Weekend At Last! My Trip Around the Philippines First Stop: Intramuros

I am a Chinese Filipino who was born in the Philippines and I have lived in the Philippines my whole life. However I still have not roamed and experienced the Philippines as much as I could. In my previous studies on the Philippines, I learned that the Philippines is mostly a historical and vacation spot for tourists and since I am interested in history and geography, I have managed to urge my family to actually go visit these historic and naturalistic sights.

Usually, my yaya (nanny) would wake me up at 6am in the morning with a homely smile on her face. The cook would serve some breakfast which would consists of the leftovers from last night along with pandesal (buns) from the vendors outside, as Filipino culture has taught these household helpers. On special occasions, sausages and eggs may be served. Currently, it is the wet season with monsoon rain, as it is from July to December. Sometimes typhoons can come your way and provide a reason for students to go home early from school. I am anticipating for when the next typhoon will be. This could mean no school for a few days. Time goes by as I daydream to myself. It is almost past 7:20am. Class starts at 7:30am. As usual, like some other Filipinos, I have the habit of being late. Crringg! My alarm clock goes off and I realize all that was a dream. It wasn’t a school day, it was the weekend! And a long weekend it is because next Monday and Tuesday are holidays. The first thing I did after I got out of bed was to eat my scrumptious typical Filipino breakfast, pandesal (buns) with hotdogs and fried eggs. I changed quickly and packed my things for our long trip to Intramuros, Tagaytay, Donsol and Zamboanga.

As I approached my aunts and uncles, I brought the elders’ backs of their hands towards my forehead. This is a Filipino sign of respect and honor to the elders. My relatives from China who are spending their holidays in the Philippines joined us in our tour around the Philippines.

The nearest stop was Intramuros, in the southern side of the Pasig River close to the entrance to the Manila Bay. Its construction was started in 1571 by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a Spaniard. Intramuros was a fortress city with walls 6 meters high and 3 kilometers in length. My foreign cousins were amazed at the width and height of the walls. From the historical account of the tour guide, only the Spanish elite and Mestizos (mixed race) were allowed to live inside Intramuros, where the city gates were locked down at night. It was designed with a moat and 51 blocks within vast walls and the only access in or out was the seven fortified gates. Inside the city were 12 churches, hospitals, domestic accommodation, military barracks, Governors Palace and schools. The Chinese, Dutch, Portugese and the Sulu pirates all tried in vain to conquer the city of Intramuros by force. It served as the center of political, military and religious power of the Spaniards during the colonisation period of the Spaniards. In my

mind was thinking, “Why would they try a seemingly impossible feat? With all the old technology in those eras, surely the walls would not fall at that.” Nonetheless I was put into my right mind by the fact that during World War II, Intramuros, now a Japanese garrison and prison, was severely

damaged during the Allied bombings to liberate the city from the Japanese. It was Today, Intramuros is the only district of Manila where old Spanish-era influences were retained and minimally touched by modernization. The old moats were transformed into a golf course and the garrison that was Fort Santiago is now a tourist spot to see how Manila was during the Spanish era. Our family roamed around the museums and churches around the city. The most relevant historical places were Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church, San Agustin Museum, Manila Cathedral, Rizal Shrine and the Casa Manila Museum.

As we got hungry after the tour, my mother bought chicharon and fresh fruits such as bananas, mangoes and grapes to eat as a snack.