Day 2 – 11 March 2024, Monday

Woke up naturally this morning at 7:45am. The best thing about staying in an Airbnb apartment is that it comes with a fully-equipped kitchen so we can prepare simple meals at home and not eat out. WY heated up the cheese & garlic pita bread that we bought from Legazpi Sunday Market and cooked the bacon that we bought from The Landmark supermarket yesterday. We had brought along our own instant coffee from Singapore and that completed our simple breakfast.

At 10:00am, we left Gramercy Residences for Intramuros. The drive to Fort Santiago took 38 minutes and our Grab car ride cost 407 pesos (S$9.77). Traffic was heavy on this weekday morning, but it kept moving. We watched Metro Manila go by as we sat in the air-conditioned comfort of our car.

Even though Makati, the area we were staying at, is the financial hub of Manila with many skyscrapers and shopping malls, there are still glimpses of poverty and people going about their traditional ways of life. There were many hawkers by the side of the street, selling food, ice-cream and even coconuts. When our car stopped for the traffic light, we saw people on foot weaving their way through the stationery cars, attempting to sell their wares or snacks to the drivers or their passengers.

The further away we drove from Makati, the more pronounced the poverty became as we travelled west along Buendia Avenue. The buildings looked less shiny and grimier, the houses were much more dilapidated and haphazardly designed, and the streets were dirtier. The colourful jeepneys made their presence heard with their rumbling engines and everybody seemed to be busy going somewhere.

As we drove north along Roxas Boulevard, the scenery got better as the road ran along the shores of Manila Bay, with coconut trees lining the sides of the boulevard. After driving past the huge Embassy of the United States of America building, we soon passed the Jose Rizal Monument and Rizal Park. We then saw the old walls on our right, and knew that we had arrived at Intramuros. A short while later, we alighted at the entrance of Fort Santiago at 10:38am.

Intramuros means “within the walls” in Spanish, and it is the historic walled area within the city of Manila. The historic district was built in the late 16^th century when the Philippines was under Spanish colonial rule from 1565. Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi declared Manila as the new capital of the Spanish colony on 24 June 1571 and construction of the walls began three years later, to protect the city from foreign invaders such as Chinese pirates.

The walled city of Intramuros occupies an area of about 67 hectares, or 0.67 square kilometres. Length wise, from Fort Santiago in the northwest to Baluarte de San Andreas in the southeast, it is only about 1.3km, or about a 20-minute walk away. Hence, it is not that big and possible to be covered on foot. My original plan was to start from Fort Santiago and slowly walk our way down to visit the various sightseeing spots on the way. However, after we alighted from our Grab car, a pedicab driver approached us and offered his services for a tour around Intramuros.

He introduced himself as Mheng and showed us his badge. He explained that he was an accredited guide under PADYAK: a community-based tourism training for the pedicab drivers in Intramuros. He showed us a laminated brochure detailing the sights he would cover during his tour, and said that he charged a rate of 350 pesos (S$8.40) per person for every 30 minutes. The length of the tour depended on us – we could decide how long or short we wanted the tour to be.

Because of my profession, I always like to support tour guides. Despite having to pay for it, a guided tour can give you so much more value from the limited time you have, compared to just walking around on your own. A good guide and tour will help you make sense of the places and things that you see, otherwise they are just buildings and you don’t understand the context and meaning behind them. The key word here is “good”. As it was a pretty warm day, around 30 degrees C, WY also preferred to have some form of transportation to take us around. Hence, we decided to engage Mheng for our tour of Intramuros.

He led us to his pedicab, which comprised of a motorcycle attached to a sidecar with a seat large enough for two adults. The traditional pedicab uses a bicycle instead of a motorcycle, so it is very much like a trishaw. Pedicabs are a common mode of transport in Manila for short-distance trips. In fact, “Padyak” is a Tagalog word meaning “stamping the feet”, which refers to the act of pushing the pedals of the bicycle with the necessary strength to transport passengers. Thus, Mheng’s vehicle was a more updated version of the pedicab, requiring him to use less energy, but we had to deal with the diesel fumes from the motorcycle’s exhaust.

We let Mheng decide on the route to take. He first brought us to Manila Cathedral and gave us some short explanations about the cathedral and the buildings surrounding it. After helping us to take photos, he said that we could enter the cathedral to explore it while he waited for us outside. Admission is free.

Manila Cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the principal patroness of the Philippines. The present cathedral is the eighth incarnation completed in 1958; the previous seven were destroyed by earthquakes and other calamities over the centuries. The first version of the cathedral was built in 1581 and it was made of nipa and bamboo. Unsurprisingly, it was damaged by a typhoon in 1582 before being razed by a fire the following year. The second to sixth versions were all damaged by earthquakes. The seventh version was destroyed in 1945 by bombs during World War II. Indeed, the Manila Cathedral has weathered a lot of storms and tribulations over the past four centuries.

The current cathedral is built in Neo-Romanesque style, with beautiful multi-tiered archways at the entrance. The interior is bright, with polished marble floors and ribbed vaults above the central nave. One of the side chambers was converted into a mini museum detailing the history of the cathedral. We spent about 25 minutes visiting the Manila Cathedral.

Next, we hopped on the pedicab and made a quick stop at a memorial by Peter de Guzman, located at a small park called Plaza de Santa Isabel. This memorial is dedicated to the estimated 100,000 innocent victims who died during the Battle of Manila from 3 February to 3 March 1945.

During World War II, Philippines was occupied by the Japanese for almost three years. Throughout the month-long battle, forces from the United States and the Philippines fought against Japanese troops in Manila, resulting in the near-complete devastation of the city. The Japanese committed mass murder against Filipino civilians, while heavy American artillery killed many people. Much of Manila was flattened during the bombings and fighting. 

The central figurine of the memorial depicts a hooded woman cradling an infant in her arms. The woman represents the Motherland, and she is weeping as she holds the infant, the symbol of hope. However, the infant is dead, so it represents lost hope. The female figure on the right is a victim of rape, with an infant clinging on to her. On the left is a man who is still alive, but he is confused and disoriented, with despair on his face. The other young boys are all dead, representing the youth the country lost. Lastly, the dead man lying flat represents the elderly who were caught in the battle. The sculpture is a poignant reminder of the horrors of war.

Our next stop was San Agustin Church. Completed in 1607, this is the oldest stone church in the Philippines. In December 1993, San Agustin Church was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites along with three other Philippines churches constructed during the Spanish colonial period, under the collective title Baroque Churches of the Philippines.

The present church is the third version. Like the Manila Cathedral, the previous two versions of San Agustin Church were also destroyed by fire. The stone building withstood several earthquakes but not the big one in 1880, which left huge cracks in one of the bell towers. The cracks were repaired but the left tower was permanently removed with only the base remaining.

During the Japanese Occupation, San Agustin Church became a Japanese Headquarters. Ammunition was stocked inside the church while cannons and machine guns were mounted on top of the belfry. During the Battle of Manila, hundreds of civilians and religious folk were taken hostage inside the church. American forces bombed the church and destroyed the roof and the adjacent monastery, but San Agustin Church otherwise withstood the bombings, one of the few buildings to survive.

Entry to the church is free but Mheng highly encouraged us to also visit the San Agustin Museum (aka Museo San Agustin), which is located in the reconstructed monastery building. Mheng stressed several times that this is the only museum in Manila that is open today; all other museums are closed on Mondays. Entrance fee to the museum is 200 pesos (S$4.80) for adults, which is very reasonable. Mheng said that there would be another guide who would take us through the museum. He must have felt very happy when we agreed to go for the guided tour of San Agustin Museum, because he could then go for a long coffee break while clocking up the time to charge us.

After getting our entrance tickets, our docent, Niklause, greeted us cheerfully and led us into the museum. He asked us how much time we had so he could tailor the tour to suit our needs. I asked him how long it usually takes to cover the whole museum, and he replied two hours. Mindful of the running clock with Mheng, I asked if we could do the tour in about 45 minutes, and he said sure.

San Agustin Museum showcases the history of the church and the Catholic faith in the Philippines. The monastery was home to more than 3,000 Augustinian friars since it was founded in 1571. Today, it is a veritable archive of art, architecture, carvings, paintings, furniture and artefacts.

Niklause guided us expertly through the various rooms and shared his wealth of knowledge enthusiastically. He pointed out the notable artefacts on display and explained the significance behind them. The museum was huge and there was so much to see. Honestly, without Niklause’s guidance, we would just be wandering around on our own aimlessly and not have a clue about the history of the place or the treasures within.

San Agustin Church itself was spectacular. During my past travels in Europe, I have been fortunate enough to visit many grand and opulent churches and cathedrals. While not quite as extravagant as those in Russia, San Agustin Church was still breathtaking and very beautiful. If Niklause hadn’t pointed out to us, I wouldn’t have noticed that the motifs on the ceiling were actually not real carvings but frescoes, painted to make them appear three dimensional. 

During the tour, we got to see many interesting things, such as the tomb of Miguel López de Legazpi, the magnificent retablo (main altarpiece) of Juan De Los Santos and the crypt where the ashes of many famous Filipinos such as Juan Luna are kept. One of my favourite takeaways from the tour was the “naughty corner” in the refectory (dining hall) where errant members of the community had to be punished by kneeling on the hard stone bench and face the wall for their meal of bread and water.

We also visited the second level of the old monastery, which we accessed via the Grand Escalera, a very old granite staircase. The staircase and the paintings on the wall looked exactly like a scene from the Harry Potter movies and I felt as if I was in Hogwarts. Niklause also pointed out the old sundial on the ceiling above the staircase and explained about the paintings hanging along the stairway, which depicted Augustinian saints and martyrs who sanctified themselves by love.

Perhaps the highlight of the tour was the visit to the choir balcony on the second floor, which overlooked the church. It was incredible to see the old pipe organ and the oversized choral music scores. Here, we could also see up close the decorations that were painted on the ceiling to make them appear three dimensional. The view from the balcony was stunning.

We ended the tour with a visit to the inner garden, which was a place of peace and meditation for the Augustinian friars. Here, the friars could come in contact with nature and God, as they immersed themselves among the green grass, flowers, birds, butterflies while they prayed and looked up to behold the sky.

In the end, we spent around 1 hour 10 minutes touring San Agustin Museum, longer than the 45 minutes we intended. But it was such an enlightening visit and worth every bit of our time and money. The tour was supposed to be free but we gave Niklause a small tip for his efforts. He was a great guide and I enjoyed the tour immensely.

We met up with Mheng again at 12:30pm and continued our “tour” with him. He brought us to Casa Manila, which is right beside San Agustin Church. Casa Manila, or “Manila House”, is a living museum that features the lifestyle of an affluent Filipino family during the late Spanish colonial period. Unfortunately, the museum was closed because it was Monday, so we didn’t get to visit it. I think it would be worth a visit. You can read more about Casa Manila by clicking here.

After the short sojourn to Casa Manila, we hopped on Mheng’s pedicab and he drove us to the next attraction in Intramuros, Baluarte de San Diego. We paid for the admission tickets (75 pesos/S$1.80 each) and went in to explore on our own. Mheng did not go in with us.

Baluarte de San Diego is the oldest stone fort in Manila, built between 1586 and 1587. Baluarte is a Spanish word meaning “a mound or wall for defence”. Originally built as a circular tower to defend Manila’s southern bayside boundary, the upper portion of the tower was demolished in 1593 after suffering from cracks. The rest of the structure was integrated with the walls of Intramuros and reinforced by a spade-shaped bulwark (a defence wall) known as Baluarte de San Diego in 1663.

The baluarte was breached by British forces with cannon fire in 1762, and was restored when the Spanish returned, but it was destroyed again by the earthquake of 1863, and left abandoned. During the American occupation, the circular fort was buried under layers of soil, which saved it from destruction during the Battle of Manila in 1945 despite the damage sustained by the baluarte containing it. After the war, the circular fort was excavated in 1979 and the baluarte was restored in 1992, and Baluarte de San Diego is now an archaeological park.

It was quite surreal to see the 16^th century stone ruins juxtaposed against the handful of modern skyscrapers in the distance. It was also very incongruous how the greens of the golf club were located right outside the old fort walls. It would be better to relocate the golf course elsewhere and preserve the historic nature of Intramuros district.

Without a guide, we felt a bit lost inside. Not literally, but figuratively. In all, we spent 15 minutes touring Baluarte de San Diego. We couldn’t resist the ice-cream stand outside the entrance so we bought one each for 40 pesos (S$0.96). I chose the mango flavour, and Mheng coaxed the seller to give us an additional scoop of avocado ice-cream on top. It was the perfect remedy for a hot day.

We continued touring Intramuros on the pedicab and drove past several educational institutions like Manila High School and Lyceum of the Philippines University. We also drove past the former residence of José Rizal, the national hero-martyr, who once lived in a house-dormitory at the corner of Magallanes Street and Postigo Street during his student years at the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas.

At around 1:30pm, we were back at Fort Santiago. We paid the entrance fee of 75 pesos (S$1.80) and went in to explore on our own. Once again, Mheng waited for us outside. In hindsight, we should have ended the tour with him there and then since this was our last stop for sightseeing. We kept him because we wanted him to send us to a restaurant at Intramuros for lunch, but we could easily have booked a Grab car for that. If we had ended the tour there, we would then be able to explore Fort Santiago in a more relaxed manner without worrying about the clock running.

Fort Santiago was named after Saint James, the patron saint of Spain. His Spanish name was Santiago Matamoros. The fort was built in 1571 by Legazpi to protect the newly established city of Manila. Its location at the tongue of land where the Pasig River flowed into Manila Bay was deemed to be of strategic importance.

The original fort was made of earth and logs and most of it was destroyed during a Chinese attack in 1574. The fort was reconstructed using sturdier stone and completed in 1593, but subsequent earthquakes damaged the fort and it was repaired several times over the centuries. During the Battle of Manila in World War II, the fort sustained heavy damage. It was restored once again by the Philippine government in 1953 and it is now an important historical landmark.

After passing through the entrance gates, we saw a large open space called Plaza Moriones, which was used as a public promenade in the past. The buildings around the plaza were soldiers’ barracks, which lay in ruins. Only the shell of the building was intact and supported by steel columns; its roof and internal levels were gone.

We crossed a moat to get to the main gate, which leads to the inner sanctum of Fort Santiago. The original gate was destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945 and a new one was put up during the subsequent restoration. Like most of the buildings in Intramuros today, the present gate is a reconstruction.

On the left were the ruins of the Spanish barracks, which were made of bricks and first built in the 16^th century. The Battle of Manila damaged the barracks and it has been left in ruins since then. However, the right wing of the building was reconstructed in 1953 as a museum and a shrine dedicated to José Rizal. This site was chosen because Rizal was imprisoned here for 56 days from 3 November to 29 December in 1896. The museum was closed on Mondays so we didn’t manage to visit it.

We soon reached the Dungeons, which Mheng had earlier asked us to visit. Near the entrance of the dungeons was the White Cross, a marble cross marking the final resting place of approximately 600 Filipinos and Americans who were victims of the atrocities during the last days of February 1945, being locked up and left to starve and suffocate behind bars. After the Battle of Manila, their decomposing bodies were found in the dungeons below.

The dungeons were originally built in 1599 as the powder magazine of Fort Santiago. However, damp conditions in the chambers led to the transfer of the magazine to Baluarte de Santa Barbara, the highest defensive structure in Fort Santiago, located near the dungeons. The dungeons then served as a prison for dissidents and enemies of the state during the Spanish colonisation and also during the Japanese Occupation.

The entrance to the dungeons was just a tiny hole in the stone rock face, barely one metre tall and half a metre wide. We had to crouch down to climb through the entrance. A notice at the entrance informed visitors that we were entering hallowed grounds, and reminded us to conduct ourselves with dignity and respect at all times.

Within the dungeons were some wax figures depicting scenes of torture and imprisonment by the Japanese forces. More harrowing were the black-and-white photographs showing the results of the atrocities committed and the devastation of Manila after World War II, where almost half of the city was destroyed. I was shocked to see how much of Manila was flattened, which meant that most of what exists today was rebuilt after the war. Once again, it drove home the message that war is terrible.

After spending about 10 minutes in the dungeons, we emerged into the open space at Baluarte de Santa Barbara, which overlooked the Pasig River, where fresh air was abundant. I can only imagine how it must have been for the prisoners who were locked up and tortured in the dungeons below.

We finished our visit of Fort Santiago at 2:15pm, and asked Mheng to send us to our lunch venue. My friend had recommended a restaurant at Intramuros called Illustrado, which serves traditional Filipino food in an old school, Spanish-style venue. We asked Mheng for his views. He said Illustrado was good but it could be crowded sometimes. He counter-proposed a restaurant called Ristorante delle Mitre and recommended a dish called Crispy Pata that we must try. We decided to take up his suggestion and he dropped us at Ristorante delle Mitre.

We ended our tour with Mheng at around 2:25pm, which meant that we engaged his services for 3 hours 45 minutes. Based on his rate of 350 pesos per 30-minute block per person, the amount per person was 2,800 pesos (S$67.20). He also asked us to give him a “tip from the heart”, so we each paid him 3,000 pesos (S$72) for a round figure. Thus, he earned S$144 from us for under 4 hours of work, not bad I would say.

To be honest, I don’t think it was worth the money, because most of the heavy lifting was done by someone else or on our own. He was more like a driver than a proper guide. He did give us basic information about some of the places we visited but he didn’t enter any of the key attractions with us, and just waited for us outside.

While writing this blog post, I came across the guidelines for pedicabs in Intramuros, published on the Intramuros Administration website (click here). The fare matrix (as of March 2022) states that for Intramuros Tour, the pedicab rate for regular (i.e. non-discounted) tourists is 400 pesos for every one hour of tour. This is the rate for one or two passengers, NOT per passenger. Mheng’s rate was 350 pesos per person per 30 minutes, which works out to 1,400 pesos for one hour (for two persons). Hence, you can say that he overcharged us by 1,000 pesos (S$24) per hour.

I also did some research and found that PADYAK is a legitimate programme by the Department of Tourism – National Capital Region (DOT-NCR) to train pedicab drivers to conduct tours in Intramuros. The first batch of the community-based training was held on 7 & 8 November 2022. Mheng had a laminated pass with the PADYAK logo but there was no serial number on it. There also doesn’t appear to be a registry of PADYAK guides online. There is a directory of DOT-accredited tour guides published on the Intramuros Administration website (click here), but Mheng is not listed there. However, the directory was last updated on 12 July 2022, before the PADYAK programme started.

There is also a telephone number and email address to report to the Intramuros Administration for abuse or bad behaviour by pedicab drivers, but I shall let it pass. To be fair, Mheng stated his rates clearly up front so we could have rejected him at the start if we didn’t agree with it. And to Mheng’s credit, he helped arrange for Niklause to guide us through the museum, which we enjoyed tremendously. We encountered a few other tourists during our visit to San Agustin Museum and they seemed to be on their own without guides, so I’m not sure if the guided tour of San Agustin Museum was a special arrangement by Mheng or not. I can only blame myself for not doing my homework beforehand to be more cognisant about the pedicab rates for tours in Intramuros. Overall, I don’t think it was worth the money to engage Mheng for the Intramuros tour, but I can’t say I was scammed. Live and let live.

As it turned out, Ristorante delle Mitre was beautifully furnished and cosy inside. We each ordered a plate of the Beef Salpicao with rice (248 pesos/S$5.95) and the regular Crispy Pata (838 pesos/S$20.11) and Garlic Sautéed Kangkong (248 pesos) with a bit of chilli to share. The beef was tender and nicely marinated, and the kangkong was tasty. Crispy pata is a Filipino pork dish of deep fried pig trotters or knuckles served with a soy-vinegar dip, similar to the German pork knuckle. The crispy parts were really nice but the portion was so huge we couldn’t finish it, and packed the unfinished portion for takeaway.

After finishing our late lunch, we booked a Grab car and left Intramuros at 3:50pm for our next destination, Binondo. The Grab car ride cost 147 pesos (S$3.53) and we arrived at Binondo Church 10 minutes later.

Binondo is known as the Chinatown of Manila, and it is the oldest Chinatown in the world, established in 1594. Before the Philippines became a Spanish colony, there was already a community of Chinese traders living in Binondo, but the Chinese population increased after that because of increased trading opportunities. The Spanish colonial administrators designated this area as a settlement for the Chinese immigrants so that they could keep an eye on them, since it was strategically positioned opposite Intramuros across the Pasig River. This was where the Spanish converted many of the Chinese residents to Catholicism. Binondo Church was founded in 1596 for this purpose.

The original building was destroyed by earthquakes, fire and war, and the present building was rebuilt from 1946 and over the next few decades, and completed in 1985. Binondo Church is a sight to behold. The church has a unique colour scheme with brick red embellishments against its dull granite grey appearance. The five-tier bell tower is octagonal and shaped like a pagoda, which suggests Chinese influence. The façade also sports many false windows on the belfry and Corinthian columns, giving it a slightly whimsical feel.

The interior of the church retains its brick red colour scheme. The most fascinating feature is the main altar, which is loosely modelled after the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. I have seen altars like these in some of the churches in Russia but it is not so common anywhere else. It is like a mini church within a church, very interesting.

After visiting Binondo Church, we walked around aimlessly, towards the general direction of Lucky Chinatown mall. As I didn’t do much research on Binondo beforehand, we missed out on the main areas of Escolta Street and Ongpin Street. Escolta Street is a historic street with several art deco and neo-classical buildings. It is one of the oldest streets in Manila, and it is also where the Chinatown Arch can be found. Ongpin Street is where many Chinese teahouses and hawker stalls are located. It is the food and cultural hub of Binondo. Unfortunately, we didn’t visit these two places.

Instead, we wandered into a street flanked by old residential apartments and saw a traditional bakery shop called Po Chuan Tin, so we popped in for a look. The lady boss was a Filipino Chinese and she initially spoke to us in English. When she found out that we were from Singapore, she spoke to us in Mandarin. Another customer came in later and she spoke to her in Tagalog. It’s amazing how fluent she was in the three languages!

The shop sold many Chinese pastries similar to our tao sar piah, but they called it hopia here in the Philippines. Hopia is similarly made of thin, flaky pastry with sweet mung bean fillings. We bought some of the hopia and also a pack of Ube bread with cheese. Ube (pronounced “ooh-beh”) is purple yam and it is one of the Philippines’ most beloved ingredients. We would eat this ube bread for breakfast the next day and it was soooo good!

After crossing a bridge, we reached Lucky Chinatown mall at 4:45pm. It was a modern, mid-sized shopping mall and it was nice to escape into a place with air-conditioning for a while. We decided to have a coffee break at UCC Coffee. I ordered the Kori Kohi (300 pesos/S$12, plus 5% service charge), UCC’s signature drink. It is essentially warm milk poured over coffee ice cubes. It was gimmicky but I enjoyed it.

From Lucky Chinatown, we walked a little way and reached 999 Shopping Mall. It was a massive mall with hundreds of small stalls selling everyday items from shoes to clothes to toys to household items. It was like a wholesale centre, with many shops on the upper floors selling knock-off shoes from Nike, Adidas, New Balance and more. It was a place for inexpensive shopping, catered more for the locals.

Right next to 999 shopping mall was 168 shopping mall. From the names of these malls, you know you’re definitely in Chinatown. 9 is an auspicious number for the Chinese because it represents longevity. In Cantonese, 168 is pronounced as “yat lukh baat”, which sounds like “yat louh faat”, meaning “fortune all the way”. Goes to show that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, but Chinese people are all the same – we are superstitious.

168 mall was similar to 999 in that it catered to the locals and sold everyday household items. The walkways were very narrow and every stall was overflowing with products such that it became overwhelming. There wasn’t really anything for us so we left after a short while.

We walked back to Lucky Chinatown and decided to buy dinner back to eat at our apartment. We settled for something easy – fried rice from Tarsier Fried Food. I bought a packet of TFF flaming beef fried rice (135 pesos/S$3.24) while WY got the Yang Chow fried rice (195 pesos/S$4.68). We left Lucky Chinatown at 6:47pm and arrived at Gramercy Residences at 7:26pm. The Grab car ride cost 415 pesos (S$9.96).

We had our dinner at our Airbnb apartment, along with the leftover crispy pata from lunch. It was a long and tiring day, but a very fulfilling one. I really enjoyed the visit to Intramuros, especially the San Agustin Church and Museum. Binondo was interesting too, as it revealed a different side of Manila. And that’s a wrap for Day 2!