Philippines

Subic Bay, Philippines

After outrunning the typhoon, we docked in Subic Bay and while we missed the worst of the storm the weather isn’t really conducive to exploring.  It’s still windy and rainy and due to a naval vessel extending their stay we are docked further from the city center than we were supposed to be.  The port arranged a shuttle bus to take us to the mall in town.  I wasn’t really feeling up for it, so Mike went to the mall with a friend of ours that we usually explore with.  They just wandered around for a few hours and then came back.  Turns out Subic Bay is ready for Christmas already…

The second day it was still pretty rainy, so we just went back to the mall.  The rain wasn’t consistent, but when it rolled in and the wind kicked up it was pretty intense, so we didn’t bother leaving the mall. I found a new puzzle to add to my collection, and I also found several mall cats to pet.  We wrapped up the day with mini donuts, so although it wasn’t very exciting it was still a really good day in my books. 

Manila, Philippines

Our next stop is Manila, the capital of the Philippines where we were welcomed with local performers. We were warned in the Port Talk and by crew members from the Philippines that Manila isn’t the safest city, so we took appropriate precautions before heading out.  This means all of our photos are on the GoPro, so sorry for the fisheye look of the photos.  Luckily, the weather cleared up and we had a nice clear day to explore.

We were docked walking distance from Intramuros, which is the old walled section of the city, so we headed there first.  There were several people offering us rides on various modes of transportation.  They were super friendly and persistent, but respectful when we said, ‘No thank you’.  Fort Santiago was our first stop.  The fortress is well preserved and features a museum commemoration the national hero Jose Rizal. His political writings inspired the revolution in the Philippines that ultimately led to their freedom from Spanish rule.

Once we completed exploring the fort, we wandered past the Cathedral and then over the river to check out Chinatown.  It turns out Chinatown was mostly just some ornate entry gates, so we grabbed a drink from 7-Eleven and headed back into Intramuros.  We walked all the way through and out the other side by the museums.

There is a collection of museums, parks, and gardens next to the old town, so we walked around all these areas enjoying the decent weather.  In Rizal Park we saw the Jose Rizal Monument and the Martyrdom of Dr. Jose P. Rizal which depicts his execution.

On a lighter note, there are cats everywhere!  We’ve definitely seen more cats since arriving in the Philippines aside from the colonies we visited in the last few countries.  They seem to be fairly well looked after and are friendly for the most part. These were just the ones we could see from the ship.

We discussed walking down to the SM Mall of Asia at this point because it’s supposed to be largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the 6^th largest in the world.  However, we were tired, and the sky was starting to look a little less friendly, so we decided to leave it for the next day and headed back to the ship.

Back on the ship as we were getting cleaned up, we received an announcement from the captain that another tropical storm was heading our way, and the Port Authority asked us to leave and seek shelter in open water.  We were supposed to have two days in Manila, but mother nature had other plans.  Our ship left the Manila port at 2:00am and headed out to sea. We never did make it to the Mall of Asia.

Boracay Island, Philippines

After spending 2 days at sea dodging the tropical storm, we dropped anchor at Boracay Island.  It’s a small island known for its resorts and night life along with its stunning white sand beaches.  We took the thankfully short tender ride to the island and walked all the way through town to the far end of White Beach.  It took about an hour to reach the far end and then we turned around and followed the beach all the way back.  We took in the sights and sounds of the island and politely refused offers for boat tours, massages, and fresh seafood along the way.  The beach is incredibly beautiful, and the water was shallow and clear.

For our second day we ventured back to White Beach, but we stuck to the quiet end by the port and Mike snorkeled while I read a book on my phone.  It was a quiet and peaceful afternoon. 

Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Philippines

In Puerto Princesa we walked from the port to Puerto Princesa City Baywalk which is a waterfront park with shops.  Unfortunately, it is under construction and most of the shops do not open until later in the day.  When we left the port they gave us a walking tour map, so we followed that back to one of the main roads, but there really wasn’t a whole lot to see aside from shops.  We ended up at the SM City Mall which was quite large and spent a lot of time wandering around in the blessed air conditioning.  There was also a well stocked grocery store in the mall, and we ended up buying a bunch of snacks which kind of put a wrench in our walking tour plans.  Snacks in hand, we headed back to the ship early.

On the second day we finished up the walking tour by checking out Princess Eulalia Park, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Mendoza Park, the Palawan Museum, the Palawan Provincial Capitol building, and the Palawan Heritage Center.  This led us to yet another mall, but it was much smaller and there were a lot of empty storefronts.  On the way back to the ship we explored the Old Public Market and wandered past the Chinatown Center.  It was another short day, but we had fun.

The big draw on the island of Palawan is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park.  Many of our fellow residents took tours to the underground river, but we passed.  It is a UNESCO Heritage site, but it required an early start and an hour and a half drive down very windy roads that often cause motion sickness.  After a couple of boat transfers you spend 45 minutes in the cave and then there were a few shopping stops on the way back.  We really didn’t want to spend that much time in a vehicle especially when it was so common for people to get sick on that route.  We are a little disappointed that we missed out but stand by our decision to skip it.

Cebu, Philippines

Cebu wasn’t on our original itinerary, but we ended up spending two and a half days there.  We arrived only 5 days after a major earthquake struck the island.  Most of the damage occurred on the north end of the island and we docked in Cebu City towards the middle.  Our community came together to offer support financially and by packing boxes of supplies for those most affected. 

The port was a container port, so a shuttle bus was provided to take us from the ship to SM City Cebu Mall.  From the mall we walked over to the Mandani Bay Boardwalk, but it turns out it’s only partially open.  The area is still mostly under construction, but it looks like it will be lovely when it’s completed.  From the boardwalk we made our way over to the National Shrine of Saint Joseph and then to Parkmall just in time for it to start raining. 

The weather was iffy, so we walked back to the bus depot next to the SM City Cebu Mall and took a bus to SM Seaside City Cebu Mall.  The Seaside mall sits on the waterfront further down the coast.   Both malls are in the top 5 largest in the Philippines. The Seaside Mall had a full sized ice rink and a large rooftop garden. It was pretty impressive. 

Our walk and the bus ride to the mall really highlighted the contrast in the Philippines.  They have all these fancy state of the art malls and towers while blocks away people are living in shacks.  The infrastructure is next level, but the housing below it is barely habitable.  The juxtaposition was intense. We didn't feel right taking pictures of the rougher parts of town because it's still people's homes and it felt disrespectful.

On our second day we again started off at the SM City Cebu Mall and walked to Fort San Pedro downtown.  It’s a small triangular fortress from the 1700s, but the gardens inside were beautiful.  Afterwards we explored Plaza Independencia, Plaza Sugbu and stopped to see Magellan’s Cross outside the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino de Cebu.  While we were downtown, we wandered past the Carbon Market and Cebu China Town.  The markets area always fascinating, but I find them very overwhelming.  It's sensory overload for me, so we passed through and started our journey back to the mall. 

We spent a few hours exploring the SM City Cebu Mall before stopping for dumplings and then grabbing the shuttle back to the ship. Once again we found they were already gearing up for Christmas. The Philippines sure likes to start early!

Our final day was only a half day, and we aren’t particularly good at getting going in the mornings, so we opted not to go out.  Instead, we spent the morning lounging by the pool.  This is our last stop in the Philippines for now as we make our way to Indonesia, Micronesia and Palau.