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You are here: Home / Destination / Eleventh Stop: Thrilla in Manila (Day 2)

Eleventh Stop: Thrilla in Manila (Day 2)

February 12, 2011 by Edcel 1 Comment

The second day of our Manila trip was scheduled as the roam-around-all-you-want-all-you-can-as-your-feet-does-not-complain day based on our on-location-not-so-cleverly-planned itinerary. So were we excited? For the “tour”, Hell yeah! For the projected long walk, not really. Edcel was uberly excited, he woke up ahead of the alarm clock and had to drag me out of bed.

As mentioned, we did not have any real itinerary and no map in hand so while I was readying myself, Edcel had to scour for details, geographical locations, distance between spots and the most convenient route to take using my laptop and the free WiFi from Villa Appartelle (Thank God for geniuses who created wireless internet!).

The plan for the day: Star City-Manila Zoo-Luneta Park-Manila Ocean Park-Divisoria. The first spot on the list was to start off in SM Mall of Asia, then Star City then check out Dragon boat rowers nearby. We rode the MRT from Quezon Avenue to Taft. Then took a jeepney bound for MOA then rode a cab to Star City. This first stop was a proof of how uberly under-researched this trip was.

When we got to Star City, it was still closed and only opens by 2:00 PM. Just our luck. So we headed off to where Dragon boat rowers will be seen but then again, there are no rowers on Mondays.

Good thing we were able to research other spot’s locations early that morning so we had a slight clue where we were going. So we decided to head off to Manila Zoo. The long walk started from CCP Complex to Manila Zoo passing by Roxas Boulevard.

Manila Zoo
I was uberly excited to visit Manila Zoo as this was my ever first visit to zoo. I’ve never visited Cebu Zoo, and so I was expecting to see giraffes, elephants, lions, tigers, and zebras. I felt like a pre-schooler on a field trip. When we headed inside the Manila Zoo, my eyes grew bigger and bigger when we were greeted by the gigantic elephant just near the entrance. We had the chance to have our pictures taken with the playful Ostrich fenced fronting the elephant.

Just I was fired up to check the other animals, I was in utter disgust I wanted to go home as we checked out the reptiles den. There were snakes and other reptiles no matter where I look. I could not persuade Edcel to forget about taking pictures of the reptiles as I can see a big smile on his face just seeing the creatures (he could be smiling because he was enjoying the view or he was having fun on my misery getting near the reptiles).

We headed on with the tour to my relief and checked out more species of crocodiles, turtles, deers, monkeys, rabbits, birds, zebras, tigers and fishes!  We toured around the Zoo to look for giraffes. To our frustration, no giraffes at all. Well, as a consolation, there was a statue of a giraffe.

As we were about to exit Manila Zoo, Edcel had something on his mind. Basing on the smirk on his face, I knew it was not something good. Edcel convinced me to have our picture taken with a snake. I did not obliged, of course! Edcel then went into tantrums mode hoping he could convince me but still I did not budge. As we were nearing the exit, Edcel talked more and more until I finally gave in. My body shivered when I touched the snake. My tears fell when the photographer placed the snake on my shoulder.

Edcel was again smirking as he could have been enjoying the opportunity of having his picture taken with a snake or he could have just been enjoying my misery. Picture taking was over and was finally relief from the snake. We’re done touring around the Manila Zoo and we’re ready for our second spot. We rode a jeepney bound for Luneta Park. Upon arriving, Edcel took some shots of the place while I was retouching my makeup (retouching is a must!). We decided to check out the National Museum, to our dismay, it is closed on Mondays.

The kalesa ride to hell
There we met a very kind old man with his kalesa. He offered to take out pictures taken in his kalesa and told us that he can tour us around and its up to us how much we’ll pay him. We were the unsuspecting young tourist and since we’re already tired walking, we chose to have a kalesa ride tour. 
The tour started with Manong kalesa driver giving us some tidbits of Manila, the National Museum, and his life. He was showing off some of his English speaking skills that he so-boasted learned from his everyday encounters with foreign tourist. He toured us around every significant spots like the statues of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, the Manila Post Office, Manila Cathedral, Intramuros, Quiapo, Chinatown, outside Malacańang Palace among others. 
He also shared bits of information about every significant landmark, street, statue, church, building, bridge, university and others. It was a very informative tour. We were able to cover a big area but we weren’t really able to go down the kalesa and personally check the places. We were a bit over our planned schedule so we decided to end the kalesa tour as we still have to visit Manila Ocean Park, Star City then Divisoria for dinner.
When we asked the kalesa driver to dropped us near Manila Ocean Park, he then suddenly boasted that he gets paid $100 (4500PHP) by foreigners for the same tour that we got. He then said that since we’re Filipinos and we’re students, we will be getting a discount, we only need pay him 2500PHP! I was stupefied by the amount he requested. Edcel and I looked each other, thinking how much we’re going to pay him. Edcel was enraged with the thought of an old man trying to rip him off. Edcel started to politely argue with the old man. Edcel stated. “Kung sinabi mo pa sana ang presyo kanina, hindi na sana kami sumakay! Sabi mo kasi, kami na ang bahala!” (If you only mentioned the price beforehand, we would not have taken the ride).

Since we do not have much moolah (and we would not have paid the old man 2500PHP for a roughly 2-hour kalesa ride if we had the money anyway), we paid him 350PHP, disembarked the kalesa and kept our fingers crossed that nothing bad happens. It was just roughly a 2-hour kalesa ride and 350PHP is more than enough. We thought he was a good kind-hearted old man but he was total jerk! A Filipino trying to ripoff another Filipino! Way to go, Manong!

The fun had to continue so we hurriedly walked to Quirino Grandstand to check out Manila Ocean Park. Before that, we had to have some pictures taken at the historical Rizal Park.

Upon reaching Manila Ocean Park, we had to choose as to the best package deal worth all the money. We decided to take the Marine Life Encounter Promo package for 500PHP each. That will give us access to the Oceanarium, the Jellies and the Sea Lion Show. Before starting though, Edcel had to buy a new shirt, not as a souvenir though as he had to replace his shirt as it was full of white sweat stains as a result of an accumulated amount of sweat caused by the humidity of Manila (yes, Manila is very humid if you haven’t heard or read).

Continue reading our Day 2 adventures in Manila Ocean Park and Star City here


Continue reading Day 3 of our adventures in Manila here

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Filed Under: Destination, Manila, Philippines Tagged With: Luneta Park, Manila Ocean Park, SM Mall of Asia, Star City

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    December 11, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    sheen and edcel i sooooooo love your blog

    Reply

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