Big City stop & not getting in until lunchtime but the benefit of that was local dancers to welcome us on the pier. We danced along from Deck 7, much to their amusement, and the minute we got off the ship, this lot called us over

It went downhill from there…

Took ship shuttle to a large shopping centre where when trying to buy a memory stick in a 3rd floor computer shop we encountered a live mouse scuttling across the counter! But I did manage to get a couple of new watercolour brushes & we found a supermarket. Only prepacked goods bought!

So let’s take a taxi to see coconut palace & the art museum! Here’s the palace…..

Yeah it was that good…

Then commenced the hunt for the art museum. It transpired we had found the only taxi driver in Manila who knew absolutely nothing about Manila. So we had an interesting tour about the backstreets

I particularly liked Mamas best diner

We eventually persuaded the driver that we weren’t going to find the museum, he had consulted the ships map from every possible angle and asked the advice of several friends in areas where Jinks & I huddled on the back ‘seat’. Said seat wasn’t actually attached to the car though the sign invited us to belt up there were no connections for seat belt, so anyway he agreed to take us to the Old Town

In a very pretty square we stumbled into the cathedral and a rather posh wedding

And outside a cavalcade of tourists sightseeing

Then, feeling all confident, we simply walked the back streets

Jumped in a taxi back into town but I’d have loved a ride in a jeepy

We gave the local cafe a miss & made it back to the ship for the local show

And fireworks over Manila rounded off what turned out to be a really good day. Amazed by how a place so ugly by day could be so pretty by night