Manila, Philippines

Today we visited Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The Philippines was originally named the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao islands, but was renamed in the 1500s by explorer Ferdinand Magellan after King Philip II, and has since been known as the Philippines. 

Manila, the capital of the Philippines is a very old city along the Pasig river. On the North side of the river is the main portion of the city, which includes the “Old Manila” section of town, the San Agustin Church and Fort Santiago, a unique citadel which was once a military prison. This part of town was  very historic and very beautiful. 

On the other side of the river is Binondo, the oldest China Town in the world. Apparently some 500 years ago, many Chinese people began migrating to the Philippines, which the native people resisted.

The Chinese people kind of bullied their way in and began seizing land and eventually took all of the land on the one side of the river. Skip ahead hundreds years, and (while a large portion of Chinatown is the wrong side of the tracks) their side of the river is home to the best tallest buildings in the city/country.

Consequently, according to our tour guide, the Philippinoes have really dislike the Chinese for a long time… However, in all fairness, I have to say that the  people of the Philippines were very polite, humble, delightful folks. 

At any rate, I was very excited to visit Manila. I took a tour of the town and was able to walk through the fort. It was quite impressive, as this was the first location that was part of World War II that we have toured. I learned quite a bit, and I anticipate I will gain extensive knowledge as we begin traveling through other countries, touring these type of sites. 

Did you know that after WWII, the US sold the Philippines all of their leftover Jeeps for $1 each? The entrepreneurs figured out how to make them stretch jeeps and named them Jeepnies, and use them to take tourist on 4×4 adventures around the island. There are hundreds of them…

I also visited church and the Manila Cathedral, which were equally impressive. and it happened to be Palm Sunday, so that was pretty cool. 

My final stop was the SM Mall of Asia. This is one of the largest malls in the world, and I spent about 4–5 hours there. 

The mall is over 5 million square feet And has virtually anything that you can think off for sale. You can buy a car, ice skating, see bizarre things, or eat at one of their several hundred restaurants. I chose to Google the best Philapino foods, then googled which restaurants offered the best Philapino food in the mall, and went to several. What a fantastic culinary adventure.

Afterwards, I tried several taverns scattered throughout the mall, people watching and trying local beers.

I should mention that the $1US Dollar is worth $56 Philippine Pesos, so the exchange rate is crazy, and everything was super cheap here. I figured this was the only time I was going to be in a mall in Manila, and figured I should pick up a little somethin’ somethin’ for each of my friends and family back home. I sure hope you guys don’t already have a Manila folder! (Sorry. That one was just too easy.)

The following day, our journey took us to Sunic Bay, which was previously the US Naval base in the Philippines. It is now a lively little town. While Karen had opted to have a relaxing day back at the ship in Manila, she was excited to do some shopping in Subic Day. We had a great day, and enjoyed a couple of meals while we were out. We especially enjoyed the Siopao Asado(Filipino Steamed Pork Buns) filled with some sort of delicious spicy sauce.  (It’s so funny that we are at several sites-down fancy restaurants, and at the end of the day, the best thing you ate was the $1 sandwich you got at a fast food restaurant.)

Next stop, Hong Kong, but that my friend is another story…

Thank you for checking in. 

– Mike

“Phillip, you’re never going to amount to anything. All you ever do is screw around.”  – Mike Mikus (surmising what the fella that invented the Phillips Screwdriver’s mom might have told home when he was little).