Wish you were here

Monday, September 01, 2008

FIRST OF SEPTEMBER, MANILA

* Three outspoken pro-American Filipinos: Dr. Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Benito Legarda Sr., and Jose Luzuriaga are appointed members of the Philippine Commission.

* Four members of the Commission are made heads or secretaries of the Executive Departments by the President of the United States. These are: for Commerce and Police, Luke E. Wright; for Finance and Justice, Henry C. Ide; for Public Instruction, Bernard Moses; and for Interior, Dean S. Worcester.

* El Renacimiento, an anti-American daily, is published with Martin Ocampo as publisher and Rafael Palma as editor.

* The Philippine Normal College, established as a Normal School by Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commission, opens in the Escuela Municipal, Intramuros, Manila.

* The Philippine Constabulary detachment for Ambos Camarines is organized by Captain Edward S. Luthi and quartered in Nueva Caceres.

Labels: life in Manila, Manila, photography

posted by Señor Enrique at 10:42 PM | 10 comments

Friday, August 29, 2008

CENTRAL MARKET - SANTA CRUZ, MANILA

This was where my brothers, cousins and I used to buy the fabrics for our shirts and trousers. It was a time when custom-tailored clothing was de rigueur, while ready-to-wear was still at its infancy.

The fabrics used in those trendy clothes worn by our favorite pop stars as featured in teen magazines, or in those glossy Japanese men's magazines, could be found at Central Market -- from Oxford cottons to Indian madras, and from corduroys to denims. And the local tailor could easily make any piece of clothing that you wanted as long as he was shown a picture of it.

When I came back to Manila a few years ago, many of the local tailors and dressmakers had closed shop; the influx of ready-to-wear clothing -- both locally-produced and imported -- had made them extinct. Consequently, many of the fabric and haberdashery establishments at Central Market had also disappeared, to be replaced by the abundance of frame shops and ironically, ready-to-wear and ukay-ukay stalls.

Located at Fugoso Street and Quezon Boulevard in Santa Cruz, Manila, Central Market went through a major renovation during the Atienza administration. However, despite its airy and refurbished setting, it no longer attracts as large a crowd as it used to. But nonetheless, with its wet market, Central Market appears to amply serve the Manileños of the southeastern district.

Labels: central market, Manila

posted by Señor Enrique at 6:19 AM | 13 comments

Saturday, June 28, 2008

SANTA CRUZ, MANILA ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Labels: Manila, photography

posted by Señor Enrique at 10:52 AM | 8 comments

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

MAN CLIMBING UP THE STEPS

Labels: Manila

posted by Señor Enrique at 11:58 AM | 16 comments

Friday, June 20, 2008

OLD MANILA

The above photograph is courtesy of Museo ng Maynila. It is part of its Curt Teich postcard collection.

The YouTube video presentation below is a travelogue entitled "Manila. Queen City of the Pacific" created in 1938 by André de la Varre, a self-taught filmmaker who began his career in 1919, at the age of 17, when he bought a camera and went off to Europe to start making films -- 11 to 22 minutes long that ran in movie theaters after the newsreels and before the main features.

André used a small Leica, powered by a spring-wound motor, crafting his technique through trial and error as he traveled the world. And one of the places he visited and documented was Manila.

Labels: Manila, Manila history

posted by Señor Enrique at 11:01 AM | 30 comments

Monday, June 16, 2008

PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA

Its main campus is composed of 13 undergraduate schools, two professional schools, and eight graduate schools. It offers a wide range of curricular programs in Medicine, Law, Nursing, Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Business, Architecture, Education, Mass Communication, Physical Therapy, Tourism, Government, Arts, the Social Sciences, and the Pure and Applied Sciences.

Several thousand faculty serve a diverse student body of different ages in different academic divisions, from undergraduate to postgraduate levels.

Continue reading here.


















The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (University of the City of Manila in English, commonly abbreviated as PLM, or simply Pamantasan), is the largest city government-funded, tuition-free, university in the Philippines.

It also holds the distinction of being the first Philippine institution of higher learning to have its official name in Filipino. The Philippines' Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has considered PLM as a model for public institutions across the Philippines.

Furthermore, it has cited several PLM programs and departments as Centers of Excellence. A study using cumulative data from 1999 to 2003 showed that during the said period PLM was among the top five schools in the Philippines in terms of board exam passing rate. In the same study, it was one among three public universities in the top ten category.

Continue reading here.

Labels: academe, Manila

posted by Señor Enrique at 8:42 AM | 13 comments

Sunday, March 25, 2007

MABUHAY ANG QUIAPO!

It was a celebration of Manila's famous district which consisted of three events -- the opening of Revitalizing Quiapo Photo Exhibit at Arsenio Lacson Underpas; the opening of Juan Nakpil: National Artist for Architecture Exhibit at Bahay Nakpil-Bautista in Calle A. Bautista; and the launching of the book, Quiapo: Heart of Manila, edited by Fernando (Butch) Nakpil Zialcita, jointly published by The Cultural Heritage Studies Program, Department of Sociology And Anthropology at Ateneo de Manila University and Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

Gemma Cruz Araneta, President of Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines hosted the opening of the Juan Nakpil exhibit. She is shown in the photograph on the left standing behind Fernando (Butch) Nakpil Zialcita.

The ubiquitous face of Manila, Congressman Miles Roces cut the ribbon to officially open the photo exhibit at the Arsenio Lacson Underpass, while mayor Lito Atienza was the guest of honor and speaker at the book launching party held over at Calle San Sebastian right behind the San Sebastian Basilica.

Many fellow bloggers attended these series of events such as Sidney Snoeck, Ivan Mandy, Tito Basa, Ivan Henares, and Carlos Celdran.

Ivan Mandy was most gracious for introducing Sidney and I to the many members of Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines, especially Gemma Cruz Araneta and Fernando (Butch) Nakpil Zialcita.

A sumptuous dinner followed wherein I met an intensely passionate professor of architecture at UST, who shared with us his insight on the future development of Manila as he envisions it. I trust that I will meet him again in the near future so I could feature his views and portrait on this site.

Many thanks to Tito Basa for inviting us to this wonderful celebration of Quiapo!

Thank you as well to the shy and elusive Belgian Consul who arranged our invite for that tasty dinner.

Labels: Manila, Quiapo

posted by Señor Enrique at 7:33 AM | 24 comments

Monday, March 19, 2007

OLD COINS & CURRENCY VENDOR

Labels: coin and currency vendor, Manila, Sta Cruz street vendors

posted by Señor Enrique at 7:09 AM | 37 comments

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A COLORFUL NEIGHBORHOOD

Once I asked my nephew how come I no longer see him wearing the authentic NBA jersey I got him in New York. Sheepishly, he replied, “Nasungkit, Tito.”

It wasn’t until I was walking along these streets of Intramuros last Saturday when I once again thought about that particular incident. Without a safer place to hang dry their newly-washed clothes, some folks hang them right outside their windows; making them easier for petty thieves to pinch with the aid of a long stick.

This row of houses, by the way, is on the same street — but about a couple of hundred meters away — from the colorful house pictured below, which happens to be my favorite building in Intramuros. This may be the last enclave where squatters are allowed to reside within Intramuros.

During the 17th-century, the parian neighborhood of Sta. Cruz commanded the highest in rental prices, compared to those in other districts of Manila. Businessmen, especially the foreigners, preferred the structures of Sta. Cruz, especially those warehouses along the Pasig River, which facilitated the swifter delivery of their merchandise through the cascos or boats that plied the city’s esteros.

Among the big time landlords of that era was Doroteo Jose who owned six residential homes located at Calle Obando. They were built of mamposteria and wood with galvanized iron roofing. His properties were valued at P9,000.00 at that time.

Another was Pedro Roxas, who lived in the tony neighborhood of San Miguel district. He owned buildings in Sta. Cruz — a residential house at 40 Calle Quiotan; a warehouse with bakery at 14 Curtidor; and another warehouse at 64 San Pedro. His properties were collectively assessed at a total price P18,300.00.

To date, Sta. Cruz and Binondo remain to be the priciest pieces of real estate in the entire City of Manila.

Labels: Intramuros, Manila, Manila history

posted by Señor Enrique at 4:48 PM | 25 comments

Monday, February 26, 2007

JONES BRIDGE TODAY

Labels: Jones Bridge, Manila

posted by Señor Enrique at 8:06 AM | 38 comments

Life in Manila as observed by a former New Yorker who with a laptop and camera has reinvented himself as a storyteller. Winner of the PHILIPPINE BLOG AWARDS: Best Photo Blog in 2007 and three Best Single Post awards in 2008.

 

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