Manila, Philippines

Friday, March 15, 2019      Manila, Philippines

Larry and I were excited to be visiting the Philippines today.  While at JMU we had an old college psychology professor from the Philippines who told us tales of his country and we have always wanted to go. We had made friends with many Filipinos when we were in East Timor and they furthered our curiosity. Miss Esther, our music teacher, sent a detailed plan of what we needed to see in the historic Old Town of Manila. It is so nice to still be in contact with old Timor Leste friends. 

                                                          We head off the ship into mass chaos.

Taxis, bicycle taxis, jeep taxis, buses and a swarm of people wanting us to take their tour. It was crazy and exciting all rolled into one. We had decided to walk until it got too hot to continue….but about a hundred drivers asked for us to ride with them.

This young man is the security guard for the neighborhood.

We went to Intramuros, the original walled city founded in 1590. This is the oldest neighborhood in the city. It reminded us of Cuba and East Timor all rolled into one. 

                                                      Outside the wall...a golf course.

We stopped at the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral…first constructed in 1581. 

Eight times this building has been rebuilt. It suffered through fire, many earthquakes, a couple of typhoons, and World War II… here it stands again…rebuilt in 1959. 

                                                     Can you guess what he was selling?

The Philippines has a rich Catholic Heritage from the Spanish who first colonized here. Magellan was the first European to stop in here….and unfortunately died here trying to settle a dispute  on one of the 7107 islands. 

We walked through the walls around the Fort Santiago built on the site of an old Muslim fort by the Spanish conquistadors beginning in 1590.

 We enjoyed the old San Augustin Church founded in 1581, Manila’s oldest church. It reminded us of the old churches in South America.

We enjoyed visiting the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I fell in love with some of the old antique pieces and enjoyed the art on display.

This poor bird was tied up on the sidewalk...guess it won't be escaping.

We walked by the Bauarte de San Diego, an old Spanish battlement, built in 1586 and still intact.

We walked through Rizal Park and had fun talking with the local police. They shared their motorbikes with Larry. 

We enjoyed talking with two boys selling guava. Our Taiwan friends, Eagle and Joyce, introduced us to this new tasting kind of fruit. I wonder how much longer it will before we actually get it in the USA. 

                  We dodged the heat by stopping off along the way in some cool spots. The coolest spot was the Manila Hotel, built in 1910. 

Gorgeous chandeliers, fantastic piano music, vaulted mahogany ceilings, and cool air….what an oasis in the middle of the day! 

Celebrities frequented here Sammy Davis, Jr, John Wayne, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Liza Minelli to name a few. A great way to end our afternoon before heading back through the chaos to get to the ship….ahhhh!

Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Wednesday, March 13, 2019    Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Larry and I jumped off the ship excited about our last day in Taiwan. We thought that our old friend, Eagle, may be able to meet us, but unfortunately we were visiting during the working portion of the week and he was unable to get off.

There was a tremendous industrial port coming into the harbor. It was fascinating watching all the container ships being loaded.

            A huge  section of land reclaiming  was being added  to the port entrance on both sides.

We were greeted by a group of Taiwanese energetic singers and dancers. The youngest was so sweet!

The terminal was gorgeous. Completely opposite of the bare bones warehouses we walked through in Keelung.

After a quick question and answer moment at the local information booth in the terminal we took a quick shuttle to the MRT (underground transportation).   

We were the only ones on the subway this morning.We purchased tickets for the orange and red line heading to Lotus Lake at the Ecological District . No problem with that…everything on the ticket monitor was translated to English!

We passed a primary school with animals.

                                                       Rabbits and ……..

                                                                                turtles

We walked a few miles over a huge curving walkway that crossed a major highway with some Aussie friends. 

Our view of the city off the curvy bridge.

Upon arriving at Lotus Lake we enjoyed seeing the Peace Tower that the Rotary club had displayed in 2006

We stopped for a little water break at the entrance of Lotus Park.

The tropical flowers were in full bloom

!

We stopped to investigate renting bicycles, but found we could not because Larry had only brought Taiwan cash….a credit card was needed. 

We spotted the Temple of Confucius as well as a Buddha.

We had the best conversation with a Taiwan English teacher, Chiang Pei-Hsin. She was anxious to travel to the USA so our conversation was quite lengthy.

We saw some gorgeous Lilly pads at the Lotus Wake Park where water ski jumps were placed out in the lake.

We passed the Old Zuoying City Walls….crumbling in some areas.

                     We enjoyed the Tiger and Dragon Pagodas. What remarkable structures!

We visited the colorful temple across the street.

                                     The inside was decorated with tons of gold.

Unbelievable paintings adorned the ceilings. 

                      We enjoyed watching the turtles in this little  pond crawling up to sun themselves.

The masks that  are worn in Eastern Asia can be anything from medical throw-aways  to a fashion statement in prints. Some one is capitalizing on this area of fashion.

                                Another incredible temple....WOW!

We stopped to eat a little lunch and have a couple of Taiwan beverages with another couple.

The little stand owner took a little snooze as we all enjoyed a cool breeze that swept around the corner.

This bicycler had his walking stick in his basket...funny!

We headed back to the ship with the 3:00pm sun heating us up in the 80’s.

Larry stopped to get a Taiwanese haircut before boarding the ship. They really gave him a buzz job. He says, “It will be back to normal about the time of our anniversary in June.” At least he will be ready for the Philippines heat in a couple of days. We are expecting temps in the 90’s on our arrival there on Friday!  That will probably be the warmest day of our whole adventure!