Manila: Around Town

Because of the Black Nazarene festival we stayed in Binondo instead of the modern business/tourist center of Makati. Binondo is the Chinatown of Manila which also happens to be the biggest+oldest Chinatown in the world. It is also a microcosm of Manila and the Philippines in general - the contrast of the modern and posh with dilapidation and poverty - naked street kids playing outside Starbucks. It was rather intense for me, who is particularly allergic to inequality. Maybe losing the cellphone was a price we pay for being world's haves.

We also made the usual rounds to the historic Intramuros, the walled Spanish city of Manila. Shopping for a new phone took us a few malls that we would not have otherwise visited.

John's niece Sophie and partner AJ and family were visiting Manila from Virginia at the same time. They kindly invited the two of us to the lunch buffet at the EDSA Shangri-la with the extended family. We were all so excited to be meeting on the other side of the globe and forgot to take a photo.

Binondo Chinatown Gates at night.


Binondo Church. Check out the dragons on the light poles.


We had a tasty dinner(s) at Vege Select vegetarian restaurant, located on a corner in the heart of Chinatown. Inside it's the usual rice with 2 dishes. Outside, they cook and serve veggie baozi and Shanghai-style dumplings.












We visited a few malls to price mobile phones. First below are several photos of the Tutuban Mall, formerly the Tutuban Station of the National Railway.










Just over the river in Ermita, and a few steps away from the Central Terminal LRT station, is the amazing Art Deco Metropolitan Theater (Front and Back).






Reaching Intramuros, there is the former Herald Newspaper Building (1921).


St Augustin Church in Intramuros, founded in 1571, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We could only peak in as there was a string of ceremonies/rites in progress.






Fort Santiago exceeded our expectations. Not just a lump of stone walls and bastions, there were trees, lawns, and an interesting "shrine" to José Rizal, the writer and national hero.






Manila House


"Intramuros" means "inside the walls". Just outside the walls of Intramuros there is a carefully manicured, fenced off from the public, golf course. Colonial ways still exist here in Manila it seems to me.


One day we rode the LRT (Light Rail Transit) to Vito Cruz Station to eat vegan noodle soup at Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Buddhist Temple 佛光山萬年寺 and walk to the waterfront where we saw a tree with several roosting Rufous Night-Herons.














More Chinatown photos. First below is our hotel: Red Planet Binondo.






















Bonus Video of the Musical Fountain in Rizal Park.

Manila: Black Nazarene Festival

We arrived in Manila on 1/8 in order to catch the Black Nazarene Festival on 1/9. Black Nazarene from the Quiapo Church is a much venerated image dating from the 16th century. As far as festivals go, it is a rather underwhelming festival for spectators. In the afternoon of 1/8, we walked by thousands of devotees in a snaking line waiting to kiss (post COVID the new protocol is to wipe with a towel) the image. On the day of the festival, a single image zigzags along the procession route in a swirl of mob. The zeal of religion is palpable.

It wasn't until recently I realized a big motivation for me to travel is to get a feel of a place that's unattainable from reading text or looking at photos/videos. Not without trepidation, we approached the church first. There were too many people to get near. In fact we tried the following two days, but we still couldn't get near the front door.



Next we worked our way to the procession route, we soon came across the image realized. Seconds after my video, John was separated from his phone seconds after my video (See SL's 37-second video below - watch until the end when the throngs push around us), on our first full day in the Philippines. The possibility of losing something during the procession had occurred to both of us. When it did happen, it was upsetting nonetheless. At the same time, I was much relieved it was only a phone, neither of us was physically hurt. Were we foolish?





Below: the scene in Rizal Park the night before the procession. Thousands are camped on the green lawn in front of the sacred image on the far grandstand. Thousands more form an endless queue to venerate the image of the Black Jesus of Nazareth up close.


Although my phone was lost, my point-and-shoot camera remained attached to my body ;-) that day. Here are some photos of activities related to the procession