Intramuros: Walk and History

Fie and I went to Intramuros last week and it made me want to travel back in time! The structures are so beautiful that you want to preserve them, and maybe live in them someday.

Intramuros is one of the most historical places in Manila and it holds so much grandeur and glamour despite of wars, earthquakes and time. This was one strong (albeit unlucky) city! I've never been before so I was excited as Fie and I met up in Boni MRT station, rode it up to Taft avenue, crossed over to LRT then rode the other train to Carriedo LRT station. Whew. What a tiring commute! But it was all worth it, I swear. :)

After visiting Fort Santiago, we went around the other parts of the walled city. It was hot and we were sweaty but the buildings and the history behind them are fascinating. I'll shut up now and show you the photos!! And some fun facts just because I like you. :)

An old bank office that was technically about a kilometer away from Intramuros. It was beautiful so I took a photo anyway. You can see this outside the Carriedo LRT station. You can ride a jeepney to Pier in front of it.

Palacio del Gobernador
The jeepney to Pier will pass by this building, you won't miss it. It's on the left side, just beside Manila Cathedral.

Plaza Roma

Manila Cathedral

The Chinese Museum. You have to pay a hundred pesos to get in and photos were not allowed.

San Agustin Church. Known as the "wedding capital of the Philippines", the oldest stone church in the whole country.

A Japanese cannon

Soldier headquarters

The 12 Japanese cannons surrounding the fort.

A gallery of all the past presidents of the Philippines

So, where did your casual wanders bring you?

Jennica Wanders in Binondo: The Churches

My man's greatest discovery so far has made me very happy. He has discovered the existence of walking tours in Manila! :)

I LOVE to see places no matter how far from metro.

If I know we'll get something intangible from it, then I would definitely line that up for next week's date plan.

Good thing that Alfie has no second thoughts about my way of wandering, I can quickly sign him up for anything I want do.

We learned that there is a walking tour in Binondo, Manila.

It's the one place I have always wanted to visit even if it's not really known as a "relaxing" place.

It's a pretty normal town but with more emphasis on the Chinese culture.

Both of us will be visiting Binondo for the first time so of course, I browsed the net on how to commute going there.

This is one advantage to not owning a car.. You'll learn to use public transport and deal with practical things for a commute (directions, safety while walking, etc).

Walking tours are usually led by a tour guide but for people who prefer to be a bit more adventurous, like us, we opted to just have a list of landmarks to visit and find it for ourselves. 

We missed the history lesson that comes with the tour guide but there's something in discovering things alone that makes the tour more exciting and fulfilling.

We got lost, oh yes, but more on that later. :)

Church #1: Sta Cruz Church

Sta Cruz Church is the one nearest the train station that we dropped off from.

The place is in the middle of Manila so I know we have to be careful in bringing out cameras or phones for picture taking. 

The photos for this post were taken with quick flicks of my wrist and with more ninja moves than I knew I had!

Church #2: Binondo Church

This is probably one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever been to!

We saw that they are renovating  it and I am impressed with that.

The Catholic church is all about tradition and teachings so it’s nice to see them catching up with the times. It’s important to maintain the aesthetics of the church both for safety and preservation of culture.