But before anything else, let's me just quickly show you our “home away from home”.
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| Malate Pensionne: This is the lobby/reception area. |
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| This is outside the main door which is at the side of the building. |
(By the way, there is a famous cafe at the front of the building. Care to guess the name of the cafe? 
)
The following took place on Friday, 17th October 2008:-
Leaving the hotel, we scouted around on foot for a place to have breakfast nearby and we found this open-24hrs eatery called McRon’s and decided to give it a try. Here’s the menu. See anything you like?
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| I ordered the Carbonara – Cheesy! |
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| Mie, Fab & I at McRon’s. |
We had arranged for the hotel to get us a van the night before so after breakfast, we went back to our hotel and from there our van driver took us around Manila.
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| Our first stop was the Mall of Asia. |
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| This is a MUST-GO-TO since it is the biggest mall in Southeast Asia. |
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| I especially LOVE the globe at the roundabout in front of the Mall’s Main Entrance cos it reminded me of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS! - I didn't know it then, but 3 years later in 2011, I went to the real U.S! |
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| The view is AWESOME dontcha think? |
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| Yeah, we’re quite the model-material here. Hehehe… |
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Rizal Park- The park is of course named after the National Hero, Dr Jose Rizal. |
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| There were 2 armed guards at the monument: one is in this pic, the other went marching around the monument. |
It’s really awesome to watch the guards because they’re like those Palace Guards in England that stay stationary and after a while march around – the only indication to people that they are real and NOT statues! Super…Again, I didn't know it then, but 3 years later in 2011, I really did go to England and saw those palace guards! ;)
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| Lovely background… |
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| Took a picture with one of the guards. He was off-duty of course. LOL! |
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| At another statue/monument at the Park. |
Next, our driver took us to...
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| Mananzan Handicrafts-Here is where they specifically sell souvenirs for tourists like us. Hehe. Where was I? Still souvenir-shopping inside. |
Whilst we were inside the Handicrafts Shop, guess what our van driver pulled over for us?!
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| A horse carriage! The guy near the horse is the horse man & our horse carriage comes with a tourist guide too! Awesome! |
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| In our horse carriage… |
Going around more tourist spots around Manila in a horse-drawn carriage was a unique experience of its own...
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| Here is the Manila Cathedral. |
When we passed this magnificent building, our tourguide advised us NOT to get married inTHIS church. Why? Cos according to him, the celebrities get married there and eventually get divorced. Joking? For real? Who knows.
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This picture is taken in this Museum-like place (I forgot what it’s called ). |
Wonder why we all have flowers in our hair and what we were looking at?
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| It’s this dude serenading us with classic oldies from Elvis etc…he was also responsible for the flowers in our hair. Hehe. |
And by the way, he's our tourguide too! ;) His name is Jorji Porji - a lecturer teaching Tourism at the Manila University and a tourguide on voluntary basis.
Anyways, after that, we stopped at...
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| The Baluerta De San Diego. My fave tourist spot in the Philippines! |
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| Because of this… |
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| I’ve never seen anything quite like it! Reminds me of the Collaseum in Rome. (One day, I shall go to the real thing but for now...) Lovely! |
According to Jorji Porji, this used to be a water reservoir thingy, and then a cannon area and then a place to torture prisoners. Look it up. 
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| Backdrop: New City meets Old City. LOVELY!!! |
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| Fort Santiago… |
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| The entrance at the Fort leads to the Rizal Shrine. |
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| A grand statue of Dr Jose Rizal outside the Rizal Shrine (the building on the left). |
That marked the end of our horse carriage tour but from there we continued by van passing through China Town and Downtown Manila to take in the sight. We also went to Quaipo and wanted to stop at the Black Nazarene church but it being a Friday, there were throngs of people there for Mass so we decided not to.
Thus, we immediately went to Tutuban Mall – the Mall that sells things at the cheapest of prices! No pics there cos all we did was shop. Shop. And shop - until the mall closes at 8pm.
Then it’s back to the hotel. But no, the day ain’t over yet! At night, we all went to a gay bar (yes, you read it right) called FAB because our friend is called Fab. Haha.
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| Chel, Say, Mie, Ted, Me, Fab. |
FAB: Freedom And Belongingness. That’s what it stands for.
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| And remember this guy. Christopher aka Jobert. You will encounter him in future posts. |
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| No, I am not tipsy. I was just jumping at the camera thus the awkward angel. LOL! |
And that was the end of Day 2…
The Road Once Taken (to be continued)...
Next: Day 3 (Cowgirls on the loose!)
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