Preparing the way

I've featured the 1896 St. John the Baptist Parish Church (better known locally as the Pinaglabanan Church) quite a few times, but mostly its exterior, which I love. I finally had an opportunity to take a photo of its interior from the main aisle. I confess that I'm not crazy about it since I've never been fond of dark wood, and all the wood in the church is dark, from the retablo (reredos) to the pews. I do like the stained glass windows flanking the crucifix, showing St. John the Baptist preaching, and baptizing Jesus.

The church's unique chevron-shaped and intricately-detailed stained glass window, which I posted back in 2010, is worth revisiting.

Yummy to the last sip

When something becomes popular in Manila, it really becomes popular. During the past year, tea shops have opened in almost every block in the metro. The range is very wide—from quiet places that serve fresh, carefully brewed organic teas to shops that serve tea drinks with milk, all sorts of flavorings, sago pearls and jelly cubes, and everything in between. One guess what kind of tea Pao Pao Xiao Chi serves. It was the only place I could get a cold drink at the Greenhills West Clubhouse. To be fair, the simple iced fruit tea I had was pretty good; it wasn't too sweet and they have a light touch with the flavoring so I could still taste the tea.

A hotel for shopaholics

The Greenhills Élan Hotel Modern towers over the Greenhills Promenade restaurant row of the Greenhills Shopping Center. We've never stayed there, but their published rates are pretty reasonable. If you're a foodie and a certified shopping bargain hunter, then its location can't be beat. The shopping center is the home of the huge Greenhills tiangge.

Single story

The retablo (reredos) of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church along Pinaglabanan Street in San Juan City is unusually low for a more than one century old church in this country. It only has one level of niches for statues of the saints.

Veneer

The St. John the Baptist Parish Church, better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church after the street in San Juan City where it is located, dates back to 1896 but has been damaged, restored, renovated and expanded many times since then. Of the church's exterior, only the facade remains of the original structure, which is quite evident when the church is viewed from the side.

Too many choices

It started as an occasional bazaar, but the huge Greenhills tiangge is now almost all-year-round, and airconditioned too. It's the breaks that are now occasional, so some stalls can be changed to reflect the season (like Christmas or school opening). This is just one corridor of the bazaar, which regularly has sections for shoes, clothes, jewelry, and home accessories. The tiangge is now celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the special section (which I wasn't able to take a photo of, unfortunately) included Chinese delicacies, and all manner of figurines and charms meant to bring luck during this Year of the Water Snake.

Transparency

V-Mall is one of several buildings at the Greenhills Shopping Center. When I was much younger, it was called Virra Mall and was a concrete block with a warren of tiny shops selling pirated software and videos, PC clones and other questionable electronic gadgets. With the new name came a brighter and airier space, and—hopefully—more legitimate merchandise.

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My Manila will be on autopilot from November 1 to 5. Be well, be good.

A touch of romance

Chef Gene Gonzalez's Café Ysabel in San Juan City is a cozy restaurant located in a restored 1927 house with romantic, old fountains and ponds in the garden.

Baroque

The ornate mirror, ceiling and angel sconces at Café Ysabel in the City of San Juan. Unfortunately, the effect is a bit marred for me by the presence of the flanking speakers and large airconditioning units.

A touch of romance

Chef Gene Gonzalez's Café Ysabel in the City of San Juan has a romantic ambiance and serves great food—perfect for a dinner date today.

Wishing you all a love-filled day.

Happy Valentine!

Tolling for a century

Here is a side view of the 1896 St. John the Baptist Parish Church, better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church, showing the bell tower which is separate from the main church. You can also see here where its unusually-shaped but beautiful stained glass window is.

Fast and cheap

Greenhills Shopping Center has a restaurant row at the Promenade. Behind one of the buildings which leads to the supermarket, it also has a row of food stalls along the sidewalk. Needless to say, the food and drinks here are much, much less expensive than those at the Promenade.

God and mammon

The Philippines is the only country I know where Sunday Masses are celebrated in shopping malls. They are usually held in big, open areas where performances and other special events also take place. Some shopping centers that have many buildings sprawled over a large space even have their own chapels. I showed the one in Greenbelt last year. This one is the Chapel of the Holy Family in the Greenhills Shopping Center in the City of San Juan.

Spanish mission

Another view of the facade of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church, better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church, this time with its bell tower. The church is located in the City of San Juan which were still the boondocks in 1896, the year that the church was built. That year also saw the start of the Philippine Revolution, when Filipinos took up arms against the Spanish colonial authorities.

Nothing else

How important is food in the social life of Filipinos? When we say "restaurant row," we mean it literally. This is the restaurant side of the Greenhills Promenade in San Juan City, in the same complex as Metro Manila's most famous tiangge (bazaar).

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How time flies! April is almost done and I'm again reminding all CDP bloggers about our next theme day. The May 1 theme is Statues, and have you voted for the June theme already?

Hot off the griddle

Filipinos don't need much of a reason to gather around food. But balikbayan (returning countrymen) family and friends are always an excuse to eat at the best restaurants. So when a friend from college visited from Canada, a group of us got together at a teppan or hibachi room of Kimpura, one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in Metro Manila. You can see some of my friends reflected in the mirrored walls.

See what's reflecting what at James' Weekend Reflections.

Glory

The beautiful stained glass window of Pinaglabanan Church, the St. John the Baptist Parish Church, under the peak of the ceiling between the narthex (entrance hall) and the nave (where the congregation sits). The biblical passage written on it is from the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 10: "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth."

Third generation

The history of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church dates back to 1894 when the Spanish Vice-Royal Patron of the Philippines issued a Royal Decree establishing the parish of San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). In 1896, the church was designed and constructed by architect Luis Arellano. It was damaged during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century but was restored soon after. In 1951, the church was expanded under the direction of architect Otilio Arellano, a grandson of Luis, who kept the original nave and facade. Most Manila residents know the church better as Pinaglabanan Church, after the street in San Juan City where it is located. The two figures flanking the doorway are San Pedro (Saint Peter) and San Pablo (Saint Paul).

An oasis from consumerism

A small pond within a small park in the middle of the Greenhills Shopping Center in the City of San Juan. It is right next to the tiangge (bazaar) and is outdoors, hence the covered walkway between buildings. I wonder if the thousands of shoppers that pass through the park everyday notice just how lush it is.

Urban or rural, natural or man-made, take a sightseeing tour of our world's diverse scenery!

Double red

Metro Manila has been red this past week because of this double special day. These Chinese lanterns and banners were hanging from the roof of the Greenhills tiangge (bazaar) because of the Lunar New Year.



Since it's also Valentine's Day, hearts and cupids were also decorating other parts of the shopping complex. But I thought I'd post something from the tiangge that women would appreciate receiving today. The bazaar has different sections and one of them is dedicated to jewelry. Rows and rows of stalls with rows and rows of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings made of semi-precious stones, crystal, coral, pearls and cloisonné.

Happy Valentine's Day and a Prosperous Lunar New Year to all!