Philippines Day 4 - Manila City Tour Part 1 (Rizal Park)

Date of Visit: 23rd March 2012

Let's continue with my Philippines travelogue again. On the fourth day, we decided to utilise Abel's tour service again for a full day city tour around city of Manila. Yes, you still can wander by yourself without hiring any local tour guide but I doubt that you able to visit as many places and attractions like we did. As usual, before starting any tour, I will list down few of the places and attractions that I love to visit and sightseeing. Turns out our 12 hours city tour with Abel, we managed to visit 8 different destinations in a day. Here are the places we went and I decided blog them in different post instead of cramp everything into a post. 

• Rizal Park
• Intramuros
• Fort Santiago
• Manila Cathedral
• Quiapo Market Manila
• San Agustin Church
• Casa Manila
• American Cemetery and Memorial

So, in this post I will begin with Rizal Park, the first destination we visited. This park was a tribute to Philippine's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, whom the park was named after. A lil bit history of Dr. Jose Rizal was he was a doctor, novelist, nationalist and reformist, who was executed on the charges of fomenting local rebellion against the Spanish government. If you wanna know more about this national hero, you can click here. 

#1: Rizal Monument located in the middle of the park

This historical urban park located right in the heart of Manila city and also known as Luneta Park because its believed to have the shape of a half moon during the Spanish time. Admission to this park is free of charge by the way.

#2: Not just a historical site but also it's also recreational park for the public

Rizal Park is one of the famous tourist attractions and maybe cause we arrived quite early, there ain't much tourists. Well, it's a good sign anyway because we could take as many photos as we want. It's incredibly huge and we can see that most of the local here were either jogging, cycling, dancing and a group of young little students doing their virtual tour here.

#3: The Martyrdom of Dr Jose Rizal - A "living" memorial honoring of this national hero.

Abel brought us to another side of the monument where we got to witness huge and tall bronze statues which it recreates the dramatic last moments of the hero’s life before the execution being done. For this site - The Martyrdom of Dr Jose Rizal, it requires admission fee of P20 per adult, but because three of us are students, we only paid P10. 

#5:Dr Jose Rizal was convicted on three charges (rebellion, sedition and conspiracy) and sentenced to death.

#6: His last family visit before the execution

#7: Wrote his last poem before the day of execution. His poem "Mi Ultimo Adios" which originally in Spanish version, has been translated into 38 different languages up to date.

#8: Said goodbye to his wife whom he reportedly married shortly before his execution

#9: This is exactly the side where Dr Jose Rizal was executed by a firing squad.

Abel told us that the best time to visit this place is during the night time; between 8:00 pm to 8:30 pm cause these statues will become part of the light-and-sound presentation. During this period, the admission fee is P50 for each pax. But we didn't return for this during the night time because we were introduced by Abel for something extraordinary, something unique. Probably only available in Manila, I guess. Wanna know more? Then, stay tune for more in the next few upcoming posts of Philippines travelogue.

[Credit To: Manila.PH, Wikipedia]