Intramuros, Manila

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See and experience the Philippines national dance at the Barbaras Restaurant in Intramuros, Manila. Barbaras restaurants' full buffet dinner is at 550.00 (including tax) per person and witness artist performing local dances.

After which, they are inviting all guest to try and experience the Tinikling (teeh-NEEHK-ling). This Philippines dance will test ones cleverness. See photos above.

Facts:
The English equivalent of “tinikling” is “bamboo dance.” More than one oral history of the tinikling dance has been handed down through the generations.
Smooth three-inch bamboo poles that are approximately seven to eight feet long and dancers gracefully steps and jumps between two bamboo poles.

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This walled city is surrounded by a golf course and is one of the quiter places in Manila.Built around 1600 by the spanish but heavily bombed in WW2 ,this is a nice area to walk around one of the most historical areas in Manila.

Intramuros is the old part of Manila and probaply the nicest place to walk around in this huge city.
There are many well restored old buildings and you also have the Manila Cathedral there aswell as many other important buildings.
In a city that in my opinion does not have many tourist sights, this is certainly one of the biggest must sees.

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Carlos Celdran's walking tour is a must do if you wish to get the feel of Intramuros. He is a great and interesting guide. And I got to know a lot of tidbit on my country's history that I never learned in school. Its 2 hours. Afterward we took a calesa ride around Intramuros at PHP150 a pop. The calesa driver was very informative too.

A legacy of the Spanish colonial days, built in 1571. This old fort has now been transformed to a place of restaurants and souvenir, art & crafts shops. Still, there is no taking away the charm of the place. The outerwalls are still intact, with mould and lichen growing in abundance on them, turning them emerald green. In it, a ride on ornate horse carriages allows you to fall back in time, as long as you don't mind spending the money. Explore old dungeons (at Fort Santiago) and visit 2 of Manila's oldest churches - the San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral.

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Bahay Tsinoy, a museum of the Chinese in Philippine life, presents the saga of the chinese experience in the philippines. With their almost life-sized dioramas, travel through the eras of Philippine history and witness the evolution of the Chinese -- from merchant sailors, to migrants, to mestizos, to ilustrados, to revolutionaries, to guerrillas, and to the contemporary Tsinoy (Chinese Filipino).

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years and one of the influences that the country got was the Catholic faith. The city of Manila is filled with a lot of old churches that were built in the 17th and 18th century. The most famous of which is the UNESCO World Heritage Site, San Agustin Church. The Baroque architecture structure was constructed in the early 1600's and has a long history of being damaged and restored. You may also visit the only all steel church in Asia, the San Sebastian Church.

The old town was the centrepiece of spainish colonial period which left many catholic churches and buildings with spanish architectural style. But it is so strange that you could hardly see any tourists in this area. People always tells that travelling in Philippine is not safe, but I feel opposite here. For western travellers, there is obviously less interest to see the similiar culture. As an indepedent Chinese traveller, I truly enjoy this different and less-touristry atmosphere.