Old Manila, Coconut Palace and the guessing game

Luckily a slightly later start to day two with the chance to see Quezon City’s rush hour in full swing. I think only a clip from an on board camera or birds eye view will be able to justify the chaos of six lanes of traffic interweaving, undertaking and using the u-turn lane.

Manila’s premier tourist attraction (according to Lonely Planet) was a lovely old fort with a uniformed guard on a bike and some hot looking horse pulling tourist carts. There was a brief delay in the cultural tour whilst we posed behind the historical cut outs and with the statues but luckily our hosts were just as keen to get what the Australian team call ‘wacky shots’ as we were. We might need to look at cutting down on the cameras at some point though as waiting for seven photos in the baking sun might not be sustainable.

From the walls of the fort there were views over the Pasig river and down into the ruined cell where Dr Jose Rizal was imprisoned before his execution in 1866 for his part in starting the revolution against Spanish colonial rule. Brass footprints marked his path to the execution spot and his final poem, smuggled out of prison in an oil lamp, put our Spanish to the test. We all missed the explanation in English inlaid in the floor as we puzzled over the poem.  

Sadly Imelda Marcos’ coconut palace turned out not to be made entirely from coconut as billed. Built in the 70s and designed by Francisco Manoso there was an impressive amount of coconut involved from the chandeliers to the furniture. 20,000 coconut trees were used in the construction and originally made up 70% of the building. A table for 25 had a stunning inlay pattern made up of 40,000 coconut shells  and was put together by 60 small fingered children aged between 8 and 12.

Luckily enough trees were spared to provide some shade from the 40 degree heat on the patio whilst we heard about Richard getting left in the Korean demilitarised zone by his tour bus.

All facts in this are hastily scribbled and may not stand up to any kind of internet checking. Links are to help you find the right information…

I can remember a lovely meal with the GSE team that came to the UK who did their best to resolve my 3G issues and drinks, snacks and a live band with my lovely host family and their daughters who have stopped being shy and have moved onto testing my knowledge of flags. No I didn’t guess the Filipino one. Very embarrassing.