I don’t have much time, so I may have to finish this later.
We thought we would sleep in after our long, exhausting flight, but we found ourselves up in plenty of time for the 7:00 a.m. breakfast bell. At the guest house they ring a ten minute warning bell and then a bel at meal times. You need to be on time or you might miss out. The dining room had several large round tables with lazy Susan’s on them, but Sunday morning breakfast was buffet. And good.
Ramon picked us up at [9:30] and we were off sight seeing. We drove past Rizal Park and into the Intramuros, the old, walled part of the city. We saw the Manila Cathedral and stopped at Fort Santiago. It was a wonderful old Spanish fort built into the wall on the river. During WWII, the Japanese used it as a POW camp. The cells were built down into the wall and they filled with water during the monsoon season. I couldn’t imagine the suffering of the American and Filipino soldiers. There was a mass grave where many, many of them (I think over 800) are buried. It really gave me the chills, but, the history buff I am, I was glad to get the chance to visit. We then drove around the city, seeing some of the port, and down Roxas Boulevard past the American Embassy on the water. We also saw Mall of Asia (huge) but didn’t stop to do any shopping.
About this time we decided to stop for lunch before heading to the American Cemetary and a volcano. We could have gone to and American fast foot place, but decided on Jolibees instead. When in Rome… They have hamburgers with sides of either fries, rice or spaghetti. Apparently, spaghetti is big there. We ordered with a little bit of trouble and then found a table near the window. I set my purse on the window ledge right next to me. An employee came to clear our trays while we were eating. When it came time to go, I couldn’t find my purse. Anywhere. I was panicked, but it was gone. No one was of great help and after about 15 or 20 frantic minutes, we left, sans purse. I know, it was stupid of me to even have it along. I got complacent and paid for it. And spoiled the rest of my sightseeing trip. We high tailed it back to the guest house, with a stop at the ATM to pick up some cash before we canceled all the credit cards. I remained strong until we got to our room, when I sobbed for a good long while. At last I had to gather myself and try to make a call. No one was around on Sunday afternoon and I couldn’t figure out how to place a call. Providentially, we found a couple of employees sitting outside and they offered to let me call from the office.
The rest of the day is a haze to me. We went across the street to a small shop where we got some chips and soda because there was no evening meal served. I do remember being very tired and we fell into bed early, excited to meet Jonalyn the next morning.