Crazy Photo Comparison

While trolling the internet this afternoon during my lunch break I came across the Wikipedia article on the Battle of Manila. Reading down it I saw this photo:

I immediately realized that I had a photo of myself standing in that exact spot.

Look closely. You can see the differences in stone work between the original stone and the repairs made post-WW2.

Creepy but cool.

back from the third world

Anna and I returned last week from the Philippines. To say that we had a great time would be an understatement. It was awesome beyond all available superlatives. We took over 850 photographs between the two of us during our 12 days.

We stayed at Makati City which is one of the cities that makes up Metro Manila. It’s commonly known as the financial district but I remember it more for the massive (I counted 4) amounts of shopping malls within the 3 blocks surrounding our hotel. Our room overlooked Makati Avenue and the mainstay on this road (as with all others in Manila) is the ubiquitous jeepney. While we (for several reasons) never actually got to ride one, I was nearly struck by several of them, could easily watch them from the safety of the various vans we hired, and observed the sweaty masses that filled all of the jeepneys. Evidently happy with the 7 peso ride.

I’m not really going to bore you with the details of the trip, just hit some of the highlights.

On the third day we (and several others) took a lovely guided tour of Manila. A very somber time was had by all at the American-Filipino National Cemetery. Here is one of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ crosses (there are over 17,000 servicemen laid to rest at the cemetery).

On that same tour we went to Intramuros, the old Spanish walled city built in the 15th and 16th centuries. While exploring the ruins of Fort Santiago we had a view of the Pasig River which if I told you was horribly polluted like some post-apocalyptic wasteland except on water and not like the desert in ‘the Road Warrior’ you’d believe me. Not because you know me to be trustworthy (which I am) but due to the fact that, yes, that is a child sitting on a large piece of styrofoam as he floats through the flotsam and jetsam that litters the Pasig River as it meanders near Chinatown and Intramuros.

After a wonderful wedding at Saint Augustin Church in Intramuros (the luckiest church in Manila because it survived numerous earthquakes, armed insurrections, and being a battle ground and aerial bombardment zone during World War 2) we traveled down to Boracay and enjoyed not only the world famous white sand beaches (don’t get hot in the sun!) but the snorkeling, boating, mango shakes filed with lots of rum (my invention and the cause of my lingering headache and upset stomach), and sunsets across the South China Sea.

So, after several thousand miles of air travel (China Airlines is good!), not too many hours spent at airports (Taipei is very clean but Manila has character) and many meals of rice, we returned and got back to work. Work still sucks but it pays the bills.