Arriving in Manila
Coincidentally (as with my flight a few hours ago) my flight on Cebu Pacific to Manila left 20 minutes early too! On board, I lay down on three seats but couldn’t sleep. The 3h30 flight wasn’t long enough to warrant a sleeping pill.
Upon arrival, the queues for immigration were very long and took about 45 minutes. Once I collected my bags and went out, I struggled with the ATMs. Only one accepted Maestro whereas the Plus ones were more common (but they’re equally common in town). That machine kept giving me declining my transaction.
Luckily I suspected that it was rejecting due to the amount being too much; the maximum it would issue was PHP10,000. Unfortunately this limit meant that I would need more frequent smaller withdrawals, with each one subject to a local fee of PHP600.
I taxied to the Tune Hotel in Ermita where I had booked two nights (last night and tonight) as it was cheap enough. I grabbed a few hours of much-needed sleep around 0700 before waking up at 1030.
Sightseeing
I found that taxis are very reasonably-priced and with my limited time for sightseeing, it made sense to use them. I took one to Intramuros (the old city) where I had a walk around. Except for a few churches, many historic buildings have been modified beyond recognition. Many historic buildings serve as schools and universities; they have been placarded with their names, brief history and old photographs … one can’t see the resemblance in most cases.
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- Manila Cathedral; closed for repairs.
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- This oldie needed repairs more badly but I guess it is beyond help.
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- Eateries on the city wall at Intramuros.
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- Cannons on the Intramuros city wall.
From there I took another taxi to the Chinese cemetery where the rich are buried in what could be terraced houses. Since when I was a child, I’ve heard people rave about these cemeteries … but for me it was very much a case of “Whatever!” … and “Why!”. As for the latter, an outspoken friend of mine once said “When you’re dead, you’re just dog meat!”.
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- The Chinese graves resemble a town; a necropolis.
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- A typical tomb.
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- The Chinese graves resemble a town; a necropolis.
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- These two appear a little unloved; in fact the gate to the one on the left was unlocked and open.
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- These small cubby holes contained remains of children (not sure if body or ashes) and some adults (must be ashes).
With the short night sleep, that was enough sightseeing for me. I taxied back to my nearby mall for some snacks before resting in my room.
I ventured out but not very far to grab dinner. I heard a lot of dogs yelping but not within view. Then I saw street BBQ. Not sure if the two are related. I settled on Chinese dumplings for dinner before an early night.