Manila, Philippines

Carlos & I at YVR

After about 17 hours of travel time and a quick stop in Seoul, Korea, we finally made it to Manila, Philippines. The flights were fine, got to try some Korean food... and in typical Jen fashion, I managed to sleep pretty much the entire way!(Carlos was not so lucky) We stayed in a nice hotel called Somerset Olympia, in Makati, which is the financial district of Manila and were able to get a nice sleep before starting our tour of the City. (Thanks Mom & Dad)!


Our one photo of our stop in Korea


The view from our hotel

Yesterday we woke up quite early, had complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel and then took off to explore. We went first to Rizal Park, which is the site of some very significant moments in Philippine history. The park was named after Dr. José Rizal who was executed on December 30, 1896 and became a hero of the Philippine revolution. We were able to go into a part of the part where statues were placed in a re-enactment of the execution.

There were many people at the park, not very many tourists so we stuck out quite a bit. We stopped to watch some people doing Eskrima (a Philippine martial art with sticks) and a nice man named Paul came over to talk to us. He explained to us the significant parts of the park and what to watch out for. There were many sad homeless cats in the park, (one with half a leg missing, one with only one eye...) which reminded me a lot of Thailand (and no - Kim I didn't pick any up).

Since it was Sunday the museum by the park was free so we popped in there and took a look around. Then we took something that resembled a TukTuk to a little a fortress called Intramuros built by the Spanish in the 16th Century.


Carlos as a soldier

Next, we headed to the Greenbelt mall for some lunch and a look around. This mall has five different sections filled with stores like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. It was such a stark contrast from the area we had to drive through to get there. Each time you enter a building of the mall you are checked by security. Between the five building of the mall was a nice patio area with restaurants where we sat down for a drink.


My Lunch = Tofu

Later we went back to our hotel to get ready to go for dinner and relax a bit after a day of walking around... but we didn't end up making it for dinner as the time difference got the best of us and we were asleep by 7:30pm. Now its getting organized and heading out of Manila, towards the white sands of White Beach on Mindoro.