The Highlight of Hanging-Out in Luneta at Night Time

        It was raining so hard yesterday late afternoon here in Metro Manila, which is typical since it was the last day of the month of August in the year 2014, the wettest month every year in the Philippines.  And you would think everybody would stay indoors at night after that strong storm, but not in Luneta. 

        Luneta is the Philippines’ national park and it is usually visited by tourists and locals on weekends. But the place gets more crowded at night, which is unusual for a national park.  Even after a strong rain, Luneta was packed with visitors last night when I visited it.  The reason for this is the colourful musical water fountain. 

        The musical fountain is entertaining indeed, as it creates a sort of visual effects to the viewers who enjoy watching it.  The fountain employs the effects of timed sound waves and timed light against the water that jets out from the basin which is synchronized with the pop songs that are played.  The pop tunes being played include the ones from the local scenes like Bamboo, the Hotdogs and Freddie Aguilar, and some international ones like Rihanna, Abba and Michael Buble.  

        Everyone loved watching this fountain as the bulk of the Luneta crowd occupy the outside boundaries of the fountain basin.  And you would know that it is the highlight of the park when people start leaving the park after that light and sound extravaganza ends around late in the evening.

        There is nothing like visiting Luneta.  Everyone gets a nice treat when one comes and sees this place. Everyone gets a glimpse of history at daylight, and then enjoys the musical visual entertainment at night.

The Place Where Legazpi’s Voyage to Manila Began

        I stayed in Mexico for a year between October of 2007 and December 2008.  And during those times, I have visited a number of historical places that Mexico could offer its visitors. But there is this one place in Mexico that I visited which I know would mean a lot to Filipinos.  The place is called Barra de Navidad. 

        I never knew that this place called Barra de Navidad existed.  But when I visited Colima in August of 2008, which is a city located 482 kilometres west of Mexico City, my newly found Mexican friends told me that there is a place two hours away from Colima that Filipino tourists visit a lot.  And my Mexican friends were so enthusiastic to accompany me there.  I did not know what I will be expecting to see there, therefore, excitement crept in all over me.  And two hours after our road trip began from Colima, I finally saw what Barra de Navidad was all about.  

        Barra de Navidad (Christmas Sandbar) is a small coastline town in the state of Jalisco that is facing the Pacific Ocean.  It is located 587 kilometres northwest of Acapulco.  And at the base of its jetty, I saw a monument that commemorated Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Andres de Urdaneta’s voyage to Manila.  

        I felt I was standing on holy grounds as it was the jump off place of the Spanish fleet responsible for colonizing the Philippines. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Andres de Urdaneta started their expedition in Barra de Navidad towards the Philippines on 1564 November 21 – more than forty years after Magellan was killed in Cebú, and eventually started the Spanish Colonial Era in the Philippines that lasted for more than three centuries. And it was Andres de Urdaneta who discovered the route back to Nueva España or México which would eventually begin the galleon trade.

       I never knew that this was the place we will be visiting that day.  I was so excited to tell my Mexican friends who Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was to the Filipinos.  I told them that Legazpi died in Manila and that his remains were buried in Intramuros. I took pictures of the place, and had my Mexican friends take pictures of me with the monument. 

        And now that I am back home in the Philippines,  I felt like I travelled with Legazpi to the Philippines, my home,  the place which he chose to stay for the rest of his life. 

Hardbound Books for P10 Each Can Be For Real

     
        When  I  first  saw on  Facebook  the  advertisement of Books for Less, I thought at first it was a joke.  The ad  says they  were selling books for P10 (US$0.25) each.  This can’t be.  As far as I knew, Books for Less  were selling discounted books, but not for as low as P10.  I only visited one branch of Books for Less, and that was in the Mall of Asia,  Pasay,  Metro Manila,  Philippines.  But  these  P10  books  were  being sold in a warehouse in Pasig.  So I decided to take a look.

        And  so  on  2014   August  16,   I   went   to  their  warehouse  in  Pasig.  To  my amazement, they were indeed selling P10 books. But what was more surprising was that the  books   that  they  were  selling  were hard  bounds and hard to find award winners, nominees  and  all  time  bests.  One book which I bought was a hardbound one entitled Backlash  by  Susan  Faludi,  which  was  the  1991 National Book Critics Circle Award winner.  There  was  also  the  hardbound book that was included in the list of 1000 non fiction book of all time – Running on Amazon by Joe Kane.  And also the 1981 Booker Prize  nominee,  The Sirian  Experiments  by  Doris Lessing.  And there were also a few Life Travel Books, which are indeed would look nice in my home library.    

        For book lovers like me, shopping for  books this way was like paradise.  But one should be patient  in searching  for  books, as the place is quite crowded, hot and tight.  But it was worth it.  Imagine all the books you can get for P10 each.  Makes me want to think of visiting their regular branches and see what other quality books they are selling.  Unfortunately,  this  sale  extravaganza  from  Books  for  Less  is  just  happening  this August.  So  for those who are interested  to  buy quality books,  their P10 sale will last until August 31 of 2014.