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Published: September 16th 2008
We had both read a lot of bad press about Manila. Just about every blog or subjective piece of writing about the city described it as not much more than a dirty, sprawling mass. For this reason we did not plan to stay long, just a day and a half to give us the chance to take a quick look around and buy some snorkelling gear. Well, we didn't find the snorkels, but what we did find was something far more than what we expected.
The PAL flight to the Philippines was pretty good, and the first good surpise was arriving to balmy tropical sunshine, rather than the thunderstorms predicted. Taking a tip from the Lonely Planet, we caught a daxi dropping off people at departures and paid 150 Pesos into town rather than the P350 charged but he taxis waiting outside arrivals. It's the small vitories that count.
We were dropped at the Robinson's mall where we found a Fedex to send home our laptops. We'd run out of time to send them from Korea, and so had to carry them with us on the plane. We were tempted to carry them with, but it would defeat the
point of the trip. Once again, learning to part with things that we value... Travelling even lighter, the smells of braai meat from a little store in the food court made us sit down for a fantastic meat, rice & veg meal for $2 each.
Outside we wandered around town looking for the cheapest guesthouse. Locals and LP all recomended Freindly's, but we managed to score an air-conditioned place for half the price of their fan-room. Okay, so it wasn't the cleanest, "Freindly"-est place, but it was more than fine, and the feeling of getting a bargain beats a fresh coat of paint any day! (-who cares that it's nestled between "Kiss the Mermaid" and "Big boys", the communal toilet has no seat and the bathroom... well... never mind 😊 -we loved it, really really 😊 {Cath})
The next morning we woke up hungry! We walked along the streets looking for a cafe, with no luck, until Cathy spotted a stall on the side of the road surrounded by locals. It turned out that what they were enjoying was a meat and noodle soup called "mami". Two bowls of that then! We had a delicious and
very freindly breakfast standing around the mami stall chatting to the other people. We found a shop with coffee just up the road called Romy's. Romy was well-travelled and very entertaing, but the coffee was terrible.
Fully fed, we resisted the urge to get a second cup of decent coffee at the mall, and continued walking North to Rizal park. In the middle of this green-belt stands an impressive brass statue of Lapu-Lapu, the heroic local cheiftain credited with having beheaded Magellan. More interestingly, at the far end of the park is a large pond which contains a scale model of all the islands of the Philippines. It must have been a hugely complex project!
From Rizal Park we continued north until we were met by the huge stone walls of Intramuros. This area of the city is an old fort, constructed in the 1570's by the Spanish. The massive stone walls stand much as they did over 400 years ago, encircling a district of narrow streets and quaint Spanish colonial architechture. We entered through a gate in the 10m thick walls, passed through a well-maintained garden, and climbed a crubling staircase up onto the walls. From this
height we could look over the Manila skyline, and also some fascinating ruins within the walls that were apparently former prison cells and torture chambers.
After exploring the are for a while we found our way off the main street and were amazed to find a maze of narrow alleys opening out into shady courtyarts, each with a well, fountain or stables. It was such a beautiful place, and we were just about the only tourists we saw all day. It really had the feel of uncovering a secret.
Many of the original buildings in Intramuros were destroyed by Japanese and American bombing during World War II. The most impressive survivor is the San Augustin Church which was across the road. Inside were an immense collection of old carvings, paintings and figurines depicting Jesus' crucifixion as well as a collection of historical paintings of the Philipiino cities. Most impressive is the dramatic roof of the main church building. What appears to be intricate carvings and design on the ceilings is actially just the result of some incredibly clever painting.
After a long day on our feet we ended up at the Fort Santiago gardens. A rest in
the shade and an awesome picnic on cheese and ham sanwiches from ingredients we got at the supermarket was exactly what we were in the mood for.
Our walk back passed the Bayview restaurant, situated on a wooded jetty jutting out into Manila bay. Our budget would only allow for us to stop for a drink, but it was a great place to watch the moon rise into the twilight and enjoy the break from the humidity that that the seabreeze provided. And the inflated prices were well worth the cost of being able to use a clean bathroom, rather than the shared one at our ultra-cheap guesthouse!
So to anyone considering Manila, it might not have the obvious appeal of Venice or Siam Reap, but it is definately not a place to be avoided as we were led to believe. Skip the manic downtown streets and head for Intramuros!
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Landi
non-member comment
hi family
Im heading that way again next week. You were actually right where we stay by the waterfront (Diamond Hotel)just down the road from robinsons and mall of asia. you guys are brave to stay in those funny little places..Ill stick to the hotels. Next time you should try head to Cebu....less busy and prettier but shopping in Manila is good. Are you guys heading home now? keep well L x