Adventures in Guangzhou!

After lunch we made our way to Quiapo Square, a public square by one of Manila's most famous churches. It was, again, apparent right away that not only was not only a big mall country but also a big church country. The Catholic influence was all encompassing and it seemed like every street had a church, a cross, and/or a saint-related school. The square itself had a sad memorial for a demonstration sometime in the 1980's which turned into a massacre when someone threw a grenade onto the makeshift stage where political candidates were speaking. It was one of those moments when I was reminded how lucky people are in the States to be largely free from things like that.

We explored the church itself which was buzzing with action. There were tons of people in the pews as well as people waiting to give confession and those on their knees in the aisles by the altar. We walked through a side exit into an alley with a street market selling food and other assorted Catholic items (crucifixes and the like). While all Asian markets have certain things in common, there are always a few differences. This one seemed to have a fair amount of produce that the shop owners had no interest in selling. Well, at least they didn't seem too stressed about moving their merchandise. I guess it was too hot for that.

We began walking towards the next neighborhood and saw hundreds of "jeepneys," as our guide book called them ("jeeps," to the hip locals). The jeeps are something like a cross between a minibus and a jeep, and are all painted and decorated in a different way, much like the Lao tuk-tuks, except that these traveled pre-determined routes and had set rates depending on distance. It was clear that this was the most popular way to travel for most Filipinos.

Down a few blocks, we stumbled upon another church whose name escapes me. Though it was completely empty, I found it to be even nicer than Quiapo. Kelly and I spent a good half an hour just gazing at some of the beautiful stained glass and listening to a girl practice the organ. It was magnificent. After that we decided to join the masses and hop into a jeep to get to our next destination.

While we knew what the jeeps were, we weren't quite sure what the etiquette was for flagging them down, paying, or getting off. We waited for one to stop right in front of us and then we got on. We waited for the guy next to us to pay and hoped we could see how much he gave. Without having a clear view we gave it our best guess and hopped off in the general area we were going to. That night we found out that we had shorted the driver about 5 pesos, but he didn't yell at us so we had no idea. Oops!

Anyhow, we had taken the jeep to the Intramuros section of the city--the old city. The old city wall was very cool, especially in the sections that allowed people to walk on top. It reminded me a tiiiiiiiiiny bit of the Great Wall, except that obviously it was quite a bit smaller. After playing around on the wall for a while we walked down to the Manila Cathedral, a romanesque church with massive stone pillars and tall ceilings. It was a bit dark for my tastes, but it had a very pleasant square in front with a grassy area to hang out in.

From there we walked to Bahay Tsinoy, a museum dedicated to the Chinese history and influence in the Philippines. Besides being very close to home for us, it was also a very well done museum with informative maps, displays, and even a couple of hokey fake people. I thought it was most interesting to learn that the Chinese who integrated into Filipino society were referred to as mestizos for centuries.

After enjoying the displays and the AC, we headed to another museum, "Casa de Manila," a traditional preserved house of a rich 19th c. Spanish resident. It was predictably beautiful (I sure wish I had a music room, a sitting room, and a prayer room. Okay, maybe not that last one...) but I thought it was hilarious that the security guards would not allow us to deviate from the red carpet on the ground. There were no barriers up or any signs, but we got yelled at anytime we drifted towards the side of the carpet. We made our way out though and spent a few minutes just relaxing in the courtyard.

Evening was slowly approaching and we decided to walk towards the water in order to watch sunset over Manila Bay. We found a cute over-priced restaurant right on the water and enjoyed a couple of drinks while the sun slowly set. It was gorgeous! We took a taxi back to Magallanes where we met up with Juliana and headed out for some tasty Mexican food. Sure, we weren't going out of our way for Filipino food, but when there is Mexican food available we felt obliged to take advantage. That's what happens when you live in China!

Over dinner we had a very illuminating conversation about Filipino culture, living abroad, wants, wishes, fears, and all the other things that people have in common after living abroad for two years. As a second year, Juliana was going through a lot of the same things we were and it is somehow always comforting to find others in the same shoes. Even though China and the Philippines are radically different, we still had an incredible amount of common ground. It was a great night, especially with the margaritas.