Currently Listening All of the Above By Hillsong United see related

the walls of this contenct  - an intramuros walk by our marvelous tourguide Ivan, was by far one of the most enjoyable tours i've ever had. it was a refreshing look at our colorful history.  i highly recommend it especially for people who hate history. taking this tour might change your mind  

we started in the newly built bahay ng tsinoy. this picture below is a shot of the piedra de china that the chinese used to balance their ships on their way to the philippines. they also use it as a tombstone after a few years.

after the tsinoy house, we headed to san agustin church which composed most of the tour. there used to be two bell towers in the complex but only one survive to this day. the other one welcomes the visitors as you enter the church lobby.

one of my favorite part of the tour was the cemetery. it was also used as a concentration camp (if im not mistaken) during the japanese period. this is the place where the remains of national artist juan luna and historian teodoro agoncillo are found.

next, we headed outside to one of the earliest botanical gardens in the philippines. they are currently reconstructing it, but the remains of the original wall are still there.

this is our fabulous tour guide, Ivan, hard at work :)

the building on the right side is one of the faithful reconstructions based on the original design (external that is) but i forgot what is the name of the building.

these are more pictures inside the san agustin church.

i also loved the part when we went up the choir loft and saw the church itself. the ceilings were painted al fresco but it looked as if it was carved from stone or wood.

we went outside the church for the final leg of our tour. this picture is one of the 'rush' bahay na bato ordered by former first lady imelda marcos for her intramuros restoration project.

finally, we ended our tour at the walls of intramuros itself overlooking the old government buildings of manila.

next stop, binondo wok!