This day definitely belongs in my "Most Favorite Days" box.

It was a long walk but it was well worth it. My feet didn't ache a bit when we got to the walled entrance to Intramuros. If you actually walk on the pathway on the wall and if you try to ignore the little amount of garbage (that's always present on Manila sidewalks), it's a different kind of experience. It's like taking a step back in time.



The canons are still intact (sealed) and I could almost imagine the Filipino soldiers guarding the fortress in their watchtowers. There were some statues depicting some war heroes (I presume) watching their post and sitting on a bench. Seeing the expression on their faces makes you wonder what strategies they came up with while sitting on that bench. Before we got to the end of the wall, a gigantic canon surprised us (makes you wonder if they actually used it in battles since it was soooo big). A bunch of walls forming a circle (one circle inside another and another and another...) that served as dungeons for prisoners of war during the Japanese invasion was also one of the highlights of that long walk. You can still see the small holes in the wall that served as the doors to the cells. On the walls were tiled pathways for guards and I could imagine them pacing back and forth with their watchful eyes.



The real treat is at the end of it all. Restaurants line the streets and open air acoustic concerts are performed every night (not on rainy days). When you get to the big white tent, which is actually WOW! Philippines, bazaars await you and it's a great shopping place (really great finds). Central Visayas was having an exhibit and Tanjay, Negros Or. was the host for the day. We got to taste their specialty, budbud and tsokolate (yum!). I got dizzy window shopping for accesories. We also got to see the really nice beaches and islands in Visayas on exhibit (I never got to see some of them even though I live near those places).

We admired Manila Cathedral (on the outside) because it was already late and the church was closed (or something, maybe they have office hours?). It was an amazing stack of stones. I think stone churches are a rare sight or was this one just truly breathtaking that it erased all memories of the other stone churches I've seen before?

The streets of Intramuros, the great "Walled City" I've only read in books or heard from small talk gave me a flashback of what it would have been if I was born a hundred or so years ago in Manila. The cherry on top of the icing was the sizzling "super hot chili" sisig we had for dinner. It's a wonder that I found peace in the small city in the midst of rustle of the Metro. Haaay...I hope visiting it again wouldn't spoil the good memories I've had of my first visit.

(To whoever it is that took me there, thanks for the wonderful time. Hehe. Just kidding.Love you.)