Field Day at Manila

Last Sunday, though I was still exhausted from the day before of my activities not to mention the week before that was also crammed with things to do... I forced myself out of the bed and into the bathroom to take a bath. I promised my youngest sister a trip to Cariedo, Sta. Cruz, Quiapo, Binondo and Divisoria.

Just thinking about it made me weary already. It was a hot day. I was dreading going there but at the same time, I was also excited for my sister who was going there for the very first time. I said a silent prayer that the Lord may keep us safe in our adventure that afternoon.

We took a TAS Trans bus going to Sta. Cruz. First stop was... Cariedo!

Cariedo
My sister and I surveyed the shop for a pair of boots that she is going to use for a cosplay. A cosplay is short for a costume play that has been popularized by anime fanatics. Two men asked us to go to a shop where there are knee high combat boots. We almost got forced into buying overpriced boots, fortunately, we were able to run out and go to another store.

We had to evade the two men so after ordering for the pair of boots, we went to the other side of Cariedo. A side of Cariedo sells beads. My sister's eyes widened in excitement as she browsed through the shop of beads and accessories. Once again she bought neclaces for her cosplay.

We then headed for Quiapo.

Quiapo

We went through the underpass and went to a DVD haven as described by my sister. Immediately, she was able to find anime DVDs that she wanted to buy. She had the DVDsd tested but before she could pay for them, the door of the building was shut and there was panic everywhere. DVD cases were being thrown in big bags and being hurled upstairs for hiding. There was a raid!

We had no way out!

I have been there several times and although there has been no raid since that afternoon, I have always wondered what would happen if there was one. I was thinking of what could be done. There was nowhere we could escape to. We were trapped.

Thank goodness, there was no raid that took place, apparently, upon seeing that the building was closed, they did not force it open anymore.

Whew!

We then headed for the bridge. I can't recall the name of the bridge but underneath is a wealth of handicrafts for balikbayans.

My sister was looking for a Boken, a wooden sword used for martial arts but we did not find one. It was such an exhausting walk.

On our way to Quiapo, my sister asked if we could go back to the DVD bulding to buy season 2 of Desperate Housewives. I guess the raid did not scare her a bit! So another exodus, we pulled off.

We got to see a Karakol dance at the underpass too!

Binondo
After all the walk we did, we got hungry so we decided to eat at Wai Ying... Boy was it far! But well worth it. The food was great.

After eating we were pooped and so we headed home. We both did not want to go to Divisoria anymore because it was just too tiring.

It was quite a field trip for my sister as that day was also the Chinese New Year so we got to see a lot of people gays, kids, guys do the dragon dance!

Going back home, I was ready to fall asleep in the bus. I was really tired. Upon getting home, I discovered the A/C outside the house and so the people who cleaned it put it back in. I had to watch them put it back in. After which, my mom arrived and asked hte men to pull it out because she bought a new A/C. I had to watch the men again. A few minutes more and we had to hear mass already. After I got home, I was definitely tired!!!

I got to see my baby though before the day ended. Just for a bit because his tummy was not feeling okay. He apparently ate somethign at their outing that did not quite agree with him.

No wonder I am still tired!