On Mar 18, 2024 we sailed into Manila Bay and docked at Manila, Philippines. Manila is known as the “Pearl of the Orient” and is the capital of the Philippines. It is a densely populated (1.5 million people) bayside city on the island of Luzon. Manila, together with 16 contiguous cities and municipalities, is known as Metropolitan Manila (also called the National Capital Region). The population of Metropolitan Manila is nearly 15 million people.

The city of Manila was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and was held as a Spanish territory until 1898 when it was ceded to the U.S. after the Spanish-American War. It was held by the U.S. until 1941 when the Japanese invaded the country. During World War II much of the city was destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945, but the city was rebuilt after the war ended. The Philippines received its independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946.

As we sailed into Manila Bay, the Seabourn Sojourn paid tribute to over 100 crew members who are Filipinos. All of the Filipinos lined the deck overlooking the pool as well as most of the open area on the pool deck. The band played, the guests drank wine and champagne, and had caviar by the pool, and all of the Filipinos danced and had a good time. It was a lot of fun and nice to recognize all of the hardworking crew.

In the afternoon we took a walking tour through Manila during which we were able to see many interesting historical buildings, churches and monuments. Our first stop was the Quiapo Church, best known as the home of the Black Nazarene. This is a miraculous image of Jesus that was brought to the Philippines by the Spanish during the 1700s. The Black Nazarene has hundreds of thousands of devotees who head to the church every Friday for a novena.

From there we walked down the very crowded streets to the Quiapo Market – a very lively outdoor market that sells everything from fruit, vegetables and fish to handicrafts and clothing.

We continued walking through the streets and broken sidewalks past many local retail shops, restaurants, and quick food cafes or stalls. We were amazed by the myriad of electrical wires that hang everywhere.

As we continued to walk we made our way to the Binondo, which is known as the world’s oldest Chinatown. It is also the largest Chinatown in the world outside of mainland China.

As we left the Binondo (Chinatown) we crossed the street and stopped in a plaza across from the Santa Cruz Baroque church which was built in the early 17th century. Also in the Santa Cruz Plaza is the beautiful Carnedo Fountain, named after Don Francisco Carnedo y Peredo, Manila’s greatest benefactor.

After that, we boarded a bus that took us back to the port and our ship, and in the evening we enjoyed seeing some of Manila lit up from the ship. The large building in the picture below is the Manila Hotel. It is a five-star hotel which was originally a lower rise building (the tower was a later addition). Prior to World War II it was used by General Douglas MacArthur as his home and office while serving in the Philippines.

On Mar 19, 2024 we took an all-day excursion out of Manila to Tagaytay, which offered us the opportunity to see the transition out of the densely populated city of Manila to the outlying municipalities that comprise the Manila Metropolitan Region, where many factories and housing developments have been built. It is amazing how big the entire area is, and hard to imagine so many people existing in such close confines. Our tour then headed out into the countryside where we were able to see the greenery prevalent in the country and started to climb into an area of higher elevation. Along the way we stopped at some market stands that offered fruits and vegetables, as well as beautiful fresh flowers.

Across the street we stopped in a bakery that sold a local favorite, baku pie, which is a pie with young coconut filling.

Eventually we arrived at Tagaytay where we saw Taal Volcano, a live volcano situated within Taal Lake. Taal Volcano is the world’s smallest active volcano; it last erupted on Mar 26, 2022. It was hazy while we were there so the pictures of the volcano were not real clear; we supplemented them with a picture of what the volcano looks like on a clear day.

We had lunch at a restaurant/resort overlooking the volcano and enjoyed the time there.

On our way back to the port, we made a stop at the Manila Hotel to see the lobby of this magnificent place.

That night we saw some of the Manila skyline on our sail-away from this beautiful city, while listening to the Seabourn Singers.