Welcome Arc and Sealed Door

This welcome arc in Intramuros brought me memories of fiestas in Bicol. We had these bamboo arcs marking the point where the banderitas begin. Even in Salubong during Easter, the angelitas descend from an arc made of bamboos and coconut lumber. This one near the Palacio del Gobernador is pretty elaborate--decorated not only with bamboo grids but also cages, nipa fans, painted plywood, and fishnet. I think the electric wires added something too.

While visitors are welcomed by the Palacio, tourists are barred from entering this ruined building in Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier, Fort Santiago. As if sealing it with concrete isn't enough, a stray MMDA No Parking sign was also guarding the brick portal

Brick Walls and Wooden Windows

Windows on the brick walls of Fort Santiago's Almacenes Reales (Royal Warehouse) which stored goods from the galleons docked at the Pasig River. Must have been rat heaven.

One of only four windows in the very small Our Lady of Guadalupe chapel inside the Baluartillo de San Francisco Javier.

Inside the Walls

The other weekend, I had a chance to go back to Fort Santiago where I attended a photography class last July. This time, though, I actually took shots of some things that I just ignored at that time, like this new building (or restoration?) outside the fort's beautiful iron fence.

Expectedly, I got a little lost on my way back, but I took the time to take more photos. Here's the Palacio del Gobernador, currently the COMELEC office, where I took the wrong ride.

To make things easier, I walked back to the fort area, so I could get the right jeep. I had to pass by the ruins of the Intendencia (Civil Administration Office). Some shrubs sprout on its arid walls.

Talking Cats at Rizal Shrine

Last Saturday, my friend Vins invited me to accompany her and her high school students at Assumption-Antipolo to Intramuros. I was expecting myself to bring home shots of historical buildings and objects, but look what I found at the back of Rizal Shrine.

There were so many of them hanging out in this patch of sunlight, and you know how they have that knowing gaze. It looked surreal—as if ripped off from a scene in Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. Which one looks like Mimi, Goma, Kawamura, Okawa, or Toro?