Intramuros Revisited, Stepping on the Footprints Left Over Earlier

In my earlier visit to Intramuros, I did not manage to enter San Agustin Church due to private event, and I vowed to visit this place again for sure. This time I have made it!

For this second visit to Intramuros, I just took a cab directly to the Rizal Park, instead of using the LRT to save the hassle of changing the train at EDSA station. Taking a cab should not cost more than 120 Pesos if the cab driver is honest.

First stop, the Department of Tourism. 

Being a tourist in the Philippines, we should always thanks to this government agency whose mission is to encourage, promote and develop tourism to generate foreign currency and employment. Without this agency, how are we able to know so much about the 7,107 beautiful islands of the Philippines?

Next, I walked around the Rizal Park. This park marked a few important historical events, which was named after the national hero, José Rizal, who was executed in 1896, which led to Philippines Revolution against Kingdom of Spain. The park was renamed to Rizal Park to honor the fallen of the national hero, with a monument of him situated right in the middle of the park.

The Philippines Independence from the United States was held here in the Rizal Park on July 4, 1946 as well as several political rallies happened here in the 1980s. Plenty of the recent events happened here as well which made to international news, whether happy or sad events, such as the hostage crisis of Hong Kong citizens held by gunman in 2010, and also Papal visit of Pope Francis earlier this year on January 18, 2015.

The Gallery of Heroes 

The modern Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage

After walking around Rizal Park, I took a jeepney into the Intramuros. Jeepney is the most popular public transport in the Philippines, which were originally made from U.S Military jeeps left over after the World War II. Jeepney has then become the part of the culture of the Philippines.

Nowadays jeepneys were manufactured by different regional manufacturers and they come with different variants of design. Still, we can easily recognize the jeepneys from their similar outlook, the crowded passengers and the flamboyant and noisy characteristic.

So here comes my main mission here for the second visit to Intramuros, the San Agustin Church.

The entrance fee was 100 Pesos as per 2011 for general admission. It may sound like big amount to you as a backpacker but I can assure you that the church definitely worth the 100 Pesos that you paid for!

The beautiful interior of the San Agustin Church

The main altar of the San Agustin Church

The grand pipe organ

The graves of prominent people such as governors, at the church floor.

Jesus statue in the museum

So do you agree with me on the beauty of the interior of San Agustin Church? It was totally a jaw-dropping experience for me seeing the interior. How could the oldest church in the Philippines, still looks so beautiful after so many years? There is no other church that is comparable with this, so far.

Even when you are a tourist, do you ever wanted to confess to the God in the foreign land? In San Agustin Church, you may converse to the God in 3 different languages - Tagalog, English or Spanish.

Before leaving Intramuros, I walked pass the Manila Cathedral again. Looking from far, Manila Cathedral is beautiful, but the San Agustin Church is totally unbeatable in terms of architectural beauty.

Hereby I concluded both visits to Intramuros were fruitful, visiting the major landmarks definitely leaves unforgettable memories for this walled compound in Metro Manila.

Tribute to the Fallen Heroes, in Manila

World War II, the deadliest conflict in the human history. This has left the unforgettable painful memories for the witnesses of the war. When I was in primary school, I watched this award-winning movie called "Saving Private Ryan" by Steven Spielberg which talks about WWII in Europe. 

Credit to Google Image

Other than the bloody battlefields, one of the most remarkable scenes to me was the moment when Private Ryan walking through countless of white headstones before recalling the moments back in WWII. Back then, I did not know whether such place exists to have so many white headstones for movie filming.

After many years, I did not expect that I would actually visit the similar memorial like what it was in the movie. Located in Metro Manila, the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is the last resting place for the fallen heroes that were involved in the conflict of Pacific, when the Japanese invaded the region.

This cemetery and memorial is not far from the famous Greenbelt shopping mall in Makati. I took jeepney to Greenbelt and transit to the memorial in a taxi, which cost me not more than 50 Pesos for one-way. Walking towards the memorial, the first thing welcoming visitor is the speed limit sign. Cars can be driven here by adhering the speed limit. This cemetery is open daily from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m., except December 25 and January 1. 

The memorial consists of a chapel and two hemispherical structure which embraces the Memorial Court. American flags were clearly seen from afar, and this memorial is fully administrated by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

What came into my eyes were thousands of white headstones across the field. There are more than 17,000 of graves, which is the largest cemetery for the U.S personnel killed in the World War II. Twenty-nine Medal of Honor recipients are buried or memorialized on the Wall of Missing. Buried along are the 20 sets of brothers who lost their lives in the WWII as well.

Sitting in the hemispherical structure are the limestone piers, the Wall of Missing have more than 36,000 names carved on it. The tablets honor the personnel missing in action (MIA), who gave their lives in the service for their country. 

On the Wall of Missing, the names of the MIA personnel together with their ranks, origins and job roles during the war, were crafted on the Trani limestone. For those were recovered and identified later on, would have rosettes on their names on the limestone.

Seals of American states are meticulously carved on the floor within the building of Wall of Missing.

The 10-feet high wall of mosaic maps describe the achievements of the American forces in the Pacific, and there are a total of 25 of the maps within the hemispherical structure. 

Lastly, the chapel with sculptures of St. George, the American warrior fighting the dragon. Above the sculpture are the ideals for which he fought: Liberty, Justice, Country and Columbia. The children sculpture is there as well to represent the future that St. George was fighting for. 

Visiting this place let me understand more about the history of the World War II in the Pacific, as the visitor can get the booklet from the Visitor Building at the entrance. The booklet and brochure provide the crucial timeline of the incidents happened during the WWII which involves American troops in the Pacific. Perhaps most of the tourists would have skip this place in their travel itinerary, but to me, this was a worthwhile visit! 

Mountain Provinces Part 2: Sagada, Witnessing the Ancient Custom

Moving on from Ifugao, we headed to another small town located 90 km away from the peaceful town of Banaue. The journey was accompanied by long winding mountain passes, and rains from the typhoon. The impact of typhoon was so significant here as landslides happened almost everywhere along the way to Sagada, with rockfalls and collapsed roads everywhere to be seen.

Before reaching Sagada, we arrived at a small town called Bontoc, the adjacent town to Sagada. Approaching the town, paddy could be clearly seen as the rice terrace was higher than the road, and it was just right next to us. We could reach the paddy by just putting our hand out from the car window.

Upon reaching Bontoc, soon we found out that our way was blocked due to the parade organized by the locals, the Lang-ay Festival. The municipality of Bontoc celebrates Lang-ay festival annually, and we were so lucky to attend this.

The locals from different ethnic backgrounds performed their street dancing with their traditional tribal costumes, focusing on their tribal cultures as well as thanksgiving on the paddy harvest.

I wonder if these elder folks dance on the street as well. We missed this part as we departed by using the alternative road heading to Sagada.

Another few kilometers of mountain passes before reaching Sagada, we faced another road block which the bulldozer working on the mudslide.

Finally, we arrived Sagada, the home of the hanging coffins, one of the few in the world. Sagada is a very small town, with only a few streets and limited choices of food and lodging. We had our quick lunch and started to look for the hanging coffins.

 It is not necessary for visitors to hire a guide to view the hanging coffins, however you may look for the guided tour if you really need it. For the visitors without guide, look for the St. Mary's Episcopal Church and start walking from there. You can visit the church as well while being here.

Passing by the church, you will come to a modern cemetery. Walk through the modem cemetery and you will reach the Echo Valley. Try shouting towards the valley and you will get your echo from here. Not far from the Echo Valley, you can already see the hanging coffins across the hill.

Hanging coffins, are coffins hung on the cliffs. There are only a few places we can find hanging coffins in the world, and Philippines is one of them, apart from China and Indonesia. The practice of hanging coffins in Sagada was done in the earlier years before the Christianity came in. This practice protects the deceased from natural disasters, animals, and also based on the native's belief, this will allow easier passage for the deceased to heaven. The locals claim that this practice have been around for more than 2000 years.

The trail towards the hanging coffin was too dangerous due to the typhoon during our visit. Visitors may walk down the trail to view the hanging coffins up close.

After leaving Sagada, we headed back to Makati, marking the end of our mountain provinces journey. On the way back, we stopped by San Jose for lodging and visited this church the next morning before we continue our journey back to Makati.

Visiting the mountain provinces during the typhoon was not really ideal, but still I appreciated the experiences of being there, witnessing the landscape and practices being passed down to the next generations from thousands years back.