Manila at Night: The Spirit of History, the History of Spirits

- Feb. 26, 2022, Saturday.

- I've always wanted to do a night tour of any city, and it has been on my mind for a few years now. I've definitely gone around cities around the word at night, but night tours are different since they add a bit of the spookiness in your regular tours. I normally don't like joining tours since I like the flexibility of going around alone. However, a night tour is probably one of the few times that I'll gladly join a tour, since I don't want to go off exploring the supernatural on my own. If this scares you right now, fear not. These night tours will only infuse the supernatural in their stories, but they don't necessarily let you (or force you) to do anything supernatural (like the Spirit Questors.) These kinds of tours are, still, very much historical.

- I recently discovered Intramuros After Dark (click here), headed by tour guide and history enthusiast Mr. Butch Pedalino. It took a while for me to reserve my slot because of the recent COVID-19 surge. Fortunately, when I was hesitating to take a slot, I was told that they were having a big promo - which made my decision about joining the tour a lot easier. (Do inquire them directly in case there are changes in the price and tour format.) To make the tour more fun, I invited my friend Justine to tag along. Intramuros After Dark is a walking tour, so if you decide to join, just make sure to wear comfortable shoes, bring water and maybe some snacks, and most importantly, an open mind. Tours by Intramuros After Dark are only available on the weekends, unless you wish to book a private/exclusive tour off schedule, which can be arranged.

- The tour began at Escolta around 5pm. The actual meeting place was the First United Building's museum, the First United Building Community Museum at the second floor. The building was originally built in 1928 as the Perez-Samanillo Building, until it was acquired by the Cojuancos and the Syliantengs in 1979. The small air-conditioned museum had various everyday things, photos, and documents from the Sylianteng family from as early as the Second World War. The Syliantengs have been a family of businessmen. Their current surname was derived from their patriarch, Sy Lian Teng, who established Cosmos Bazaar after migrating to the Philippines in the early 1900s. The family had plenty of highs and lows especially during the Japanese Occupation of Manila, but they were able to become successful after the war. Apart from eventually owning the building, at some point they also owned Berg's Department Store. It was one of the first department stores in the Philippines, first owned by the Berg family until it was sold to the Syliantengs. It was located at the ground floor of the First United Building, now occupied by the Hub: Make Lab.

The community museum. Most of the items were from the stores owned by the Syliantengs.

Yay for friendship!

The mysterious painting. It's a painting of Evelyn Berg Empie, daughter of the first owners of Berg's Department Store. She wasn't supposed to be smiling in the painting (as can be seen in a photograph in the museum that was used as a reference for the painting.) No on knows why she was painting with a smile.

Inspecting the artifacts.

Mr. Butch, our amazing guide.

The haunted telephone.

We were given a few minutes to roam at the Hub: Make Lab, which used to be Berg's Department Store. Saw this mannequin. The Hub: Make Lab is a quirky bazaar that honors locally-made products and Manila's past.

Mirror selfie!

Lobby of the First United Building. Plenty of celebrities rented spaces in the building, one of its long-time tenants was the late comedian, Dolphy.

- After sundown we headed out, and passed by the man-made canals of Manila that used to bring goods from Manila Bay and Pasig River to the smaller streets of old Manila. We also walked around Escolta, before heading towards the Pasig River. Escolta, by the way, had its boom during the American Colonial Era, and some of its buildings have retained their original look though they have been repurposed. Escolta used to be the "place to be", "to see people and be seen", and "to rub elbows with people." When business centers moved elsewhere starting from the 1960s onwards, Escolta lost its luster. (You may look at more photos of Escolta from one of my older blog entries: click here).

First United Building from the outside.

One of Manila's many man-made canals. (Manila was a bit like Venice in the old days, no?)

One of the famous filming locations in Escolta, usually by action films.

Formerly the headquarters of M.Y. San Corporation that sold ice cream and crackers. Interestingly, it is occupied by another ice cream store (Big Scoop) for the longest time.

Calvo Building, one of the haunted buildings in Escolta (most buildings in Escolta are haunted anyway.)

The now partially-demolished Capitol Theater (I posted a link to one of my older blogs of Escolta above, see how Capitol Theater looked before it was demolished!) 

- We passed by the Jones Bridge, which is one of the bridges that go over the Pasig River. It is also one of the oldest, with its first incarnation built in 1920. It was a plain-looking bridge for the longest time until it was renovated after 2016 when Isko Moreno became mayor. They tried to make it look like how it was in the olden days.

Jones Bridge at night.

Manila Post Office from Jones Bridge.

The New Chinatown Gate from Jones Bridge.

Lighting was so difficult omg.

- After crossing the bridge we went through a series of underpasses until we reached the Manila Post Office and Heroes Park. I had never visited Heroes Park before since it wasn't the safest place in Manila. Well, it's not perfectly safe today, but a lot of lights were installed as part of Isko Moreno's beautification projects of Manila. It is now a nicer place to visit, especially at night.

The post office was brightly lit. No, the colors do not represent any political party running in the May 2022 elections. The colors are based on the Philippine flag as there was a non-election-related event happening in front of the post office that night.

Me!

Justine took this nice photo of me and Mr. Butch. Oh by the way, Mr. Butch does not know that I teach history. HAHAHAHA. (But I still learned a lot from him!!)

What we all need right now.

A piece of the Berlin Wall (fragment 22) at the Heroes Park. This was donated by Germany to the Philippines. (Learn more about the Berlin Wall during my trip to Germany: click here).

Memorial for the "desaparecidos" or those who have disappeared during the Martial Law decades ago. A certain politician, whose family is related to the Martial Law and related atrocities, is running for president in this year's elections. Please vote wisely. 

The Manila City Hall at night.

Saw the musical fountains in front of the Andres Bonifacio Monument.

Andddd, speaking of the Andres Bonifacio monument, which by the way I saw for the first time up close. (I had always seen it from the car.)

One of the panels of the Manila underpass murals.

- The ghosts around the area, from the Post Office to the City Hall, had much to do with atrocities committed from the Spanish to the Japanese eras. In central Manila, it's easy to ignore as the thought of ghosts are often overshadowed by its bustling ambiance. However, when it comes to haunted Manila, nothing beats Intramuros.

- For those who don't know, Intramuros was a walled city ("intra" + "muros") that served as the beating heart of Manila in the Spanish era. It was established in 1571 and housed the elite and the powerful beings of Manila (i.e. the Spanish and the mestizos). Intramuros became flat after the bombings during the Battle of Manila in 1945. Similar to other Japanese colonies, it was also around this time when the "Rape of Manila" occurred, with countless civilians being victims by Japanese forces. Needless to say, Intramuros is overpopulated with ghosts with "bad deaths." 

Intramuros houses at night. Most of these were repurposed, or new buildings that had to be made to look like Spanish-era buildings.

Tour in action.

San Agustin Church, which I found out, was built with the help of a lot of early Chinese migrants due to their good relations with the Augustinians.

This is called "piedra china" or Chinese granite. The inscriptions were brought from China to the Philippines to help balance and weigh the boats they were on. The stones were later left in Manila. They may be from recycled tombstones, or the Chinese people on the boat to the Philippines.

Outside Casa Manila.

- I guess what made the tour a little bit creepier was that our other three tour companions decided to leave the tour midway due to various personal reasons, leaving me and Justine alone with the tour guide. Mr. Butch said that we were lucky as it seemed like a private tour from them on. Unfortunately the last part was the creepiest as he shared more ghost stories and creepy facts of various buildings such as BF Condominium and the Aduana. (I did not take too many photos until the end of the tour because I was really just creeped out.)

Manila Cathedral at night. Look at that velvet sky!

One of Jose Rizal's former dormitories when he was studying in the University of Santo Tomas, which had a branch across this structure. It is now an eatery.

- To cap off the tour, we had a short prayer, followed by a reminder to not go home directly as one would when visiting a wake. He also gave us small bags of salt at the start of the tour, to be used in a ritual cleansing right before going home at the end. It was around 9PM when we finished the tour. After Mr. Butch parted ways with us after crossing the Jones Bridge back to the Chinatown side, Justine and I wanted to make things a bit lighter. We decided to have dinner in Binondo since we had not eaten since the tour started at 5PM. 

Happy tourists, happy tummies. (Btw, this was in Cafe Mezzanine, one of my must-go restaurants in Binondo.)

- Overall it was a new experience to see Manila at night on foot (after the beautification efforts of the City Hall), and to hear stories that are not commonly told in history classes. I like the thrill of the creepy side of the tour but at the same time I'm not sure if I'll want to do it again in any city - knowing me, I probably will HAHAHAHA. That is, as long as I have company and I do not have to do anything related to the occult because that's a different matter altogether. I would definitely recommend this tour for the historically inclined who love urban legends!