# Undiscovered Metro Manila



## seattle_rainz17 (Nov 10, 2005)

here r some pics i got from other threads this is Metro Manila, Philippines! i;ve been there once and its such an awesome place!


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## _zner_ (May 24, 2005)

i love the first one....


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## juan_en_el_valle (May 10, 2005)

Wooooo amazing!


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## Childish King (Apr 23, 2004)

Manila looks so western-style.


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## Day Release (Jul 5, 2005)

kay:


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

Metro-Manila is pretty much undiscovered, rather i think its pretty much ignored and assumed to be a poverty stricken dying nation capital on the same level as (no offense) Ouagadougou or Vientianne, which it isnt. in fact its way more in league with other Southeast Asian megacities like Bangkok, Jakarta and even Kuala Lumpur.

I'd like to know whether there actually are any SSC forumers who have some sorta derogatory view toward Metro-Manila, and if so: why? Living in the UK i know for a fact that if there was a news report on Manila the media always portray Manila in the worst possible light, whereas showing other cities like Jakarta and Bangkok as being ultra-modern, ready-for-business and forward looking.. Has it got something to do with the fact that quite a few Filipinos working in the UK are in Nursing, and nursing is synonymous with abject poverty? so what bout all those British nannies and Opairs ogin over to work in the States?> (makes no sense)


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## deli (Dec 12, 2004)

looks very modern & beautiful, especially the night shots...


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## nicotech17 (Nov 16, 2005)

other pictures of manila................


















































































the other side of manila......................


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## Culiat (Sep 11, 2004)

More of Metro Manila


dudz said:


>





pau_p1 said:


> *Before*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Culiat (Sep 11, 2004)

Manila


sinjin said:


> *The Manila Bay*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## cmoonflyer (Aug 17, 2005)

*Manila is ATTRACTIVE...... *


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## Khanabadosh (Nov 16, 2004)

Great shots. Great city.


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

wow...these are another great pics of metromanila.

some pics of christmas lights pls.


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## mopc (Jan 31, 2005)

Very metropolitan!!!


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## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

:applause:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

vanoy2000 said:


> wow...these are another great pics of metromanila.
> 
> some pics of christmas lights pls.


dudz - UST campus.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

dudz - Intramuros

the manila cathedral









a lady in prayer









san agustin church



























Rizal Park










museum of the filipino people


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## StormShadow (Apr 14, 2005)

Impressive.... :applause:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## aranetacoliseum (Jun 8, 2005)

MANILA MANILA MANILA MANILA MANIA MANIA MANIA MANIA MANIA MANIA!

I LUV MANILA!!!!


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## chitrakaar (Apr 24, 2005)

lumpia said:


> Metro-Manila is pretty much undiscovered, rather i think its pretty much ignored and assumed to be a poverty stricken dying nation capital ....
> 
> Living in the UK i know for a fact that if there was a news report on Manila the media always portray Manila in the worst possible light, whereas showing other cities like Jakarta and Bangkok as being ultra-modern, ready-for-business and forward looking.. (makes no sense)


Actually, I think architecture-wise modern Manila is more interesting than either Jakarta or BKK - the new CBDs have some very stylish contemporary architecture...

Bangkok is a more popular tourist city for its old palaces and temples - which is perhaps why it may enjoy a better reputation....


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

to all forumers,

may you have a merry christmas and a prosperous new year!


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

sea games opening ceremony venue









rizal park


















decors









city hall christmas tree


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

merry christmas and happy new year to all forumers!


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## Siopao (Jun 22, 2005)

great pictures! kay:


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

very impressive.

some more night shots pls.


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## Latin l0cO (Nov 8, 2004)

Manilia truly is an undiscovered gem. I'd love to visit the city again soon.


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

fantastic :yes:


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## iñaki-garcia (Aug 18, 2004)

Manila is really amazing


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

Perhaps the reason my Manila is "left-out" by other Asian cities such as Bangkok or Jakarta is that Manila is in fact not Asian at all. One of my German uncles who visited Manila last year said that the city was more of a Hispanic city than Asian. If you would put Bangkok, Manila, and Mexico City side by side, which city would you think will Manila blend in the most? Definitely it would be Mexico City.

Another reason is that the Manila we see now is a rebirth of an old Manila. Unlike Bangkok or Singapore, Manila crumbled down every century since the 1600s. The worst death of Manila was in 1945 during the liberation of the city from the Japanese. Manila was heavily bombed and was destroyed making it the second most devastated city in the whole 20th century history, just second to Warsaw. Despite that, Manila picked up the remains of its ruins and has since rebuilt the city we see today.

If all of these did not happen, what would Manila probably look like? Maybe Manila would become an international city. With the Intramuros district occupied by a huge Spanish population, a government center developed by the Americans with huge buildings adorned by Roman columns, a Chinese district bustling with shoppers and traders, a European district lined with grand palaces, and of course, everything is topped with an abundance of Filipino culture. Sigh, what a Manila!


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

nice pics......awesome


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

good job animo.

thanks and happy new year too.


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

a panoramic view of Makati Skyline by Cyrusal


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

The Ortigas Skyline by Shotgun_X


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

Makati Street-Level Photos by Swatch69sg


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Here's one image I took of Makati/Fort Bonifacio's skyline when I was in Angono back in Dec


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## _zner_ (May 24, 2005)

^^ what are you doing in angono?


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## Arpels (Aug 9, 2004)

fabolouse city


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## BMXican (Jul 28, 2002)

I love the landscaping in the city. even the parking lots look nice.


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

more photos by Swatch69sg


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

(((myx))) said:


> ^^ what are you doing in angono?


Visiting some friends of mine who are into visual arts. I also check out the art galleries there


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

@ WANCH..... i like ur angono pic.....thanks for that.


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## ncon (Apr 6, 2005)

c0kelitr0 said:


>



I like this picture :eek2:


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

*My Pics, January 29, 2006*

my ortigas pics


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## hubzilla (Jan 14, 2004)

*My pics from a 2004 trip*

Panorama from my hotel room









Regular Manila


















Ortigas Center









Hmm, Starbucks & McDonalds, are we really in Asia?









Makati


















And from a rooftop restaurant


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## Greg (Nov 9, 2003)

Great pics kay:


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

Photos by Dudz


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

aliw theatre


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

*more photos by dudz*


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

*by dudz*


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

more ortigas pics by master dudz


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

Here are some photos I took with a manual Pentax K1000 film camera.

































































Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippines


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

another one by dudz


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)




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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

Manila - always magnificent! kay:


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

Metro Manila = Metro Sexy


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

_Photo Courtesy: MarkTwain_


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## sharpie20 (Nov 5, 2005)

Nice pics, i've never seen metro manilla this close up before. I'm really impressed!


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## BoNduRanT (Nov 18, 2005)

*Another Pano*


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

impressive panorama there.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Intramuros de Manila*

The walls of Manila determined its growth, marking a dividing line between the outside and the interior. This interior is known as Intramuros. 

The relative importance given by the authorities to Intramuros, in relation to the rest of the city, was influential in the history of the formation and the development of Manila . Although the perimeter of Intramuros was irregular, that did not prevent the organization of the city from being in agreement with the model used by the Spaniards in the New World: parallel and perpendicular straight streets that are crossed to form a gridiron. The resulting square or rectangular blocks; are divided as well, first in four lots, soon in more, always with fronts to the streets; the houses constructed in line with the street. 

The cathedral occupies an prominent place in the central plaza ; the City Hall, is also constructed in the plaza.

Fires and earthquakes level the city. Intramuros, and all Manila, rises time and time again on its ruins. Its primitive layout remains. The wall limits the interior population, that never gets to be very dense : in the middle of the 17th century it contained something more than two thousand inhabitants. In second half of the 18th century, the increasing growth of the suburbs suspends the population of Intramuros. Manila becomes much more that Intramuros .​








Seat of St. Francis in Manila. Fernando Brambila. Collection of drawings and engravings of the Malaspina Expedition. 1789-1794. MN With their arrival to Manila in 1577, the Franciscans began with construction of wood and cane churches that succumbed to natural catastrophes. In 1739 they constructed a stone church that was financed by the public charity and became one of richest in Intramuros.









Plan of the City of Manila. Antonio Giménez. Signed by governing general military Jaudenes. 1898. SGE At the end of 19th century the urban structure of Manila was completed. The original defensive configuration stayed invariable during the Spanish time, and it is conserved at the present time.  









Manila Intramuros. Antonio Giménez. 1851. SHM When becoming independent of Mexico, the Philippines happens to depend directly on the metropolis. From her the overseas ministry begins to undertake a series of infrastructure works that make of Manila a modern city, "most European" of Asia.









The city in 1783. AGI the history of Manila was plagued by earthquakes, fires and natural accidents of diverse nature, that forced successive reconstructions and served their constructors to carry out a better material preparation.









Manila Intramuros. 1839. L.A. Garci'a. SHM During the 19th century to crystallize in Manila a peculiar and polished domestic architecture fruit of the mestization of colonial types that are adapted to the local conditions and to the appearance of a bourgeoisie that is developed at a time of freedom of commerce and greater facility in the communications.  









Plan of the fortified enclosure of Manila. Tomás Sanz. 1785. AGI the natural conditions facilitated the fortification of the urban enclosure, that by the side of the river counted on a natural pit and by the other it only could be attacked by sea. The only soft spot was the inner part, where the natural defense was the marshy character it of the land.  









Plan of the city of Manila 1762. AGI In 1762 the city of Manila was surrounded by the English and the 5 of October it surrendered after a siege. This occupation lasted until the 31 of May of 1763, after the treaty of peace signed in Paris the 10 of February of that same year. 
City of Manila. Tomás Sanz. 1784. SHM the plan of the city of simple grid was not difficult to him to make the own soldiers who although did not understand of city-planning technique, this form facilitated the division and the distribution to them in lots.] 









City of Manila. Tomás Sanz. 1784. SHM the plan of the city of simple grid was not difficult to him to make the own soldiers who although did not understand of city-planning technique, this form facilitated the division and the distribution to them in lots.  









Intramuros of Manila, with the location of the most excellent buildings. Carlos Kings. 1895. SHM In the interior of the fortified enclosure, the layout of the streets followed the usual model of the checkerboard, in lines that extended from the central plaza, where were the main buildings of the Spanish dominion.  









The city and its suburbs. 18th Century. SHM In 17th century begins a process of growth and expansion of the towns near Manila, that consolidates in the two following centuries until being turned districts of the capital.  









Plan of Manila where the religious buildings are specified. 19th Century SHM the religious factor was not the only influence of the colonization, but one of the determinants of the urban layout, as it demonstrates the abundance of churches, convents and schools in the interior of the walled enclosure.

























Shells are exhibited inside Fort Santiago, Intramuros de Manila. These are actually shells from world war II in commemoration of the Battle of Manila in 1945.









Manila Cathedral









Starbucks, Intramuros de Manila. These were actually used as prison cells during spanish, american and japanese times.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Manila Hotel









Jose Marti y Perez


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi - Spanish founder of Manila


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Fort Santiago Gate









Fort Santiago Gate









Stone and Wood









Intramuros Gate









Intramuros Gate









Gate


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Zoom view of the upper sections of three skyscrapers in the upmarket district of Makati. The one on the right houses the offices of ABN Amro bank. The middle one is a residential tower.









Banners on display inside Intramuros, Manila's old walled city.









Restored wood and stone Hispanic style building in Intramuros, Manila's walled city. On the left is Manila Cathedral









Derelict building inside Intramuros, the old walled city of Manila. Intramuros was very badly damaged in World War 2 and has been partially reconstructed. 









Traditional facade in Manila's old walled city named Intramuros, literally 'inside the walls'.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Religious picture and shrine on the side of a street in Intramuros, Manila's walled city.









The entrance to Fort Bonifacio, part of Intramuros, the original walled city built by the Spanish in the 16th century. The area was badly damaged in World War 2. This doorway was restored in recent years. The remarkable mixture of Spanish and South East Asian influences is one of the many attractions of the Philippines. 









Statue outside the main building of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. UST was founded in 1611 when the Philippines was part of the Spanish empire.









This statue stands outside the main building of the University of Santo Tomas in downtown Manila. The university was founded in 1611 when the Philippines was under Spanish rule. These buildings date from the 19th century. Like many heritage locations in the Philippines, the UST campus is a remarkable mixture of Spanish-style architecture in a tropical south east Asian setting. 









Tall buildings in the affluent district of Makati, part of Metro Manila, as seen from Greenbelt Shopping Mall.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Hispanic style facade and entrance to University of Santo Tomas. The facade is painted pastel pink and white and dates from the 19th century.
In certain parts of Asia you get a kind of 'environmental disorientation' - Looking at the buildings you think you're in Spain or Latin America but actually you're on the other side of the world. 









Sculpture of a winged female figure, part of a fountain in the garden at Manila University of Santo Tomas. The architecture and character of this university built in the 19th century under Spanish rule has a very strong hispanic character. 









EDSA (Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue) is the main peripheral highway around the east of Metro Manila. On either side are high rise buildings and giant size billboards supported on scaffolding.









EDSA is the main orbital highway curving round to the east of Metro Manila. As well as eight lanes of traffic it has a Light Rapid Transit line running down the middle. Destination signs at this intersection include Pasay, Alabagang, Fort Bonifacio and Ayala.









The flag of the Philippines consists of blue and red bands and a white triangle with yellow stars. This flag is the one in front of the University of the Philippines main building in Quezon City.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Gota de Leche en Sampaloc, Manila. Y cementerios interesantes.


















Gota de Leche



















Gota de Leche was garnered an award at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.











Some members of HCS during the assembly









Gemma Cruz-Araneta and Arch. Augusto Villalon

*North Cemetery*









“This is so commonwealth!” 









Art deco to death 









Eygptian-inspired mausoleum.











*Chinese Cemetery*









Neo Gothic









Remember the Jai-Alai building? Another art deco.









This mausoleum dates back to 1868. The oldest piece of structure in the cemetery.











*La Loma Cemetery*









A mausoleum for Dominican priests 









La Loma Church









Another art deco mausoleum


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Ocean tower, Roxas boulevard, Malate, Manila 









Harbor plaza, Manila


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Universidad de Santo Tomas


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Ayala Avenue


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Makati


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

You've posted some of my beautiful pictures of Metro Manila!!  



Pearl of the Orient Seas - The Philippine Islands


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ Jeje, yeah!  I did credited you in the Intramuros de Manila thread. :cheers:


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## c0kelitr0 (Jul 6, 2005)

Photos by Dudz




























from mandaluyong...


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

Manila is like no other Asian city!


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## vanoy2000 (Nov 29, 2005)

wow...nice collection of pictures.


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## Siopao (Jun 22, 2005)

*W**W!*


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## SuperDog (Feb 2, 2005)

Wow Manila is alot more than Malls and Jeepneys....Very impressed....A little of Europe a little of the USA in Asia. Nice mix.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

SuperDog said:


> Wow Manila is alot more than Malls and Jeepneys....Very impressed....A little of Europe a little of the USA in Asia. Nice mix.


Thanks SuperDog. I'll post photos that will make the city more European.


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## xXx carlos xXx (Oct 19, 2005)

aerials by jef7 in the philippine forums























































awesome photo posted by sugbuanon....credits to the photographer.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ Very nice Carlos.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Calle Real




























Photos by Maestro Dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^manila bay view, credit to andre salvador








^^binondo church, credit to rey nocum








^^shrine of jesus church, credit to benedict kwok








^^manila bay w/ 1322 Roxas Boulevard, credit to gustaf serrano








^^baywalk at night, credit to luis limchiu








^^baywalk view, credit to kiko


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Makati*


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

PBCom Tower (The Tallest Skyscraper in the Philippines) with rainbow 









The Shang Grand Tower

















LKG Tower (ABN-AMRO)
























Pics courtesy of RealestateMovers.com


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Plaza Rajah Sulayman and Malate Church









Manila Central Post Office









Pasig River, Manila









Plaza Santa Cruz

























Chinatown, Manila


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Malacañang









Madre Filipinas









Carabao

























Rizal Park


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Castle_Bravo (Jan 6, 2006)

The picture showed by Carlos is realy awesome :eek2:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Intramuros was one of the places I couldn’t remember not knowing, any more than I could remember a time when I didn’t know Calle Herran in Paco, where we lived, or the fields and riverbanks of San Pedro Makati (Sanpiro for short), the very rustic countryside where childhood weekends and summers were spent.









A calesa crossing Parian Bridge to enter the Walled City, 1940.










There are places you feel you were born knowing because, however far back you throw memory, there they already are, already familiar.

With Intramuros, the problem is to distinguish the three layers of memory that, emotionally, conjure up for me three different places. There is the Intramuros remembered from childhood; the Intramuros seen again, and with a colder eye, in early adolescence, after a provincial exile; and the Intramuros rediscovered just in time, before it vanished for ever.

Intramuros is thus, for me, a place within a place- as in those Chinese boxes that always have another box inside another. 

And I see now how aptly the old days referred to it as “sa loob ng Maynila.” Was Papa up early poring through his law codigos? He had a court hearing sa loob ng Maynila. Was the streetcar full of girls in uniform dragging bags of books? They were on their way to the Colegio de Santa Catalina, or Santa Rosa, or Santa Isabel sa loob ng Maynila. Were the boys steeping out in the evening in gala black suits and boots? There was a festive velada sa loob ng Maynila. Was the October dawn lively with whole families trooping out before daylight? They were trying to escape the holiday crowds by hearing Mass early at San Domingo sa loob ng Maynila.

And from childhood no amount of familiarity could dull for me the mysterious wondrousness of Intramuros as the very vitals, the hid heart, the secret soul of my city. Every going into it was a penetration- and in there, for a Manileño, it was always like coming home. He was back to his original, essential, eternal island.










He was back to roots. Sa loob ng Maynila.

Riding through what gates of Intramuros were still tunnels- Parian and Sta. Lucia- we would open our mouths wide and howl and would hear the tunnel giving us back our roaring multiplied, as if not three or four but a hundred children were howling.









Puerta Parian, 1899.


















Puerta Santa Lucia, ca. 1900.










Even weirder was the effect, as you roared, you beat a palm against your mouth: the echoes them seemed to be chanting a spell or spiel.

Beyond the tunnel was Calle Real, running between a hospital (San Juan de Dios, the inside of which we saw only on Maundy Thursday’s Visita Iglesia) and a monastery (San Agustin, at whose gates crouched the stone lions we supposed to be the brothers of the lions on Arroceros, crouched in front of the barrack there).









Calle Real, viewed from the top of Puerta Parian, ca. 1898.


















Hospital de San Juan de Dios at the Parian Gate end of Calle Real, ca. 1900.









The site is now occupied by Lyceum of the Philippines.

However, there was one corner of Intramuros that struck me, even in childhood, as looking different from the rest of it. Entering Victoria gate, you skirted round the old Manila High School with its great shady trees and came to where Calle Solana started. And at the mouth of Solana was a row of low squarish whitewashed stone buildings, with the wall almost blank, save for a window high up there or balcony with wooden rajas adjutting here. Years later, I would see such houses in villages all over Spain, not merely in Andalucia, and would be reminded of that short block of boxlike houses at the mouth of Calle Solana, the only corner or Intramuros that could be said to look like a bit a Spain.









The corner of Calle Solana and Calle Victoria, ca. 1940.










Solana was cobbled, like Calle Real and the other streets in Intramuros except Calle General Luna which was asphalted but the cobbles were not pebbles but largish loaves of a yellowish freckled stone, perhaps the same stone that laid out in blocks, formed the very narrow sidewalks.









Calle Real del Palacio (now General Luna), ca. 1913.










Street and sidewalk always looked scrubbed and polished. Manila was then, more or less a tidy city (it had fewer people); before break of day you found the street sweepers, in red trousers, already at work; and several times a day the water wagons sprinkled the streets to lay the dust and wash the paving. But in that neat city Intramuros seemed the cleanest place of all, not dusty during the dry season, never flooded during the rains, unlittered despite the flocks of pigeons ever swarming overhead and the all-day traffic of the pious. And though so granitic it had a green look to it. 









The gate to the Revellin de Bagumbayan (Aquarium), through which one enters to reach Puerta Real, ca. 1900.


















Possibly a 17th-century house on Calle San Francisco, ca. 1940.









The house was used as a model for one of the replica houses constructed at the Plaza San Luis across San Agustin Church.

The lushest of these elevated parks was on the portion of wall extending from the Victoria Gate to the Puerta Parian. But also sanctuaries of cool shade of greenery were the top of the Muralla in front of Letran and the longer curve of wall from the tennis courts off the Victoria Gate to General Luna.









A carabao and its master move by Bastion de San Andres, past the ramp leading to a guardhouse, ca. 1898.









The ramp was recently restored. Part of the Recollect dispensary is to the left, a site now occupied by the Manila Bulletin.









The entire block at the corner of General Luna and Muralla Streets was once occupied by one impressive building, with at least fifteen foot high ceilings. 









The site of the house is now occupied by Department of Labor and Employment.









The ramp leading to the top of Parian Gate, 1935.









The ramp was restored in 1981.

The secret wall-top gardens of the Muralla undoubtedly served other purposes but were, for us children, chiefly useful as balconies for parade watching. From the parapets overlooking Burgos Drive, crowded into crannies intended for gun emplacements and standing as near the edge of the rampart as we dared, we gazed across the tops of fire trees beheld the carnival parades in February, the Americans’ military parade on July 4, and the Rizal Day parade in December, gorgeous with the floats of the Rizal Day queens, as those parades wended their way from Plaza Lawton to the Luneta.









The Manila Cathedral before 1863. The bell tower was damaged in 1863 and finally collapsed in 1880.










But the Intramuros park dearest to us was the Cathedral square, then known as Plaza McKinley. On no-school day in midweek, to get us out of the women’s hair, my father would take us with him when he left in the morning. If his business was at City Hall he would deposit us at the Jardin Botanico on Arroceros and there we would romp until he picked us up again at noon. If his day was at the courts sa loob ng Maynila we got deposited at Plaza McKinley.

That was a shady park then. As its four corners towered those giant balite trees with overspreading boughs and multiple trunks. Under each tree was a small round pool where goldfish swam, four pools in all. And in the center rose the splendid statue of Don Carlos IV de Borbon, on a pedestal that soared from a fountain-basin where swam more goldfish among floating lotus leaves. Like the Luneta and Jardin Botanico, Plaza McKinley was sanded with powdered seashell, so that its paths were white and crunchy. How we loved that white sand- but it didn’t travel. Time and again we brought home toy-pailfuls of it to sand our own backyard, but after a day or two, it turned black. Only on the parks, it seemed, would that powdered shell stay white and glittery.









The Ayuntamiento, housing the city administration and the office of the Governor General during the Spanish and American regimes, ca. 1900.


















The Intendencia Building, ca. 1904.










On the third side of the square was the Ayuntamiento de Manila, the famed Marble Hall into which we sometimes fearfully peered to gape at the sculpture gesticulating on the landing of the marble stairway that there branched into two.









A patient crowd waits below the forbidding walls of Santa Clara monastery on a street near Fort Santiago, ca. 1900.










As the crowds streamed in and out of the chapel they were watched from the barracks across the street by American soldiers lolling at the upstairs windows, arguing among themselves over this quaint Holy Week custom of the natives, a custom that turned every street in Intramuros into a mighty human tide, slowly moving and murmurous, and surging right through the churches.

The Visita Iglesia was one of the times when you felt Intramuros to be really the city’s deepest inside, innermost sanctum, holy of holies- a tribal high altar sa loob ng Maynila.









The Franciscan Church with the church of the Venerable Orden Tercera (V.O.T.)









The site is now occupied by the Mapua Institute of Technology

Entering through Victoria Gate and going up Solana, you reached San Francisco, which was a double church, for beside the main one (its creamy pillared façade rose five stories high) was the V.O.T., the chapel of the Franciscan third order, where was venerated a crowned St. Louis robbed in ermine.









The church of Santo Domingo, rebuilt in 1875 after the 1863 earthquake.










At the end of Solana was Santo Domingo, magnificently gothic and rose-colored with a side portal opening out to the Plaza de Santo Tomas.

Crossing the plaza and passing the university, you came upon the Cathedral, which had wide porches instead of a patio, iron-grille balustrades and, just inside the entrance, a small bronze statue of a seated St. Peter whose toes had been worn smooth by kisses of the faithful.









Ruins of San Ignacio Church.









Façade of Ateneo de Manila, ca. 1926.









The building burned down in 1932. Calle Arzobispo led past ruin of San Ignacio Church.

Past the Cathedral, a left turn at Calle Arzobispo brought you to San Ignacio, wedged between the Ateneo and the episcopal palace; very high iron grilling enclosing the narrow court that formed a portico to this red-brick church known as Jesuitas.









Calle Real’s other end, leading to Puerta Santa Lucia, ca. 1902.


















Unpaved Calle Arzobispo, with piedra china sidewalks.


















San Agustin Church, ca. 1900.










At the end of Arzobispo was San Agustin, with its double convent: the main monastery beside the church and the separate business quarters (or procuration) adjoining the Ateneo.









The Recollect Church with the dispensary on the right, ca. 1900.










Turning right on the Recoletos and doubling back on General Luna, you reached Lourdes Church, or Capuchinos, youngest of the Walled City’s temples, with a painting of the Virgin on its façade.









Lourdes Church









The site is now occupied by Silahis Arts and Handicrafts (El Amanecer Compound)

This churchly tour does not include the various chapels of Intramuros: the chapel of the Archbishop’s Palace (a favorite for society weddings), the chapel of the Poor Clares, the college chapels of Letran and Ateneo, the hospital chapels of St. Paul, San Juan de Dios, the convent-school chapels of Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, Santa Isabel (where was enshrined a much-revered Santo Cristo) and the Beaterio de la Compañia, this last being the most hid-away convent in Intramuros.

Though the Walled City had a small population, its numerous churches never lacked for congregations; were in fact the most crowded in the city. The reason was that Intramuros as like a second parish to Manileños. On Sundays and feasts you were just as likely to hear Mass at some Church in Intramuros as at your own parish church, where you might run out of masses. But in Intramuros you could hear Mass as early as four o’ clock dawn and as late as high noon.









Plaza Santo Tomas, with the main building of the UST on the left, Santo Domingo Church at the rear, and Colegio de Santa Rosa on the right, ca. 1902.









The site is presently occupied by Banco Filipino Building.

Moreover, a common practice of the old-time devotion was to hear low mass at the parish church, go home for breakfast, then take the family to attend high Mass in Intramuros, because high Mass there had the elegance and solemnity that were beyond the resources of the average parish church: rich vestments, elaborate rituals, learned sermons and superb music. The boys’ choirs of Lourdes, Santo Domingo and the Cathedral were famous.

Nor were the Intramuros churches crowded only for Mass in the morning. In those devout days, no Sunday or feast was complete without attendance at the afternoon rosary and benediction- and here, again, the Walled City’s churches provided a more dramatic service: baroque devotion at its most ornate, as typified by the jewelled golden monstrances lifted high for public adoration, amid clouds of incense and to the trilling of bells, a style of worship natural to the Manileño’s rococo heart. Which is why, in the old days, whether at morning Mass or afternoon benediction in an Intramuros church, it was usual to find to your left a family from Tondo, and to your right a family from Santa Ana, and in front of you a family from Sampaloc, and behind you a family from Malate. Manileños from all over were always assembling sa loob ng Maynila.

Maybe a revival of piety (using the term in its Latin sense) will in the future inspire the return to Intramuros of all its former churches, chapels, convents, beaterios. Only then will Intramuros be really “restored”- when again it has a San Francisco with its Tuesdays of St. Anthony; a Santa Clara with its unseen choir of vestals; a Lourdes with its Saturday girl crowds; a Santa Isabel with its shrine of the Santo Cristo; a Recoletos with its Friday pilgrims and December feria de Santa Lucia; a San Ignacio with its fashionable confessionals; an Ateneo and a Santo Tomas back on original ground; a Santa Catalina and Beaterio and Santa Rosa come home again; a San Agustin resuming its public ceremonials; a Cathedral restoring the votive function of St. Andrew the Apostle as patron of the Noble and Ever Loyal; and a Santo Domingo again celebrating La Naval de Manila in old Manila.










Only then will Manileños again have a high altar round which they can gather as a coherent community- sa loob ng Maynila.

--- Excerpts from Nick Joaquin’s essay on Intramuros
Old Intramuros photos taken from “Intramuros of Memory,” published in 1983

Posted by Wonderboy


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

pbase.com - Brian McMorrow


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

photos by argory


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## kiku99 (Sep 17, 2002)

nice collection of MM. i like this kind of thread instead of browsing through the whole Philippines forum and find only a few pics....kay: keep them coming if you have.


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## Marcio4Ever (Sep 27, 2005)

I Loved this pic.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

kiku99 said:


> nice collection of MM. i like this kind of thread instead of browsing through the whole Philippines forum and find only a few pics....kay: keep them coming if you have.


Yeah, I like this kinds of threads too.  



marcio4ever said:


> I Loved this pic.


Thanks for visiting. :cheers:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Photos by Kiben


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## r4d1ty4 (Mar 10, 2006)

I think this development is a real shame. I visit Manila often and this area is one of the few chances Manila had at creating a proper civic space. Instead they of course built another mall (SM Mall)- like they need it! In most cities there wuld be some big public facility in an area like this. Manila has again succumbed to greed and illogical development for the sake of it.


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

^^This is hilarious. You posted the same message on the Jakarta u/c forum.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ Thats funny indeed. :bash:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Ayala Museum























































Photos by Francis20


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

The Carriedo Fountain


















Photo credit: Ivan Henares









Rizal Monument

http://www.mymanila.net/archives/000356.html


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

photo taken by victor t. ong from pbase










photo provided by kentamayo from pinoyphotography.com


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

VERNES GO from pbase


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

Nice pics...I like the the Sofitel's effect on water...looks like some cruise ship.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

photo taken by victor t. ong from pbase










photo provided by kentamayo from pinoyphotography.com


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## Bertez (Jul 9, 2005)

Amazing pics....Manila is very vibrant


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## BoNduRanT (Nov 18, 2005)

Taken from Loreland Farm Resort, Antipolo, Rizal


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Bertez said:


> Amazing pics....Manila is very vibrant


Yup, its an undiscovered pearl.


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## normandb (Jan 11, 2005)

Manila Bay is awesome.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## mtt16 (Apr 10, 2006)

I love this thread. Beautiful Manila.

Does anyone has Muntilupa's pics? please post. My Philipino friend's working there. I plan to visit him soon.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ We'll see if we can find some photos. 

Manila yacht club


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Greenbelt Square


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

GT Tower









The Columns


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Photos from Philippine forum


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## DaimosLA (Aug 29, 2005)

Can't wait to be back in November. Great thread.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Nagtahan bridge, with a condominium dev't (Residencias de Manila) 



















Other side 










Zamora bridge, which links Sta. Mesa and Pandacan










Oil depot and barges, Pandacan side










Apartment blocks, Sta. Mesa side










Vintage pnr train crossing the river. 











Photos by Maestro Dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Mcarthur bridge









Binondo skyline









Avenida



















Manila City Hall

Photos by mbassyambassador


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Fountain at the corner of Buendia-Ayala









Photos by Maestro Dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

The Manila Cathedral










































Photos by Cokelitro


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

San Agustin Church


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Photos by Cokelitro


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## KENDO (Sep 11, 2005)

beautiful thread, a lots of picture is very nice.


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Happy 108th Philipppine Independence Day!!!*


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## C2russ (May 9, 2006)

awesome pics! Go Philippines.


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## Siopao (Jun 22, 2005)

Animo said:


>


OMG! :eek2:  WOW! 

Happy Birthday Philippines!

Good Fortune and National Stability for your future!!


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Pan Pacific










Landbank tower and Hyatt Hotel and Casino




























Morayta



















Photos by Maestro Dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Gil Puyat Avenue 



















Photos by Dudz










RCBC Plaza









Photos by Francis20

Makati-Manila border



















Makati from San Andres, Manila


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Photos by Dudz




























Ayala and Burgundy Corporate Tower and Urban Bank Plaza


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## oz.fil (Jun 2, 2006)

and everybody asks me why i love manila =="


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

Wow, spectacular shots! :cheers:


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

bravo animo!


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad de Manila*

The Distinguished and Ever Loyal City of Manila celebrates its 435th Anniversary



































Fireworks by the bay

Maestro dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

Ortigas 


















Manila Sea Front


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## allan_dude (Apr 14, 2005)

*my favorite manila pics :-D*


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Street Scene*

Plaza Rueda



















Kalaw St. corner Orosa



















Photos by dudz


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)




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## Joe_centennial (Sep 6, 2005)

It is really a sad thing to know that this awesome city is always been under-rated elsewhere in the world, i mean, look at the pics! Metro Manila is living up with the beat and rocking all the way!


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## WallStreet (May 11, 2006)

Increadible! I knew Manila was the tourism capital of the Phillipines, but I had no idea it was such a modernized urban metropolis, considering the majority of the country is dominated by an agrarian, localized population


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ Yup, the city is underrated.

Fort Bonifacio from afar









Ayala Tower One


















Photos by kalabaw


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## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

Metro Manila is very very very very underrated... And the under-raters are usually the ones who are so deserving of low ratings.. no offense.


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## JoSin (Sep 11, 2005)

Manila surprises me.


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## lumpia (Apr 10, 2004)

Joe_centennial said:


> It is really a sad thing to know that this awesome city is always been under-rated elsewhere in the world, i mean, look at the pics! Metro Manila is living up with the beat and rocking all the way!


^^so true! The western Media is definately the sole reason for foreigners' misconception on Manila and the Phils as a whole; always stating outdated figures on the country's poverty levels: "1/2 the population of the Philippines are living below the poverty line" is what they always say; but through official reports we now know it closer to be only 20%, (and the US has a level of 17%!). I guess the Philippines is more honest about it, and thus there are no understated methods they use to try and isolate the poor far from the city or in areas noone will see them in; they are part n parcel of the city, like the upper or middle class, and they need to work and eat too!

It makes me laugh sometimes that in a city of more than 13 million people, most of them living either a comfortable upper class/upper-middle-class lifestyle or a lower middle-class/working class life, Western news journalists (ESPECIALLY those of the BBC) always choose to broadcast from the poorest squatters in the city where the inhabitants dont bother to work outside the black market!!

Thats like representing Hong Kong with nothing but by its worst commie block neighbourhoods; or KL by some remote Kampong; or most US cities by their infamous project areas for the poor (thanks to the overwhelming message of Hip-Hop we know they exist, in bulk!)... its gross bending of truth, and its seriously gotta stop! that's why MM's presence in SSC is so important, and i'm sure you'll all agree!


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

^^ I agree. Manila, truely has tradition and modernity. :wink2:


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

by Nat Pagayonan

Manila Bay



















Luneta Park


















Alabang Area


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