Philippines days 1–3: Manila (Jan 2017)

Time to travel again! Didnt manage to go on any proper trips in 2016 so I was glad to start 2017 with one.

Found a nice Airbnb with a great view overlooking Manila Bay. Close to the airport too.

It was also near Rizal Park so I spent the afternoon walking around.

Walking a bit farther down brought me to Intramuros “The Walled City” which had many beautiful heritage buildings from when Philippines was a Spanish colony.

This area was considered one of the nicer areas of Manila, but it was a shock to see the level of open poverty, much so than any other country I’d been too.

There were many homeless on the sidewalks, not just individuals but whole families who would sleep on a piece of cardboard.

Was feeling tired and it gets dark pretty early in Philippines so I called it a night. Ate at Jollibees which is like the KFC of Philippines.

Woke up the next day thinking I would go to the museum past Rizal Park. Noticed a huge queue gathering near Rizal Square — apparently it was the celebration of the Black Nazarene. I found out this was a celebration unique to the Philippines. It venerates a darkwood image of Christ carved in Mexico, which is said to perform miracles for those who touch it.

There was merchandise being sold too — lot of it. The queue snaked across the square and even doubled back on itself in places. People brought little plastic stools — it seemed they were prepared to spend the whole morning queueing.

I saw many many Filipinos wearing this shirt all over Manila over the next few days wtf. They must take this very seriously.

Jeepnays are like tuktuks on steroids, locals use them as alternatives to taxis. They usually have a pre-set routes though and load people as they go.

Passed by a memorial to Jose Rizal and the poem he wrote before he was executed for allegedly supporting a rebellion against the Spanish.

This sculpture depicts his many skills -

A reenactment of his execution.

There were a few museums in the area and they had impressive colonial architecture. This one was closed though.

The National Museum was mostly art. I liked this one the most, depicting the enlightened Spaniards gifting the gospe to the savages of the Philippines haha

Decided to try the MRT system and buy the bus tickets for the next leg of my trip.

A Philippines cybercafe? Wtf.

Did I mention how the poverty situation was bad and very much in the open? It was even worse as I travelled around the city. Would see people peeing in the streets, and when it got dark Manila becomes very gloomy as there arent many streetlights.

And right next to streets of homeless people would be malls wtf. It’s not just me but Filipinos I met from other regions had the same opinion that Manila is just in a bad situation. Call me poorly informed but I expected something like say..Pnomh Penh. Guess overpopulation rears its ugly head.

Their arcades are pretty high-tech tho wtf

Woke up the next day to breakfast prepare by my gracious host. Havent mentioned her yet but she was a kind old Korean lady who was about four and a half feet tall wtf.

And this was a petrol station wtf

Had some time to kill in the afternoon after checking out. Headed to Fort Santiago which had been closed when I went there the first day. This is the walkway between the ramparts.

The main attraction here was a shrine to Jose Rizal. It broke down the events leading to his execution.

This is a wax figure in his likeness, in his former prison cell. Didnt notice him at first so I jumped a bit.

I thought this was maybe some lantern his sister used but no… Its a piece of HIS VERTEBRAE wtf

Took a trishaw and went to the Japanese park to kill the rest of my time. I think this cat was killing time too.

Went to the mall which was near the bus station for dinner.

One of the reasons I chose the Philippines was that going tk Indonesia or Myanmar would probably mean a lot of temple delving which I didnt feel like doing.

Was a bit weird to see how into Christianity Filipinos were though.

Finally it was 9pm and it was time to leave Manila. I was super relieved to find that the Coda Lines bus I chose waa pretty new and even had leather seats. This would be a 12-hour overnight bus ride into the mountains, so a shitty bus would have been uncomfortable and dangerous.