We slept until 5am, twelve hours of sleep at last! We had two coffees in the room before heading down to the restaurant in the hotel for included breakfast. I ordered a milk fish with rice and Jives got a club sandwich with fries. Both were excellent. We also ordered coffee. The milk fish was grilled to a crisp and covered in garlic and a savoury baked in sauce. After our breakfast we retreated to the room for another coffee and to pack up our stuff before check out.

We had reception hold our bags and we headed out , walking towards the intermeros or the old walled city area. We walked about thirty minutes to the metro stop where we tried to get a pass but they were sold out. We paid 250 each for a single use pass and then waited on the platform for the next train. It was only two stops until our stop “United Nations”. The train wasn’t too full which was good as I read it could get very busy in the morning and during commuter times. We took the train two stops and then walked towards the main gate to the intermuros. Along the way so many roads were closed… it got more and more frustrating as we had to be back at the hotel by three and it was now ten. We had spent two hours getting to the intermuros already. A guy approached us about a tour and said he would drive us between the sights. We said “yes” and jumped in his tuk tuk. 

I think his name was Ryan, but his odd language quirk meant he said “my name is” about everything he introduced. 

Our first stop was a big monument and flag. The monument was for Jose Rizal and the huge park was called Rizal park. 

Our second stop was a little vantage point on the river called
“Dasig River Esplanade”. It was a nice spot for photos and sort of felt like the river Seine in Paris. 

Next we stopped at a big cathedral right in the heart of the walled city called “Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception”. There was a huge wedding going on here with ladies dressed in cream coloured gowns (very elaborate ones). The cathedral was huge, but it felt weird to be inside it during someone else’s wedding. 

Next we visited “Baluarte de San Diego” , an old portion of the city wall with remaining foundations set out in a weird maze-like formation. We walked around here after paying the 75 peso entry fee. The fortification was set beside a golf course, so you have to be aware of rouge golf balls. We then saw an old Japanese cannon just through a little hole in the wall. 

We travelled a short distance and went into a hotel where we had a great view of the intermuros from the rooftop for free. It started to pour rain just as we made it to the rooftop however.

Our next stop was a Whiskey distillery where we paid 200 pesos each to tour the little museum and sample six types of alcohol. The museum was pretty interesting. I loved looking at the old bottles dating back to the 1800’s. We then tried six shots; a local baileys sort of drink, a strawberry daiquiri thing we didn’t really want to try, a green apple drink, Kung Fu whiskey at claimed to herbal “for vitality”, the oldest blend they had and a rum called “Very Old Captain” which was so strong. I tried a mango drink and Jives had a whiskey that was old (it was the last shot and the last bottle they had). 

We then jumped back in the tuk tuk and headed to another church in a busy square called “San Agustin” Church. There was a market going on in this area and lots of people. The church had lovely carvings on the doors and there were dope stone lions. 

We then visited Casa Manila, what looked like an old neighbourhood with a fountained courtyard and old stairwells covered in plant life. We bumped into a couple we had flown with from Toronto to Chicago to Tokyo and then Manila!! 

Our last stop in the intramuros was “Fort Santiago” where we paid 75 pesos to get in. The fort was pretty huge, and we probably could have used some more time there. We rushed through it, but still enjoyed it, especially the walk along the walls. It reminded me a lot of Tainan and the Anping tree house, and just Tainan in general. We then got back in the tuktuk and headed to China town. 

We were sort of reluctant to go to China town, and it mostly ended up being an endless traffic jam, eating up lots of money, as we paid by the hour, and that was probably his intent. It was interesting seeing the craziness and so many people selling everything you can imagine. We also drove through a super super poor area full of shanties built up and people bathing in the streets and chickens among people as well as so many pet pigeons. I saw a small boy catch and then throw a pigeon like a baseball. 

We headed back towards our hotel at 2:30pm and our driver suddenly said he couldn’t take us to our hotel. I’m not sure how true this was as he stopped his tuk tuk exactly at 2:30pm… anyways. We paid the driver way too much and then walked the remaining 45 minutes to our hotel through some super sketchy streets. We got back to the hotel around 3:30pm and had a drink at the hotel restaurant. Jives ordered spring rolls and I ordered some grilled veggies which they told me later they didn’t have. Every other dish had meat, so I just didn’t eat. Our IPA beers were awesome and I had some of Jives’ rice. We paid and went to the hotel reception to retrieve our bags and ask the staff if they could arrange for a taxi to the airport.