INTRAMUROS The Walled City of Manila

Of all the places that I was excited of coming back to in Manila, it was the walled city of Intramuros that excited me most. I remember how amazed I was by all the beautiful buildings left by the Spaniards when they colonized the Philippines for 400 years.

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Manila Cathedral in Intramuros

I was amazed back then and I was amazed again this time. It was like being thrown back to those colonial times when people were still mobilizing on horse carriages and all.

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The ladies were all over before I knew it. They kept taking photos like there was no tomorrow.

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The handicapped guy who sold me rosaries two years ago was still there. He seemed to have more competitors now. I didn’t know that I’d find lots and lots of rosaries at the Quaipo Market back then so I had to buy a handful from him.

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OF course now that I met him again, and I know that I was heading to Quaipo Market soon, I had to say no to him this time.

I was a bit disappointed when I found out that Manila Cathedral was closed for some refurbishment work. I really wanted to show the ladies the beautiful chapel inside, and most especially the exhibition room dedicated to the late Mother Theresa.

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A consolation came a little while later when we walked over to the San Agustin church and saw its door gaping open in readiness to embrace us with open arms.  The San Agustin church wasn’t opened when I went there on my previous visit due to some ongoing private wedding mass and I remember being   quite disappointed.

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Then I promised to myself that if I were to come back there again, I’d come with my mom. True enough, I had that fulfilled 2 years later. 🙂

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The parking was near-empty, giving us more space to take photos. I remember how it was so packed with cars back then so it was so difficult to take photos without cars taking much of the space in the background.

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San Agustin Church was nothing like any church that I’ve ever seen before. It was so beautiful I could feel my knees tremble as I made my way in. The white marbles really made the interior so stunning and beautiful which reminded me of the exhilaration and intriguing feeling that I had when I visited Taj Mahal sometime last year.

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The Philippines really is so blessed to have such a priceless heritage on its land. It’s the combination of very intricate details and carvings and wall paintings that create such an astounding masterpiece that San Agustin church is.

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I didn’t expect that the ladies had so much interest in museums. I actually expected them to spend no more than an hour or so at the San Agustin museum.

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The Welcoming Bell

One of my favorite spots at San Agustin Museum

Instead we spent almost the whole day there, through lunch break during which when we were asked to leave and come back again after lunch hour (ticket is valid for one day).

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The ladies really looked into just about everything there was to look into – like – every inch of it. Those pictures that don’t mean anything to me means a lot to them and they’d even come up with their own stories. I guess I should spend more time reading the bible so that I won’t be so left behind. LOL

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I remembered how photography was not allowed in some sections of the museum but of course I was more prepared this time. I wouldn’t go back to Malaysia without a photo of this particular section of the museum.

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It’s the place where they put memorial plagues so that their friends and family can always come here to pray for them.

It was 3pm when we made it back to the exit and returned to the open again. It was way past lunch time so everybody was hungry. They seemed to be more restaurants now than the last time I remembered but I knew I had to get back to Barbaras Café to retrieve back the memory that I’d left there on my last visit.

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It was Monday and I’ve come to find out that the Spanish House is not opened on Mondays. It’s like the cleaning day for them. I didn’t favor the Spanish House anyway, probably because photography is strictly prohibited in there. Sometimes it does count for me really. LOL

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It was five when we finally finished doing all the things that we had planned of doing at the Intramuros and people were closing shops by then. We dropped by the handicraft shop because I knew how crazy they are about handicrafts.

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WE exited through a different gate from the one that we came in through and took a jeepney back to the hotel. The fact that it stopped so many times made it quite such a long ride as if it dashed half across Manila.

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Our business at the Walled City of Intramuros was not quite done with yet. We still had the other half of it, which is called the Fort of Santiago, but that would be spared for another post.