December 14, 2024
SANTO DOMINGO one final time with the Little / Olson Family
Spent a nice afternoon with the Little Olson Family - from the left is Alonia 15 , Whitney, Lucia 13 and Doug. They are from Montana, and are on the ship thru to May. They asked me to join them on a final stroll through the walled colonial city. I enjoy the whole family very much and wanted to see more in town since I was rushed on Sunday morning.
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When Alionia was feeding the pigeons, a very nice elderly guide started speaking to us and he wanted to share so much information about his home with us. He led us all over and took us in and out of so many places, museums, hotels, restaurants and shops - non- stop for a good hour - all free. It was great! He shared so much passion and local knowledge and showed us way more than we anticipated. We shared refreshing beverages at a lovely restaurant in a converted old factory, complete with a waterfall. And saw Larimar stone being made into jewelry. We ended at a large local market. Really felt like we got to know Santo Domingo!
Shopping is huge in Manila - there are sooo many malls! Probably because it is so stinky hot! The air condition draws you in, plus the malls have everything - giant Hyper supermarkets, movies, entertainment venues, sport complexes, spas & medical services, tons of restaurants and every retailer you can imagine. SH Mall of Asia is the 5th largest Mall in the World! I went here 2 different days, first with the ladies- Anna Sherrie & Sarah. Then back the next day with Terri, mainly because I was now familiar with the layout, and could move faster and get what I needed quickly.
Metro Manila is a massive urban jungle with a population of between 18 to 20 Million. Makati City, specifically the the neighborhood of Poblacion and P. Burgos Street is the heart of night life scene, this red light district is heavily concentrated with bars, pubs and go-go venues. I saw a Get your Guide VIP tour of some of the best clubs offered and Bosco and I, decided to check it out. When we arrived at the first venue, we found five other shipmates! We run into ship people everywhere! It's kinda nice, The Community is what we love about this lifestyle!
The Intramuros section of Manila, Philippines is the historic walled core, of this Capital City. Today, the surrounding stone walls are ringed by a golf course, in lieu of the moat from long ago. Below shows comparison from rendering 300 years ago, under Spanish Colonization to Today. Many of the historic buildings, churches, fort and prison remain. Kimberly and I walked it for over 4 hours, and we saw maybe a quarter of it. We sadly gave up due to the heat, humidity and our exhausted feet and missed the Corpus Christi procession to the Manila Cathedral with the Bishop, by just a half hour! If only we had known ahead of time!