I, together with Mavic and Tetet, planned on joining the free heritage tour around Manila hosted by Royal Posted Heritage Guided Tour. The said tour set its meeting place in the Manila Post Office's lobby between 12:30-1 pm... Since we had a lot of time after attending the 8 am Mass at The Feast, we killed our time appreciating Philippine art at CCP for the 2016 Pasinaya Open House Festival.
Anything that is related to Philippine art, whether it be a painting, drawing, song, dance, play you can see it at the festival. Since we were only killing time, we weren't able to see a lot, we spend more time on viewing paintings, drawings, and crafts.
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| Various paintings displayed at the second floor of CCP |
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| Show your creative side with slippers |
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Art using bleach.
This one is my favorite among the all the artworks displayed at CCP. |
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| Tetet writing on the freedom art piece |
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| Traditional costumes are also displayed |
You can even try making your own masterpiece. I actually wanted to try making a necklace, but the table was already occupied.
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| Inkblot art |
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People of various age showing off their
creativity in designing a necklace |
We tried to watch a play, but the theater was already full. We also tried to watch ballet, but it was already finished when we arrive at the venue, so we just decided to have our lunch and prepare going to the walking tour.
When we arrived at the post office, the tour has already started, but I believe we haven't missed a lot (haha!). It was my first time in the post office and I was amazed by how huge it is, it's old but the interior is quite classy.
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| Manila Post Office's main lobby |
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The back of the post office.
Taken at MacArthur bridge. |
After having a quick tour inside the post office, we then proceed to Binondo. Our fist stop is the restaurant where, according to our guide, Rizal, Bonifacio, and the katipuneros used to eat. We're already full enough to eat another meal, but still decided to order to have a taste of what our heroes used to eat. Our initial plan was to order Lumpiang Shanghai since it was Rizal's favorite, but it was already sold out, so we ended up ordering Miki Bihon.
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Oldest (est. 1866) restaurant in Binondo.
Rizal used to eat here and some of his favorites
were Pancit Canton and Lumpiang Shanghai |
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The Miki Bihon we ordered.
The taste? Not so good but not bad... Pwede na. |
Since it was Chinese New Years Eve, some group performed the dragon dance outside the restaurant and went inside to personally greet everyone.
After filling our stomachs (again), we proceed to other significant places within Binondo. We passed through an alley where various stuff was sold.
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An alley in Binondo where you can buy fruits and vegetables.
Tikoy and other stuff for Chinese New Year were also available that day. |
We also passed by the Panciteria mentioned on Rizal's El Filibusterismo. Never did I imagine that a place mentioned in a book I once read did exist.
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Panciteria de Macanista de Buen Gusto located San Fernando Street
This is mentioned on the 25th chapter of El Filibsterismo |
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Cham Samco and Sons, Inc. located in Sto.Cristo.
Oldest Hardware in Binondo. |
We also visited General Antonio Luna's house located on Urbiztondo Street. It's very saddening to see a hero's house in a really bad state, not to mention that pedicabs parked in front of it. I hope our government can do something about it.
Before seeing General Luna's birth house, we passed by a condominium and our tour guide said that the location of the condominium is the alleged true birth house of General Luna.
We checked for the location where Teodora Alonzo (Rizal's mother) spent her last days. Located at San Fernando Street, once the home of Rizal's mother and his relative is now an apartment/condo building.
When I was still working at a clinic in Binondo, I always see the fountain in the plaza and honestly, I didn't pay much interest about it, but I learned during the tour that the fountain was one of the 2 oldest fountain in the area.
We also went to a Chinese Temple called "Bell Church", located at 8th floor of the Ligaya building (I don't know the exact location). It is said to be frequented by women devotees.
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| Entrance to the "Bell Church" |
The temple is not huge, but it is spacious and peaceful enough to spend some prayer time.
We also visited various bakeshops and other restaurants which, according to our tour guide offers great various Chinese food. After so many hours of walking and learning we parted with our tour guide and fellow turistas (naks!) and had a few drinks and more girl talk before going home.
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| Fun time (as always) with my Mavic and Tetet >,< |
The tour was tiring and it is not organized as I thought it should be, not to mention the crowded Binondo since it is New Years Eve, but nevertheless I learned something and I get to appreciate the places that I used to see and just passed by. I really hope that the government will do something about restoring or preserving the places that has great historical value and I believe it is not just our government's duty to look after those places, we, as a citizen of the Philippines should also do our part as a Filipino.
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