Hello hello everyone, I’m back again with another blog post! Obviously. Hehe. But, this time I visited the Philippines after 14 years! The first time that I went there was when I was just a baby, and I was 6 weeks old. That was my first trip ever, and of course I don’t remember a bit of it. This time, we stayed at the Edsa Shangri-La hotel in Manila for a whole week. This hotel was perfect because it wasn’t too far from my lola’s house (grandma’s house), so it was easier to see her and my cousin and my aunts and uncles. Plus, the Shangri-La has it’s own plaza, which includes a mall which everything you could possibly need, open until 10 pm every night.

Manila, traffic, and Christmas are three words that you most likely won’t want to use in a sentence. The only time that we left the hotel was to go and visit people, and to go to Intramuros. But we’ll get to all of that LATER. 😀 I love when places are completely decked out for the holidays. The Christmas decor in the lobby was something else. There was a gingerbread house that you could go in, and it was decorated from top to bottom. There were macarons lining the walls. MACARONS.

One thing I really like about the Philippines is that everyone there speaks English. Like my mom, she speaks English. It’s really great and really easy to communicate with others that way, and it’s also really good for Filipinos. You have more opportunities when you can speak English. According to Philippine Statistic Authority there are 1.83 million Filipinos working abroad. Speaking in English is one of the reason why there’s a lot of Filipinos world wide. 89% (that’s a lot of percents) of the Philippine population is Christian so Christmas is a big celebration.

On Christmas Eve, my uncle, aunt and my lola joined us for afternoon tea at the hotel lobby. On Christmas Day we all had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was great, I got me some American food, and the staff does line dancing every hour. I don’t think they do that in Florida…

Texas Roadhouse HR: Alright, I’ve reviewed your application, and uh, I think you’re hired, just one thing. How’s your dancing?

Person looking for a job: Uhh… my what?

I’m funny in my head, I swear.

Brace yourselves, it’s history time. 😀

A little history about Philippines. It’s an archipelago located in Southeast Asia. It consists around 7,641 islands, but the three major islands are Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao. My mom is from Luzon and she grew up in Manila, the nations’ capital. 

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet of ships from Spain. His arrival in the Philippines marked the beginning of Spanish colonization in 1521. The indigenous chief, Lapu-lapu killed him in battle, but in 1565, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos arrived in the Philippines from Mexico to start the colonization again. He named Philippines after King Philip II. Philippines was a Spanish colony until 1898, but the Kingdom of Great Britain occupied the Spanish colonial capital of Manila and the nearby port of Cavite for twenty months from 1762 to 1764. After Spanish-American war ended. United Sates took over Philippines. Then Imperial Japan invaded Philippines in 1942. (What is it with everyone wanting to invade the Philippines?). Then eventually after WWII, Philippine became an sovereign country in July 1946.

Tagalog, the official language of Philippines has a bit of Spanish words in it as well. I’ve found that when my mum talks in Tagalog she mixes lots of English words in as well. So I can understand Tagalog for the most part because Filipinos will most likely mix in lots of English words as well.

While in the Philippines, my mom decided to show me and my dad some historical landmarks, like the walled city of Intramuros. We went with mom’s friends that knows where the ins and out of the area. Intramuros is a Latin world for “inside the walls”. According to Wikipedia, Intramuros is the 0.67-square-kilometer (0.26 sq mi) historic walled area within the city of Manila. The Spanish government built the wall in 16th century to protect the Spanish colony from invasion. Is it ironic? There was a wooden fort built by Rajah Sulayman, one of the kings that ruled Manila during the Spanish colonization. The Spaniards defeated them all.

Intramuros was the religious, education, and economic center during Spanish colonization. Some landmarks are still standing like San Agustin Church. Built in 1586, it survived the attack in World War II, and it’s the oldest stone church in the Philippines.

Cobble stone road and Spanish inspired buildings are some of the sight in Intramuros.

Then we made our way to Fort Santiago, one of the corners of the walled city. The main gate was reconstructed because it was destroyed in WWII. You can also see the bullet holes on the wall in the pictures below.

The building below was supported by metal beams to keep the structure as a reminder of the devastation of war.

Jose Rizal, a Philippine national hero, was imprisoned at Fort Santiago. He was executed by the Spanish colonial government in December 1896 by firing squad. He used literature and his writings to advocate political reforms for the colony under Spain. Power through books.

The last spot we visited is extremely heartbreaking and devastating. When Spain built “The Dungeon” in Intramuros, it was originally built to store ammunition, but the Japanese Imperial Army used it to imprisoned Filipinos during WWII. When the American liberated Manila, they found six hundred Filipinos that died in there.

There are statues depicting Filipino prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation of Manila are on display at different areas in the dungeon.

If ever you visit Manila, I would highly recommend a visit to Intramuros. The temperature was 30C plus the humidity so it was hot! Good thing that there’s someone with an ice cream cart selling ice cream at the gate. The person walks around the neighborhood and ring a bell to let everyone knows that the ice cream is here. The Filipinos called it “sorbetes” from the Spanish word sorbete means sorbet or sherbet. I got mango, and I tasted exactly like a mango, just frozen.

After walking around Fort Santiago and visiting some other buildings in Intramuros. My dad wanted me to experience riding the Philippine jeepney and public train. And I wanted to experience it too. From the road, you can flag it like calling a taxi. But every jeepney has different route so you want to read the sign board at the front of the jeep.

The jeepney or jeep, is also known as “The king of the road” in the Philppines. Each one is different and unique. Some have anime characters painted on them, others have Jesus or the virgin Mary, and some people even have pictures of their family painted on. Jeepneys are like, 100% customizable. After WWII ended, United States left many US Willy Jeeps in Philippines after the war. Philippines used them to solve transportation problems. Then the Filipinos, in all of their innovative glory, removed the back seat and replaced it with two longer benches to accommodate more passengers. They also added a metal roof for protection from the blaring hot sun. The back of the Jeep is open with steps for easy embarkation and disembarkation. It can take 15 to 20 passengers; with two beside the driver. It was such an interesting experience!

We also took the LRT (Light Rail Transit) because the jeepney route didn’t cover the entire route that we wanted go on. There’s buses, taxis, and private cars, but when there’s traffic the train is the way to go. But it’s busy, sometimes when the train come by there’s no more room to get in. According to 2020 national census, Metro Manila has 13.4M people so it’s busy. After riding the LRT, we took the MRT (Manila Rail Transit) to get back to our hotel. It’s more convenient if you a taxi or GRAB (similar to UBER), but we’re here for the experience!

Here’s my youtube video:

Overall, I loved my visit to the Philippines, I got to connect with my family and friends during the holiday season, and it was amazing!

Anyway, that’s all.