A Glimpse of the Capital City

Manila is such a big place to explore in three days but last weekend on February 18-20, 2011, I and my friends managed to catch a glimpse of its spots in quick but worthwhile moments.  The good thing about that short trip was we did it the local way.  Even with our budget constraint, we were able to FEEL Manila more than we expected to in a very short span of time.

We were so lucky my cousin willingly accommodated us and toured us around for free.  All throughout the trip we took the jeepney to save fare and to immerse ourselves completely in the city streets. It was interesting to observe how a jeepney-ride goes there on the weekend.  I was surprised at how some jeepneys were able to stop in the middle of the highway to unload passengers.  That shocked us in a funny way because it's not like that where we are from. Although I think that was just because the roads were not so busy.   The nice thing about jeepney ride there, though, is the silence inside the vehicle.  Tagalogs seem to be quiet while on a ride compared to the noisy passengers in Cebu.   It's funny to think about how noisy we were on the jeepney.

I think I'm getting noisy as well here so let's just get to where we went there.  Here are some of the random places we visited in the capital city of the Philippines.

as the picture says...it's the Luneta Park ^^

Rizal or Luneta Park is a  landmark in Manila I never dreamed of going.  Not that it isn't famous but I thought there's nothing interesting for a tourist to go to this park.  But to our surprise, the Manila government had developed this huge park (it's huge to me coz we don't have a park this size in Cebu) in a way that invites local and foreign people alike to hang out there.

the Fountain Show in Luneta (with Charice in the background at that time)

Just as we were about to try our luck to the OCEAN PARK, we suddenly heard Charice's Pyramid and saw Luneta dancing--the still water came alive and the fountain show began.  We lingered awhile and that was like goodbye Ocean Park today, but hello Ocean Park tomorrow. ^^  Yeah, there wasn't a lot of time to enjoy Ocean Park anymore with the time we had.  We went there anyway to see what we could do there the next day.

Kuya wouldn't let us in, so we were like pickets outside the Big Brother House. LOL!

Pinoy Big Brother season was over and is yet to open.  For the mean time, we had a chance to pose in front of this familiar house on our small screen.  ABS-CBN compound is huge but Kuya's house isn't as big as it appears on TV or as we imagined it to be.

MENDIOLA...who doesn't know this area?

Again, walking along Mendiola never crossed my mind even after all the news mentioning this area.  But of course, I wanted to make memories with this history-making street while we were on our way to Malacaňang.

walking along the street of Malacañang

Without prior appointment, all we could do was walk around the gates of Malacaňang Palace surrounded by soldiers who politely stopped us from taking photos.  And so all we have are pictures like the one above.

Baclaran Church

We were so curious about this Catholic Church since many celebrities make it a point to come here as often as they could. And many testimonies have been told about miraculous events from here.

Church in Quiapo: the Black Nazarene is here!

Of course, this church in Quiapo is the house of the Black Nazarene whose festival is celebrated with fanaticism (as we see on the news annually).  Our pose in front of the church didn't depict how chaotic this place can be when people go on procession during Black Nazarene's day.

OCEAN PARK!!!

We were finally able to have an ample amount of time at the Ocean Park which was very close to Luneta Park.  But we didn't go through Luneta anymore.  We took a jeepney on route to this area.

seems like Pandora of Avatar...^^ this is the inside of Ocean Park.

the Oceanarium pose...

Dr. Fish working on my friends feet. Can you imagine how it feels?

Reviews have been published about the health benefits of these doctor fish that a lot of fish spas have been established world-wide.  Luckily, they have this spa-like section in Ocean Park so I now know how it feels having them biting my skin.  There are a lot of varieties of these so-called doctor fish but it's not my concern anymore what variety are these ones here that are doing tiny bites on our feet.  Some people say it's really relaxing.  But I don't quite agree with that.  So 10 minutes is a long ticklish moment. ^^

the only zoo i've known so far. tsk tsk tsk

It pays to visit this long-time running zoo in the Philippines and realized how important the conservation of certain animal species is.  Although I felt at that time that zoos are really just fun for children.  It's sad to see animals looking forlorn and showing signs of zoochosis.

Enchanting!

This was supposed to be the main event of our coming to Manila.  Amusement park is the one thing that's missing in Cebu.  Malls have been rising but nothing like this one.  It's funny that we really had to fly to ride roller-coaster, huh.  And the disappointing part was, it was under repair during our visit.

in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, you wouldn't want to miss this theme park

the SHOCKING RIDE EXPERIENCE is only with EXTREME RIDE

So roller-coaster aside, we just decided to try this out.  I've heard stories about how thrilling this new ride was.  And it was actually more than thrilling.  This is the jaw-dropping ride ever.  It takes you up to the top of the tower slowly and you get a breath-taking view from up there.  And while you're at it, you'll hear this tiny bell and there goes the 20-second drop that feels like forever.  For a few seconds that feels like several minutes, you'll wonder where your seat has gone and hope nobody takes a picture if you.  ^^

the extreme ride 

malling experience in Trinoma

Our malling experience is not actually about real shopping.  For budget travelers like us, we just had to do a lot of eye-shopping.  What I like about establishments like these in Manila is that they have gardens on their upper floors, which we haven't had in Cebu yet.

famed for its sky garden

posing in front of the Mall of Asia

This is the largest mall Filipinos have known, so even if we have a lot of SM mall experience from the different parts of the country, a MOA visit is somehow one of a kind.

skating rink at the Mall of Asia

Picture paints a thousand words and preserves a lot of memories.  Pictures can portray the beauty of a place as well.  But what's not captured by the camera lens is what impressed me most about Manila.  The Tagalogs are so unlike the Cebuano's - they are not noisy in public and much friendlier and helpful to strangers and travelers. Well, that's a perspective from a three-day trip.  I could be wrong...but that was something worth mentioning.

The conclusion: I had a good impression of the capital city.
☺