Manila Tour

We woke up early and went down to the buffet breakfast at the Peninsula. It was good, not great. It was the below expectations because the rest of the experience has been really good. I was thoroughly impressed with the turndown service that we had last night that included fresh towels, organizing my toiletries onto a towel on the counter, a towel on each side of the bed with slippers, a bottle of water on each bed stand, folded down the duvet, premium chocolates, and a hand written welcome note.

We checked out and took a cab to the Mercure hotel in Ortegas. We dropped off our baggage and grabbed another cab to old Manila, Intramuros. The driver was very jerky. No, he was a nice guy, but he loved to ride the gas and brakes. Immediately making me feel nauseous, which was unfortunate since we had a long time in the cab, even though it was a 11km drive. 

We started our tour of Intramuros at the Manila Cathedral. We briefly looked around, but were kicked out because there was a mass taking place.

So, we wandered over to Fort Santiago. We walked the grounds, popped into the museum where we learned about the hero, Jose Rizal, and watched the locals take ridiculous selfies. 

We walked back to the catherdral to explore, take photos and learn about the  8 cathedral constructions that have taken place on this site (more than anywhere else in the world) due to earthquakes, fires and wartime destruction (last time thanks to the Americans during WWII). 

Then we wandered over to San Augustin Church and Convent. The convent has been converted into a museum. We spend the next tour hours discovering the museum and its treasures.

The rooms were divided into unique themes that depicted all of the activities and interests of the Augustinian Friars that had inhabitied the monestary. For example, Asian ceramics, Filipino religious art, religious artifacts -  statues, vestments, sacristy objects, stations of the cross - drawings and paintings of churches and cathedrals, portraits of priest and monks, botany, music display in the choir loft, the outdoor gardens.

Sadly we were not able to explore the ornate church because a wedding was taking place when we finished our museum tour. 

We stopped in the middle of the day to go to the rooftop bar at the Bay Leaf Hotel. Unfortunately the rooftop was not open yet, but we were able to explore the view of old Manila, the fort, the golf course, the city wall, the Cathedral and the Church from there. We walked back down to the restaurant for a drink and some traditional Filipino food - fried chicken and Sugba Kilaw (pork belly and fish ceviche). I also tried their signature iced tea that is brewed overnight and has passion fruit juice added to it. It was very sweet, but tasty!

We are disappointed that we are not on the rooftop, but the a/c feels really good. 

There were not a lot of cabs around, so they ordered a Grab for us (like Uber or Lyft, although more expensive than a cab). The ride was much smoother and I was able to have a bit of a nap.

It was a quick turnaround at the room. We showered and changed before taking a cab to Bonifacio Glocal City (BGC) to Charlene and Roy’s house.

It was great to see them and for me to meet Roy, Ezra and Ellie. The kids were having dinner, but were in great spirits and were thrilled with the Storm Trouper mask and stuffed bear that Bill brought for them. 

We were early, but headed to Tomatilo for dinner. It was a Spanish tapas spot with a Filipino twist and the food was fantastic. We ordered smoke salmon TNT (bombs with honey, truffle) charcuterie, carpaccio, sexy paella, and tomatito cochi - crispy suckling pig. 

After the restaurant we walked down the High Street shopping area to take a photo in front of the # I Love BH’s sign and had some ice cream cones at Baskin Robins before heading back to the hotel. Once again, I hit the bed and immediately fell asleep.