Wednesday Walk: Strolling in Manila

Hola Hivers!

It's me Mooon, and for this blog, I will share my experience of exploring Manila. On this walk, I just visited three historical places: the National Museum, the Manila Post Office, and the Jones Bridge.

We have an outreach activity in an orphanage located in Paco, Manila, and we visited the "Associacion de Damas de Filipinas, Inc." However, it was a long story, so I'm going to publish a separate blog for it.

Fast forward, After the event, my colleagues suggested exploring Manila and it looked exciting so I joined them without hesitation
From Paco, we ride a jeepney and drop off at Sta. Cruz, and since we want to explore every street we choose to walk, we can familiarize ourselves with Manila.

First, we visited the National Museum of Anthropology and Fine Arts.

I've always been a museum guy; however, most of the time I visited every museum alone, and I just realized at that very moment that visiting with friends is more ecstatic because we can share insights and perspectives at that present time.

Also, I love our newly designed shirt! ***

For the second stop, we visited the Manila post office.

Unfortunately, the Manila Post Office is not open to the public due to a fire incident in May 2023, and as you can see, there are still marks caused by fire damage. There are 18 injured civilians, and the report estimated that 300 million assets were damaged.

The MCPO building was declared a cultural property by the National Museum in late 2018, designed by two Filipino architects, Juan Arellano anTomasas Mapua, with a neo-classical structure. It was also destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in 1946.

For our last stop, the Manila Jones Bridge

Jones Bridge is often referred to as "Manila's Queen of Bridges." It has been a cultural symbol and a means of transportation for generations of Filipinos.

The Bridge was part of a scheme in the 1920s to transport Manila's downtown into a showcase of Neoclassical architecture; the bridge was destroyed during World War II but rebuilt by the US and Philippine public works departments in 1945. The bridge fell into disrepair in the 1980s but has been somewhat restored with new street lamps and stone railings.

That was what I remembered from my previous history subject back then. lol!🤣*

Three years ago, when Mayor Isko Moreno, AKA "Yorme," and his officials renovated and redesigned the bridge, the result was amazing. The bridge is astonishing and elegant. They added more lamp posts, lights, and intricate parts to make the bridge more attractive and lively at night.
Salute to Mayor Isko for the initiative. Filipinos can now appreciate the beauty of Jones Bridge.

Well, going back, I didn't expect this place to be crowded; for sure, these people are waiting to see what the bridge looks like at night.

Upon exploring the bridge extension, we saw a vacant spot where we could stay while waiting for the lights to open.

The statues and colorful water fountains make the bridge more majestic.

As the sun slowly comes down, the bridge becomes more lively, and based on what I've heard from the people, it kind of gives you a Venice vibe at night, and that's what I've witnessed.

For our souvenir, one of my colleagues looked for a good spot and took some pictures. We just needed to move quickly, though there were a lot of people waiting to capture the magnificent bridge.

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It was truly a magical night, and we were grateful for the opportunity to experience it together. We will treasure this memory for sure.

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That's it for today.
Thanks for visiting my blog, till next time! 😉

~ Mooon Out 🤙

Ps. All photos are owned by me, otherwise credited.