A Little Pole Dancing to Start My Trip Off Right!

Note:  I knew that title would catch people's attention, but you have to read the whole post before you can see the video. :)

Monday, June 6
Our first full day in Manila and it was jam packed with sensory-overloading sites, sounds, tastes, and smells.  The morning began with a buffet that had food from every continent, excluding Antarctica, well they did have ice, so I guess that counts for Antarctica.  Some of the food needs to come with directions, such as halo-halo.  It looks like a bunch of toppings for something, but it wasn't until lunch that I figured out what the something was, so I'll be trying it tomorrow.  In case you are wondering, halo halo is a popular dessert of shaved ice and evaporated milk with many toppings.  There are many versions of it throughout Asia.
             

After breakfast, a few fellow fellows and I went for walk to a nearby mall to find a pharmacy because one of the palest people on the trip forgot to bring sunblock and messed up and brought an almost empty inhaler with her.  The store was called The Fiesta at Landmark and holy cow was it a FIESTA!  Five stories of pure consumerism and the largest show department I have ever seen in my life.  Not only was it stock with anything and everything an individual may want to buy, there were workers everywhere.  Even the smallest departments had 4-5 employees manning the department; it was a true reflection of the Filipino service culture as well as the Philippines' rapid economic growth over the past decade.
                             

After lunch, we left the very Westernized area of Makati and headed to the city of Intramuros.  There's an interesting thing about Manila-while it fits the basic definition of a city; it is more of an agglomeration of multiple cities that see themselves as independent cities.  Intramuros is home to the Spanish colonial stronghold of Fort Santiago that is being preserved as a national heritage site because Jose Rizal was imprisoned there and later executed by the Spanish for inciting the revolution in 1898.  We also saw Manila Cathedral which was first built in 1581 and then rebuilt many times due to natural disasters and war.  St. Agustin Church is the only existing structure to have survived the Battle of Manila in World War II.  It has extensive collections of artifacts and relics of times long past.

 

After our exploration of the religious sites of Intramuros, we went to Casa Manila, which was built by Imelda Marcos to showcase Spanish colonial architecture and design.  Unfortunately, the house was closed on Mondays, but we were able to walk around and explore the courtyard before our dinner at Babara's Heritage Restaurant.  The best find of the day was a quaint papershop, Papier Toile Shop, where the owner and his son were handcrafting stationary, notebooks, and other paper products.

Our delicious and authentic dinner was served buffet style with an array of traditional Filipino dishes.  Beef Caldereta was similar to a beef stew and the meat was so tender you could cut it with a fork.  I also tried Grilled Blue Marlin, which is a fish that I didn't realize people actually ate because I always see them stuffed on walls in peoples' homes or at seafood restaurants.  The fish had a steak-like texture similar to swordfish and it was quite tasty.  It's not a Filipino meal without some version of lumpia, the Filipino equivalent of an egg roll.  Barbara's was serving Lumpiang Batangas and I have no idea what was inside, but it was tasty.

The best part of Barbara's Heritage Restaurant was the show after dinner.  The dancers performed a variety of dances illustrating the blend of Spanish, Asian, and traditional cultures that have shaped the Philippines.  My favorite dance of the evening was definitely the tinikling dance, which invloves the rhythmic movements of bamboo poles as dancers hop over the poles in sychronized motions.  It reminded me of double dutch, only far more dangerous considering the dancers were barefoot.  I had the privilege of actually getting to try the dance.  It was an unforgettable first day in Manila!