Where were we? When we last heard from the Little Mail Carriers, they were exploring colorful Manila… but there’s still so much to see from the Philippines! So today they’re back with the second and final report of their adventures in this fascinating country. Enjoy!
Our host Jom (aka jugatmos) had told us about the Grand Marian Procession in Intramuros, and we were really looking forward to it! Hundreds of thousands of Marian devotees and more than a hundred images of the Blessed Virgin Mary from different parts of the Philippines are paraded around the old city of Manila, in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The procession has been taking place since 1619, so for over 400 years — that first year, it lasted 15 days. The procession of beautifully and elaborately-adorned floats (called carrozas) bearing the images of the Blessed Virgin Mary starts at 4pm in front of Manila Cathedral and slowly makes its way through the streets of the Walled City.Have a look!
Note: these photos and videos were taken in December 2019 — the procession was cancelled in 2020.
On the left above, Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu accompanied by the parishioners from San Mateo, Rizal presented to the late Don Ado Escudero, patron of Intramuros and creative master of Villa Escudero with Cofradia de la Inmaculada Conception, Inc. Chairman and 2020 Gawad CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) awardee Danny Dolor.
On the right, the image displayed in front of the cathedral, a 19th century Philippine-made reproduction of the lost centuries-old La Purisma Concepcion of the old San Francisco Church in Intramuros that was destroyed during the Second World War.
Below you can see the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba (Birhen ng Hapis), carried by the parishioners of Saint Peter of Alcantara Parish Church in front of the cathedral landing. The Laguna town of Pakil celebrates the September fiesta of their image, which is a small painting of the Sorrowful Virgin, with a frenzied dance procession that is believed to be another relic of pre-Christian times. The word “turumba” is from the Tagalog phrase “natumba sa laki ng tuwa” or ‘falling over in great joy’. You can see some of their dance here.
Note: these photos and videos were taken in December 2019 — the procession was cancelled in 2020.
It is super impressive, and it goes on for hours! Our host Jom has been designing the event’s souvenir book for the past 10 years, and he usually comes in very early to Intramuros to deliver hundreds of copies to the committee. These are then distributed amongst the carroza owners.
Nuestra Señora de la O, said to be a gift from King Carlos III of Spain, is presented among the Cofradia members and guests.
Recovered from all the excitement, we set off to explore Makati city, which felt super fancy! The 350-year-old city is busy with life — from shopping malls, restaurants and business hubs, it’s no wonder that the city holds the most coveted zip code. Indeed, Makati is known to be the classiest city of the Philippines most notably for the residents’ perpetually bustling, busy and ultra-modern lifestyle.
Makati got its name from an old tagalog word, “makati”, meaning receding tide. The city was bought for the hefty sum of 52,800 Philippine pesos in 1851 by an ancestor of Zobel de Ayala. Since then, the development of Makati has remained linked with the Ayala family, who has continued to develop the area over the years and as a result, continues to exert influence within the city. Colonised by the Spaniards and the Americans, Makati today is considered as somewhat of a Christian melting pot with so many of its denominations finding its home here.
Makati’s population fluctuates at various points of the day. By nighttime, the city has more than half a million residents, but the population can easily balloon up to five million during the daytime as people from neighbouring cities converge in Makati for either work or leisure!
But… how does one get around such a busy place? Turns out, pedicabs and jeepneys are never far away, and they’re super convenient to use!
The jeepney (on the left) is a favorite mode of public transportation in the Philippines, also known as “king of the road”. It was made from the surplus jeeps by the Americans left behind during the second World War. The lack of transportation at that time forced the Filipinos to get creative: they gutted and expanded the passenger seats into two rows. The real ones are usually adorned with decorations — we spotted some.
As iconic as the jeepney can be, on the other hand, the pedicab is a small road wonder, an ordinary bicycle that maneuvers a small carriage attached to it. It may look small and primitive but the job it accomplishes in the Pinoy’s everyday routine is enormous. It can ferry about four people to places where access to other public transportation is scarce. The pedicab is one of the most peculiar symbols of the Filipino culture, one that represents ingenuity and spiritedness. And, bonus points: they match the colors of our uniforms! 😍
Using our jeepney and pedicab, we drove to Ayala Triangle, a park shaped like a triangle that sits right in the center of Makati city. Until the 1950s, this was the Nielsen field, Manila’s pre-World War II airport. After the airfield was closed, it remained a barren open space until it was developed more recently. Two old runways became new avenues framing a calming and beautiful contemporary oasis at the center of the Philippine business community.
This area is brimming with art sculptures, statues and important memorials. We briefly joined the revolution with General Pio del Pilar, who led a group of independentists when the Philippine Revolution broke out in the 1890s. Pio del Pilar was then a resident of an area called Culi-Culi, and as a result of his revolutionary efforts, the general has a barangay (a small district) in Makati named after him.
We took a rest on the trunk of a narra tree, Philippine’s national tree. The narra symbolises the Filipino people’s indomitable spirit and strength of character, thus the narra’s characteristics of sturdiness and durability.
Did you know that Makati is the selfie capital of the world? We tried taking a few, but it’s not our strong suit.😅 We’re at the Peninsula Manila, a hotel nicknamed “The Pen”. Built in 1976, its lobby quickly became the place “to see and be seen” of Manila’s who’s who, even military tanks have been seen coming through the front door, creating unforgettable memories and witnessed the variety of life in all its drama and excitement.
Time magazine once categorised the Pen’s special dessert, Halo-Halo Harana (above, on the right), as the world’s “Best Legal High”, so of course we had to give it a try under the iconic ‘Sunburst’ sculpture by National Artist for Sculpture and Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture Napoleon Abueva. Halo-Halo Harana is a mouthwatering mix of macapuno, jackfruit, kaong, nata de coco, sweet beans, garbanzos, pinipig (pounded rice flakes) and ube topped with shaved ice topped with leche flan and ube royal ice cream; a type of Filipino ice cream, is typically made with creamy buffalo milk and purple yam. It’s an amazingly delicious yet complex dish, which seems to reflect in itself the nation’s complex history.
We jumped at the opportunity to meet and chat with Atty. Lulu Tesoro Castañeda, who told us about her mother, the late Doña Salud S. Tesoro. Doña Salud was the “Mother of Philippine Handicrafts”, a souvenir trade pioneer and a patron of local crafts. She was so influential that postage stamps were issued to celebrate her centenary, in 2015.
A visit to the Philippines would not be complete without a visit to the Tesoros shop, so we took our time browsing the lovely souvenirs!
It’s almost time leave, and we’re a little sad at the prospect. To cheer us up, our host has been preparing a balikbayan box, so we can enjoy a little bit of the Philippines when we’re back home. 😊 Also called “repatriation box”, it’s a normal cardboard box containing all sorts of items sent by Filipinos overseas (also known as balikbayans) to their loved ones, returning back home. Oftentimes it is carried with their luggage or they send it to couriers that specialise in sending these boxes. The word itself “balikbayan” means ‘returning to one’s country’.
Finally, we went to Makati Central Post Office, where Ms. Natz stamped our passport and declared us ready to leave the country. Sigh… Time for that last slice of buko pie (aka coconut pie) and off we go to new adventures!
Thank you so much to Jom for this amazing report, and for taking good care of the little guys during the lockdown. Off they go… who knows where they’ll pop up next? 😊
We’ve just received an unexpected report from the Little Mail Carriers, all the way from the Philippines! We don’t know exactly when they were there as mail has been slow to leave the country in the past year… but we’re definitely not complaining — there’s so much to see in this amazing country, and it’s a treat to get a glimpse of it through the eyes of our little intrepid wanderers. Join us for another fantastic report of their travels!
Our host Jom (aka jugatmos) told us that the late Carlos Celdran (a popular cultural activist and performance artist) used to say: “If you can’t find beauty and poetry in Manila, you’ll never find it anywhere.”
Manila is commonly used to refer to the whole metropolitan area (Metro Manila), which includes not just Manila City itself but also Makati, Quezon City and 14 other cities, merged together in a huge metropolitan area. Today we’re focusing on the City of Manila itself, the place with most of the
historical and iconic landmarks in the Philippines.
In order to learn more about the history and culture of the country, we’ll make a stop at the National Museum of the Philippines, which is actually a group of different museums housing the nation’s treasures. First on our list is the National Museum of Anthropology, formerly known as the Museum of the
Filipino People, located in the Rizal Park.
Here we can see the Laguna Copperplate, a document that shows the use of mathematics, inscribed in the Shaka year 822 (corresponding to Monday, April 21, 900 AD) and the earliest known calendar-dated document used within the Philippines Islands. This document
is demonstrative of pre-Hispanic literacy and culture, and is considered to be a national treasure.
Baybayin can be seen on the windows of the museum! Have you heard of it before? This is one of the Philippines many
ancient writing systems, used before the popularization of Latin characters in the archipelago.
And look at that these traditional attires — they’re made of piña, which are the fibers from pineapple leaves. Early Filipino clothing used several different fibers, including piña, jusi and abaca. The Maria Clara gown on the right, sometimes referred to as Filipiniana dress or traje de mestiza, is a traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines. It is composed of four different parts: a blouse, a long skirt, a cloth to wear over the shoulders, and a knee-length over-skirt.
Live demonstrations of fabric weaving from the Maranao and Maguindanao people were taking place on the day of our visit, to a really interested crowd — look at how colorful those fabrics are!
After the National Museum of Anthropology, we took a detour to the National Museum of Fine Arts, to marvel at its architecture and take a peek at some famous paintings…
The last stop on our Museum tour is the Museum of Natural History, a building with striking architecture where we met Lolong, the world’s largest crocodile to ever be measured. After he died in captivity in 2013, he was brought to the museum, where his remains were taxidermied.
No visit to Manila would be complete without a stroll in Intramuros, the walled city within the city of Manila (intra = inside, muros = walls) which today remains rich and intact in its cultural significant. It was considered to be the educational and religious center in colonial times, where original campuses of the University of Santo Tomas (the oldest university in Asia) were once located. As Filipino writer Nick Joaquin would say, “Intramuros! The Old Manila. The original
Manila. The noble and ever loyal city…”
Inside the walls of Intramuros we stumbled on Casa Manila, a museum depicting colonial lifestyle during the Spanish colonization, which is a copy of an 1850s San Nicolas House that was once located in Calle Jaboneros. We took a rest at the packed heritage café Barbara’s nearby, before gearing up to visit the magnificent Manila cathedral as well as the San Agustin Church, the oldest stone church in the country and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Below you can see the gates of Fort Santiago. Built in 1590, it remains as one of the most important historical sites in Manila, as many significant events took place in it throughout the years.
One of these was the imprisonment of national hero Jose Rizal. Rizal’s writings partly inspired the Philippine Revolution, although he was not involved in its planning. He was held in Fort Santiago before being executed
by the Spanish colonial government in 1896 for the crime of rebellion, and did not get to see his home country gain independence just 2 years later.
Rizal spent his last 24 hours in a chapel converted into a prison, before marching to his execution in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park). There’s a memorial trail that traces his steps to the park, which we followed as night fell. There we found Rizal Monument, the final resting place
of this martyr.
Entitled "Motto Stella” (Guiding Star), the monument by Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling is composed of a standing bronze sculpture of Rizal in overcoat holding a book that represents his novels Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo, with an obelisk commonly understood as Rizal’s masonic background with its three stars standing for
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (the three main island groups), set on a granite stone base inside of which his remains are interred.
There are at least 118 Rizal monuments in the Philippines with an exact replica in Madrid, Spain. Other similar monuments can be found in Wilhelmsfeld (Germany), Jinjiang, Fujian (China), Cherry Hill Township (New
Jersey), San Diego (California), and Seattle (Washington), Reforma Avenue in Mexico City
(Mexico), La Molina in Lima (Peru), Litomerice (Czech Republic), and Singapore to name a few.
This report is getting long already, but there’s still so much more we have to show you, so much to discover in the Philippines… So stay tuned for further broadcasts!
PS – Our huge thank you to jugatmos for this fantastic report, and for taking the time to show the little guys around so many interesting places!
Willa (aka PostcardPerfect) is an enthusiastic postcrosser from the Philippines. She does Postcrossing with her two sons, and enjoys shopping for postcards everywhere she goes! :)
Here is what she had to say to our interview questions:
How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?
I discovered Postcrossing through a blog called Postcards From Miss Igorota, owned by a fellow Filipino who lives in New Jersey, USA. At the time, she was offering to send a free postcard for those who wanted to received one and I was so curious and delighted when I received her postcard.
I followed the Postcrossing link there, signed up and sent my first 5 postcards. Later I found out that another blogger whose blog I frequently visited, was one of my recipients and I was so happy when I saw my postcard on her blog (you can see it here)! Since then, sending and receiving postcards became part of my daily life.
Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!
Since I’ve been in two countries already, I can share photos of both post offices where I’ve sent my postcards from. Here’s the one in Canada:
Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.
This is a tough question and I’m sure a lot of postcrossers would agree. It is really hard to pick a favorite and even I we do, it takes a lot of thinking and convincing and sorting! :)
But ok, my most favorites are Gotochi from Japan, which I think are quite special. It says so much about the Japanese culture – and I know how hard to get these postcards is, because they can only be bought from their place of origin. I’m so thankful that I have a friend in Japan, Clarissa, who sends Gotochi cards to me from time to time whenever she’s on a family vacation.
Another favorite is the Royal Couple, Will & Kate. I wasn’t a fan of royalty at all, until I saw how beautiful they are! When I was in Canada, I followed everything about their engagement and wedding and everything else. Not to mention their wedding date falls on the same date as my birthday :D. I just thought that they are the most beautiful couple in the world, and maybe someday, I might be able to meet or just to see them in person! (wishful thinking! :D)
Then there’s Mickey Mouse, just to satisfy the kid in me. :)
Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?
Quite a few actually! I’ve helped my two sons, aged 8 and 12, sign up on the website, because they decided they wanted to received postcards of their own. And then lots of my fellow bloggers got curious when I shared my sent and received Postcrossing cards on Facebook, so they ended up signing up as well.
What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?
First thing that comes to mind is… shopping! I mean, who doesn’t love shopping? Really! :D Whenever I go, I always look for a bookstore, hoping to find some good postcards.
There’s also the friendship of course – who would’ve thought that good and kind people still outnumbered the not-so-nice ones!
And lastly, seeing different places, discovering cultures and history, learning about other people who live on the other part of the globe, and to find out that all of us have one thing in common… that we love postcards! :D
Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?
Definitely!!! Like Norfolk Island for example, I did not know they were a country! :D And Dracula’s Castles from Romania never failed to amazed me! Oh… how about Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova or Croatia? There are so many of them I want to see. My bucket list of the places to visit just keep growing each day I received a postcard from a “new” country!
Have you met any other members in real life?
Yes! When I moved back here to the Philippines in October 2011, I help organized the first meet up and we’ve been doing them ever since. Our last meet up was on April 05, 2014, and just like on all the previous meetings, none of us wanted to go home early because there are so many postcard and stamp related stories to tell. And every after meet up, we all realize we need more time! :D
.jpg "The Little Mail Carriers check out the Grand Marian Procession")
.jpg "Little Mail Carriers selfies")
.jpg "The Little Mail Carriers check out the Grand Marian Procession")
.jpg "General Pio del Pilar and Narra tree")
.jpg "Little Mail Carriers selfies")
Quite a few actually! I’ve helped my two sons, aged 8 and 12, sign up on the website, because they decided they wanted to received postcards of their own. And then lots of my fellow bloggers got curious when I shared my sent and received Postcrossing cards on Facebook, so they ended up signing up as well. 
