Travel Journal Continued...
More from the travel journal. Sorry for the break between posts, been rather odd and busy.
04-Jun-2008 Tourism in Intramuros
As we had seen Fort Santiago already, we were hoping to finally go see the museums today.
My uncle Sonny brought us to San Augustin's today (It is a church in the older part of Manila, which contains a museum detailing colonial Manila) Colby (my god-son) came along with us.
It was a pretty awesome museum, if a little too hot for my liking. Personally, I'd be worried if I was the curator, as some of the pieces were quite exposed and a lot of the paintings were in need of restoration. Strangely, the museum closed during the lunch break, so we took the opportunity to grab some food, then returned after lunch. (Lunch was had at an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant called the Kuan Yin sp?) After viewing what we could of the museum, we headed to Robinson's Plaza (a mall) for light refreshment before my relatives dropped B and I off at our hotel. Dinner was at another Aussie pub.
05-Jun-2008 More museums today
Spent the day at the National Museum today. Again, Colby tagged along. Man, the museum is big!
Colby is rather cute (for a 2 year old) but as experienced yesterday, he has no concept of either volume control or lack of energy. Strangely, he's always ON, and always loud. But I guess that's children for you.
I really enjoyed the National Museum. Unlike San Augustin, it is climate controlled. It was cool to see some artifacts from both pre-colonial times and some post Spanish artifacts. There were some creepy looking canoptic jar type things (used for Reburial) and some pretty cool pre-colonial Filipino swords. Also, as part of a Spanish galleon exhibit, I saw a rapier hilt, which I wish I could've measured.
Late-lunch was at a deli franchise (good food, only OK coffee) then we returned to the Hotel for a not-stand-up. We're going out with my cousins tonight, but I'm not too sure what we're going to do.
Evening:
Went out with the girls (my cousins) at Makati. Stopped for coffee then headed out to dinner. Strangely had fairly good Greek food, though the spanokopita was still lit as it was brought to our table. I really enjoyed it despite there being too much food (even though there were 8 of us!) After dinner, we headed to a bar called the Magnet Cafe.
Live bands & free drinks are an awesome plus (even if we only paid about $3 each for entry) I find it odd that my cousins want to pay for everything, even if I'm the oldest, and currency conversions are working in my favour. Overall, had a good night, as I not only saw some Pinoy bands, but also got to interact with my cousins as adults. Talking about life, music, politics, and all the general jazz.
06-Jun-2008 A day out with Mia and Mae.
Late start to the day, ended up not having breakfast till 1pm. After which, we headed out to the National Art Gallery. Got to see the old parts of the Museum collection, which were held at the gallery (strangely in the Old Museum building, which I remembered from when I was living in Manila) We also saw a lot of contemporary Pinoy art, and the Juan Luna collection (Juan Luna is an important figure in Filipino history) Almost had a bit of a breakdown... dunno if its the heat or what. Maybe its due to the whirlwind tour we're having, but eh. I'll probably be better tomorrow after some rest.
07-Jun-2008 Visiting dad again
Headed off to Dad's place, again with Tito Nat and Tito Ben as my guides. B stayed at the Hotel (she needed a rest, and I was feeling kinda seedy myself) Got to catch up more with some cousins on Dad's side of the family. Exchanged details, cause I really need to keep in touch more often. Stayed at dad's for lunch, then headed back to the hotel in the early afternoon. On the way back, we stopped somewhere for me to look at some Barongs. Unfortunately, not many that I liked the look of (though at between 40 and 100 bucks, I'm now even more tempted to get one) Had dinner at the hotel again. In the morning, we're going to catch up with Camille, before heading to her place for lunch, then heading to the airport.
08-Jun-2008 UK here we come!
Breakfast at the hotel, then a quick check of our stuff (making sure everything was packed etc) then headed to Camille's place. Stopped at Mall of Asia on the way for some last minute souvenirs. I got an informal Barong (Filipino national shirt) in blue, and also a more every-day one in black. B got herself a scarf and a small carved water buffalo. After that, we had a lazy lunch and farewell do at Camille's. They made vegetarian variants of Pinoy traditional dishes for B (which was nice). We spent most of the afternoon chatting to Tito Nat, got some pictures taken with my cousins (almost a full house, as only two of them were missing)
After that, we headed to the Airport. Got a chance for a final chat with my cousins who came along, before entering the airport proper. I'm sure Ninoy Aquino International Airport is one of the punishments given to those who commit the Seven Deadly Sins. It took us about an hour or so to even get through check in not to mention Customs & Immigration. We then spent some time waiting for our flight at one of the VIP lounges. Right now we're on board our plane and are simply waiting for take off (at least its a short flight to Bangkok for our connecting flight to the UK, and its giving me time to update the journal.
So that's it for the Manila part. I'll post some more on the UK bits of my journal, followed by the Canada bits.
Right now though I need to vent.
Went to Georgia's thing this morning, and that was cool. Afterwards, I went to visit mum (as I hadn't seen her since prior to leaving for overseas). On the way there, I noticed that either the electrics for one of the rear passenger windows were busted, or someone had tried to break into the car and then stopped.
Got to mum's and called my insurance mob (just to find out what I needed to do) And ended up having to go to the Prahran Police Station just to file a report. I'll be spending most of the early parts of this coming week trying to get that rear window fixed (hopefully it means I'm not without a car for too long, as I need to teach on Thursday, and I've got the weekly game on Wednesday evening)
Talk about shitty luck! Oh well, it could've been worse.
So if anyone can recommend an automotive electrician (or mechanic who can fix electric windows) in Melbourne, let me know.
I'll update more tomorrow on the travel journal.
04-Jun-2008 Tourism in Intramuros
As we had seen Fort Santiago already, we were hoping to finally go see the museums today.
My uncle Sonny brought us to San Augustin's today (It is a church in the older part of Manila, which contains a museum detailing colonial Manila) Colby (my god-son) came along with us.
It was a pretty awesome museum, if a little too hot for my liking. Personally, I'd be worried if I was the curator, as some of the pieces were quite exposed and a lot of the paintings were in need of restoration. Strangely, the museum closed during the lunch break, so we took the opportunity to grab some food, then returned after lunch. (Lunch was had at an all vegetarian Chinese restaurant called the Kuan Yin sp?) After viewing what we could of the museum, we headed to Robinson's Plaza (a mall) for light refreshment before my relatives dropped B and I off at our hotel. Dinner was at another Aussie pub.
05-Jun-2008 More museums today
Spent the day at the National Museum today. Again, Colby tagged along. Man, the museum is big!
Colby is rather cute (for a 2 year old) but as experienced yesterday, he has no concept of either volume control or lack of energy. Strangely, he's always ON, and always loud. But I guess that's children for you.
I really enjoyed the National Museum. Unlike San Augustin, it is climate controlled. It was cool to see some artifacts from both pre-colonial times and some post Spanish artifacts. There were some creepy looking canoptic jar type things (used for Reburial) and some pretty cool pre-colonial Filipino swords. Also, as part of a Spanish galleon exhibit, I saw a rapier hilt, which I wish I could've measured.
Late-lunch was at a deli franchise (good food, only OK coffee) then we returned to the Hotel for a not-stand-up. We're going out with my cousins tonight, but I'm not too sure what we're going to do.
Evening:
Went out with the girls (my cousins) at Makati. Stopped for coffee then headed out to dinner. Strangely had fairly good Greek food, though the spanokopita was still lit as it was brought to our table. I really enjoyed it despite there being too much food (even though there were 8 of us!) After dinner, we headed to a bar called the Magnet Cafe.
Live bands & free drinks are an awesome plus (even if we only paid about $3 each for entry) I find it odd that my cousins want to pay for everything, even if I'm the oldest, and currency conversions are working in my favour. Overall, had a good night, as I not only saw some Pinoy bands, but also got to interact with my cousins as adults. Talking about life, music, politics, and all the general jazz.
06-Jun-2008 A day out with Mia and Mae.
Late start to the day, ended up not having breakfast till 1pm. After which, we headed out to the National Art Gallery. Got to see the old parts of the Museum collection, which were held at the gallery (strangely in the Old Museum building, which I remembered from when I was living in Manila) We also saw a lot of contemporary Pinoy art, and the Juan Luna collection (Juan Luna is an important figure in Filipino history) Almost had a bit of a breakdown... dunno if its the heat or what. Maybe its due to the whirlwind tour we're having, but eh. I'll probably be better tomorrow after some rest.
07-Jun-2008 Visiting dad again
Headed off to Dad's place, again with Tito Nat and Tito Ben as my guides. B stayed at the Hotel (she needed a rest, and I was feeling kinda seedy myself) Got to catch up more with some cousins on Dad's side of the family. Exchanged details, cause I really need to keep in touch more often. Stayed at dad's for lunch, then headed back to the hotel in the early afternoon. On the way back, we stopped somewhere for me to look at some Barongs. Unfortunately, not many that I liked the look of (though at between 40 and 100 bucks, I'm now even more tempted to get one) Had dinner at the hotel again. In the morning, we're going to catch up with Camille, before heading to her place for lunch, then heading to the airport.
08-Jun-2008 UK here we come!
Breakfast at the hotel, then a quick check of our stuff (making sure everything was packed etc) then headed to Camille's place. Stopped at Mall of Asia on the way for some last minute souvenirs. I got an informal Barong (Filipino national shirt) in blue, and also a more every-day one in black. B got herself a scarf and a small carved water buffalo. After that, we had a lazy lunch and farewell do at Camille's. They made vegetarian variants of Pinoy traditional dishes for B (which was nice). We spent most of the afternoon chatting to Tito Nat, got some pictures taken with my cousins (almost a full house, as only two of them were missing)
After that, we headed to the Airport. Got a chance for a final chat with my cousins who came along, before entering the airport proper. I'm sure Ninoy Aquino International Airport is one of the punishments given to those who commit the Seven Deadly Sins. It took us about an hour or so to even get through check in not to mention Customs & Immigration. We then spent some time waiting for our flight at one of the VIP lounges. Right now we're on board our plane and are simply waiting for take off (at least its a short flight to Bangkok for our connecting flight to the UK, and its giving me time to update the journal.
So that's it for the Manila part. I'll post some more on the UK bits of my journal, followed by the Canada bits.
Right now though I need to vent.
Went to Georgia's thing this morning, and that was cool. Afterwards, I went to visit mum (as I hadn't seen her since prior to leaving for overseas). On the way there, I noticed that either the electrics for one of the rear passenger windows were busted, or someone had tried to break into the car and then stopped.
Got to mum's and called my insurance mob (just to find out what I needed to do) And ended up having to go to the Prahran Police Station just to file a report. I'll be spending most of the early parts of this coming week trying to get that rear window fixed (hopefully it means I'm not without a car for too long, as I need to teach on Thursday, and I've got the weekly game on Wednesday evening)
Talk about shitty luck! Oh well, it could've been worse.
So if anyone can recommend an automotive electrician (or mechanic who can fix electric windows) in Melbourne, let me know.
I'll update more tomorrow on the travel journal.