Saturday, February 8, 2014

Tagaytay Tour

We finally made it to Tagatay!  We took a Grey Line Tour, so a driver picked us up right across the street.  We made one stop in Abalong to pick up one more person, Nora from New Zealand.  We could not have asked for a more pleasant person to have in our tour group.  Our tour guide was Neil and our driver was J.R. 

Our first stop was at the last Jeepney factory in the Philippines.  We were told that Jeepneys can now be made cheaper in a person’s backyard than in the factory.  The Jeepney is not only a form of public transportation, but they are works of art.  One can ride a Jeepney for eight pesos which is 18 cents.  We actually got to ride a Jeepney when we went to Palace in the Sky!...

Our next stop was at a church in Las Pinas that houses the Bamboo Pipe Organ.  It is 197 years old and is still used in the mass services today.  We had a really nice guide who gave us the history of the church and the organ.  He even had someone play the organ for us…

We arrived in Tagatay City and had lunch at Max’s.  Neil ordered us all a typical Filipino lunch with a chicken plate and several side dishes.  The food was good, but the view was incredible…

You have to have coffee after a meal, so our next stop was a coffee plantation which was more like a convenient store.  They are the exclusive sellers of Wild Cat Coffee.  This coffee is quite unique.   The Civet Cat dwells in the Philippine jungles and feeds on wild coffee berries, but the cat’s digestive tract cannot break down the hard shelled beans.  Thus, it excretes those beans completely whole.  The Civet’s digestion alters the coffee in a magical way for its result in a unique aroma and taste (yeah, I know what you are thinking).  A cup will rejuvenate, keep weariness and sleepiness at bay, and banish bodily aches and pains.  It contains three times the antioxidants than other varieties.  “They” claim it is Tagatay’s best coffee and that there is nothing like it.  Well, we got to have a cup of this magical java.  It was good, and yes, we bought some…

After our afternoon coffee, we headed to the Palace in the Sky.  This was the mansion of Marcos, President of the Philippines at one time.  When the people revolted, they went to the mansion and took everything.  The remains have been turned in to the People’s Park.  We were only able to go so far, and then had to take a Jeepney to the very top.  The views are absolutely gorgeous!...

Back in the van, we headed back to Manila. We dropped off Nora after exchanging emails – a new friend J - and then got in heavy traffic getting back to Serendra.  We will definitely tour with Grey Line again.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Peter White Concert with Greg Karukus, Michael Paulo, and Spencer Day

We love our jazz and were so excited when we found out that Peter White was going to be here in concert.  Not just here, but at the Samsung Hall right across the street from our apartment!  We began the evening at Greeka Kouchina for dinner.  It didn’t take as long as we thought, so we had some time to spare.  Meandering along we found that a Barcino’s Resto Bar had just opened, so we opted to step in and have a glass of wine.  Turns out, they really had just opened, and we were their very first customers.  We had a really nice time sitting at the bar enjoying our wine conversing with the bartender...

Time was up so we headed up the escalator to the venue as the concert was at 8:00.  We should have known, however, that we are on Filipino time…the concert did not begin until 9:00 (we could have had another glass of wine J).  The music started with Michael Paulo a Filipino American from Hawaii who plays the saxophone – he could really jive with that thing!  Greg Karukus joined him on the keyboard.  I love watching him play as his face is so animated – he is feeling his music!  A Filipino singer sang two songs, and Spencer Day from the U.S. sang two songs, and then it was time for Peter White.  As always Peter White delivered – he is incredible on that guitar!  Great crowd, great performers, great time!

We walked back to our apartment near midnight not having to pay a parking fee or fight traffic.  It was a beautiful thing!

Corregidor Island

Corregidor Island
Sunday, January 26, 2014

We arrived at Manila Bay and waited in line for our boarding passes.  We boarded, got seated and waited for the boat to take off - it was actually a high speed ferry boat.  It was great to be on the water!  Even though our seats were on the lower deck inside, we were able to meander around during the ride and enjoyed some time outside…

When we got to the island we saw beautiful, clear water and breathed fresh air.  We disembarked and went to our assigned tram that would be carting us around the island all day.  It turns out the gentleman sitting next to us on the ferry was our tour guide.  He was very informative and very entertaining.  The entire island is now a war memorial and we were able to see so much history!  Of course General Douglas MacArthur played a big part here on the island of Corregidor during WWII and all Filipinos know his famous words “I Shall Return.”…

We learned that there was a woman in our tour group who was actually born on the island – a true Corregidorian.  Her father was a Filipino soldier - they were called scouts.  We passed where she lived when she was a young girl, but sadly nothing remains there today…

We saw cannons and huge bullets.  We went into the Malinta Tunnel where there was a historical light show.  What a hide out during World War II.  I can’t imagine the fear and stress these people felt – such bravery and courage!

We had a very nice lunch at the Corregidor Inn where monkeys were playing around in the trees…

We passed the remains of the barracks of the American and Filipino soldiers.  The men had been separated because of language, food, and culture, but the barracks were the same…

We saw several batteries and learned how the weapons were stored and how the cannons were used…

What a great trip. Such history!  All of that with the breath taking views – definitely worth going again.

Saturday, January 12, 2014

No Corregidor Tour Today... Let's Make It Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

Saturday before last my alarm went off at 5:00 A.M.  We got ready and took a taxi to Sun Cruises Ferry Terminal on Manila Bay.  When we got there we found out that they were having this big marathon on Corregidor Island, and the boat was not leaving until 11:00 (it was supposed to leave at 8:00 and return to Manila at 3:45) and would return at 6:45.  That posed a problem as it was only 7:00 A.M. and getting back so late might not give us enough time to get Kona (we had boarded him at Pup Culture – it would have been a long day for him in the apartment). Hmmm…. We should have called.  We are learning that is the rule of thumb here in Manila.  We had not had breakfast, so we walked to Starbuck’s in Harbor Square and had coffee and oatmeal on the bay, which would have been nice except for the smell.  Manila Bay just plain stinks – it smells of sewage, and I have such a strong sense of smell.  It really is a shame that the bay is so polluted.  They are working to clean it up and have made progress… still.  In spite of the smell we had a nice time just gazing out over the water and people watching.

We took a taxi back to our apartment – I had to hold my breath a couple of times with the scooters and buses getting so close!  We decided to go to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.  It is a nice walk to get there and is absolutely beautiful!  It is so peaceful there.  It was sunny with a great breeze all day, so it was the perfect day to walk along the gravestones looking at the names of the fallen soldiers.  There is a really nice memorial with mosaic maps of the invasions – very educational.  Now when I’ve had enough of the hustle and bustle of the city, I know of a nice, relaxing place to just go and sit, meditate, or read. 

As for the Corregidor Tour, we are going to give it a go again this weekend.  Saturday is already booked, but Sunday is wide open – yep, we have already called J

Monday, December 30, 2013

Ocean Park Aquarium

Manila Bay

Ocean Park is an aquarium on Manila Bay.  It has several exhibits and shows and attempts to educate and make people aware of the importance of keeping our land and our waters clean and pollution free...

 It has an oceanarium...

It also has an Antarctica Exhibit which is not so great, but it was nice and cool...

It has a birds of prey exhibit, an all-star bird show, a sea lion show, and a musical fountain show which we didn’t stay for as it was performed only once a day at 6:30 P.M. (we were done well before that)...

The best attraction by far was the fish spa where we sat with our feet in a pool for 20 minutes and let hundreds of little nibbler fish go to town.  Our feet felt invigorated and have never felt so soft…

We had a fun day enjoying all of the attractions and having a great lunch at a restaurant right on the bay.

Saturday, December 28 - Sunday, December 29, 2013

IMAX Theater
Intramuros Walking Tour

The holidays here in Manila have been a lot of fun.  We had a wonderful Christmas and a fun New Years.  With Edi not having to work, we were able to venture out and see a couple tourist attractions. First, we had our first movie experience over the holiday.  We went to see The Hobbit: Destruction of Smaug.  We saw it in the IMAX Theater, and it was in 3D…

Our next adventure took us to Intramuros, Old Town Manila. We took the Walk This Way Tour guided by Carlos Celdran.  He is a one man show trying to change the way people look at Manila one step at a time...

It was a great tour, very informative and entertaining.  It was a really fun way to learn about the history of Manila…

The tour began at Fort Santiago and ended right across the street from San Agustin Church.  There was actually a wedding in the church, so we couldn’t go in; we just had to look in from the back.  It was beautiful…

While in the courtyard of this charming building, Carlos our guide gave everyone dessert – the national Filipino dessert called Halo Halo which literally means mix.  It was very different, but good.  It is a milky, icy sweet dessert with gelatin cubes, puffed rice, mango, and I don’t know what else…

We were each given a souvenir poster as we left…

The tour is a must if you come to Manila!