A NEW ANGLE: Manila Summer Adventure 2009 - Cruise, Little India, Quiapo, Chinatown

- May 2, 2009 -> THE LONG AWAITED ADVENTURE DAY


CHAPTER 1: PASIG RIVER FERRY (and the breakfast before)

- Met Tina at around 8:30am at her house. We left around 9am (??)

- After walking a few minutes to Escolta, we found out that the next boat would leave at 11:30am. With more or less 2 hours to spare, we walked back to Chinatown and walked straight to Cafe Mezzanine (LITERALLY straight....via E.T. Yuchengco street, locally known as Nueva St., the old name). Cafe Mezzanine is located above the Chuan Kee restaurant in Ongpin. Is is in front of the San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy/Church.

- After we took our seats, we texted Marc (Tina's BF) that he would be able to join us after all in the boat ride since he would be arriving at Manila from Cavite at around 11am.

- Tina and I ate and talked about random things in the restaurant. Since we were at the mezzanine level with a pretty window seat in the restaurant, we saw Ongpin from a butterfly's eye view (hindi bird....masyadong mataas yun). We even saw Nellie and her mom catching a pedicab from the opposite corner of the street. I called Nellie up instantly and she told us that she saw us too after all. YEY.

- At one point, a group of mixed tourists (Filipino and foreign tourists) were led by his greatness Ivan Dy. Ivan Dy is one of the famous walking-tours tourist guides here in Manila. Mr. Chua, fondly called as Mr. Ube, also accompanied Ivan Dy in welcoming the group. Mr. Chua, a volunteer fireman, is also the owner of Chuan Kee, Cafe Mezzanine, Eng Bee Tin and some other food establishments of the same nature.

- My breakfast and Tina's each cost 130php. They're the typical breakfast meals served at Cafe Mezzanine. Our orders consists of the main meal, garlic rice, a sunny side egg, a nice fat banana and an all-you-can-drink coffee (I had 4 round or coffee this morning, which explains why I am still hyper as I am typing this travel blog)

- After eavesdropping at what Ivan and Mr. Chua were telling the group, Tina and I both gave up since we couldn't hear a thing clearly. Ivan's mic was a bit off. Hehe.

- After Marc arrived by car, we ran to the Escolta dock (right beside Jones Bridge) and caught the 11:30 Pasig River boat ride. We bought tickets to Guadalupe station. The trip costs 45php/person for a single journey trip from Escolta to Guadalupe.

- The Pasig River Ferries can be related to the "water" versions of the LRT/MRT. The white boats stops at every station where people obviously get on or off the boat. The prices of the single-journey boat ride are based on the distance of the drop off station. The farther the drop off station, the more expensive it is. We took the more expensive one since we could see more landmarks.

- The boats can seat up to about a hundred people. They are airconditioned with television screens inside. People can also go out the deck for a good view of the landmarks that can be seen from the boat. Restrooms are also present on the boats. The boats are also equipped with life vests under or behind every chair *so we could be safe* as Dora or her cousin Diego would say in their respective or crossover shows.

- As the trip went on, we noticed that the river's stench was unnoticeable, if not "gone", and the river itself was not as dirty as before. The Pasig River is alive and does support life. We might not have seen fish, but various river plants float freely on the river, and a lot of doves and "river birds" fly along the river. Once in a while, the birds swoop down, assuming that they're catching tiny fish to eat.

- We also saw the Malacanang Palace at one point. Sadly, we did not take any pictures of the palace, since it was not allowed. IF EVER I took a steal shot of the palace and posted it here, I would not really know what would happen to me. *dan-dan-dan daaaaaaaann* Haha. Other travel blogs would suggest that the Malacanang at the back of the 20-peso bill resembled the real one. Well, it's true. HAHA. OR....googling the picture of the palace would help....BUT OF COURSE....seeing the real one is still amazing. :D:D:D:D

- After getting off at Guadalupe, we waited around 30 minutes for the boat going back to Escolta (yes, we just had a roundtrip cruise, and yes, that's another 45php).

- After we got on the boat back to Escolta, we decided to go out to the deck for a more "adventurous" ambience. The coolest about going out the deck were the times when the boat would go under big bridges. No one really saw the "under side" of big bridges before....unless the were the ones who made the bridges....or the fishies....or the birds....or Dyesabel (sorry we had this inside joke about Dyesabel going to the river to lay roe....and going back to the sea.)

- We also saw the children (some of them nude) bathing at various riverbanks. They shouted hello as we passed through. Since some of them were nude, I "comforted" my 2 companions that the children were nude for the "sake of art" (that's the effect of being hyper. You won't know what you're saying....)

- After we arrived at the Escolta station, it was already around 2pm. ERGO, each trip lasted around 1 hour, more or less. HAHA. :D:D:D:D



CHAPTER 2: ROBINSON'S PLACE ERMITA

- After arriving at Chinatown, Marc drove us to RP Ermita. He was supposed to get an x-ray from the dental place there.



CHAPTER 3: LITTLE INDIA

- We had lunch at Little India, since Tina kept on telling me (almost every time we talked on YM) that she missed Indian food....Well I missed Indian food too....YEY

- As always, we ate at our favorite Assad Cafe. We ordered Chicken Masala, Kashmiri Fish Curry and 6 chapaatis (chapaati -> a type of Indian flat bread; a relative of the tortilla and pita). Marc ordered an additional fried rice for himself since he was very VERY hungry. We all ordered mango lassis to drink. Lassis are yoghurt drinks (therefore, a teeeeny bit sour).

- We also dropped by to check on some things at Assad, Talwar's and Simron's. Man I missed the place so much. It meant a lot of me to go there today. Sobs; tears of joy. *sorry, random emotional outburst....my fingers have a mind of their own whilst I type....*



CHAPTER 4: QUIAPO (Mosque, Quiapo Church)

- Sadly, we do not have much pictures of Quiapo, since it's a bit dangerous to put out my camera because of all the people.

- Marc parked somewhere near his uncle's house (I think), which I later found out was near the mosque.

- We were able to walk from the car to the mosque in less than 5 minutes.

- Before we went inside, the lady in front told us to cover Tina's head, since Muslim women are not allowed to show their hair, especially in the mosque. Tina's not a Muslim, but of course, we had to follow their rules. I pulled out my glittery pearl cloth and carefully wrapped it about Tina's head like a Muslim woman would do so with her hijab/jilbab (cloth wrapped around the head)

- Like one of my previous trips, we strolled around the mosque and of course, admired the beauty of the mosaic walls that gave color to the mosque facade.

- Before we went out of the mosque, we checked out the shop inside the moque grounds near the entrance. The shop sold Muslim items such as men's prayer caps called taqiyah, songkok, topi and other names (depending on where you're from), hijabs, prayer beads, prayer books and such. The kind stall owner, who was heavily covered with her eyes being the only visible part of her body, noticed us looking around her stall. She immediately explained some of the items she sold. I really appreciate her doing that since I learned some bits of information about the Muslim culture.

We went out of the mosque, removed Tina's "alternative" hijab, and walked to the Quiapo Church (no pictures). Along the way, I showed arrays of shops selling Muslim clothing to my 2 companions. Hey, you don't see these kinds of shops everyday. Hehe.

- After arriving at the Quiapo Church, I showed them the anting-antings (charms) sold directly in front of the church. The charms were somewhat a mixture of Catholic beliefs and Filipino folk beliefs. These chams contained saints, like St. Benedict, or some with the "third eye", etc. Aside from the charms, wish candles of different colors were all over the place. A person is supposed to buy a candle, have it lit, and make a wish. Each color or form of candle represents a specific type of wish (example, green candles are used for wishes relating to money).

- Random: Tina and I also saw a man selling Dora balloons. It was sort of creepy because we never really imagined tons of Dora clones filled with helium, flew in the air with strings attached to them. YEY DORA!!!! (Dora is my patron *Saint*: She is the saint of exploring and adventures. Plus, she speaks Spanish. YEY SPANISH.)

- After a short visit to the Quiapo Church facade, we headed back to Marc's car.



CHAPTER 5: CHINATOWN PART 1 -> Around Little China

- Marc parked the car near my Grandma's place and went to the dentist to deliver the x-ray document he picked up earlier.

- I decided to visit Shirby's store (my default Chinatown destination). Lucky enough, Shirby was in the "heyaouws" (house) with her little sister. Of course her lovely and kind mom was there managing the store. As always, I chatted with her and talked about random stuff.

- Chabert passed by. I called him just so I could take a snap with him. YEY. Hahahaha. Vain din naman siya. HAHAHAHA. Peace tayo Chabs!!

- Since Marc had another errand to do, we left and headed towards our next destination.

- Before going to the car, I took some pictures of the lovely Binondo Church. I never really noticed how beatiful it was since last year....I have been seeing the church since....well since forever, but never really took interest in it. Yey me!! *Starrrrring London Tipton* (Ok, TOO MUCH DISNEY....)



CHAPTER 6: SM MALL OF ASIA

- On the way to MOA, we passed by a place where Marc usually bought sugar cane juice. Sugar cane juice = heaven in liquid form. :D:D:D:D It was Tina's first time to taste can juice. She enjoyed it....obviously. YEY. I bought myself a glass to drink, and a bottle of cane juice to bring home. YEY!!!!

- After arring at MOA, I foudn out that Marc had to to something with a phone and stuff. I never really understood what was happening. All I knew was that it had to do with a cellphone. HAHA. I did not understand more than half of was he was telling the person in the shop, and vice versa, since I'm not really a gadget person (I'm usually the one who makes gadgets malfunction. HAHA....well not really....it depends....hey, I can use a cellphone and a computer. Haha).



CHAPTER 7: CHINATOWN PART 2 -> Estero

- Since it was already evening, Marc introduced us to an almost hidden restaurant in Chinatown. It's called estero. Why?? Because, it's located at the banks of an estero. YEY!!!! It's located beside the bridge near Salazar Bakery.

- The restaurant had an al fresco ground floor with a shed, and an airconditioned recond floor and third floor. The place served authentic "home cooked" Chinese food. The prices were VERY VERY reasonable, and the servings were LARGE. Each dish is labeled small, medium, and large. A SMALL PLATE of whatever dish can serve up to 2 TO 3 PEOPLE. I guess it really depends on a person's appetite, but 2 to 3 people is a rough estimate. :D:D:D:D

- We decided to eat at the second floor, so we'd have the airconditioned seats. The second floor was a tiny room (roughly the size of my room I guess), with 4 tables. :D:D:D:D Lucky us, we still got seats.

- We ordered oyster balls, bamboo shells and calamares. We also ordered 4 cups or rice, with the last one being divided equally into 3 by yours truly. HAHAHAHA.

- The whole meal only cost 313php, so roughly a bit more than a hundred pesos for each of us. NOT BAD!!!! SERIOUSLY NOT BAD!!!! :D:D:D:D

- The place might be a bid intimidating to go to, but once the food is served....THERE WILL BE NO REGRETS. SERIOUSLY. :D:D:D:D



CHAPTER 8: ENDING THE DAY

- We ended the day happy, not to mention full!! I am so happy because this trip pushed though today, with the weather being nice to us. The weather today was not too sunny, but not raining, despite Typhoon Dante being all over the news.

- I really would like to discover Manila more, and have more adventures in the future. Yikes, I'm turning into Dora's male version or Diego.

- Next time, I would have a magic speaking bag and a map (I do bring maps in some of my adventures....HAHAHAHA) I will sing songs in Spanish and teach Spanish to random children.

- What can I say about this trip?? "LO HICIMOS!!!!" (We did it!!)

- THIS IS AN EFFECT OF WATCHING TOO MUCH DORA :D:D:D:D YEY!!!!

*** Marc, thanks for driving us around, I hope you enjoyed our "way of doing adventures"

****Quote of the day: "Tabi Tina, Tabatina." HAHAHAHA. PEACE TAYO TINA!!!!