Burial Plot of Thomasites at the North Cemetery

No matter how long one has lived in one place, one still has something to new to discover. I’ve been a Manileña for almost 28 years and there are still so much to discover in this beautiful city. There are a lot of stories to hear about Manila. Last month we participated in Wikipedia Takes Manila, a photo marathon contest within Manila. Our task was to take photos of different spots in Manila to be contributed to different Wikipedia entries.

Never in my life have I imagined that I will win any place at the Canon Photomarathon. It was my first time to join and the competition was really tough. There were 3 categories: DSLR, Point and Shoot and Video Category. Since I don’t have an DSLR, I only submitted photos from my Canon SX110IS and Karla’s Canon S90,obviously they will only be qualified for the Point and Shoot category. The Canon Photomarathon was last month to be exact and they only announced the winner for my category last week. It was surprising indeed that my photo was chosen. I somewhat got a hint when someone from Canon’s PR called me and was asking me to submit my photo again. He told me that they will be announcing the winner.I just waited for the official email to confirm that my entry won.

Thanks to Canon and to the judges who considered my photo. I’m a photo contest virgin!

May 9, 2010, Manila Bay

This was the last sunset before the elections. I am hoping that as our leaders change, we’ll also change as Filipino people. The Manila Bay sunset is one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world an looking at it brings us hope for a brighter tomorrow. All of us Filipinos are hoping that tomorrow will be a perfect day.

I’ve been living in Manila for almost 27 years of my life but I have never experienced Luneta Park the way I experienced it before. The most obvious thing in Luneta Park, the Rizal Monument, is already given when you think about Luneta Park but I never realized that one can rediscover  Jose Rizal by going to Luneta Park.

Calesa in Luneta Park, Manila

Calesas or Karitelas were the means of transportation during Spanish era in the Philippines. This was introduced to us by the Spaniards during the 18th century. Calesa (or Kalesa) is a horse-drawn carriage in the Philippines. The person who directs the horse where to go is called a “kutsyero”. Because of modernization, there are only a few left. We can usually see this transportation in the Old Manila and Binondo (Chinatown) area. Tourists are delighted to try and ride this and there are some locals that still use this as a means of transportation. A calesa ride is more expensive than the usual jeepney ride. If I’m not mistaken, it costs around 100 Pesos.

This is how Manila Bay looks like on a Sunday morning. The skies are clear and the bay looks calm. There are lots of people who exercise and jog here in the morning. The yachts there are docked at the Manila Yacht Club.