Malate Church

Malate Chruch is located in Remedios and M. H. del Pilar Sts., Manila. Facing baywalk Roxas Boulevard where you can view a beautiful sunset.

It is renowned for two points of historical interest. It is dedicated to Nuestra Senora de Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies), an image of the Virgin Mary to whom the faithful have turned in times of trouble over four centuries. The church is also historically significant as the base from which the British launched their assault on Intramuros, which then placed Manila under British rule for a two-year period. Photographers love to shoot the picturesque, well-kept facade of this gray-stone church, an intriguing mixture of Romanesque and Baroque styles.


altar inside Malate church


Restaurants, hotels and other recreations can be found in the area. Be sure to stroll at the baywalk and experience entertainment and dining by the bay.

Paru-paro

Paru-paro is a Tagalog term for butterfly. When I was in Gasan Marinduque, I had an opportunity to witness (again) how butterflies are breed. Although I’ve seen the whole life cycle of butterflies with accompanying film showing at Butterfly Garden in Palawan (entrance fee costs: P15), I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. At least I got to see it for free. My Aunt Salve had a small cage in her backyard for breeding butterflies. It’s such a fascinating transformation and indeed lovely to capture in the photos.

It seems that breeding butterflies has now become a major source of income in Marinduque that used to be predominantly coconut industry. Marinduque is a typhoon frequented province. This made it difficult for the coconut industry to make progress hence, this shift in industry.

My Aunt Salve would sell a piece of butterfly between 7 to 10 pesos. From what I’ve heard, the middleman gains more by selling it at 14 pesos.

Please click this link paru-paro to see more pictures.

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

I always look forward to Saturday. It means that I get to go out and practice photography. Rosahlee (aka Dads) is my shooting buddy. We both like to explore what the city has to offer for the sake of capturing its images. Manila is truly an exciting and fascinating place.

Our yesterday’s adventure was in Manila American Cemetery and Memorial located in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Dads and I met at 3:00pm in Shell Gas Station along Edsa, Ayala Makati City. We took the McKinley road passing through the “millionaire’s row” of Forbes Park, the exclusive Manila Polo Club and Manila Golf Club. Sanctuario de San Antonio church is also found inside this prominent place.

We have invited Joyce, a fellow OCMI member, to join us but due to urgent matter she expressed regret and skipped yesterday’s session. I hope she’ll be able to join our future photography adventure. The cemetery is apparently the largest cemetery in the Pacific for U.S. personnel killed during World War II, and also holds war dead from the Philippines and other allied nations. Inside this 152 acres cemetery are headstones made of white marble. A chapel at the middle of the cemetery is adorned with symbolic sculpture and montage. The memorial contains the names of those missing in action inscribed in the wall.

We could have stayed a little longer and wait for the moon to come out but the cemetery closes at 5:00pm. We were so occupied trying out different perspective then the guard had to stop us, “ma’am mag-close na po, bukas ulit!“

We decided to take snack in Prince of Jaypur, an Indian restaurant at the Fort area. We had rotti and shawarma for snacks with curry sauce and mixture of other sauces. Delicioso! The set-up inside is of course inspired by Indian culture. Quite dark but it didn’t stop us from taking photos inside the resto. =)



After a delicious snacks, we roamed the Fort and take pictures of posh condo buildings. We had the chance to pass by the Tent where there’s an ongoing Wedding Fair event. One of the activities there was pre-nuptial shoot with a gondola set-up. We enjoyed taking photos of the two parrots placed at the entrance of the fair.

We left the Fort past 8pm. We went back to the church as the lights were still open. We were hoping that we can still take photos inside the church but the front door was already closed. “Well, next time…let’s just call it a night.“

Please click this link:Manila American Cemetery to see more of my photos.