When In Manila, you should definitely fly to Puerto Princesa, Palawan and visit the famous Underground River. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s longest navigable underground river.           The Underground River was formerly known to be St. Paul’s Cave by the ancient people. As it was handed down to generations, it was resolved to be named as St. Paul’s Underground River National Park. [...]

When in Manila, you will always want to do something new or go somewhere you’ve never been before. This is how my friends and I felt, so we started out early one Saturday morning. We decided to go on a road trip to the northern part of Luzon through SCTEx and soak up some culture, history, and then some.   Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan Our first stop was at the historical Barasoain Church, the [...]

        When in Manila, experience art form at its best. Okay, as you go around Manila you will not, I repeat, as in not find any good modern architecture anymore. Most of the buildings here are basically old and look really bad plus the terrible traffic and chaos all around. I remember talking to my friend who is a tour guide, who took me on a quick tour around Manila. I realized [...]

As you may have read in my previous post, I got to visit Puerto Princesa via Airphil Express. We saw the Undergrond River, some of the beautiful islands and visited several key places in the city. This was all possible with the new Puerto Princesa Adventour Packages from Airphil Express. So When In Manila and looking for a relaxing vacation, I recommend you book a tour package to enjoy the magnificent city of Puerto Princesa [...]

A Weekend Getaway to Puerto Princesa, Palawan with Airphil Express! by JC Ansis     When In Manila and feel like going on a vacation, book a flight and fly to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Last weekend, I was invited by Airphil Express for a weekend getaway with other bloggers to visit the beautiful city of Puerto Princesa in Palawan. We left Manila on Friday, after being skeptical whether or not the flight would push through [...]

When in Manila, I get to be inspired by some of the most creative and artistic minds in the country! Immortalize the happiest day of your life with Jason Magbanua at the Ayala Museum   It’s wedding month again and there’s been a buzz among the brides to be, all because of a certain guy named Jason Magbanua, who creates the best wedding videos on Earth. Jason Magbanua is one of, if not the, best wedding videographer  / [...]

    When In Manila, think of sustainable connections   Business and environmental concern do not have to be mutually exclusive, as these pearl farmers demonstrate when they help enrich the community in which they work THE MARK of a good organization, they say, is when it leaves its environment in a better state than when it first got there. With their main enterprise being critically dependent on the health and quality of the environment [...]

  When in Manila make sure to enjoy a culture filled and historically informed weekend in Intramuros. This is probably one of the most affordable yet noteworthy weekend destinations in the Philippines. With these things said, when my photo buddies and I decided to do a photo walk the first thing that came our minds was Intramuros.     Intramuros is probably the oldest district in Manila since it was established by the Spaniards in [...]

    When In Manila, its time to make a date with the cult hero Jose Rizal: the cool patriot, the Gandhi of Philippines. Yuchengco Museum, Makati is celebrating 150 years of Rizal’s influence on the Filipino art and 100 years of its own inception. On June 3rd the launch party of the twin birthdays really rocked!     Rizal was a cool hero. Nerdy, foreign educated, short statured he had plenty of women friends,each inspiring [...]

When in Manila you can see Indian communities’ Sikh Gurudwara and Hindu Temple under a common roof ! They are a sight to cherish. Take a detour from Makati  and go towards the Mahatma Gandhi Street in Paco.     Perhaps in other parts of the world this happens…but I have personally never encountered this kind of physical proximity between the temples of India’s mainstream religion ‘Hinduism’ and its minority (2%) religion ‘Sikhism‘. One upholds [...]

    Manila American Cemetery and Memorial is located  just a hop, skip and jump away from  BGC’s High Street and Restaurants. Designed by Gardener A.Dailey of San Francisco, this memorial is the most beautifully lanscaped site in Bonafacio Global City, Manila. Tomorrow, May 29 2011, Sunday is THE day to visit and participate in the Annual Memorial Day ceremonies that will begin at 7.30am. Boy scouts, volunteering expats and Philippines American Guardian Association have [...]

  When In Manila, another must see museum is the modernly majestic looking Ayala Museum located at the heart of Makati. I had not been inside this museum since it was renovated some years back so when I saw that Ayala Museum was offering free entrance in celebration of International Museum Day, I took the opportunity to finally see what had changed since the last time I was there – which was quite a few years [...]

When in Manila, one should do a museum tour! And because May 18 was International Museum Day, I did just that – visiting two of the must see museums in Manila: the Ayala Museum and the National Museum.   First stop was the National Museum located in the country’s capital: Manila. I’ve always noticed this tall, old building on my train (LRT 1) rides and so finally, I decided to visit. First thing I learned [...]

  When In Manila, after having been out to sea for days, the Manila Bay port is the perfect place to park your Nimitz Class Supercarrier and escort Destroyer and Cruiser type vessels holding a total of over 6000 sailors and marines… just in case you had one of those…     I just wanted to say thanks to the American Embassy for inviting me and Hannah of FlairCandy.com over for an exclusive tour of [...]

My senses were overpowered with sheer wonder. Breathing became more of an option as my focus tuned into various other sensations that needed immediate attention. The rain tapped my shoulder and asked that I feel the cool shower from the heavens, the lake lured my eyes with its beautiful blue-green gaze and the wind seduced me with an aroma of tranquility. I was at the peak of Mount Pinatubo. The once devastating and vengeful mountain [...]

“When In Rome, do as the Romans do.” So When In Manila… is our way of presenting to you the cool & awesome stuff in the Philippines. Here, it’s as beautiful as Indonesia, equally affordable as Thailand and even more amazing than Mars! We didn’t think that it was fair to hide the underground caves of Palawan, the white sands of Boracay, the crystal clear waters of Camarines, the festivals of Cebu, the waves of Siargao, the landscape of Baguio, the crater lake of Pinatubo, the mouthwatering food of Bacolod, the spectacular views in Tagaytay, the culture in Davao, the parties in Manila and SO MUCH MORE!

Christmas Traditions in the Philippines. Simbang Gabi (Night Masses) is a nine night series where you wake up really early and go to mass at 4am…. will I survive? Christmas in the Philippines can mean one of many things: endless family reunions, traffic from hell, shop ’til you drop days and Christmas lights all over! Though there is definitely one thing you need to experience if you ever spend Christmas in the Philippines: Simbang Gabi (Night Masses)!

Simbang Gabi is a Filipino tradition that translates into “Night Masses.” It’s one of the longest and most popular among Philippine traditions. These Night Masses, or Masses at dawn (which is more like what it is), is a nine day series of masses at Catholic churches where the mass begins at dawn (around 4am). For nine days, before Christmas, people would wake up in the middle of the night to go to church. Churches and streets would fill up with people.

Our past episode of “The Walled City of Intramuros” with Ivan Man Dy of Old Manila Walks gave us a glimpse of the city within the city that boasted history, culture and ghosts that scared Harold.

We were given a tour of San Agustin Church. Following that, our tour guide, Ivan, took me to one of his other favorite spots in Intramuros. He told me that getting people to visit the place was one of his advocacies as a guide. So I was really PSYCHED to find out what this ‘special’ place was all about!

When Ivan told me that we were doing to “Bahay Tsinoy” (Chinese-Filipino House), I was even more intrigued. As you may (or may not) know, I’m Chinese-Filipino myself and it was great to come to this museum and try to learn more about my ancestors and the heritage and history of the early Chinese-Filipino settlers in the Philippines.

People always say that the Chinese-Filipinos or Tsinoys are very business-minded. Well apparently there is some truth to this as we saw that some of the early “sari-sari” stores were set-up by the Tsinoys. Even if they weren’t well versed in Tagalog and just settled in a new place, that didn’t hinder their entrepreneurial spirit and I believe that it’s the same spirit that pushes some of the best entrepreneurs in the Philippines!

There were also some relics like pots, plates and other antiques that came from that period. These items were brought in by the Tsinoys from their homeland to use them either at their homes or for trading with the locals who loved the stuff that they were bringing in.

I really had an awesome time learning about my heritage. Much props again to our friend from Old Manila Walks, Ivan Man Dy. Remember if you want to find the secret in and outs in various places in Manila like Chinatown or Intramuros, Ivan is your man!

So next time When In Manila, be sure to take a walk with Ivan’s Old Manila Walks and come check out Bahay Tsinoy, historical sites, secret treasures and other neat places around the heart of Manila.

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CONTACT INFO
Name of venue: Bahay Tsinoy
Activity: Walking tour c/o Old Manila Walks
Contact Person: Ivan Man Dy
Website: http://www.oldmanilawalks.com
E-mail: fun@oldmanilawalks.com
Telephone: +632 7113823
Mobile: +63917 3291622

Ever since I came back to the Philippines, I’ve been really excited to get a chance to re-learn the deep and rich history of the Philippines, so really, there’s no better place to start than the than with my Old Manila Walks tour of the walled city of Intramuros, located in the heart of Manila.