Seeing the sites

Greenbelt mall with Ayala Museum cafe hiding in the greenery

St. Augustin church/Museum cafe

Yes, there really is a dramatic sunset on Manila Bay, at least on the days the sun comes out. A typhoon up north has brought rain most days—and what rain! Not drops, but huge sheets whipping down the streets. The breeze cools things off a bit, as well as collapsing umbrellas.

The streetscapes in all their wild diversity is the most exciting aspect of Manila: the mix of shacks and sleek commercial towers, stained concrete blocks surrounded by lush foliage, Spanish-style buildings barely visible behind their gates. Still, we’re doing our share of hitting the tourist spots, but keep forgetting the camera so the visuals aren't the most revealing. Roxas Blvd is where you catch the sunset. It’s a Lake Shore Drive-type of parkway along the Bay, lit at night by multi-colored plinths.

The old city, Intramuros, holds some of the Spanish-era churches and fortifications. (closely related historically—Spain and Church controlled for 400 years). St.Augustin, the oldest church in Manila, has an extensive museum of 17th and 18th century religious art, and a botanical garden in its courtyard. Flanking Intramuros is the expansive, formal Rizal Park (Daniel Burnham had a hand in the Manila city plan). We haven’t explored too far into it yet, but stumbled across its Orchardiarium, a lush garden of tropical plants. We haven’t made it to his monument that dominates the park, but Jose Rizal appears everywhere —scientist, poet, novelist, scholar and hero of the independence movement, executed at 35.

The other end of the earth: Makati City is the commercial district and high-end tourist area. We visited the Ayala Museum there (more on museums in a separate post). Around that area is a series of upscale shopping malls in a lush park-like setting, and we wandered around the Bulgari and Prada. A little of that goes a long way, and we were glad to retreat to a sidewalk café and tea under a rain-dappled awning.

COMING SOON for museum colleagues—Travelling the Pacific 2.0