Since my cruise was originally supposed to start in Manila, Philippines I had booked my flights from here. A few months ago NCL made an embarkation port change to Hong Kong. So I decided to leave my plane reservations with JAL. Then I booked a new ticket from Manila to Hong Kong on Philippines Airlines using some of the $300 credit NCL provided for tickets change fees.
I fly a bit a circuitous route from Puerto Vallarta to Dallas to Tokyo to Manila, but like I have said many times it’s all about the fare price! Direct flights if they are available are always doubled or more. My orginal airfare was a bit more complicated from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico to Vancouver to Tokyo Narita to Manila, but Air Canada made schedule changes and the whole thing had to be revised because I would have missed a connection. This new particular route forced a 12 hour rest period between flights, so I found the Royal Park Hotel in terminal 3 of the Haneda airport. There are actually 2 these, one inside and the other outside of the security zone. So be careful which one you book! But a nice nap and I am on the way to Manila, Philippines.
I arrive very early in the morning in Manila, and my hotel reservation was for 2 nights, so they accommodated me at the New Coast Hotel with an early checkin. That afternoon I walked around the neighborhood towards the Bay and found an interesting spotless beach. Why? No plastic bottles are allowed to be carried into Manila Bay Beach and without any seating, I guess you just bring a towel? It was a great place to see the sunset as I did from my hotel room facing the same direction. The next day I realized that a huge mall, Robinson Mall was in the other direction just a block away. I had arranged a private guide with the Concierge and we spent several hours exploring the Old and New Manila.
Our first stop is the Rizal Park which is like Central Park in New York City. The place where the tomb of the Dr. Jose Rizal lies, the national hero of the Philippines. Guarded by the military and features a fountains area, food and beverage vendors, and a gathering place for the Filipinos day and night. It features Chinese and Japanese gardens, picnic grounds, amphitheater, and even a stadium. It is the citizens of Manila favorite place as there is a limited amount of green space in the city. Across the boulevard is the inauguration stands used for that purpose.
We make a stop an a very old church, the Manila Cathedral. Considered to be the oldest stone church in the Philippines it was establish in 1571. The church aisle was designed as a Latin cross, wherein you can admire the artistic stained-glass windows. Designed and created by Filipino artist Galo Ocampo. Italian artists sculpted the religious images in the cathedral. The Latin inscription in one of the arches in the entrance that reads Tibi cordi tuo immaculato concredimus nos ac consecramus (To thy Immaculate Heart, entrust us and concentrate us) greets the churchgoers.
Since it is adjacent to the area known as Intramuros (inside the walls), our next drive is to through that area of the walled city to Fort Santiago. Fort Santiago is one of the oldest fortifications in Manila built by the Spaniards in 1571. From what was once a palisaded structure of logs and earth built by Rajah Soliman on the native settlement called Maynila. The colonizers recognized that the tongue of land where the Pasig River flowed into the Manila Bay was a very strategic location.
The Santiago fort was destroyed in 1574 during the Chinese attack led by Limahong. The stone fort was built between 1589 and 1592 and was repaired and extended after being damaged by the 1645 earthquake. Spanish, British, American and Japanese occupation forces used the fort as their headquarters and a prison for men, women, children and soldiers. After its destruction during the Battle of Manila in 1945, the fort was used by the U.S. Transportation Corps as a depot until it was turned over to the Philippine government in 1946. In 1950, Fort Santiago was declared a Shrine of Freedom and restoration began the following year. Today, it stands as a memorial to the victims of World War II and the sacrifices of the Filipino people in pursuit of freedom. The museum is dedicated to the life, imprisonment, and death of Dr. Jose Rizal.
We take drive through China Town and then finish the tour at the wonderful Manila Hotel. I am scheduled to be back in Manila on a tour with the cruise line on one of its scheduled stops.
The Manila Hotel is a 550-room, historic five-star hotel located along Manila Bay. The hotel is the oldest premiere hotel in the Philippines built in 1909 to rival Malacanang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines. It was opened on the commemoration of American Independence on July 4, 1912. The hotel complex was built on a reclaimed area 380,000 sq ft at the northwestern end of Rizal Park. Its penthouse served as the residence of General Doublas MacArthur during his tenure as the Military Advisor of the Philippine Commonwealth from 1935 to 1941. The Manila Hotel has hosted many celebrities over the years while visiting Manila.
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