Manic Manila

Our first full day in Manila dawned warm, cloudy and humid but thankfully remained dry - as it is actually expected to do this time of year, but it's a bit of a wonder when it is so humid.

Even Nuns have iPhones...

 It was a day with a lot of walking as we started by exploring Intramuros, including the Cathedral where the Pope will be in about two weeks time. Reading the history of the cathedral reminded me of the story about the missing dog named "Lucky". The first Cathedral on the site was built in 1581 but this is actually the seventh incarnation - the first six being destroyed by various combination of fire, earthquake, typhoon or most recently the Battle of Manila in 1945.

Walking the Wall

After checking it out we went to have a look at a section of the old castle walls dating from the 1600s which define the Intramuros area. We were a bit bemused by a sign on the wall that said "Beware of golf balls" - until we reached the top and saw that there was indeed a golf course on the other side of the wall. Though I think we were very safe from the mixed foursome we saw in action on what looked like a par 2 hole - one of the women would have struggled to hit the ball out of sight on a dark night!

Our next step (or few) was to walk on to Rizal Park - named for the national revolutionary who was executed here by the Spanish in 1896. It was fairly busy of course, with today being a public holiday in honour of Dr Rizal and the 118th anniversary of said execution. The memorial at the site of the execution was quite well done.

The large scale topographical map of the Philippines at the other end of the large park (about 100m x 50m) sounded quite promising but was rather less well done. Apart from the fact that the water level had dropped making some of the 'islands' a bit larger then usual, none of the many islands had markers on them to indicate which island was which or where the major population centres were, Around the edge of the large pond which contained the scale model of the country there were a few signs pointing to some of the features by name but I'm not sure how well some of them were aligned,

The park also contained a large children's playground but without Sam with us to take advantage of the offerings we decided to save ourselves the $1 it would have cost to go in. Instead we walked on to the nearest station on the LRT (Light Rail Transport) and parted with the 32c each it cost to travel three stops. Then it was another hike to the ferry terminal where, after due consideration of cost (about $70 each) and the starting time (having to be back here at 7:00AM tomorrow) we signed up for a tour out to Corregidor Island.

On our walk back to the LRT station we encountered an open shopping centre with a large supermarket so we had a pleasant diversion stocking up on fruit and snacks for breakfast. I also managed to score an adapter for my adapter so that I can charge my laptop. Once back on the LTR we splurged on 40c each to travel all the way to the markets back on the other side of Intramuros.

The less crowded start of the market street.

And what markets they were! Looking down from the elevated LRT platform all we could see was wall to wall market stalls - and somehow a zillions people were squeezing between them all. We went down and joined the throng and threaded our way up the first street - and were almost amazed that we were able to make it to the other end intact. Apart from the fruit and vegie stalls, most of the wares for sale were cheap clothes and plastic toys, so not much of interest to us. Working our way down the second street we faced the added challenge of having to give way to motorcycles working their way through the crowd. We worked our way through a couple more streets on our way back to the start where we stocked up on some more fruit - cheaper than we had been able to get at the supermarket.

The plan was to walk back to our hotel in Intramuros via China Town but we were having a little trouble recognising the main street  of China Town. Eventually we realised that we had actually been walking along it - which told us that it was one of the less distinctive China Towns we had seen.

After a day spent doing a lot or walking in a hot, humid yet slightly dusty city - which frequently assaulted the senses, and not always in a pleasant way - we were pleased to make it back to our hotel and put our feet up for a while. We eventually wandered out for an uninspiring meal at one of the few restaurants around - having decided the hotel's menu was no more inspiring but somewhat more expensive.

Day two in Manila involved an early start. We opted to walk to the LRT, ride the same three stops as yesterday and walked back to the Sun Cruises terminal for the 7:00am check in. Why we needed to be there so early for the scheduled 8:00am departure I've no idea. We had time to eat our breakfast of snacks and fruit before we were boarded at 7:15am. And still we sat there at the dock until nearly 8:10am before we cast off. By that time we had moved from our assigned downstairs seats to the open deck at the back to escape the engine fuel odour that permeated the indoor seating areas, downstairs in particular.

Map of the underground command centre and hospital

The 90 minute crossing to Corregidor was uneventful and once disembarked (seriously - the deckhands would never get a job on Sydney Ferries based on how long it takes them to tie up and position a gangplank!) we boarded our assigned bus for the five hours of touring around the island. Being a bit of a history buff I have read about the battles to defend and re-take Corregidor so I knew some of what to expect. It was fascinating to hear more about it and see first hand the terrain and the underground installations that had been used to defend this key fortress. Also to learn more about the various gun and mortar batteries, how they had been used, and their eventual fate. The whole island is now heritage listed and protected as a memorial to all who fought and died there from both sides during WWII. Our guide was very proud of the fact that the joint US-Filipino forces had been able to hold out on Corregidor for five months when the Japanese had expect to over-run The Philippines in four days, and that this delay had saved Australia from invasion. Personally I think there were a few other factors that came into play but I wasn't going to quibble. In the middle of the tour we were treated to a delicious buffer lunch at the only hotel on the island, which was greatly appreciated since Laura & I were both ravenous by that time. By 2:45pm we were re-boarded and back on our way to Manila. The return trip was somewhat rougher, which resulted in the slightly more round-about route so we took a little longer.

Ruins of the Officers Quarters

Retracing our route to the hotel enabled us to have a few hours rest before the NYE fireworks. We ended up having dinner at a 7-11 since the restaurants about were all close for the evening.

About 10:30pm we set off for Rizal Park as that was the nearest site where there would be a fireworks display at midnight. Of course we were by no means the first ones there - some families had set up tents as though they planned to stay the night. We watched the coloured light show at the fountains for a while (a la Las Vegas, though on a smaller scale) before we sussed out where the fireworks would be fired from. We took up positions only about 40 metres from Ground Zero - the "exclusion zone" was only about 10 metres - and waited until the appointed hour. Periodically we could see other displays going off in the distance north and south of us, some obscured by skyscrapers. Came the hour and came the display. And did I say that we were close? Talk about loud - it seemed at time like we could have been on Corrigedor about 73 years ago! It was hard to photograph most of them with my camera on a tripod because the head didn't really swivel straight up! I lent Laura my sunglasses so that she could watch them without getting fireworks debris in her eyes. It was certainly a very memorable way to see in the New Year!

Rizal Park fireworks from ground zero

Distant view of fireworks in Parsay area