All photos by Chris Cagasan
After a relaxing indoor stay at the hotel, we decided to check out the city with a little help from Chai, L's cousin whom he last saw over fifteen years ago. Our hotel shuttle brought us to the Ayala mall where we met Chai. We then went on a half day tour starting with Basilica de Sto.Nino, the first church and convent in the Philippines.
The church was built in 1565, got burned down, rebuilt and then the second one got destroyed as well. The current structure was built in the 1700. Our fascination with old churches started in Laoag, and carries up to this day. I certainly won't miss visiting the first church built here in the Philippines.
A lot of people were out today, tourists and locals alike. It is Palm Sunday, people were trying to sell us candles (P1) and palaspas. There were old ladies in white shirt and yellow skirt selling these, and there were other people selling rice cakes, men selling balloons, tourists taking pictures, people out to hear mass. It was a flurry of activity at the church, and a throng of people emerged to the plaza when the mass started. This church is so popular there is a mass every hour. We had to see the original Sto.Nino image which was brought by Magellan in 1565.
We entered the Basilica one way and exited another, through the gates of the school, which led us right onto Magellan's cross. It's too bad L's photo is destroyed by this balloon which got stuck on top of the ceiling. Oh well.
"Ok lang lakaw lang ta?," asks Chai. She is leading us by foot from Magellan's cross to Fort San Pedro, which is just a few blocks away. We see a Japanese couple being led by a Japanese tour guide, telling them about the only triangular fort which was used by the Spanish conquistadors when they set up camp here. We take our walk up the fort where the canyons are still up. Instead of battle-hungry
Indios of the past, I see a karaoke bar in full swing, taxi drivers and people just milling about.
Next on my list was Casa Gorordo, a visit to a museum, the Gorordo house, which is now being maintained by the Aboitiz foundation. A peek to the old ways of living, albeit the old buena familia of Spanish roots:the lace curtains, the narra dining table, the chandelier and old candelabras, the suitor chairs and the four-poster beds-- all these remind are similar to the the ancestral houses I have visited from North of the Philippines, to the South. Talk about leaving a strong cultural influence, that's the 300-year Spanish rule.
