Postal Heritage Walking Tour: A Free Manila Tour

Manila Central Post Office

When I went to iBlog, the bloggers were given a chance to go to the microphone stands to introduce their blog, promote an event, or announce a contest. Lawrence Chan talked about the Postal Heritage Tour, a walking tour that is held every third Sunday of the month.

Pipoy the postman

It starts at the Manila Central Post Office, goes through different historical places in Manila like the Metropolitan Theater, Arroceros Forest Park, Mehan Garden, Jones Bridge, MacArthur Bridge, Manila City Hall, National Press Club, FEATI University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Postal Bank, Escolta, Plaza Mexico, and Plaza Roma.

Best of all it’s free!

The tour that I joined met at the fountain area of Liwasang Bonifacio (also known as Plaza Lawton), went inside the Manila Central Post Office, walked by the Metropolitan Theater, wandered around Escolta, and ended with a food trip in Binondo

Death by Renovation

Manila Central Post Office and the Pasig River

At the start of the tour, Sir Lawrence told us some sad news. The Manila Central Post Office, a historical structure, will be renovated. Renovated should mean restored, but for all we know it could also be destroyed because the Philippine government has a bad track record when it comes to protecting historical sites.

Sir Lawrence

Sir Lawrence also told us that historical events happened in this place. He opened a book and showed us a picture of former President Cory Aquino standing right there in front of the flag pole of the post office.

Manila Central Post Office flag pole

Cory Aquino

Walking with Bloggers

bloggers

Sir Lawrence’s tour allows people to socialize with the other participants of the tour. I met several bloggers at the event. Mervz, a travel blogger (Pinoy AdvenTurista), gave me advice on how to increase blog traffic. He said that when he started blogging, he immediately set up a Facebook fan page. I had been wanting to set up a fan page for such a long time, but I felt that I only had the “right” to set up a fan page when I had lots of followers already. Thanks to Mervz, I threw out my fan-page-creation insecurity. Click here to like my page.

view from the post office

I also found out about photo walks. Many photographers like taking pictures of the streets of Manila, but walking around in areas like Quiapo with an SLR camera is a bit dangerous. That is why photographers have created photo walks so that these photographers can go around Manila in groups. Photo walks also welcome those who use point and shoot cameras.

The Met, Escolta, Binondo, and Beyond

Sir Lawrence gave us lots of time to photograph the streets of Manila. Here are some of the photos I took.

The Manila Metropolitan Theater

The Manila Metropolitan Theater

an ethnic dancer

Pasig River

Walking the dog

Escolta

Escolta

Jeep

Escolta

Manila

Manila

Manila

Tricycle

A kalesa going to Binondo

Imelda Marcos stamps

For more information about the tour, check out his blog Collector’s Connection. Click here for the tour schedules for 2012. You can also email him at  l_rence_2003@yahoo.com or  lawrencechan15@yahoo.com.

For more travel posts, click on these links:

• My New York Vacation Schedules
• Snippets of New York
• The New York Subway Weirdo
• The New York Anaconda Hugger
• Aimless Walking Adventure: Quiapo, Philippines
• Aimless Walking Adventure: China Town, Philippines
• Aimless Walking Adventure: Muslim Town, Philippines
• Ja’s Solo Adventures: Angono, Rizal

For more articles about the Philippines, click on these links:

• Why Do You Speak English?
• Normal na Buhay
• To Walk the Streets of Manila
• Preacher on the Bus
• I’m Thankful That I Live in a World of Coconuts
• Buying from Street Vendors in Jeeps
• Sardinas Bus
• The Filipino People’s Love-Shame Relationship

Check out The REaD Hunter, an online bookstore that sells second-hand books through Facebook. We ship books all over Metro Manila and selected provinces in the Philippines. Orders made during the week are shipped every Saturday. We accept payment through MLhuillier and Gcash.

Check out my other blog categories.

Age of the Diary by Jasmine T. Cruz. If you like this post, please subscribe to this blog. Follow Ja on Twitter: ageofthediary. Email Ja at: ageofthediary@gmail.com.