My father in law arrived last weekend and today we planned on taking him to see old Manila, right at Intramuros. Being the expected tour guide, I did a bit of research on how to approach this day tour. Since we live in Mandaluyong, I have decided to have a combined Pasig River Ferry “tour” with Intramuros tour. And it went pretty well.
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First, we took a cab to the Guadalupe Ferry station which was about a 15 minute ride. We were lucky that we made it to the 11 am trip. I asked one of the guards where we should go and he asked me to take a seat in the waiting area. After a few minutes of waiting, the boat arrived. It was pretty easy to get in and we were assisted by the staff while getting in.
It was a full boat. We were able to get seats with tables sharing with a young lady.
The white boat seemed quite easy to navigate. It almost felt like being just in a bus. The driver of the ferry can easily maneuver back, front, and diagonally. It was impressive.

The river had of course the odor but I noticed that the color is now more like green instead of the coffee light brown color that I read from another blog entry posted a few years or months ago. This is quite a good sign indeed.
It was really a nice and very interesting ride seeing Metro Manila from the river. We saw the houses, buildings, old factories, children playing under the bridge. I really recommend this trip. We are planning to use this again when our other guest from Holland arrives next week.

We got off at the last stop, which is Intramuros (Plaza Mexico). Walking a bit we saw that we were actually at the back of the Bureau of Immigration building. We were there a few months ago but never realized how close we were to the Ferry station. We were clueless how to get to Fort Santiago so after failing to get a cab for a few tries we decided to ask the friendly lady guards of the Plaza Mexico station how to get there.

They urged us to take any of the jeepneys as it may be inconvenient to walk. I believed them so I brought my two guests and called a jeep and asked the driver to stop for us at Fort Santiago, exactly as what the lady guards suggested. I hit my head on the ceiling of the jeepney, as expected my father in law also did . Anyways, it was easier than we expected. We were got off just in front of the sign that says “Fort Santiago”.

It was already noontime so we decided to find a place to drink and eat. After walking a few minutes we stopped at a busy corner with a Chowking. Looking to the left I saw a sign for a restaurant — Marso. My instinct told me we should try that restaurant. I am glad we did. It was not a big place but it was quiet and the waiters were responsive. MrC and I got bottomless iced tea which they promptly refilled even before we emptied our glasses. My father in law ordered calamansi juice, it was his first time to try it. He liked it. For our meal, I first ordered a bangus fillet breakfast but they were ran out of it so I had corned beef breakfast instead. My father in law, who only eats fish and vegetables ordered the sauteed bean sprouts and mushroom omelet. MrC ordered a club house sandwich and shared the sauteed bean sprouts with his Dad. After that we went straight to the entrance of Fort Santiago.

Before we even reached the entrance, calesa ride owners have already started offering their services. We first went to the entrance. The ride included a tour guide as well and includes also a tour of the walled city. The fee was 1000. We then paid the entrance fee and accepted their offer. We went through the Rizal Shrine and then afterwards a short tour of the Walled City and the different buildings there such as the Manila Cathedral, Palacio Gobernador, the nuns convent, and ended up in a craft store. By the time we were at the nuns convent, going down I didn’t feel well so we took a rest and I asked one of the old Spanish uniformed guards to buy me bottled water before I really faint. I was a bit scared of that. The tour guide, to our surprise also had other talents. He could also play the piano! Two songs after, we took photos with the guard and gave him a tip. After this, we were taken to the craft store that was in front of Fort Santiago. My father in law found a nice bottle of Coconut oil food supplement which he was mentioning a day before so I am glad he found it there. The tag price was 300 pesos but the lady gave it to him for 150. After this, we asked for their assistance to get us a taxi cab. The ride home from there was also very nice as we saw places like Mendiola, Malacanang, Ayala Bridge and part of Shaw Boulevard which we rarely ever get to see.

Overall, I totally recommend this trip!