Manila layover tour: first glance of the Philippines 2. Quiapo 馬尼拉一日遊
Previous:
- Taipei — Manila Philippine Airlines PR895 Flight Report
- Manila layover tour: first glance of the Philippines 1. Binondo
Quiapo is the old downtown of Manila, full of local markets selling everything ranging from electronics, foods and incenses. It is where the Church of Black Nazarene sit, one of the most important churches in the Philippines.
The Quiapo church (the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene) saw few foreign tourists, which enshrined the Black Nazarene, a dark-skinned statue of Jesus Christ carved by a Mexican artist and brought to the Philippines in the 16th century. Worship of the Black Nazarene has become Philippine’s national symbol throughout the centuries.
A mess was taking place when I arrived, so I couldn’t see the Black Nazarene in close distance, only the replica displayed at the back.
The church is surrounded by hustle and bustle. Vendors here reminded me of my aunt, who also sold various stuffs in markets once in a while. If she were worn in the Philippines, she would probably be selling incenses for churchgoers, instead for those visiting Buddhist temples. People everywhere in the world are really more alike to each other than we thought.
I wonder whether this “Amis” restaurant has anything to do with the Amis people in Taiwan. They are also Austronesian anyway.
This Fried chicken chain store reminded of similar looking stores in Guatemala. The Philippines and Latin America, due to coincidence in history, have been influenced by the US in multiple ways, public culture, urban design, and also food.
Another corner of the market featured seafood.
“Quinta Market” is a renovated indoor market selling seafood and meat by the river. It used to be a row of old wooden houses. I was planning to walk all the way to the other side, but a barking dog stopped me from going forward. I always give in to barking dogs during travels.
Before leaving Quiapo, I went to lunch in Jollibee. This was probably the first time I ate in this iconic Filipino fast food restaurant. The name that is synonymous to “Filipino cuisine” overseas. I wasn’t particularly hungry (I actually eat quite little during my travels, especially during those long and exhausting excursions), but fried chicken with rice is a very good combination. The Nestea lemon tea was way too sweet though — most likely they messed up with the recipe.
Here in Jollibee, there was no place to return the tray to (just left for the janitors to clean up). A guard was standing at the door and opened the door for every customer. How does it makes sense economically for the restaurant to hire a person just to open the door? Perhaps salaries here are way too low…
Keep in mind the “cheap countries” are just those with weaker currencies, the victims of global exploitation.
After the meal, I walked across the bridge (fortunately with pedestrian sidewalks) to Intramuros.
However, the “walk-ability” completely went out of the window after I made it across the bridge. Apparently I was right outside Intramuros, but not quite, still “fuera-muros” that is. The entrance to Intramuros was nowhere to be found. I even hopped on a passing bus, found out it’s actually a long-haul one, and left at the next intersection as the driver collected tickets.
“That way!” “Over there!” “The following exit!” “Turn right!” I walked back and forth in the underpass, trying to figure out how to make sense of random people’s conflicting instructions. Finally I gave up to Manila’s traffic and asked another tuk-tuk driver to take me across the “muros”.
“Intra-muros!”
“day tour? day tour?”
“No, no just across the muros!”
