Philippines Trip / Day 9 Pt.4

January 06, 2015 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

And so our last stop in Manila, Chinatown.

I've been to several Chinatowns over the years and almost all of them have ended up being a romanticized neighborhood on how other cultures perceive what China is like. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It brings in traffic for the businesses and celebrates the positive aspects of a different culture than the local one. That said, one should keep in mind that those Chinatowns are not accurate representations of what China is actually like. THIS on the other hand, is different.

It's as if someone cut a section out of a major city in mainland China and dropped it right in Manila. If you didn't spot the occasional Filipino or Jeepney, you'd never imagine you were still in the Philippines.

I was told that this area, known as Binondo, is the oldest Chinatown in the world. It definitely has a unique history between the local Filipinos and Spanish Conquistadors and in the past played a major role in trade traffic between China and other countries such as the US.

At any rate, it wasn't what you'd call the most cheerful place to be, so we decided to drive around a little bit more and make one last stop at Michelle's grand parents' before retreating back to the hotel.

Ate lunch over at the Mall of Asia, yet another shopping mall. Manila sure loves its shopping malls, and they're all HUGE.

Some more local transportation. Interesting logos there...

To any fans of spy movies, this area should look familiar.

Just some local car spotting.

The entire trip, these Nissan Patrols kept tricking me into thinking the Philippines were packed with Land Cruisers. Still pretty cool, especially with those graphics.

Montero Sport on Rally OZ Wheels. Not a combination I'd think would work if you told me, but in person it actually fits better than I would have thought.

The grandparents' front garden.

And so concludes our Philippine trip. Overall it was a fun, unique experience but save for the time in Boracay, it's just not a place I plan on going back to any time soon. Not sure if it's the Philippines in general or just Manila specifically, but it was just not my thing. Besides, I'm done with the humidity. Bleh!

Philippines Trip / Day 9 Pt.3

January 06, 2015 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Just a wrap up of our Fort Santiago visit.

It's like something straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie set.

Leaving the Fort and are now heading to Chinatown. More chances to see Jeepneys!

So KKK stands for Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng̃ mg̃á Anak ng̃ Bayan which was a society formed by locals to fight against the Spanish. Funny how one culture's symbol of oppression can be another culture's symbol of freedom.

Last post, (not so) lucky Chinatown!

Philippines Trip / Day 9 Pt.2

December 31, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Taking it back old school.

We soon arrived at Fort Santiago, a fortress built back when the Spanish still ruled the Philippines.

It was pretty neat seeing an actual moat.

Very impressive photo stance.

This historical site was the location where Philippine national hero José Rizal was executed. Here was where he was held before his last walk. Those steps were memorialized with brass footprints embedded into the ground.

An example of some of the holding cells that were used. When in use, there was a metal grate that would be placed on top, allowing the brutal sun and rain to always fall onto the prisoners. Those Spanish colonialists sure had some fun ideas on how to treat the locals...

Philippines Trip / Day 9 Pt.1

December 25, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Picking up where I last left off, this was the last full day we'd have in Manila so we decided to go explore more of the city itself, in particular the original old Spanish areas and Chinatown.

So the Philippines is well known for being big on religion, particularly Catholicism. And when I mean big, I mean BIG

With such a large congregation, the organizers used a large, spread out PA systems for everyone to hear the speeches and songs.

Large crowds of extremely passionate supporters have always made me a bit uneasy, so we decided to make a detour through a local zen garden.

Map of the Philippines was pretty neat. So many islands!

As it neared noon, the heat started climbing higher as well, so we decided it was time to move on to a new place.

Philippines Trip / Day 8 Pt.3

October 30, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Despite the clear sunny sky we had when arriving onto the island, it was apparent that the skies would turn dark very quickly so we decided to head back right away.

By the time we were able to get to the island shore, we heard the thunder roll in and within a minute it started pouring. We waited in shelter until we found a break in the downpour, hoping it'd be long enough for us to cross the lake.

Unfortunately the 20 minute window we were hoping for turned into a tiny 3 minute crack. The darker half of the photo is the rain already reaching the boat and will quickly cover the rest of the lake. The rest of the boat ride was hiding behind a sheet of tarp as the driver raced across as quickly as he could, lightning still lighting up the sky. It was pretty fun :D

Right before we arrived the rain let up and the sky gave us a break.

Judging by clouds in the distance though, it looked like it'll eventually return. Some of the boat owners didn't want to risk their boats getting damaged against the shore.

After another moment of hiding in the shelter, we got in the van and started climbing back home.

It was a little too narrow and busy to really enjoy it publicly, but if it were closed off or late at night this would be an amazing road for a quick touge run.

And so ends our trip to Taal Lake, the volcanic inception of water and land.

Philippines Trip / Day 8 Pt.2

October 29, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Upon arriving on the island, we started to head to our final source of transportation; horse riding.

Turns out we weren't supposed to head to that crater at all, but instead started going inward away from the shore.

Soon we started heading uphill. I was doubting riding a horse after seeing people were allowed to walk the trail, but I'll admit it wouldn't have been an easy climb. Here you can see some steam being let off from what volcanic activity is still occurring beneath the surface.

Eventually we reached the top of the hill, even higher than the crater we saw while on the outer shore of the lake. We got off our horses and walked up.

And here we have it, the crater lake and the final island inside. It would have been neat to go down to see it, but by now even though we rode horses, we were drenched in sweat. Besides, it looked like the ascent/descent was too steep to reach by regular hiking.

The locals have resorted to offering several services in addition to the horse riding to help earn money, but unfortunately they all seem to have taken a toll on the surrounding environment. Even the crater lake was included, as many were trying to offer a golf club & some balls to hit off the mountainside. Sadly, many other tourists took up the opportunity to make this place their exotic driving range.

Some more signs of volcanic activity with little pockets of steam.

Philippines Trip / Day 8 Pt.1

October 27, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

We woke up early morning for our day trip to Tagaytay, an area just south of Manila. Personally, I was excited we'd get to get out of the city since as nice as it is, isn't really much different than most other international cities. There's a growing global culture and while I think it's a great thing, it does make places a lot more familiar than perhaps you wish it was. Anywho, it was nice to catch the day before the sun got a chance to crank up the heat, though that humidity was still always present.

After about 40 some minutes of driving the city life disappeared and soon we were in the countryside.

And here's what we were going to, Taal Lake which is formed inside a dormant volcano. The crazy thing about this place is the inception-like layering of the islands and water. We're on an island in the Pacific and here's a lake with an island inside. Ok, nothing too crazy there, but on that island is ANOTHER lake with ANOTHER island. So that's an island in a lake in an island in a lake in an island in the ocean. *whew!* If you look at this place from Google Maps, the water and land look like rings from a cut tree.

But we're gonna do more than observe it all from atop the outer ridge, we're gonna try to see the inside of it ourselves. After a very long (and fun!) mountain road down to the first lake, we ate lunch at one of these little huts.

These trikes are EVERYWHERE. We rode in one in Boracay on the way out to our port, but it was a lot larger than these small lowriders. Sketchy? You bet, but they also look super fun. A part of me wanted to pay on of the drivers to go back on the mountain road as fast as he can.

When we first got here, we were under the impression that the crater you see here would be where we'll be going. Definitely looks like there'd be a small lake in there, right?

And here's how we'll get to island #2. Pretty much the same boats as the ones that we took "Island Hopping" except this time we wouldn't be running into any white crests. I mean, look at that sky! What could go wrong?

We soon arrived on Island #2, but I noticed we landed on pretty much the opposite end of the island as the crater. Are we really gonna hike all the way there?

Part 2 to be posted later. Till then, gonna take a nap.

Philippines Trip / Day 7

October 27, 2014 by Jonathan Chow in Philippines

Just some pics I took at night. Multiple-part trip starting at the next post.