My Manila

I've featured the 1896 St. John the Baptist Parish Church (better known locally as the Pinaglabanan Church) quite a few times, but mos...

When something becomes popular in Manila, it really becomes popular. During the past year, tea shops have opened in almost every block in ...

The Greenhills Élan Hotel Modern towers over the Greenhills Promenade restaurant row of the Greenhills Shopping Center . We've never ...

The retablo ( reredos ) of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church along Pinaglabanan Street in San Juan City is unusually low for a more ...

The St. John the Baptist Parish Church, better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church after the street in San Juan City where it is located, ...

It started as an occasional bazaar, but the huge Greenhills tiangge is now almost all-year-round, and airconditioned too. It's the bre...

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...

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

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 t...

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...

Here is a side view of the 1896 St. John the Baptist Parish Church , better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church, showing the bell tower whi...

Greenhills Shopping Center has a restaurant row at the Promenade . Behind one of the buildings which leads to the supermarket, it also has ...

The Philippines is the only country I know where Sunday Masses are celebrated in shopping malls. They are usually held in big, open areas wh...

Another view of the facade of the St. John the Baptist Parish Church , better known locally as Pinaglabanan Church, this time with its bell ...

How important is food in the social life of Filipinos? When we say "restaurant row," we mean it literally. This is the restaurant ...

Filipinos don't need much of a reason to gather around food. But balikbayan (returning countrymen) family and friends are always an exc...

The beautiful stained glass window of Pinaglabanan Church , the St. John the Baptist Parish Church, under the peak of the ceiling between th...

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 Roya...

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 (...

Metro Manila has been red this past week because of this double special day. These Chinese lanterns and banners were hanging from the roof o...