Day 80: Manila, Luzon … Philippines

Monday, 27 March 2017
At Sea — South China Sea

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:15p (PST) … UTC 1:15p (27 March)
Temp: 82.4F (28C)
Position: 14.28.26N / 120.17.14E

Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit.
~ Brooks Atkinson ~

I’ll be frank.  I had mixed feelings about visiting Manila … before today’s port of call.  I’d been told it was a filthy place, with rampant poverty and over-crowded slums … horrible traffic … terrible air quality … unbearable heat made all the worse by high humidity … a major metropolitan area of 16 million that moved at a pace best described as frenetic.  Even a good number of the Filipinos we spoke with recommended seeking an excursion that would take us outside the city, or in the alternative, going to a mall and spending the day there.

You know what?  We found all of that to be true.  But mixed in with all this we found modern neighborhoods with towering high-rises, busy shopping malls, fashionable Manileños pecking away at their smart phones at every turn, green parks, murals and sculptures, and pockets of solitude.  Best of all were the welcoming people we encountered everywhere we went, their smiles making us forget the downsides of visiting a big city with its inherent problems.  We had a truly terrific time seeing the sights.  Could have done without the traffic jams, of course … but our driver assured us it could have been worse.

Insignia arrived at the South Port of Manila and tied up at pier 15 in the wee hours of the morning.  Although we were not scheduled to arrive until 8:00a, the aft lines were already being pulled tight by the longshoremen when I stepped out on the veranda at 5:30a.  The reason: a medical emergency that necessitated we make haste in order to disembark a passenger.

Anyway, our early arrival meant that we could disembark earlier than we had planned.  There had been no announcement to let us know that the ship had been cleared, but security had no problem letting us off, so formalities must have been completed.

Our tour was one that Sonia had booked with Arnold from Tourist Driver Manila.  It was just us four, which was perfect as we had plenty of room to make ourselves comfortable in the Toyota Haice that was our transport for the day.  Following instructions from our guide we made our way outside the secure area — and into a crowd of Filipinos.

Every cruise line we’ve been on has had a large contingent of Filipino men and women as crew.  Insignia is no exception.  While some of the crew would be going to their homes in Manila, others were too far from home, so their families had come to see them.  Some were even joining us on the ship for a short cruise to Hong Kong.  Happy reunions … it was so nice to see the normally smiling faces of the Filipino crew with even broader grins when we returned to the ship — and have them proudly introduce their families to us.

Our first encounter with a few of the families was while we were waiting for Arnold to arrive — specifically the wife and daughter of the head sommelier, and the wife of Jonathan, one of the assistant maitre d’s.  They were irate on our behalf that we were having to wait for Arnold, saying that we should be out seeing the sights and not standing around waiting for him.  We weren’t bothered much by the delay, though.  We were early and it was truly nice to chat with the families for a few minutes.

Arnold arrived a few minutes after 8:00a, accompanied by Bernie, also a guide.  Soon we were heading off to see what we could see.  Insignia was docked at the commercial port in the heart of Manila — walking distance to Old Town.  But we went first to what would be the furthest point of our tour — the Manila American Cemetery & Memorial in Fort Bonifacio … part of the sprawl that is Metro Manila.

Dedicated on 8 December 1960, the cemetery sits on the grounds of what was formerly Fort William McKinley.  It is the resting place of soldiers — US, Filipino, and other Allied Nations — who were killed in New Guinea, or during the Battle of the Philippines, or the Allied recapture of the islands.  The over 36,000 who are still classified as missing in action are represented on tablets referred to as the Wall of Missing.  Some of those names, we later noticed, were marked with a symbol.  Bernie told us it meant that the remains of that soldier, or representations of him, had since been found and interred.  In chambers set within the tablets 25 mosaic maps, each 10 feet high, portrayed the important campaigns of WWII, with emphasis on those in the Pacific Theater of War.

In addition to the Wall of Missing, which forms two hemicycles around the Memorial Court, there is a tower with a small devotional chapel inside.  On the exterior of the chapel is a bas relief sculpture representing St George fighting the dragon, and above it are the ideals for which those who lost their lives fought — liberty, justice, country, and Columbia with a child symbolizing the future.  Inside the tower, the altar is decorated with a huge mosaic dominated by a female figure scattering flowers.  All around us, in a beautifully manicured setting of lush grass and trees aplenty, the high-rises of Manila in the background, was a sea of white marble crosses, interspersed with headstones topped with the Star of David.  Set in a circular pattern in eleven plots, and sitting on a land of gentle hills, the headstones truly resembled the undulations of the sea.  So many headstones, over so many years, all around the world.  It was a very moving place, and the few visitors we encountered were all very respectful.

We left the Manila American Cemetery to continue our tour and plunged right into the nightmare that is traffic in Manila — 16 million people live in the metro area after all.  Patience, we were told was a virtue, so we practiced it, using our sit-and-go pace to study the hubbub of the city around us.  People were hurrying to work or wherever they were heading.  Vehicles of all sizes — from trucks, to tuk-tuks, to motorbikes, to cars and busses — were vying for whatever sliver of space they could find to make some degree of headway towards their destinations.  There were also horse carriages that added interest to the scene … and jeepneys filled with passengers as well.  We were fascinated by the latter, which are shared taxis mostly built from jeeps left from the days when there was a US military presence here.  Extended cabs added to accommodate anywhere from 8-23 people, the open entry to the vehicle in the rear, they flitted about in every direction.

Arnold had offered to drive us by one of the slums so we could see what stands in stark contrast to the modern city through which we were driving.  After 30 minutes in traffic that was going nowhere, however, he suggested skipping the slums.  This had been an add-on anyway, so we agreed.  It would have been interesting to see the slums, but not at the expense of the rest of our planned tour.

Our next stop took us to the Intromuros district — the Old City inside the walls.  But first, we stopped at Luneta National Park (aka Rizal Park) to see the monument to José Rizal, the national hero.  More on him later.  Then, Arnold and Bernie gave us an option — visit the Manila Cathedral first; or have lunch first.  We opted for the former, but in hindsight we should have eaten first as I felt that we cut our visit at the cathedral short to make our lunch reservation on time.

The Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the official name of the church.  It is a Roman Catholic church located at Plaza de Roma.  The original cathedral was built in 1581 by the Spanish.  It, and the ones that followed, were destroyed by fires and earthquakes, and most recently by the heavy bombardment of the city during WWII.  The building we saw today is the 8th iteration.  It was completed in 1958 and retrofitted against earthquakes between 2012-2014.

Several of the side chapels were being used to host the “Pasión y Gloria” — an exhibit of Filipino lenten images.  I wandered through the exhibits and took quite a few photos, but what struck me in particular were the stained glass windows … and there were lots of them.  So, I focused my attention on those until I was recalled to our small group to head to lunch.

Our buffet lunch was at a place called Barbara’s, a restaurant within the Casa Manila complex.  Arnold described the food as a fusion of cultures that influenced the Philippines — Mexico (which governed it as a viceroyalty of Spain until it declared its independence), Spain, China, and the US being a few of them.  He also said that while this was a kind of Filipino food, it wasn’t the real stuff — which he stated, quite categorically, that we would not enjoy.  He didn’t elaborate when we asked why he felt that way.

The drizzle that had started as we were leaving the cathedral, and which turned into a downpour during lunch, was fizzling out when we walked from the restaurant to our next stop — Casa Manila.  A museum depicting colonial lifestyle during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, it is housed in a building constructed by Imelda Marcos — she of thousands of shoes fame.  It being Monday, however, the place was closed.  Scratch that off the itinerary.

Crossing the street from Barbara’s we next went to San Agustin, a Roman Catholic church and monastery under the auspices of the Order of St Augustine … now also museum.  A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the church is the only one of seven in the Intramuros to survive intact the heavy WWII bombardment.  The first church, built of bamboo and nipa  (a type of palm tree with creeping roots), was constructed in 1571 … and destroyed by a fire three years later.  The second building was also destroyed by a fire.  The monastery and church we saw today — the third iteration — was completed between 1604-1607.  It survived looting by the British in 1762 during the Seven Years’ War and a major earthquake in 1863, and another one in 1880 — although the latter quake left a crack in one bell tower and led to demolishment of the other tower.  It served as the site of Manila’s surrender to the USA after the Spanish-American War, and was used as a concentration camp by the Japanese during WWII.

Arnold asked that a guide take us around the church.  We could have read the signs and gotten just as much information about what we were seeing without her, so the only benefit to having her with us was that it kept us walking at a steady pace.  The exhibits we saw as we wandered through were beautiful, but the highlight was the church itself.  It was being decorated for a wedding — the party arrived as we were leaving, so our timing was good.  Built in a manner “symbolizing the majesty and equilibrium of a Spanish golden era,” it has a ceiling painted in trompe l’oleil.  The Italians who did the work managed to capture the three-dimensional effects of this painting style beautifully.

From San Agustin, we hopped in our vehicle to head to Fort Santiago, a citadel completed in 1593 by the Spanish conquistadors.  Though we did wander the grounds a bit, the reason Arnold brought us here was to visit the Rizal Shrine.  The national hero of the Philippines, José Rizal, was imprisoned at the fort prior to his execution in 1896 by the Spanish on charges of fomenting an anti-colonial revolution rebellion with his writings.

The shrine is home to various Rizal memorabilia, photographs, and paintings.  A mural representing his days prior to and his execution is on the wall of one of the rooms, along with a portion of his spine that was hit by one of the bullets during his execution.  The cell where he spent his last night has a life-size mannequin of Rizal, sitting at a table where he is said to have penned his most famous poem, “Mi último adiós” [My Last Farewell].  The poem, which he concealed in an oil lamp, was found by his family after his death.

Perhaps not as interesting a place to visit for non-Filipino’s, I’m glad we had a brief stop to see the shrine.  Later, from the top of the ramparts, we had our one and only glimpse of the slums in which so many of the people of this city live in abject poverty.

After we left the fort, Arnold gave us a choice.  It was 3:00p and we still had two hours before our self-imposed deadline for returning to the ship.  Our options were to visit the National Museum of the Filipino people or go somewhere with a view and have beverages.  We were “sightsee’d out,” so we chose the drinks.

Arnold took us to the Bayleaf Hotel, saying that the Sky Deck had great views.  Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 5:00p.  So, we sat in the restaurant one deck below — 9 Spoons — and enjoyed the views through the glass wall on two sides of the room.  The four of us decided to have the traditional iced lemon tea — which has a distinctly tangerine-like taste.  It was quite good, with just enough sweetness to balance the tartness.  Afterwards, we wandered up to the Sky Deck to take panoramic views of the city and wrap up our tour.

We were back to the ship with time to spare.  The families of the Filipino crew members were still there — a little sadder now to be leaving their loved ones behind.  We later learned that about 400 of them had come aboard to spend the day … that did not include the Manileños who went off to visit their families at home.

Our arrival coincided with that of two bands.  I knew that a marching band usually sees the ship off from Manila, but I wasn’t expecting a performance of dueling bands.  For about an hour they took turns trying to outdo each other.  From a perch on the deck 5 promenade we watched with delight, cheering and clapping profusely.  The Filipino crew had to have been very proud of the send-off we received — the best one since embarking in Miami 80 days ago.  The final piece played was Auld Lang Syne — a favorite that always brings tears to my eyes.  They repeated the piece over and over again as Insignia, with a three-horn salute, pulled away from the dock, pivoted around and headed into the sunset.  We returned to our cabin to watch the flickering lights of the city as dusk fell before heading up to the Terrace Café for dinner.

A really great day of exploring.  Goes to show that any port of call can provide a positive experience … so long as you go see it with an open mind.

For more photos from today, click here.

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