April 8th, 2005 |
What a tiring day for me. Today is the pope’s funeral and expectedly, majority of Filipinos as well as churches will be abuzz with activity. If not for the morning TV that my housemate watched, I would not have thought of the day’s importance. I charged my Gmini and Canon Powershot G5, had breakfast, freshened up and off I went.
First stop, the Redemptorist church in Baclaran along Roxas Boulevard. This is the first time that I have entered this place of worship and was amazed with its simple but marvelous architecture. Better known for its packed Wednesday masses in honor of the Our Lady of Perpetual help, however, there is a less known trivia: this was the first church that Carol Cardinal Wojtyla, the soon to be Pope John Paul II, visited and celebrated back in the 1970s during a brief (2 hours) stopover in Manila, albeit, illegally as Communist Poland that time has no diplomatic relations with the Philippines. I was able to get some shots of women praying before a photo of the late pope before I was told by a church lay man that I need to get a permit to take photos within the church. I told him instead that I was leaving anyway and left.
From Baclaran, I was thinking of visiting the Apostolic Nunciature, the Embassy of the Holy See. There might be people visiting their to pay their respects to the pope but since I did not know where in Taft Avenue, I just rode the MRT in Edsa and proceeded to Carriedo station.
The street to Quiapo Church was, as always, chaotic with various vendors selling everything from pirated VCDs, music CDs, used clothes, tools and just within the parameter of the church, prayers, candles, stampitas, pope pins, flowers, candles, plastic bags and native fans. Still there are the herb and abortifacient vendors as well as the fortunetellers conveniently lining a street.
I entered the church and as this was a Friday, Black Nazarene devotees as well as those praying for the pope flocked and thronged. A mass was being said and, as the pope mobile, used during his 1995 visit in Manila was also placed there, it added to the traffic.
After leaving the church, I went around Hidalgo street, a photographer’s haven, no, paradise. I inquired about the Canon 350D which is available at dealer’s price: P57,000.00, local warranty, compared to mall price at P65,000.00. The Canon 20D is also available at just P87,000.00 (P102,000.00, mall price!). I definitely will be going back there.
From Hidalgo, I went and visited Sta. Cruz church and then had lunch. As I have planned of going to historic Binondo Basilica Minore, I opted to ride a calesa (horse drawn carriage). It was fun! A good way to tour around old Manila!
The Binondo minor basilica was just beautiful! From there, went around Chinatown and sampled bola-bola siopao, loquat and a kind of citrus fruit. I then rode another calesa this time, instead of going back to Sta. Cruz, decided to head directly to San Sebastian Basilica Minore. The trip was longer and I passed through Raon St. as well as C.M. Recto Ave., a major thoroughfare.
The San Sebastian Basilica was just impressive. It is in the Gothic style and is said to be the only steel church in Asia and the second in the world. Its metal parts were prefabricated in Belguim and shipped to Manila and construction at the present site was finished in 1883. The stained glass was just impressive (made in France), as well as the basilica’s high ceiling that just reminds me of cathedrals in Europe (as seen in pictures).
I then proceeded to the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, the famous Rizal Park where a sizeable group has already gathered for the mass to be said in honor of the pope. Lots of people there from all walks of life and from various religious organizations, church and parish groups and students. But I did not stay long. My feet were aching from the day’s walk. Took some photos at the grounds and proceeded home.
Tiring but fulfilling.
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