Update Manila P2-

We caught a flight from Boracay back to Manila for 2 nights before our friend was to catch his flight home and we were to head south. We landed around 5pm and headed back to the Mall of Asia area. After checking in we went to a Korean BBQ for an unforgettable feast. We love having Korean BBQ outside the states because the ingredients are much fresher and you get to cook the meat in a fire pit right in the table. After dinner we grabbed some ice cream and walked home stuffed.

Day 2- We woke up to a beautiful sunny day and decided it was time for some history. We grabbed a taxi across town to see the San Augustin Church but they were on lunch break when we arrived so we grabbed some food and then hired a guide in a pedal tricycle and took a tour of Fort Santiago and the walled city of Intramuros. The fort was built in the 1500’s by the Spanish at the mouth of the Pasig River and plays a strong role in the origin of Manila. The Philippine national hero Jose Rizal was imprisoned here before his execution, and the Japanese massacred thousands here throughout their short but brutal occupation in the 1940s. Americans basically destroyed the city while running the Japanese out at the end of WW2 and the city was pretty much ignored until recent restoration projects began. There was a place in the city with large bronze portraits of each of the 16 presidents and the guide explained that the presidents that smiled in their portraits were all corrupt and those that weren’t smiling were peoples presidents. He was happy to say the current president wasn’t smiling and was very proud of the fact that he was a fanatic about punishing any drug offenses with the death penalty. Although he said there is a strong push to make medical marijuana legal. After the tour we went back to the San Augustin Church and spent a couple of hours walking around inside. It is a World Heritage Site as well as a National Historic Monument. The church was built in the 1500’s during the Spanish occupation. The first version was made of bamboo and burned down during an invasion and the second version was made of wood and burned down by a candle accident during a ceremony. After that they switched to stone and since it has been ravished by looters and destroyed many times by earthquakes and wars. Now it is a stunning monument to Philippine resilience and well worth a visit for it’s historical past. After the church we headed home for another Shanghai feast of chicken, beef and dumplings before a wandering around Manilas premiere casino until 2 am. Early flight tomorrow back to the islands. Palawan awaits!