Manila : Home of Forts, Hobbits and Nuts

Me, making reservations for a dinner cruise on Manila Bay: "Hi, there will be 8 of us and I will be needing a vegetarian meal."

Manila Cruise People: "Do you eat pork?"

Me: "No, I am a vegetarian?"

MCP: "Do you eat fish?"

Me: "No. I am completely vegetarian.  No meat, no chicken, no pork and no fish"

MCP: (pause) "We checked and it is ok if you bring your own food."

Me: "Do I still need to pay the full price for the dinner cruise?"

MCP: "Yes"

Me: "Then could you please just add extra vegetarian sides? Maybe a cheese sandwich?"

MCP: "Um, ok"

Normally, I would have accepted the offer to bring my own food but we had just arrived in Manila and had less than an hour to check into our rooms, get local currency and get eight people over to the marina. There simply was no time for me to go anywhere and pick up a veg meal so I was quite relieved that this had been resolved.

More good news. I ran up to my room to drop off my bags and found I had the most pimped out bathroom ever, looking out on the newly created City of Dreams.

We were on a roll. We make it to the dock with seconds to spare and were rewarded with a master class in what sunsets should look like.

Excellent. We were seated on the boat, got our drinks and were promptly served the first course. Fish soup. I explained to the waiter that I'd called and arrangements had been made for my veg meal. He asked me if I ate pork.

After many blank stares and a meeting amongst all the ship's staff, including possibly the musicians, the manager came over with a question I should have known was not going to bode well. "Do you eat nuts?" 

This was the entirety of my meal.

They were resourceful, I'll give them that. The cruise was only 90 minutes long, the views were nice and there was live music so I was ok with my bag o' nuts.

I would later get something more substantial at a place I had been to over ten years ago. My memory is not so strong that I normally remember the names of places I'd visited a decade ago, but if the place in question is fully staffed by little people, as in dwarfs and midgets, it does leave an impression. The Hobbit House  is such a place.

This picture is from my first visit, a long long time ago.  This time around I was more concerned with getting a pizza than a picture.

Winging it had worked well for us on our first evening in Manila, so the next morning we did more of the same.  Instead of taking a pricey city tour, we uber'ed to the old town Intramuros area. Without much of a plan, we got dropped off at the Manila Cathedral and were immediately beset by souvenir vendors and pedicab guides.

Walking around aimlessly was going to be a challenge. Between three of us, we decided to hire 2 pedicabs to show us around.

For the next couple of hours, they took us to all the must-see spots.  There was Fort Santiago, where we learned about Jose Rizal, who was imprisoned and eventually executed within the fort. He was a leading voice in the Phillipines' fight for independence from Spain and was found guilty of treason, sedition and conspiracy. Today, he is viewed as a national hero.

Me and the ranger from the Curious George cartoons

Our guides took us to several spots where we could view and sometimes walk on the old city walls. The name of this area Intramuros literally means "within the walls".

Once the Americans took over the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, they breached the walls, filled in the moat that surrounded them and turned the area into a golf course.

I'm guessing that this is the only course where you have to play around General McArthur's old bunker.

We visited the Baluarte de San Diego, which was a fort within a fort that survived cannon fire from the British in 1702 only to be destroyed in 1945 during the battle of Manila. Today, it- and every other historical site, park, or monument we encountered- is popular with couples taking wedding photos.

Most random fact you will read all day: in the background you can see the Manila Hotel. I stayed there when I was 15 years old and on one fateful afternoon lounged by the pool with the Village People. 

All yours, pedestrians, provided you are willing to share it with bikes and the occasional horse.

Once the tour was over, we now had the lay of the land and had already encountered every souvenir vendor there was so we were now free to walk around.  We went into a store called "La Monja Loca" or The Crazy Nun and ended up wandering around a gorgeous old colonial home.

We completed our day with a stop at Rizal Park, named after the guy who's cell we had seen earlier. He may have been one of the last Filipinos involved in the fight against Spain but his namesake park has a giant statue honoring one of the first.  Lapu Lapu defeated Magellan in 1521 thus keeping the Spaniards away for another forty years.

By this time, I was getting hungry but did not have much time before I had to return to the airport.  In retrospect, I guess it was a good thing that I had recently come into possession of one big-ass bag of nuts.