Skywatch#114 Quirino Grandstand, Luneta

Quirino Grandstand is the traditional location of the swearing-in of the newly-elected President of the Philippines. It is  part of the Rizal Park or as most locals call it, Luneta Park. 

 

The grandstand is a favorite location for major religious, political, cultural and social events since it was built in 1949. 

 

But in ordinary days like this one, common people hang out in the grand stand to escape from the summer heat while some brave ones, fly these colorful kites.

 

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My World#123 Philippine Churches#9 Baclaran Church (National Shrine Of Our Mother of Perpetual Help)

Baclaran Church was a part of my childhood days when my mother devoted every Wednesday to visit it for years.

The Baclaran Church (also called Redemptorist Church) or the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is one of the most popular churches and also considered as one of the largest churches in the Philippines. It houses one of the most revered and celebrated Marian images in the country, called an icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. It has been known to be miraculous.

Every Wednesday is popularly known as "Baclaran Day", and devotees flock to Baclaran Church to participate in a popular Marian novena offered for the Blessed Virgin Mary's reputed miraculous aid and intercession.

Baclaran Church is located along Roxas Avenue, Paranaque City. Its modern-Romanesque styled building has a full-seating capacity of 2,000, but as many as 11,000 people including standing can be inside during Masses. (source: wikipedia)

It is just a few minutes walk from the Baclaran station of Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT3).

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My World#119 Walk This Way

Carlos Celdran's Walk This Way tour is one of the Manila tours I have been eyeing for years to get into. Unfortunately, time and money constraints always got in the way.

So, when my chance came, I was truly excited. We met by the entrance of Ft. Santiago, Intramuros, Manila. Before we started, we paid our tour fees and introductions were made. There were about 20 participants for the tour and a lot of them are either Filipino balikbayans or foreigners with their Filipino families.

The tour started at Fort Santiago where the national hero, Jose Rizal, was imprisoned before he was executed. We walked around Intramuros, stopping by several times at some really interesting places (for sure, they are not easy to find in history books).

Fittingly, the tour ended with a special treat of halo-halo. A perennial Filipino cold dessert which was made of shaved ice, sweet young coconut meat, and sweetened purple yam.

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My World#114 Parade of the Philippine Presidents

Located at the seafront complex of Intramuros, Old Manila is the Parade of the Philippine Presidents from Aguinaldo to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. There's a sign that says "Galeria delos Presedentes dela Republica Pilipina" which I loosely translated as the "Gallery of the Presidents of the Philippine Republic".


Each one of them was carefully done, I even tried knocking on some of them to ascertain what they were made of. If I'm not mistaken, they were made of aluminum or some kind of steel.

My favorite, of course, is that of the former President Corazon Aquino. Hers was surrounded by the images of events during her presidency, most prominently that of the EDSA Revolution.

Just beside this place is the Intramuros golf course.

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Skywatch#61 View From The 2nd Floor

Photo was taken from the window of our seminar venue last year. As good as it was to learn something, seminars can get boring after seating for several hours in several days. So, I took this photo from the 2nd floor where our seminar venue was while taking a break.



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My World#94 It's A Legoland!

We stopped by Mall of Asia before taking our flight home. The purpose was to buy some take home goods but we also did some sightseeing on the side. The mall was already full of Christmas decorations but what really caught my eyes was their Christmas-themed Lego communities encased in glass boxes.

The Legoland was a favorite among the crowd: old and young alike...








I saw this boy in light blue T-shirt staring unblinkingly at the Lego toys. Not surprisingly I suppose, it was just so amazing to imagine those Lego bricks made into everything possible.



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Skywatch#54 Manila By The Sea

The day started out with overcast skies. I prayed and kept my fingers crossed that there won't be any rain while we do the Corregidor island tour. Luckily, overcast skies cleared out and we enjoyed the island tour immensely. On our way back to Manila on a ferry boat, the view was pretty out there so decided to take a few shots of the Manila skyline. Here is one...

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My World#79 (Philippine Churches: Part 7) Sta. Cruz Church, Manila

Sta. Cruz Church is located at Plaza Lacson, Sta. Cruz, Manila. It is just right off McArthur Bridge and is fronting the Greco-Roman styled Roman Santos Building (Prudential Bank Building), one of the old buildings of Manila which was built before World War II broke out.

The altar of Sta. Cruz Church, Manila

The facade of Sta. Cruz Church, Manila

The fountain fronting the church

I really wish that those obstruction fronting the church could be transferred. It is a beautiful old church and those who placed those electric post and snaking electric wires did the church such injustice and disrespect.

Wikipedia:
The Jesuits built the first Roman Catholic Church in the area where the present Santa Cruz Parish stands on June 20, 1619. The Jesuits enshrined the image of the Our Lady of Pilar in 1643 to serve the pre-dominantly Chinese residents in the area. The image drew a lot of devotees and a popular cult grew around it.

Source: philtravelcenter.com
Description: The original church of Sta. Cruz was built in 1608 for the Chinese converted to Christianity by the priests of the Society of Jesus. When the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines, the church became Dominican. The structure was damaged by the earthquake, and then during the Battle of Manila in 1945. The present structure was rebuilt in 1957.


How to get there?: From Taft Avenue, hail a PUJ bound for Sta. Cruz. Get off right infront of the church.




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My World#77 Paco Park, Manila

Paco Park is located along Gen. Luna and Padre Faura Sts., Paco, Manila. It is about a block away from United Nations Ave.

It was where the national hero was secretly interred before he was officially buried in Luneta Park.

Paco Park was once a municipal cemetery and even served as central supply and ammunition depot of the Japanese forces during World War II. It is now more well-known as venue for shows, wedding events, film locations (eg. the 2010 Filipino movie, Miss You Like Crazy, with Filipino movie stars John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo), concerts and other functions.



Paco Park Gate

Paco Park Garden and  St. Pancratius Chapel

The left side of Paco Park with the pathway above the walls with niches.

The now unused century-old niches carved within the hollowed circular walls of Paco Park. 

Source: Wikipedia
Paco Park was originally planned as a municipal cemetery for the well-off and established aristocratic Spanish families who resided in the old Manila, or the city within the walls of Intramuros during the Spanish colonial era. Most of the wealthy families interred the remains of their loved ones inside the municipal cemetery in what was once the district of Dilao (former name for Paco). The cemetery was built in the late 1700s but was completed several decades later and in 1822, the cemetery was used to inter victims of a cholera epidemic that swept across the city.


The cemetery is circular in shape, with an inner circular fort that was the original cemetery and with the niches that were placed or located within the hollow walls. As the population continued to grow, a second outer wall was built with the thick adobe walls were hollowed as niches and the top of the walls were made into pathways for promenades. A Roman Catholic chapel was built inside the walls of the Paco Park and it was dedicated to St. Pancratius.


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Skywatch#37 Paco Park, Manila

I vaguely remembered Paco Park as the place where our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, was initially interred. Only a handful knew, which included his immediately family, where he was taken after being executed by the Spanish government in 1896. But I recognized Paco Park's pathways easily in the movie entitled Miss You Like Crazy starring local actors John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo.



This is St. Pancratius Chapel inside Paco Park in Manila. Paco Park was used originally as a municipal cemetery. Built in 1700s, it is circular in shape with the inner circle as the original cemetery. The niches were placed within its hollowed walls. A second circular wall was added and more niches were placed within its hollowed adobe walls as the population grew. The top of the walls were used as pathways or promenades. Its use was stopped in the early 1900s and the niches transferred to other cemeteries by the owners.

Nowadays, the park is mostly used for different occasions like mini concerts, weddings and parties.

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Skywatch#30 Quiapo Church and Plaza Miranda

Overcast skies over Plaza Miranda and Quiapo Church.

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My World#68 Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila

Plaza Miranda is the public plaza or square in front St. John the Baptist Church or more popularly known as Quiapo Church which is located in the old downtown Manila. The plaza was named after Jose Sandino y Miranda, who served as secretary of the treasury of the Philippines for 10 years beginning in 1853.

It is a popular site not only during the Black Nazarene fiesta which is annually held every January 9 but also a popular site for political rallies which had its heydays during the Marcos regime in the 1970s.

On August 21, 1971, while the Liberal Party during that time held their Miting de Avance in the plaza, a bombing occurred, killing 9 and injuring almost 100 civilians.

Nowadays, aside from the unsightly election paraphernalias hanging and plastered everywhere, the plaza is now filled with ambulant vendors selling products ranging from flowers, colored candles with specific purposes (candles for love, good luck, healing the sick, pardon, etc.), fruits, healing herbs, to body massages, palm and card reading.


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My World#59 Ayala Museum, Makati

This is Ayala Museum. A privately owned historical museum owned located at the corners of Makati Ave. and dela Rosa Streets. It is just beside an upscale mall, Greenbelt.

This is the first museum I have visited whileI was on an educational field trip in grade school.

Facade of the Ayala museum

Its permanent displays are the diorama which are handcrafted figures showing the major events and themes of the Philippine history, the Boat Gallery which shows the miniature watercrafts of the Philippine seas, Gold of Ancestors which is an impressive and awe inspiring array of Philippine gold jewelries from centuries, Millenium of Contact-a display of ancient ceramics, vases and jars, Embroidered Multiples which is a collection of Philippine garments and the Fernando Zobel arts.

The entrance of Ayala museum thru the Greenbelt Mall

The landscaped garden behind Ayala museum

Here is their website, http://www.ayalamuseum.org for more details.

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