Jose Rizal @ Fort Santiago - Manila

Everywhere you go in Philippines, you will see landmarks, roads and buildings being named after their National Hero - Jose Rizal (1861 - 1896)

Jose Rizal was a man of incredible intellectual power, with amazing artistic talent as well. He excelled at anything that he put his mind to - medicine, poetry, sketching, architecture, sociology... the list seems nearly endless. 

1. We are glad that our tour guide driver brought us to visit Fort Santiago 

which is located in the historical area of Intramuros in Metro Manila.

2. There is a nice landscaped park outside the Fort with horse carriages. 

When you see horses anywhere in Manila, that is definitely a touristy area.

3. In the nice green landscaped gardens, my wife sat down in deep thoughts 

with the heroes of Philippines. 

4. Some cute Pinoy gals were playing with birds. 

I was also looking at different birds. 

Do you know that 99.9% of the ladies in Philippines have straight permed hair!

It must be a trend there to have neat and straight hair.

 5. The pools of emerald green water at the gates leading to Fort Santiago.

6. The ruins of the fort as it is today.

7. I have the habit to snap their sign boards to remember the facts

for my blog writing.

8.  Fort Santiago is a citadel first built by Spanish conquistador, 

Miguel López de Legazpi for the new established city of Manila. 

The defense fortress is part of the structures of the walled city of Manila.

 

9. The prominent statue of Jose Rizal.

 He was imprisoned and kept inside the prison cell at Fort Santiago

from October till December 1896.

10. The entrance leading to Jose Rizal's memorial museum.

11. As you know, I snapped a 100 photos since the digital camera requires

no films but I am just posting what deems as interesting

enough to be shared with my dear readers.

12. The First Day Covers that commemorated Jose Rizal heroic deeds.

13. Old bank note currency of Philippines which included the

Japanese's Banana Money. I have a few of them too.

They might be more valuable than our ailing  ringgit. 

14. On the roof top of the Fort Santiago, there is a panoramic

view of Metro Manila.

15. The whole roof top was an escape exit and storage area for the soldiers.

16. On my way out, I spotted some ancient cannons and bombs.

17. This old canon is huge.

18. An old historical complex outside the Fort Santiago.

19. If I don't jump, I could stand on my toes!

I think I can dance ballet.

20. The official office of the Governor of Manila.

21. The beautiful Manila Cathedral. I did not snap photos inside

as there was a mass prayers inside with many people.

22. The famous old Augustinas Church is just nearby too.

It was built in the year AD1571 and that makes it 444 years old.

23. The old giant door with beautiful carvings still looks strong
and good after surviving many harsh wars and typhoons!

24. This must be the Holy Saint.

25. This must be the Holy Mother Mary. 

26. We ended our tour at the Jose Rizal Monument.

Jose Rizal had to march from his prison cell at Fort Santiago 

to this spot several kilometers away where he was sadly

executed by the Spanish Firing Squads.

That was the early morning of 

December 30, 1896.

*********

Wealthy Chinese Cemetery in Manila

I have heard about this famous Chinese Cemetery in Philippines which is the most unusual in the world. I read them in media tabloids and watched TV documentaries which showed how the whole place looked like. My wife's associate also suggested that we should visit this unique Chinese Cemetery and the slums of Smokey Mountains.

The history wrote that the previous Spanish ruling government refused to allow the Chinese immigrants to be buried in the same grounds of the Christian Cemetery. So this Chinese Cemetery was built instead but I have no idea how they built big individual mausoleums with grave tombs instead. This has been known for the wealthy families only. 

We hailed a taxi to get there and the driver had no idea about its exact location as it is quite far from Makati. The driver had to stop and ask the people several times before driving into the narrow lane.

The sudden change of street scenes outside Makati made me nervous!

This place is not exactly opened to the public as it is fully well guarded at the entrance. The guards saw us in the taxi and let us inside, probably thinking that I was a filial grandson. Other foreign tourists who arrived later were subject to long questioning by the guards who were just doing their jobs. We were the only 2 visitors inside the whole cemetery for the first hour. 

1. We got down from the taxi and walked up the slope
to the cemetery area on the hilly land.

I had a lump in my throat and the sun was shining very hot
but I felt chilly with dripping cold sweats.

2. This is a memorial. 

3. This building is for the wake and ceremonial last rites.

 4. I snapped over a hundred photos of the mausoleums
but you would see just a few random ones. 

As a respect, I peeped into many Tomb Houses but did not snap the photos inside. 

Honestly, I was scared stiff like a frozen fish walking on egg shells.

5. My brave wife who has the steel heart of a Tigress always walked ahead of me!

There are many rows of quiet lanes where the thousand tombs all stood individually like

terrace houses. Inside each unit has concrete tombs inside with huge photos on the walls.

Most of them were elaborately furnished with tables, chairs and even kitchen with resting rooms for the visiting families. I heard that many had mahjong tables for the descendants to play.

 6. My heart was beating fast with cold sweats and mouth mumbling all the mantras

until my tongue got twisted. I could still snap many random photos just to share

with you guys. I bet most of you may not want to visit this place but it is an eye opener.
It was like walking into a housing area and every house had a funeral
taking place with the concrete tombs and big photographs
facing the door.

 7. All the tombs had their own elaborate designs using the best finishing of marble, tiles and sand stones complete with grill doors, gates, fencing and gardens for some bigger lots.

 8. This is the only interior of the mausoleum I took 

as it had side windows and the tombs faced another direction.
All the mausoleums have the visible concrete tombs
above the ground.

 9. Some units were 2 storey and looked very modern like KL's bungalow
homes with glass balconies! I saw that in someone's website and could not
locate it as the cemetery grounds are so huge and seemed endless.
My chicken heart didn't want to venture too far while the sun was still hot.

10. Another memorial place.

 11. That's me walking ahead of my wife now. 

The main roads are wider and bigger grave houses are built there.
I was shocked to see several mausoleums had people walking
and sleeping inside. They are the caretakers and alive.
Then, the dogs started barking everywhere.
They even had guard dogs leashed to the doors!

12. This mausoleum was built in accordance
to the ancient Chinese architecture.

13. This mausoleum is very big and looked like a church
but it is a grave site of a family inside.

 14. This is a Hero's Grave and the President of Philippines 

sent a fresh floral wreath as respect. The tomb has a plaque that

explained his great contributions to the country.

At the side narrow lane would lead you to many more hundreds of grave

sites which I did not enter as the space is always too narrow.

 15. Far behind these open space, lined many slum houses along the fence.

That was the end of my visit.

 16. We decided to try catching their LRT trains back 

to Makati as the station was just outside. I was relieved

and looked pale like white sheets.

17. After one hour of long wait, we gave up as no trains stopped to pick us up.

It was sardine packed and sometimes out of service. Even the station master has no idea

about its disrupting services!

********

Greetings From Manila

Today is my 4th Day of 7 days in Manila and am enjoying every minute here. I am staying in an expensive & horrible hotel in the upscale Makati which faces the most happening Greenbelt Hubs. It is not by choice that my wife has to stay in this dated hotel for 2 weeks as other better hotels of this exact location is all fully booked. She has to share daily transport of the host together with other delegates who are attending her training somewhere in Makati.

I am glad to bring along the latest & smallest Lumix DSLR camera to snap photos and to experiment its functions. It was my little present for my wife's birthday last year and never had the chance to play with her toy till now.

1. I took a 4 hour flight from KL to Manila and barely had 3 hours sleep 

before my taxi showed up at 4.30am!!

2. I always have to spend so much extra to book the premium Hot Seats 

on Air Asia. Having long legs is always costly. The plane was full 

but my row had only 2 passengers as most people avoid the emergency doors! 

How silly! I had a good time to Buy 1 Get 3 Free!

3. I pre-booked my breakfast and ate this Satay Wrap.

It was nice and tasty.

4. Look at the funny ads above. It reminds me of 

Heels Over Heads!

5. I am very impressed with the whole area of the shopping city

in Makati where they have the interesting Greenbelt 1 to 5.

I will blog later on the shops & fabulous concept there.

6. I had a nice Shabu-Shabu dinner with my wife tonight.

Tomorrow she will have another last 2 days of working

hell here. So have to pamper her with energy & happy food.

7. The way the Pinoys eat Shabu-Shabu is slightly different here.

You have to order your own sauces and soup at separate charges.

8. Life is really short and let's jump & be happy always!

We hired a tour guide driver today and saw many interesting

eye openers which will appear in my coming blogs.

I was quite shocked here to see the big contrasts of the wealthy people

living in the upscale of Makati and the poorest in the slums of the

Smokey Mountains area.

Interesting Places Visited In Manila

(1) Wealthy Chinese Cemetery

(2) Greenbelt Shopping City

(3) American Soldiers Cemetery & Memorial

(4) Ayala Boulevard

(5) Fort Santiago

(6) Bay Of Manila

(7) Mall Of Asia

(8) Jose Rizal National Monument

(9) Manila Cathedral

(10) Smokey Mountains

& many more to come!

My First Taste Of Korea

It was in 1991 when I had my first real encounter with Koreans & their culture.

I was living at the boarding school at Point Park College in US. There were

many foreign students on my floor where the Japanese & Koreans out numbered

while I was the only Malaysian Chinese. The Koreans thought I was Japanese

because I shared room with a Japanese, so they kinda boycotted me.

We all became best friends eventually.

This college above has 2 tall buildings which is connected by a sky bridge.

I lived in Thayer Hall which was formerly a mental hospital as there is no elevator

stopping on the 6th floor of my dormitory. Rumor mongers reported that suicidal cases 

took place and it had been very haunted ever since. 

The one female ghost would walk through 

many rooms nightly and crossed the bridge to the 22 storeys Lawrence Hall.

Once she woke my Korean friend up and stood beside Seung Woo's bed.

He was frozen and shook in fear as the ghost spoke to him

before giving up as he could not understand her gibberish talk.

On many nights, I would be invited by the Koreans to visit

Kook Jin's room at Room # 1920 Lawrence Hall for Korean supper!

That was my first meals to eat hot Korean Steamboat with Soju, Kim Chi 

and Rice Cakes. It was Yums!

Yours truly standing above, went skiing for the first time 

with them at the Seven Springs Resort in Pennsylvania.

My eyes went big with shock as the Koreans could

ski so fast down the slopes without sticks!!!!

They always took me out for bowling but we

always ended up in snow fights instead!!

I moved out to live in a swanky suburbs at Shadyside and often played

hosts to cook and bake for my fellow Korean buddies!

Seated L to R: Park Yoo Seok, Lee Ho Shik, Lee Seung Woo 

and Chang Kook Jin.

Standing: Me

We had many wild parties of Soju booze and gambling almost every weekend!

Should I post all the wild photos later?

We all lost touch completely after I returned home.

Fate brought me to connect with Joon Sung after 20 years.

Click the link to see this Korean Flower Boy

who was pursued by Japanese Kawais at college.

The missing Korean drunkards reappeared somehow after a 

big search all over Seoul and Busan. 

Now we would talk daily in Kakao Talks! 

Happy again!

.......... 

FAST FORWARD TO JUNE 2015.

..........

It was heart warming to see how my drunkard buddy

has become a dotting daddy instead.

Last week, he drove his young son 

somewhere outside Seoul.

They headed to Youngjong Island 

to relax and have fun.

Here, the father and son were busy digging the mud

during low tides. What were they doing?

Oh My God!! They dug up so much clams.

The clams are fucking huge!!

That's for a week's free dinner.

Kook Jin went home happily and cooked Clams Soup

with Korean spicy vegetables. 

Yums!

Meet the handsome friend Kook Jin who's a Computer Science graduate

from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Now a dotting father,

Expert Chef and lives in Seoul.

I am looking forward to a reunion in Seoul** after my coming trips

to Tokyo and Mount Wutai in China.

**Subject to no MERS.

.......

Happy Father's Day

Last week, it marked the 100th Day of my late mother's death anniversary. It was like a dream to me when I attended the praying sessions conducted by the Thai monks. I sat down on the floor inside the Wat Chetawan Temple with clasped hands and looked at the portrait of my mother's smiling face. I briefly thought over the journey of her life with my father.

They both had a very blissful time being together while going through all the good & turbulent days. They married for over 50 years and never once, they ever quarreled as my father has zero temper. My father had a hard life growing up in Teluk Anson while my mum had a princess lifestyle growing up in Thailand. They made a good & balanced match to waltz their days in the ballroom halls until my mum's last years. 

I have promised her that I will always take care of dad 

while she takes a long rest in the Western Paradise.

.........

My Dad is the greatest influence in my life. 

On my darkest nights, he shone like my torchlight.

I often dozed off with the TV watching me,

He still carried me to sleep.

Dad was there always.

Dad, you have walked a long meaningful life!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY 

....