LIVIN' LA VIDA IMELDA - The Imelda Tour

Livin La Vida Imelda!

Note: Tour has slightly mature content. (3 hours)

Recommended for ages thirteen (13) years above

Php1000.00 - Adult

Php500.00 - Student

It's a tour all about the Philippines in the 1970’s and the tumultous era of the Cold War, Martial Law, bell-bottom jeans, & Miss Universe. Its a little bit disco, a little bit New Society, and completely Imeldific. So come take a trippy trip through National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin's finest buildings as we analyze one of the most controversial periods in Philippine history as seen through the life and ambitions of the lady who defined it, Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

Dates:

January 28 - Saturday - 2:00pm

CLICK THIS LINK FOR FEBRUARY MARCH SCHEDULE.

IMELDA TOUR IS NOW A SHOW!

Meeting Point:

Cultural Center of the Philippines

Little Theater Lobby, Gift Shop Area

Ending Point:

Philippine International Convention Center

To reserve tickets:

Text +63 920 9092021 (Lesley)

or email: celdrantours@hotmail.com (Subject: Imelda Tour)

IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK!

Tour of Intramuros

Note: Tour has slightly mature content. (3 hours)

Recommended for ages eight (8) years above

Php1100.00 - Adult

Php600.00 - Student

Take a leisurely stroll around a selection of Intramuros' most stunning structures and take in an ironically irreverent yet informative analysis of Philippine architecture, culture, & society from Pre-Hispanic Manila until the present. It's theater at street level.

Learn ALL about Manila literally one step at a time.

Dates:

February 4 - Saturday - 3:00pm

February 5 - Sunday - 3:00pm

February 12 - Sunday - 3:00pm

February 14 - Tuesday - 3:00pm (Happy Valentines!)

February 19 -Sunday - 2:00pm

February 21 - Tuesday - 3:00pm

February 22 - Wednesday - 9:00am

February 25 - Saturday - 4:00pm (Manila Transitio 1945 Festival)

February 28 - Tuesday - 3:00pm

March 3 - Saturday - 9:00am

March 8 - Thursday - 9:00am

March 4 - Sunday - CANCELLED

March 11 - Sunday - 3:00pm

March 15 - Thursday - 4:00pm

March 16 - Friday - 3:00pm

March 17 - Saturday - 9:00am

All tours begin at Fort Santiago &

end at Plaza San Luis Parking Lot.

Meeting Point:

Fort Santiago

Santa Clara Street

Intramuros

Ending Point:

Plaza San Luis

Calle Real del Palacio (Gen. Luna Street)

Intramuros

(Only 3 blocks away from the Meeting Point)

To reserve tickets:

Text +63 920 9092021 (Lesley)

or email: celdrantours@hotmail.com (Subject: Intramuros Tour)

Payments will be made onsite right before the tour starts.

Please look for our representative: Miss Jovie.

GUIDES GALORE! TRAVEL AGENCIES TOO!

Should you need a tour of Manila, allow me to recommend the following guides. I'm not the only game in town, you know. Bookmark this page in case you need them.

This is an updated version. June 2009

For the best guides in town: The Blue Badge trained MABUHAY GUIDES of the Department of Tourism. Call Miss Susan Calo-Medina for details and arrangements. Perfect for touring around dignitaries and visitors of distinction. They are young, fun, street smart, and are the kind of people you would want to hang out with anyway.

MABUHAY GUIDES (c/o Miss Susan Calo-Medina)

0920 9479024 - Ms. Susan Calo-Medina

0917 8900615 - Candie Cobiao

GREG DORRIS - Tall American (easy to spot when walking through crowded areas). Also has a book of archival photos of Old Manila like mine. My official alternate.
0916 7669170
gahdorris@hotmail.com
IVAN MANDY - The master of Chinatown. Does tours of Binondo, San Miguel, and Chinese Cemeteries. Check oldmanilawalks.com for his schedules.
0917 3291622
oldmanilawalks2@gmail.com
ARMANDO HILDAWA - One of the smartest tour guides in town, if not THE smartest. Also does Corregidor.
0916 4940623
TERRY QUITEVIS - Veteran tour guide of Manila. The standard to beat.
0917 8911182
VITO HERNANDEZ - Smart dude from University of the Philippines. Really really nice guy. Knowlegable in history, sociology, and geology. It's like hanging out with a college buddy with this guy.
0916 6349649

OLIVIER BORTEN - Frenchman with extensive knowledge on fun in the Philippines. Speaks English and a bit of Filipino too.
0919 5164631
PATRICK TUDANCA - Speaks German.
0917 5266786
MILA ALCUAZ METHARAM- Great Spanish Guide
0926 6669908 / 0917-8204747

milalcuaz@yahoo.com

NATALIE ESPENILLA - Great Japanese Translator and Guide

(632) 6227626 - landline

09172771575

nespenilla@yahoo.com

JOAQUIN BUENAFLOR - Does tours especially geared for KIDS!

http://historycomesaliveforkids.blogspot.com/

FOR THE CITY OF VIGAN AND ILOCOS AREA:

JOANNE GUTIERREZ - Gregarious and extremely knowledgable of Vigan. Knows all the ins and outs of it's history and then some.

o77-722-8771 (land line)
ANDREW DE LEON - Knowledgable Tour guide of Ilocos. Also does Manila night tours for folks into hip-hop.
09063041845


FOR PUERTO PRINCESA AND HONDA BAY:
GENER - Does a highly recommended Honda Bay tour on a traditional sailboat and picnic. Amazing.
09052646377

CEBU
Balbino Guerrero - A guy who certainly knows the Queen City of the South. Check out his facebook profile here.
639193805853

Tell them I sent you.

And these are my recommended Travel Agencies.

INTAS TRAVEL
KIRCHNER TRAVEL
SHARP TRAVEL
INTERLINK TRAVEL
MONDIAL TRAVEL

Cheers!

JUST ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE!

YOU KNOW I CAN'T SMILE...

I visited Philippine General Hospital today. Why? I don't know. I just wanted to see what things are like on the ground. Being the son of a pediatrician, it only makes sense that I should go and see what things are like for kids out there in Manila's hospitals. Thank you Kimmy, for granting my request to see what things were like at PGH and what they do over at www.smiletrain.ph (below).

I learned that cleft palate is ngo-ngo & it's a bit tragic. Ngo-ngo is when genetic factors coupled with a badly managed pregnancy, results in a face not fully "formed". Although non-life threatening, it affects a person psychologically (think: ngo-ngo joke) and affects a person's development as a confident adult. And since lack of education about planning a pregnancy is a major factor here, well, it's mostly the lower economic strata of the Philippines that is affected. Note to self and YOU ALL: No more ngo-ngo jokes.

I'll tell you some stuff that I learned this morning: There are 4,500 cases of ngo-ngo born every year. In PGH alone, over 100 surgeries are completed annually. The PH has double the rate of that of the US or any other developed nation (US: 1 in 1,000; PH: 1 in 500). Most, if not, ALL of these cases require post-procedure therapy. There are only Two, yes TWO universities in the Philippines that teach speech therapy. UP and UST. Do a little math and you can see that we still have a long way to go. Folks, take speech therapy over nursing or PT. There is a huge demand.

Even though some might think that connecting high incidence of ngo-ngo in the PH to the RH Bill might be a stretch, I think the issues are totally connected. Cleft lips are mostly a product of badly managed pregnancies, Ngo-ngo mostly happens among the lower economic strata of the PH, and incidents keep increasing in the PH. And to not see the connection between education, reproductive health access to the poorer sectors and gov't population management in solving this problem, is to well, just be arrogantly ignorant or delusional. Without agencies like www.smiletrain.ph, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the overstretched PH gov't health system to solve this problem on it's own.

I also heard that PGH is not under the Department of Health but is mostly run by the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine. Cool! From being part of the underfunded Philippine public health system, it's now been transferred to the auspices of the underfunded Philippine educational system. But hope springs eternal, I see that many wings have been renovated due to private efforts (Senate spouses, Alumni orgs, Corporate endeavors), and even a spanking new Reproductive Health wing is being constructed. I certainly hope the Ortolls (the name on the building) support reproductive health access (both natural & artificial) for Filipinos.

Sigh. I still dream of the day when the Philippine health system would no longer be overstretched. A day when there will be just the right amount of doctors with the right amount of hospitals catering to the right amount of patients and everyone is given an equal chance of a healthy life in ALL economic sectors of the Philippines. But given the spirit of the health workers that I met at PGH and www.smiletrain.ph today, that day is getting closer and closer. (above: birthing room under construction at the Ortoll Reproductive Health Center at PGH.)

Please please PLEASE donate to www.smiletrain.ph and pass the #RHBill.