After a fairly uneventful plane ride, we landed safe and sound in the heart of Manila the Capital of the Philippines. We were greeted at the airport by our friend Cecile, who quickly whisked us away to her place, where we easily feel asleep without any worries. We awoke early the next morning, and were off for a tour of Manila, with the best guide in town, Cecile. We began the tour with our first ever “Filipino Tricycle” ride, which was an experience to say the least. From there we made it to our main destination, Intramuros and Fort Santiago. We spent the morning touring the Fort, which is famous for being the final holding place of the Filipino National Hero, Dr Jose Rizal.
After touring the Fort we made our way to Rizal Park to see the guarded monument of Dr. Rizal (where his execution was said to have taken place). Along the way we stopped at a few churches, which really highlighted the Spanish influence that can be seen in the Philippines. By this time the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was rising, and since we were not yet used to the heat, Cecile suggested that we spend the rest of the afternoon looking through the SM Mall of Asia. We checked it out, grabbed lunch at Gerri’s Grill, and were even able to catch a bit of their fourth of July celebrations. It was a great way to cool down!
As the evening arrived, the three of us made our way to Malate, a section of town known for it’s entertainment. Our first stop was “The Hobbit Hole”, a popular bar run by “small people”. We had a drink and enjoyed the atmosphere, but it was a little too quiet, so we moved on to our next destination. The Restaurant & Bar called “Uzziah” was rocking with a live band that was covering everything under the sun, and a comedy show to boot. We stayed up enjoying ourselves (for probably longer than we should have). Overall, thanks to our friend Cecile, we had a great tour of Manila in a day. Always short on time, we were back at Cecile’s place packing our bags for our next stop.