At long last, our post on Manila…

As the time to return to Australia winds down, back in October 2025, we both realise we are “full”. The relaxing time we had at the Wyndham resort in Thailand reminded us that our travel limit, which we first discovered in Africa back in 1982/3, is six months, after that we just need a little “home” time before setting off again. We still have one more short stop to make before heading back to Brisbane: Manila in the Philippines.

Why on earth you may ask would we go to Manila from Bangkok to get back to Brisbane? Well, all the flights over the last six months were all done using Frequent Flyer miles, judiciously accumulated on Qantas and Virgin Australia over the last few years. When searching reward flights 12 months ago to Brisbane from Bangkok, I was offered Jetstar economy overnight via Melbourne, then back to Brisbane. Not the most appealing option. However a little more research got us two Business class seats from Manila via Sydney. We have never been to the Philippines before so while we only have a couple of days there, it will be a new experience for us.

Apart from the rude 3:45am start, our journey involves two three hour flights and a pleasant two hour layover in a Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong. Our four suitcases, plus our carry on luggage, motorcycle helmet and now a large umbrella we seem to have acquired make travel a little more challenging. An interesting aside was that boarding in Hong Kong was done by face recognition only, no boarding passes or passports needed. A first for us.

In Manila, we organise a “Grab” taxi, which seems to be the recommended way to travel there. “Grab” is an Uber like service that we had used in Thailand and the same account works in the Philippines. Great to not have to install another new app while travelling. I understand that “Grab” works over most of SE Asia.

As a last hurrah on this trip, we have used all our Hilton Honors points to book the last three nights at the Conrad Hotel located on the bay near the “Mall of Asia”, one of the largest shopping centres in Asia/World. While the airport is close to our destination, traffic is slow and we learn that traffic jams are normal. Manila has the highest population density in the world which goes to explain the traffic woes. 20km per hour seems to be the fastest speed in the city.

After security checks on our taxi on arrival at the hotel with mirrors and sniffer dogs, bags are whisked to our room and then we retire to the oasis of the Conrad Executive lounge, one of the perks of Hilton Honors Diamond membership, to indulge in food and drink. The service is amazing and as a Coeliac, special food is prepared by the chef, who assures me that she will ensure her colleagues will prepare something for me each night. Excellent service. Thank you. Our stay at the Conrad was made even more enjoyable meeting a lovely family from Okinawa, catching up with them over breakfast or dinner. We hope our paths cross again one day somewhere in the world.

A very late start the next day sees our exploration of Manila extend as only far as the SM Mall of Asia. So much for intrepid explorers, but this shopping mall is one of the 10 largest in the world with over 600 shops, 200 eating places, a planetarium and 16,000 seat arena, so we were exploring, just in air conditioning. Not a world heritage site yet but as I once mused about the Sturgis motorcycle event back in 2015, why not in the future?

We certainly got our 10,000 steps in as we wandered through the levels of the mall. Our destination amongst all the luxury was the supermarket. I am always interested in what a country enjoys and this can be identified by the isle that has just one product type. In Kazakstan, it was tomato sauce and here it seems to be corned beef, with fish heads and mango, although we had to buy some peanut M&M’s which are Anne’s favourites.

Spending time in the SM Central Business District can give only one impression of the city, we need to spread our wings. We start by visiting Rizal Park, named after José Rizal, a Filipino nationalist who was executed by the Spanish Colonial government, where the park now stands, in December 1896 during the Philippine Revolution which resulted in the Philippines declaring independence from Spain. However, the Treaty of Paris in 1898, which ended the Spanish-American war saw Spain sell the Philippines to the United States, ended the short lived Philippines independence, but that is another story.

We have little time to visit Intramuros, the old Spanish walled citadel, so a closer exploration will have to wait until tomorrow as we are heading somewhat unexpectedly to a Catholic church in the north of Manila.

Anne’s nephew Matthew, who is a Dominican Priest, spent a year working in the Philippines many years ago during his training. I recalled seeing photos at the time and somehow assumed he was located out in the countryside. This was an erroneous assumption on my part as the Church was in fact in Manila. Matthew had put us in touch with some of those people he had worked with previously so we just had to visit them.

Our Grab ride from Intramuros to Navotas City took us out of the shiny high rise district into a part of Manila where the reality of accommodation is very different from where we are staying in the SM Central Business District.

We arrive at the church of “San Lorenzo Ruiz and Companion Martyrs Parish Church” and are given a warm welcome by Delilah and our nephew’s godson JM. We meet the Rector and Parish Priest Rev Fr. Allan V. Lopez, also a Dominican, who had worked with Matthew previously and spends time to show us around the church. The parish was only established in 1982 and the current church building more recent than that with major renovations done following a flooding. It was interesting to see the local features such as the Altar of Saints and some of the, unique to this Church, adornments built into the ceiling that reflected the local culture.

We had only expected to spend a short time here, but a lunch invitation is extended to us and we are treated to an excellent meal, meeting others who also work at the church. A young French couple, Laure and Martin, are spending a year as missionaries teaching in the parish. While talking with them, an interesting comment was made, while discussing poverty, that, if I understood correctly, no one here in Manila suffered “poverty of loneliness”. An interesting concept I had never considered, that would certainly not apply in our western societies. This made me aware that poverty is not just about food and material possessions.

We had planned to leave straight after lunch but then another offer was made. Today just happened to be one of the biggest events annually on the Dominican Calendar in Manila starting at 4pm – would we like to attend?

The feast of our “Lady of la Naval” in Quezon City starts at the Santa Domingo Church. The statute that leads the event is formally known as the “National Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila”, I think I understand why the shortened the name.

The event dating from 1646 celebrates the defeat, in a series of battles, of the Dutch Fleet by the Spanish-Filipino fleet. The Victory is attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary on their behalf and the sailors promised to walk barefoot to the shrine if they won.

As we get closer to the Santa Domingo Church, which is also the Dominican Seminary, traffic becomes more congested as both foot and vehicular traffic making their way to the festival intensifies. We continue to sail through the traffic police presence, I am sure the sign on the dashboard, reminiscent of the one used by doctors, “PRIEST ON CALL” aids our progress. We swing through the seminary gates and into a tree covered parking area.

As we follow Fr. Allan through the cloisters, past the elaborate floats, each holding a sculpture of a Dominican Saint, and into the seminary, one can feel the mounting anticipation as the time of commencement approaches for the thousands faithful gathered both inside and outside the church.

As we wait, we meet an number of Fr. Allan’s colleagues including some of those who know Matthew during his time in the Phillipines. We have a privileged position as we wait with the Dominican clergy for the start. We see enough inside then join those outside to see the start of the procession of the Lady of la Naval and the 26 saints through the streets.

What a wonderful experience, thank you Fr. Allan. The event made front page news on all the local newspapers the next day.

Our final day takes us back to Intramuros and we spend the morning wandering around the old city. The lack of traffic makes for a peaceful stroll for us as we explore what was the centre of the Spanish colony for hundreds of years.

Amongst the wonderful buildings and churches, we find a memorial to those, mostly civilians, who lost their lives during the Battle of Manila in February 1945. The horrific manner of many of the deaths was sobering but sadly in many parts of the world similar tragedies continue to unfold today. When will we learn?

We have had an unexpected and interesting stay in Manila. We have learned more about the people and culture than we thought we would staying in a up market hotel away from the real heart of the city. Thanks to all those who made the experience possible.

Our flight back to Sydney is uneventful and so much better at the pointy end of the plane. The somewhat chaotic arrival due to limited numbers of those wonderful immigration machines that you need to get a card from is mollified by business class lines at the Domestic transfer that allow us to sweep by the masses and get to the business lounge in the domestic terminal effortlessly. Sydney disappears under the wing and we are headed back to Brisbane. Our volume of luggage manages not to overfill our friend Glenn’s car and we are soon back in Manly. Six months away, it will be good to stay put and recharge our batteries. The last few months away had an even greater toll on us than we realised hence this very very late post. We only have just over three months (just one more month by the time of posting) before we head back to the UK, but that is a story for 2026.

Wishing all our faithful followers and your families a peaceful, joyous and healthy 2026.

– Anthony