through.
After a 3-hour taxi ride (should *only* have taken 2 hours but we got caught in peak hour traffic and the taxi driver didn't really know where our hotel was and had to ask passerbys THREE times). We were so happy when we finally arrived at our 5-star hotel, Dusit Thani.........
......'s 3-star neighbour, Crown Regency. Heheheh I was in charge of finding us a hotel (took me 3 days of extensive research). My rationale was that it would be better to stay at the best room in a 3-star hotel than the cheapest room in a 5-star hotel. But when we pulled up to the hotel, my heart sank and I went Oh oh. It looked really run down and the supposedly huge shopping mall right opposite it looked tiny! I thought to myself - I am never gonna hear the end of this from the parents.
Luckily the room was really good so the parents were temporarily appeased. We then went looking for food.
We walked around the small shopping mall and discovered that it led to a series of gynormous shopping malls all interconnected together. So yay, I swoped in and saved the day. I rock. Ticker tape parade in honour of me. Anyway it was 9 pm by then so we decided to just have something at the food court. Every second stall seemed to sell fried chicken or some kind of deep dried meat.
We settled on noodles.
Bad choice because they were salty, sweet, sour and spicy.. all at the same time. As a direct result, we stuck to what we know best for the rest of the trip - chinese food at chinese restaurants.
Bright and early the next day, we decided to go to Intramuros - the ancient walled city within Manila. We decided to go via their light rail so headed to the station. I gotta say that every single person we asked for help in Manila was helpful and smiley.
The trip to Intramuros took forever because we had to change from train to light rail. I was busy snapping away while waiting for the train (as I do) when a security guard came over and started gesturing at my camera and saying Delete! Delete!. Using my amazing analytical skills I deduced that he wanted me to delete the photos I just took of the train. He kept chanting delete while I was scrolling through my photos. I got to the one I just took and he continued with his one word chant. I said to him (with my finger hovering over the delete button) "There's a please in there somewhere, isn't there?". Now I hate those uptight prissy types that say these kind of things to adults but this dude was annoying me. He just said ya ya delete delete delete. I repeated myself a couple more times but got the same response. So I gave up because his vocabulary obviously did not include the word. Plus I didn't want him to use that mean looking AK47 on me (all security dudes in Manila carry real guns). So I deleted. He then finally said please (YES!!) but he then spotted a few more that I took earlier(damn it!!!) so I continued deleting with the background chant of Delete!! Delete!! playing. Then we got to photos I took of food and I said Delete? Delete?. He finally cracked a smile and said it's ok. I asked him what the huge deal was and he said they worry that other people might copy their infrastructure. I said "But it's crap" heheh... he just ignored me. I think he didn't get what I mean. Oh well, I think the real worry is of people getting a layout of the place and bombing it. So that was my brush with the law. Exciting, no?
It costed 75 peso (approx US2) for the three of us so it was dirt cheap. But it involved us being squashed like sardines the whole way. We took a taxi for the trip back and that costed 300 peso. Another observation - Manila people are very orderly!!!! The way the crowd suddenly organised itself into orderly queues to get out of the train station was quite an impressive sight. The station was right next to an university so there were lots of uni students lolling about. I walked up to a guy to ask for directions - Which direction do i go to get to Intramuros? His answer? You are *in* Intramuros, idiot so any direction will do. Ok he didn't say idiot but I would if I was him. He was very very cute too... drats!
But it turned out he wasn't quite right anyway. While the area was Intramuros, we had specific places to check out. We headed towards the historical sight after some help. I did contemplate booking us in for tours but they were all walking tours so I thought to myself (brilliantly) - Just print off the itinerary and walk it ourselves and save US300. So we walked and walked and walked some more and still didn't see any amazing historical strutures.
We stopped at a main street junction while I tried to point us in the right direction. These were jeepneys, a very popular mode of transportation in Manila. I guess they are to Manila what tuk tuks are to Thailand. Apparently they cost 7 peso for a ride?? Mum was fascinated by them and kept wanting to go on one.
Anyway we walked past a whole lot of pedicabs (we call them trishaws in Malaysia) and they said they can take us for a tour of Intramuros for 100 pesos an hour. We had about 10 drivers all clamouring for our business. It was like donkey bouncing up and down going Pick me! Pick me! Pick me in Shrek. By then we were very very hot and had no idea where we were going so we reluctantly agreed. It was a great idea because the place was HUGE. There was no way we could have walked it. Mum and I were in the first pedicab and Dad was in the second.
Our drivers! They could speak passable english and acted as our tour guides. The older one was our driver and he has FIVE kids!! Majority of the people here are Roman Catholics so I guess they don't practice contraception.
The pedicab didn't afford the best view while seated inside so half the time I had my upper body hanging outside to snap pics. At least we were out of direct sunlight. I got a good tan out of it still which is all good with me.
Our first stop was at a nameless spot where some cannons still remained. Mum didn't bother walking up. She can't stay in the sun for too long because she gets headaches.
Imagine the havoc these cannons wreaked once upon a time.
Old bells. No idea what significance they hold because we literally got out of the pedicab, snapped this photo and got back in. It was very hot!!
I like this pic.
Next stop: San Agustin Church. Looked a bit unassuming from the outside but it was a whole different story inside. Entry price: 100 pesos per person (approx US2.50).
This is the oldest church (or building) in the Philippines and was completed in 1607. The present structure is actually the third Augustinian church erected on the site. The first and second structures were both destroyed by fire for various reasons. The Augustinians decided to rebuild the church using stone and to construct an adjacent monastery as well.
The church interior is in the form of a Latin cross. The church has 14 side chapels and a trompe-l'oeil ceiling painted in 1875 by Italian artists Cesare Alberoni and Giovanni Dibella. Up in the choir loft are hand-carved 17th-century seats of molave, a beautiful tropical hardwood. The church contains the tomb of Spanish conquistadors Miguel López de Legazpi, Juan de Salcedo and Martín de Goiti, as well as several early Spanish Governors-General and archbishops. Their bones are buried in a communal vault near the main altar.] The painter Juan Luna and the statesmen Pedro A. Paterno and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera are among the hundreds of laypersons whose remains are also housed within the church.
Display depicting Christ after he was crucified.
One of the many many many displays of gold artefacts. This church is rich!
The gorgeous garden.
Hallway with a row of paintings of solemn-looking saints.
Another hallway with more paintings.
The gorgeous choir loft. This photo doesn't do it justice at all.
How gorgeous is this?
Ornate chandeliers were everywhere in the chapel.
Altar
The details were just mind-bogglingly intricate.
Check out this video I took inside the chapel. It might give you an idea of just how awesome the building is:
Snapped this pic of a pretty building while we were cruising around. The drivers took us to a few other places, eg: Fort Santiago but we couldn't be bothered because of the heat. We are lazy buggers, ok?
Another church:
We then got the drivers to take us to Chinatown which was across the river. Poor thing had to bike uphill over the bridge with the 2 of us in the cab. So I got out and walked across the bridge to avoid having to resuscitate him myself.
Good thing about travelling by pedicab is that we got to travel down narrow alleyways and witness the everyday hustle and bustle as Filipinos went about their everyday lives.
Anyway we had them drop us off at a respectable looking Chinese restaurant. remember how it was meant to be 100 pesos an hour? Well it was about 2.5 hours later so you would expect to pay 500 pesos for the 2 pedicabs, right? Well they wanted 700 pesos because apparently the 100 pesos only applied to within Intramuros. We ended up giving them 650 pesos which was ok because we were going to give them a tip anyway.
Chow time. This was quite interesting. We had creamy seafood soup cooked with coconut meat inside a coconut, pumpkin and seafood casserole cooked inside a buttercup, obligatory fish and obligatory veges dishes. I also had a calamansi juice which may have been my downfall (tap water mixed in) because I had mild food poisoning that night.
The soup was very rich, very creamy and slightly sweet due to the coconut meat.
Fish being deboned.
Manila had one striking similarity to Vietnam : crazy amount of exposed electrical cables everywhere.
Like most Asian countries, the socio economic gap between the rich and the poor is huge. We drove past the squatters area on the way back to the hotel.
There was a very visible difference to the skyline the minute we entered Makati, Manila's CBD area.
Anyway our hotel was right next to a strip of shopping malls so I had the taxi driver drop us off at the one furthest from our hotel with the plan of slowly strolling back while window shopping. What I thought was the furthest turned out to be the closest. But I didn't find out this nugget of information until we were at the actual furthest mall. Oh well my bad! We went through 8 malls (each the size of a Westfields in their own right) in 2 hours TWICE. Obviously we didn't look at each shop - we are good but not THAT good. It was a good workout.
Saw this restaurant and it amused me.
Clothes in Manila are more expensive than Hong Kong and Malaysia so I wasn't looking at buying any. As such, I turned my attention to my other true passion : Snacks. Lots and lots of it.
I think I'm in heaven.
Dinner that night was at another Chinese restaurant. The parents looked a lot happier here as they were out of the blindingly hot sun.
Mum and Dad couldnt be bothered going through the menu so we got their set dinner for 4. Tofu soup.
Snow peas with prawns and asparagus shoots with something or other.
Deep fried fish with a sweet and sour sauce.
Crabs in a sweetish sauce as well.
Dessert was glutinous balls with lotus seed paste inside.
The next day we decided to hit Marikina City to check out the shoe museum. That's right, THE shoe museum. Marikina City is about an hour away from Manila and had nothing else going for it apart from the shoe museum. We hit peak hour traffic on the way back again so it was more like 2 hours. We spent so much time in cabs I had my daily naps in them.
Entry fee was only 20 pesos each but the taxi ride costed us 1300 pesos all up. Eeeek. It was a lot smaller than I imagined as it was basically one large room with 3 walls of shoes. To be honest, the shoes weren't at all impressive. They were all very practical looking shoes. I did see 2 pairs of Chanel and Givenchy though. All the others were brands i've never heard of. I guess Christian Louboutin didn't exist back then. Also, they all looked very old and very worn. I guess she did need all those pairs of shoes. See? I knew there's a legit reason for needing unlimited pairs of heels! There were many pairs with the same pattern but different colours. Wooo imagine going into Christian Louboutin and saying I'll take one of each colour in a 38.
Anyway the lady security guard said no pictures allowed!!!!!!!! I was so disappointed. Thankfully, Dad worked his magic on her and she allowed me to take one photo. Dad then joked and said oh since there's 3 of us, that's one each so 3 photos in total? The lady countered with an offer to take a group photo of us. But after we left, I checked the photo Dad took of me and it was blurry!! So we asked the lady to let us back in (she had turned the lights off and locked the place up after we left!) and take one more photo. She was sweet enough to let us. Yay! So that's how I got to have 3 photos of the place in the end.
Imelda was a good looking woman when she was younger. I guess she would have to be since she was a beauty pageant queen.
Something to aspire to.
Take 2. Much better.
We went to Mall of Asia that day around 5 pm. Mall of Asia is the 5th largest mall in the world and has a land area of 14 heactares and a gross floor area of approximately 410,000 m². It is situated right next to Manila Bay. It even has an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink. We walked past the rink and it didn't look that big. I guess because the mall is huge by comparison. We got bored with it after 2 hours as usual. Heheh
We walked down to the bay area for a looksie and it was very picturesque (and clean!).
Row of lovebirds soaking in the romantic atmosphere. Fools! Heheh
Glorious sunset.
We had dinner at one of the restaurants (guess what kind???) doted along the side of the boardwalk and then headed back to the mall. By the way, I found a piece of hair in the scallop dish. The staff took it off our bill. So they should. I guess it was nothing compared to Mel nearly swallowing a fly in her coffee once.
We headed back to the mall and I spied this!!!!!!! Thumbs up - bite sized ice cream cones!!!! Genius!!! It sure struck a chord with the cute packaging sucker in me.
Dad was my hand model. 5 flavours for 26 pesos and I chose (anticlockwise from the top) Cookies and Cream (a given), Chocolate Mint, Corn, Yam (???) and Vanilla Cookie Dough (I think).
Tres adorable.
I've noticed that Manila people are mad about their donuts. Everywhere I went, i saw donut stands. We went past one and Mum piped up with this information : Monica loveeees donuts and brought home 2 huge boxes once. She didn't finish off by saying Monica finished them all in one sitting but I knew. Don't worry, Ah Here. I'll take that secret to the grave with me. Oh hang on.....
Look BDO!!! But not as I know it. This is a bank not an accounting firm. Similar colours though.
Our flight back to Malaysia was at 6 pm and the driver said he would pick us up at 12!!!!!!!!!! He said we need to play it safe due to the crazy traffic. But he sang a different tune when he had us in the car! He said we were way too early so he would do detours and show us the sights! To be fair, he didn't ask for more money so I suppose he was just being nice. But still....
Rizal Park:
He drove us through an area and there were lots of roast suckling pigs (lechon) on display. Apparently, it is a specialty in Manila. Mum got really excited because she had it in Bali and had been going on and on and on about how yummy it was. So we got the driver to stop for a lunch break.
If only there were only 3 pigs in this picture, I would have had the most perfect caption. Oh well... pigs on a stick, people.
Mum and Dad with the driver about to tuck in. This was the only Filipino meal we had and I regret to say that it was not good at all. It might have been good had it been piping hot but it was stone cold. Yuckity yuck. The driver tucked in with gusto and we gave him the rest to take home. He was a happy chappy.
We had garlic rice (cold), roast suckling pig (also cold), quail eggs in some kind of gravy (yep, cold), some kind lof curry (still cold) and something else (cán't remember but I can tell you it was more than likely cold).
Took this amusing photo after we continued on our journey to the Emerald City. Dudes were taking a nap in the cart I think (I hope) and one of them stood up at the exact moment I pressed the button to take the photo.
Lots of these giant advertisements everywhere in Manila:
Anyway we still had plenty of time so the driver took us to this tourist spot next to the airport. It's a traditional Filipino village settlement I think. Mum got her wish and finally got to climb onto a jeep. Yay!
Huts made of bamboos. So sweet.
Mini terrace paddy fields:
It was very green, very picturesque, very calm. I liked it a lot. Thanks, driver.
Can you picture Papa Smurf climbing out of this?
Interior of the hut. Hey, it has a mezzanine floor - kinda like my dream loft apartment in New York. Heheh.
Tiniest one-man fast food booths I'd ever seen.
Heheh I've got a Friends story to tell. Bear with me here. There is an unaired storyline in Friends because it coincided with the 9-11 event. Monica and Chandler just got married and were on their honeymoon. The writers changed the story so that Monica and Chandler were always a step behind another newly weds who got all the upgrades before they did. But the original story had Chandler making a stupid bomb joke and was detained by customs for hours. They finally were released when Joey rung up pretending there was a gas leak in their apartment so that they'll let him break down the door (to get to the food in Monica's fridge). So Chandler said out loud that it will explode or something along the lines and then customs led them back into the room they were just released from. Anyhoooo......
Bye Manila. I don't think we did Phillippines justice but it'll have to do. That will do, pig. That will do. (Babe, anyone????)
I'll work on my KK entry from Bangkok tomorrow night horhorhor.
Glorious sunset.
We had dinner at one of the restaurants (guess what kind???) doted along the side of the boardwalk and then headed back to the mall. By the way, I found a piece of hair in the scallop dish. The staff took it off our bill. So they should. I guess it was nothing compared to Mel nearly swallowing a fly in her coffee once.
We headed back to the mall and I spied this!!!!!!! Thumbs up - bite sized ice cream cones!!!! Genius!!! It sure struck a chord with the cute packaging sucker in me.
Dad was my hand model. 5 flavours for 26 pesos and I chose (anticlockwise from the top) Cookies and Cream (a given), Chocolate Mint, Corn, Yam (???) and Vanilla Cookie Dough (I think).
Tres adorable.
I've noticed that Manila people are mad about their donuts. Everywhere I went, i saw donut stands. We went past one and Mum piped up with this information : Monica loveeees donuts and brought home 2 huge boxes once. She didn't finish off by saying Monica finished them all in one sitting but I knew. Don't worry, Ah Here. I'll take that secret to the grave with me. Oh hang on.....
Look BDO!!! But not as I know it. This is a bank not an accounting firm. Similar colours though.
Our flight back to Malaysia was at 6 pm and the driver said he would pick us up at 12!!!!!!!!!! He said we need to play it safe due to the crazy traffic. But he sang a different tune when he had us in the car! He said we were way too early so he would do detours and show us the sights! To be fair, he didn't ask for more money so I suppose he was just being nice. But still....
Rizal Park:
He drove us through an area and there were lots of roast suckling pigs (lechon) on display. Apparently, it is a specialty in Manila. Mum got really excited because she had it in Bali and had been going on and on and on about how yummy it was. So we got the driver to stop for a lunch break.
If only there were only 3 pigs in this picture, I would have had the most perfect caption. Oh well... pigs on a stick, people.
Mum and Dad with the driver about to tuck in. This was the only Filipino meal we had and I regret to say that it was not good at all. It might have been good had it been piping hot but it was stone cold. Yuckity yuck. The driver tucked in with gusto and we gave him the rest to take home. He was a happy chappy.
We had garlic rice (cold), roast suckling pig (also cold), quail eggs in some kind of gravy (yep, cold), some kind lof curry (still cold) and something else (cán't remember but I can tell you it was more than likely cold).
Took this amusing photo after we continued on our journey to the Emerald City. Dudes were taking a nap in the cart I think (I hope) and one of them stood up at the exact moment I pressed the button to take the photo.
Lots of these giant advertisements everywhere in Manila:
Anyway we still had plenty of time so the driver took us to this tourist spot next to the airport. It's a traditional Filipino village settlement I think. Mum got her wish and finally got to climb onto a jeep. Yay!
Huts made of bamboos. So sweet.
Mini terrace paddy fields:
It was very green, very picturesque, very calm. I liked it a lot. Thanks, driver.
Can you picture Papa Smurf climbing out of this?
Interior of the hut. Hey, it has a mezzanine floor - kinda like my dream loft apartment in New York. Heheh.
Tiniest one-man fast food booths I'd ever seen.
Heheh I've got a Friends story to tell. Bear with me here. There is an unaired storyline in Friends because it coincided with the 9-11 event. Monica and Chandler just got married and were on their honeymoon. The writers changed the story so that Monica and Chandler were always a step behind another newly weds who got all the upgrades before they did. But the original story had Chandler making a stupid bomb joke and was detained by customs for hours. They finally were released when Joey rung up pretending there was a gas leak in their apartment so that they'll let him break down the door (to get to the food in Monica's fridge). So Chandler said out loud that it will explode or something along the lines and then customs led them back into the room they were just released from. Anyhoooo......
Bye Manila. I don't think we did Phillippines justice but it'll have to do. That will do, pig. That will do. (Babe, anyone????)
I'll work on my KK entry from Bangkok tomorrow night horhorhor.
