The Philippines: Manila

Manila is where they must've filmed Blade Runner. It is composed of endless blocks of low, fully fenced and barb-wired concrete buildings, separated by narrow streets with skinny sidewalks. All of these blocks are held together by millions of miles of electrical wire that, by the look of it, was first stitched together before the Spanish Armada. The city is blistering hot, gray, claustrophobic, choked with traffic and smog, with literally puddles of soot deposited on every available surface. But it is amazingly full of people, from early morning and through the night, with many restaurants and other services running 24/7. Manila is the one city I've been to so far whose energy compares to that of New York. It is not a relaxing place - it has its own very particular rhythm, and you have to find a way to ride it to grow comfortable in it.











The best view of the city, though, is from afar:

The Philippines: First Impressions

The Intramuros (Spanish for "within the walls") is the oldest district within Manila (walled by the Spanish from 1590 onwards) and home to Fort Santiago, one of the oldest forts in Southeast Asia. It predates New Amsterdam's (Manhattan's) wall and Fort Clinton by 100 years. Over the years, it housed Spanish, British, American, Japanese, and Philippine forces, and its walls and structures have been destroyed and rebuilt many times.








Manila Cathedral


University of Santo Thomas is the oldest on Southeast Asia (having been chartered by the Spanish Crown in 1611) and older than most of the Ivy League colleges. The present building dates from 1927 (when the university moved from Intramuros to its current location) but the gate is original.





Subic Bay is the former US Navy base, now returned back to the Philippines forces (although US warships still call at it).

Birds of early spring

Tufted Titmouse:



White-Throated Sparrow:





Hooded Merganser vs. American Coot:


Northern Mockingbird:


Two male Mallards fighting over female:


Killdeer:


Chipping Sparrow:


Flight of the Common Grackle:


Black-Capped Chicadee:


American Oystercatcher in flight:


Ruby-crowned Kinglet:



Female Northern Flicker:


Orchard Oriole:


Song Sparrow:

April afternoon

And some more nice pictures:













The detritus that is the result of a winter's worth of seagulls dropping shells on the boardwalk to crack them:

April morning

Just some nice pictures: