8th - 10th March 2012
Having spent the night in a comfortable bed we woke up feeling ready to take on the world, sort of. I didn't feel that great so I stayed in bed most of the day while Djalma went out and booked tickets for flights to Cebu to meet Katie who was coming out for a couple of weeks. He was gone most of the afternoon and just as I was really beginning to worry he came through the door and we went out for dinner. At a 7-Eleven.
The next day I was determined to feel better, I got up at 5.30 and pounded through my workout, no doubt waking up the people next door and below us with all the jumping about and heavy breathing, oh well – it was all in the name of a six pack (I wish!). Djalma sent off a few copies of his CV and then we hit the pavement ready for a day of tourism in the capital. We had a couple of snacks from the mini mart next door to our hotel and then promptly got on the wrong bus. We realised our mistake and walked down a few streets to get the sky train to the centre of town (we staying near the airport and not any where central), the streets were busy and dusty and sometimes smelt awful but there was a really nice atmosphere, people were friendly and we had plenty of good mornings and smiles along the way.
We spent most of our day in Intramuros the older, walled section of the capital. I didn't know that Manila used to be the Pearl of the Orient, after the Americans and the Japanese bombed it to smithereens, not much remains which is a shame but it was nice to wander round just the same. We stopped for a second breakfast in another 7-Eleven, here the ever present shop has small tables and chairs for people to sit and down and eat and talk to friends, they felt kind of like a cross between a McDonald's and a café, after a warmish breakfast burrito and a watery coffee we headed towards Fort Santiago.
You have to pay a small ticket price to get in here but it's lovely, horse drawn carriages were dotted around and took some groups of Filipino students for joy rides around the small green park. There were lots of life sized statues and Djalma and I had fun with some of the sculptures. We made our way through the grounds which are home to a shrine to the Philippines pride and joy, Rizal, a Doctor who was imprisoned for inciting revolt against Spanish rule. He wrote poems and many other things which spoke about freedom, nothing actually that revolutionary but the Spaniards took him down anyway, doing more to help the revolt than stop it. We walked through a small but beautifully set out museum that had pieces of his writings on walls, floors, glass cabinets as well as normal posters.
We stopped by the Manila Cathedral which having been rebuilt several times was closed for more renovation, it really seemed that perhaps this Cathedral was just not meant to be. We strolled along the sun baked streets and managed to have a quick look inside the San Augustin Church, built around the turn of the 17th century it's the oldest church in the whole of the Philippines. It's well known for it's 3D painted ceiling, the art is so good it looks like the ceiling is carved but it's just clever paintwork that follow the direction of light from a window at one end of the church. There were lots of alcoves lining both sides of the aisle, the ones on the right (on the way to the altar) were filled with Jesus looking in not so great health, very sad and in very good clothes and the ones on the left were filled with his virgin mother, also rather sad but with almost floor length hair in some and always decked out in the very finest of clothes with plenty of flowers as well.
It was being closed for a ceremony so we didn't have time to dawdle, we left through the huge carved wooden doors and started heading towards Rizal Park so Djalma could have a look at the 3D relief map of the Philippines. We strolled through the park and walked around a large pond which the map was in, Djalma loved it and pointed out where we were and where we were heading over the coming weeks, bless that man and his love of maps!
After a few photos our stomachs were telling us it was time for food so we started to head towards a shopping centre (to print postcards) and a Middle Eastern restaurant for what would be a huge feast.
We sat down in the air-conditioned room of the restaurant and ordered up food that we both loved but hadn't eaten since we'd left Jordan about a year and a half ago. We tucked into the most delicious iced tea and falafel, tabbouleh, sizzling beef, olives, hummus and foul and flat bread. I cannot begin to describe just how delicious that meal was, certainly it was a little too much for just the two of us and we wanted to have even more of the other dishes on the menu but saner heads prevailed and we stopped before gluttony got the better of us. It was so good that the happy food fog settled over me for the rest of the afternoon and I spent my afternoon with a satisfied smile on my face and a full tummy.
We strolled over to one of Manila's shopping centres and ordered prints for postcards and checked out what was showing at the cinema on the top floor, we got tickets and then I picked up my photos and make it back just in time to have missed the first few (and crucial) minutes of the film – what happened to the twenty minutes of trailers and adverts and reminders to turn off your phone?! The film was good and it was nice to sit down and give our food time to be digested.
After leaving the air-conditioned comfort of the shopping centre we walked along the street trying to find a jeepney going our way, we stopped and asked a security guard who was extraordinarily polite and helpful, he even said 'God bless you' and it sounded like the nicest thing ever (although I must confess that all this Catholicism is starting to feel a little creepy after two weeks in the country). We found one which dropped us off at a place quite far from where we'd asked to be dropped off and so had a long dusty walk back to our hotel for much needed showers and bed.
The day dawned on the 10th and we made our way back to the airport for our flight to Cebu to meet my little sister. I started writing postcards waiting for our flight and then we cooled our heels for a while after arriving in Cebu – if anyone goes to Cebu airport, you should really try the sweet rice and the coffee in the airport restaurant, they're rather good. Djalma played cards on the computer and I used my caffeine boost to write more postcards, only 41 of the little buggers, before my anticipation got the better of me and I went outside to wait in the heat for my sister to walk through the door of Arrivals.
It took a while, I was very excited, and when she did come out I hugged her for too long and had a little cry. Welcome to the Philippines Katie! I was hungry so we went to a small point-point cafeteria where I had rice and beans and beef and then got a taxi to a bus station where got on a four hour bus to Oslob.
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