March 30, 2009
March 25, 2009
March 24, 2009
Graffiti at Intramuros
Amid the ruins of the Spanish-era walled city of Intramuros are urban artworks (aka graffiti), which, anti-social as they seem, are cool artistic expressions in their own right.
San Agustin Church
Facade of San Agustin Church, Intramuros, ManilaThe church, built in 1570, is a fine example of the earthquake baroque architecture and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mar. 21, 09
One for the Books
Last Saturday, on our way to MV Doulos, me and my friend happened to be in the middle of a massive rally against drugs - organized by government officials - in Roxas Boulevard, Manila.
The rally - with between 500,000 - 1 million attendees - was recognized by the Guiness Book of World records as the largest of its kind.
pics, from top: a helicopter flies by over Roxas Blvd, a kid and his mom attending the rally, the throng
March 23, 2009
Gadling Photo of the Day
The pic of a basketball court in Narbacan, Ilocos Sur I took last December was chosen as Gadling's photo of the day last March 20.
March 14, 2009
March 11, 2009
Singapore
The trip to Singapore was an afterthought when I made plans to go to KL, hence the overnight stay (I already booked my roundtrip Manila-KL ticket before I thought of going there). I was quite sceptical if I would like Singapore, with its reputation of being a gum-banning, sanitized society ("Disneyland with a death penalty").
My friends Ags and Fred fetched me at Changi airport when I landed at about 9pm, and taking the MRT, went to Clarke Quay right away.
Clarke Quay is a party place, full of bars and restaurants, and lots of party animals imbibing SG$15 beers and dancing the night away. After a dinner of satay, we went to Clinic bar, which has wheelchairs for sitting and drinks presented in IV bags.
After a night of merrymaking, Ags and Fred brought me to my hostel (Tresor Inn) just around Bugis area. My stay there wasn't particularly pleasant. The place is OK, and the facilities are adequate, but the person staying below my bunk smelled really bad, and since the room has AC, he stank up the whole place. I slept with the covers fashioned into a makeshift gas mask.
With only until noon to see the city before my flight back to KL, I went to see the Esplanade and the Merlion. Unfortunately, the statue was hit by a lightning and it was covered in scaffolding for repairs. After lingering for half an hour there, I went to the Fitness First gym in One Raffles Quay to take a shower, then took the subway to Changi Airport.
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is the destination of my first foreign trip for 2009. After four hours in a Cebu Pacific flight, which left Manila almost nine in the evening, I landed about 30 minutes past one in the morning. Hungry and sleepy, I relented to take a taxi from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, which is about 80 km from the city, to my hostel, for a hundred ringgits. After checking in the hostel (the staff - Andrew and Mirza - were particularly helpful), I sought out to find a place to eat, and at about 2:30 in the morning, had my first Malaysian food.
It was a start of a busy day for me when I got up in the morning. Taking the monorail, I went to Petronas Twin Towers, which is still the tallest twin buildings in the world. Although I missed the free tickets going to the 41st level skybridge, the trip there wasn't totally wasted. I had breakfast at the nearby mall (Suria KLCC), and then headed to Menara Kuala Lumpur, a telecommunications tower with a viewing deck at about 200 meters up.
I then busied myself in Bukit Bintang after oggling the view and having a late lunch. I then dropped by a local Fitness First gym (at MBf building at Jalan Sultan Ismail) to freshen up, then got a massage afterwards.
Too pooped to go out in the evening I hung out in the hostel instead and had a beer with Mirza. I also met and made friends with some of the backpackers who stayed in the hostel. One, Kohei from Japan, went with me to explore KL the next day. Getting up early, we went to Petronas to get tickets for the skybridge tour.
The view from the skybridge - famous in the movie Entrapment - was spectacular, although Menara KL offers a better view, owing to the 360-degree viewdeck. Visitors only have 10 minutes to spend in the bridge, and afterwhich, we went to the obligatory gift shop to buy some mementos.
After Petronas we took the Putra line subway to go and explore the old section of KL: Merdeka Square, Sultan Abdul Samad building, Chinatown. One observation: the locals aren't very helpful when we were asking for directions, either they are feigning they don't know or are really clueless about the landmarks that we want to see.
Taking the monorail back to Imbi station, Kohei and I had a late lunch at the foodcourt of the 10-storey-high Berjaya Times Square, then went back to the hostel for a nap. Around 4pm, I went to KL Sentral to catch a bus to LCCT, where I would board my AirAsia flight to Singapore.
Merlion Out of Commission
The Merlion, Singapore's famous landmark, is currently being repaired, after being hit by a lightning.
March 8, 2009
March 7, 2009
Petronas Towers SkyBridge
This is the view looking down from the bridge, 41 floors up.
March 6, 2009
Menara Kuala Lumpur
It would take its high-speed elevators less than a minute to reach the 150-meter high viewing deck of the 421-meter high tower.
Petronas Tower
March 6, 2009
March 3, 2009
March 1, 2009
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