A Wanderer's Journey: March 2010

Manila - A Second time Around

6:00 AM kAtYa Pro

The second time around...

I left Manila to go back to Cebu and now I'm back again.

I came back after 2 days of fulfilling my duty as an agent. This is just a short trip since it's just for 3 days. This trip was planned and we bought tickets when there was a promo from Cebu Pacific. My previous trip in Manila was not planned.

This trip I had with my friends in the office - Abegail Batucan and Richel Roca. Abegail brought along her mother and brother.

We didn't have to worry about the transportation since Abegail has a relative that would allow us to rent a van for our trip.

our plane

church near the airport

Since we are going to stay in Makati, we passed by a lot of famous landmarks and one of it is the one below.

the very famous hospital

We then looked for a hotel to stay in but since we have a tight budget, we decided to stay in a motel. We stayed in Sogo since they have that option to just stay for a specific number of hours. Our purpose was to just place our things and to just sleep. At first, it felt weird that we are going to stay there since when you hear the word motel, it would make you think that this is just a place for people who desired a short time with someone but then I realized its not the place that mattered.

First destination to go to would be the Quiapo. I have now seen the place that I used to just see on television. It's a very big church. Outside the church, there are a lot of people selling candles of different colors and with specific description of what it could do. In Quiapo, there is also a small mall that sells a lot of things from bags to cellphones.

After Quiapo, we went to Baclaran Church.

After visiting those churches, next stop would be the Manila Ocean Park. You could find here the different marine animals. There are different fishes also. The entrance fee would be P 400.00

After looking at the different fishes and sea creatures that I couldn't remember the name, we went to Star City. We payed the entrance fee in Star City which is P 60.00. It's just cheap since we wouldn't be doing any rides.

The only thing that we look forward in doing here would be those in Snow World. The three of us wished to see the snow so we chose this place to at least make our dreams come true even if its fake. The entrance fee is P 160.00. We couldn't take any camera inside. There are a lot of reminders before going inside.One of the reminders is to wear a jacket. They have a free jacket and take note that a lot of people have used it. You can also wear mittens if you have or purchase it from them. When you reached inside, there would a slide and also different decorations made of ice.

On our 2nd day, we went to Pinoy Big Brother house. This is the very famous reality show of ABS-CBN. This is a phenomenon in the Philippines since there are a lot of handsome and beautiful housemates. We just passed by to take a picture of the place.

While going to our next destination, we passed by the Sandiganbayan where the Erap case was handled at that time.

Our next stop was the La Mesa Watershed and Ecopark. The place is a dam and ecological reservation site. The water collected by the dam would then be the water that would be supplied in Manila through the Maynilad Water Service.

After enjoying the scenery and boating, we then decided to go to the mall. While going to Greenbelt, we passed by GMA. One of the television networks in the Philippines and competitor of ABS-CBN.

We roamed around Greenhils for things that we would like to buy.

We then went to Glorietta to purchase Krispy Kreme as a 'pasalubong' since its our last day.

Labels: Manila, Philippine Travel 0 comments |

Manila Trip

11:00 AM kAtYa Pro

This is one of my trips when relatives are with me during my flight going there but I was alone in travelling to the different places I wanted to see. This is where I learn to be independent when I travel and to always do some RESEARCH.

My aunt's purpose of going to Manila is for an interview in the U.S. Embassy. She has lots of supporters like me and some relatives. We will be staying in Manila for a week.

Our flight for Cebu- Manila was delayed due to some PAL airplane problem. When we arrived in Manila, relatives came to fetch us and we had lunch.

First stop when we arrived in Manila -- eat Lunch

After eating lunch, we head to the hotel to leave our things. We then went to Mall of Asia (MOA) to roam around. It's actually my first time there so I enjoyed it very much.

Skating Rink

The next day, I went back to MOA to roam again and this time I'm alone. It was fun because I can go my own way and choose which shops to go to. I was able to roam the whole place for a day and then headed back to the hotel. It was no fun to stay in the hotel since there is no wi-fi connection. I couldn't get any emails or check for any facebook updates or google buzz.

Another day has passed and I have decided to roam around again. This time it would just be near the hotel. I wouldn't be riding any taxi but just walk.

I roam around Luneta. I guess you've heard of Rizal Park which is located in Luneta. That's my first stop. I never thought it would be such a big park. As I've seen on the television, the area was focused on the Rizal Monument.

Near the Area

Blumentritt

the Rizal Monument from afar

Rizal Monument

Martyrdom of Rizal Diorama

Chinese Garden

Those are the things that you can see in the Park. There are a lot of statues.

My afternoon destination would be malls. The Glorietta Malls and Robinsons Place Ermita.

The way to reach those area from the hotel would be through MRT. When I reached the nearest MRT station, I looked for a sign on what MRT Station I should stop to reach my destination. I bought an MRT card from the counter. Since my current location is in United Nations Avenue Stations which by the way is near the World Health Organization in the Philippines, I have to go through 7 Stations and from there take another MRT going to Ayala Station. It was fun since it's my first time to take an MRT in the Philippines.

When I reached the Ayala, I was amazed on how big the place is. Aside from the malls surrounding the place, I saw a lot of tall buildings. I'm in Makati, one of the most populous metropolitan area and also the financial capital in Manila. When you look at the people around, most of them are wearing business attires. You can only see a few not wearing one and I am one of them.

One of the malls that you could see in Makati are the Glorietta malls. There is the Glorietta 1, 3, 4 and 5. I think the Glorietta mall is already the Glorietta 2. Aside from the Ayala owned Malls, you can also see here SM and Greenbelt. The malls there would just connect with each other so I was quite confused on what mall I was in. I was able to roam around the place and there are nice shops there that's not found in Cebu.

My MRT Card

Glorietta

buildings

Glorietta 5

After roaming around the Makati area, I went back to our place. Since there is a mall nearby, that's my next stop. I brought with me my laptop since there is a free wi-fi connection. I have to read a lot of things and do some research as well. I need to make sure that I make it a worthy vacation. My aunt went with me around the area.

Robinsons Place Manila

We had our dinner at Bacolod Chicken Inasal

UP Manila

Department of Justice

Supreme Court

Another day has ended and I'm looking forward to my next destination. Since I'm in Manila, I contacted one of my close friends, Bram Asuncion who is from Pangasinan. He told me that he was going to Laguna and what a coincidence, I wanted to go there to since that following day instead of going back to Manila I have to stay at my relative's place. Since he is a teacher, he was taking his students to Enchanted Kingdom for a tour. I decided to meet him there since we haven't seen each other for quite some time. I did some research on how to get to Enchanted Kingdom.

I took a train from MRT United Nations Avenue going to Gil Puyat Station since one of the bus liners that would go to Laguna would be there. I took the Jam Transit Bus going to Enchanted. If I could remember clearly, I just payed P67.00 for the ride. The only thing is, I was not directly dropped in Enchanted instead in Walter Mart in Balibago Road. A relative fetched me from that mall and took me to Enchanted. This would be my second time here in Enchanted. The entrance fee is P 500.00.

Entrance of Enchanted

Space Shuttle

Me and Bram

Ferris Wheel

The day has ended again and I had to bid goodbye to my friend. I had fun and I'm glad I have seen you again . I had to go to my relatives house since I'm staying there for 2 days. I had to ride a tricycle from Enchanted to Walter Mart and from there I had to take a jeepney going to there place. Since I don't want to take a tricycle going to there house, I just walked.

The next day, we came back to Enchanted again with relatives. This time I don't have to pay since they have free tickets.

I had to go back to Manila the next day since we would be leaving already. Before we left Manila, we had lunch and dinner for the my aunt's successful visa application. We ate at North Park which is a Chinese Restaurant.