On Monday Justin had to go to work.
He works at the Philippine Nautical Training Institute, otherwise known as
PNTC. The college is owned by his father and is a maritime school that trains
seafarers. Justin manages a group of people that do the marketing of the
school. I was going to do some site seeing while he was there.
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| San Agustin Church |
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| Leftover Walls of Intramuros |
So I wouldn’t be alone, Justin had
his driver/helper Nato be my tour guide. In the surrounding area of Justin’s
work is Intramuros. It is a historic part of Manila. When the Spaniards colonized
the Philippines they built the walls of Intramuros to surround their government
buildings. The walls are still standing and are very old. They were damaged at
one point so later they were repaired. The architecture of the buildings in the
area is very Spanish. The buildings look like some of the buildings I
encountered in Spain. The street signs are made of tiles on the side of
buildings. The area made me very nostalgic. There are some famous churches
within the walls, but one was under construction and the other had a wedding
inside so we weren’t able to view it.
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| Rizal Park |
Touring with Nato was fun. He spoke
hardly any English and I didn’t know any Filipino. There are men with horses
and carriages that ride around the city and give rides. Nato tried to barter
for a price for me but I didn’t understand/know what he was doing. The horse
looked pretty hot and tired so we didn’t ride in the carriage. Instead Nato and
I got in the car and drove around. We went and saw Rizal Park, which is full of
a few monuments, and other sites.
In the end, it wasn't a very educational tour but I had a really good time. Nato smiled a lot and he definitely made me laugh.
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