Manila: Manila Ocean Park

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WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
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When I first heard that the Manila Ocean Park, a marine park, recently opened in my city, Manila, I thought that that was so first world. Parks of this kind that I know of only existed in countries like the US, Spain and Japan. To be inside one of those tube aquariums, I thought, I would have to travel to those countries. Suffice it to say, that no longer applies.


Admittedly, our marine park is smaller than those in first-world countries. And it is. Depending on how fast you walk, you'll probably be able to go through the whole park in half an hour. But then I thought, hey, we got enough biodiversity in our seas to fill our marine parks with.


The park starts off big, literally. The first aquarium is that of three giant freshwater arapaima, a tropical fish normally found in the Amazon. They are big. I mean, Nat Geo Monster Fish big. I particularly enjoyed seeing them up-close because I am a huge fan of the show.


After the freshwater aquariums, you move on to a gallery of smaller ones, with a lot of interesting-looking fishes. Some elegant, some with elaborate fins and spines, some snaky, and some cute. I think this part would definitely be most enjoyable to kids.




Then, there are the ugly and scary ones. A rock fish which you would totally mistake for a colorful sea rock. Unfortunate, really, because they're poisonous. There's thing tank, too, full of sharks. Two or three of those sharks are so huge they can swallow a child whole. Really scary.




After the seawater fish gallery, you come up this huge atrium, the walls of which had huge built-in tanks of deep-water fishes. Some of them, I thought, looked plump enough to make good dinner. Haha. The atrium then leads off to the tube aquarium, which I very much enjoyed. You can tell by now that I am a fan of larger-than-life marine creatures.


The 400-peso entrance fee (350 for children) is not bad, actually. Well, I got in at a 50-percent discount because the company I work for chose the park as the venue for its year-end party. But I'd pay 400 for it. I'd pay a little more if I could actually get inside one of the tanks and be really up-close and personal with the marine life. Fortunately, they do have this activity. Aquanaut Voyage, they call it. One of these days, maybe.

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Manila: Intramuros

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WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
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It has to be done. I have been to quite a few places in and around the country and yet, I have never really explored the history of the city I was born in, at least not in recent years. I have seen and photographed remnants of the Spanish occupation in other parts of the Philippines. I guess it was time that I did so in my city, the country's capital, Manila.


Intramuros, Latin for within the walls, is a small territory located in the western part of Metro Manila, right by the bay and on the southern banks of the Pasig River. Back in the day, this walled city was considered the whole of Manila itself. Over the years, the territory covered by "Manila" expanded to the chaotic urban sprawl you see today.



The most prominent landmark of Intramuros is, of course, the Manila Cathedral, our first stop. The original church was erected here in 1581. It has taken quite a number of beatings over the years, including a world war, and so what we see today is actually the sixth incarnation of the church.



The cathedral interiors are palatial to say the least, the kind of place a lot of couples would want to be married in. The church is notoriously booked though. We're talking years, not just months. In fact, in the hour or so that we were there, we saw at least three set of wedding entourages pass by. Crazy.


After the cathedral, we walked the stone-covered General Luna street onto Casa Manila. It is basically a museum, a showcase of the architectural style and design popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. It costs 75 pesos to go inside the house itself and cameras aren't allowed. Needless to say, we contented ourselves exploring just the exteriors, including the courtyard, which were enough really.



For our final stop, we went back up the road, past the Manila Cathedral and the Palacio del Gobernador, into Fort Santiago, a defense fortress which was a necessity and thus a staple of Spanish colonies founded at the time. The fort forms part of Intramuros' actual walls but to get in, you need to pay 75 pesos.


Most of what Fort Santiago is right now is a well-manicured park/museum which houses memorabilia and other historical artifacts in the life of Filipino national hero Dr. José Rizal. It is a widely known fact that Fort Santiago served as Rizal's final holding prison before his execution on December 30, 1896.


We came to Intramuros in the afternoon. By the time we finished, it was already getting dark and we were getting really hungry. So we did the natural thing to do. We crossed the river into Binondo, Manila's Chinatown. After about a fifteen minute walk into Binondo's busy streets, we settled for a place that served all kinds of Chinese-Filipino dishes. At that point, we all knew we had a very good day. A very very good day.

For my complete gallery on Manila: Intramuros, please go to my Flickr set here.

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