Manila and Southern Luzon

We headed off to Manila on Boxing Day, for Lyndal's last couple of days in the Philippines. They didn't turn out quite how we expected.


We visited Rizal Park in the afternoon, which was heaving with people picnicking. We paid to visit the Japanese Gardens, to discover that they had probably not been maintained since the day they were planted. The pond was empty, most of the plants dead, and the living things were mainly weeds. As we left, the gatekeeper told us that it would be rehabilated 'next year'. Yet they still charged an admission fee to view a dead garden. Pretty well everything else seemed to be closed, despite signs saying that they were open. So we didn't see a lot of Manila.

The next day was (what can I say?) an experience. We were collected at our hotel at 9am by a former work colleague of mine, and driven around southern Luzon for 13 hours, returning at 10pm. In those 13 hours we spent 30 minutes on top of a hill trying to peer through the fog at the valley below, 30 minutes standing outside a faith healing centre which we couldn't enter because we were wearing shorts, and 15 minutes each in two shops that sold wooden carvings. The rest of the time was taken up by driving. I'm not kidding. It's just as well that my work colleague is a vet, because he doesn't have a career ahead of him as a tour guide. :-)


The photo shows the guest hotel outside the faith healing centre, which is shaped like Noah's Ark, and surrounded by concrete statues of pairs of animals.

Lyndal headed off to Australia the next day, and in the afternoon I spent two hours being driven to an art gallery where we stayed for 45 minutes, then two hours driving to the accommodation. My enduring memory of the Philippines will be sitting in minivans, wondering when we are going to arrive.


I visited the National Musem of the Filipino People the following day (yes, two hour drive there and two hours drive back). This was actually quite interesting (the museum, not the drive) and their displays on Filipino pre-history were world-class. We then went to Intramuros, the ancient Spanish centre of Manila, but as it was now dark, it was hard to see much. The two old churches there were closed as they had been booked for weddings. The photo shows a flower girl at a wedding in one of the churches we didn't get to see.


Finally, I had an interesting day, touring a medical research facility, since this is my connection with my work colleague. I saw them making vaccines, testing the products, creating antivenin for King Cobras and dissecting the heads of rabid dogs. The photo shows rabbits waiting to have their temperature taken, after being vaccinated against King Cobra venom. Perhaps it's not on the major tourist trails, but I found all this really interesting, and it didn't involve sitting in a minivan.

That was to come later in the day. After a five hour drive I arrived in the Science City of Munoz in central Luzon, to spend some time with another Filipino work colleague and his famiy.