BINONDO TO PHNOM PENH: Our Weekend Bonifacio Walk

In the 5 hours that we waited for our follow-up check up, I had a reference check and watched all 8 episodes of Tour de France Unchained on top of finalizing the agenda for a national dialogue in Vang Vieng. 

The next day, I became Pello Bilabao on my way to the bank to check my consultancy fee remittance so I can buy riels and a travel insurance for Phnom Penh as insinuated by the Oxfam global staff survey on the best pairing for pork barbecue and chips; then being Matej Mohoric who hunted in vain for the green towel jersey that darted across the street many years before Bulan turned 26, before his birthday dinakdakan and sisig were boiled and singed, after the  Pulmunologist realized the wrong account number and ordered a CT Scan and sputum culture to finalize the regional convening while the PMU wondered when he-who-should-go will actually go just as P1,726,577.33 was credited by the Land Bank of the Philippines to  a BPI checking account.

The squint-eyed lady in the bus and a big butt at the modern jeepney distracted our trip to Plaza Miranda, salacious images that were eventually overwhelmed by the sweet smell of Excelente's ham sandwich which enticed us to a batch of freshly baked hopia monggo at nearby Kim Chong Tin that are much better options than the chami and lechong kawali of Cafe Mezzanine, which is why we got lost in Divisoria  on our way to the Baclaran church and a late lunch of sinigang na ulo ng salmon, laing and baby squids at Mesa. 

Bulan was finally able to join us in Tutuban where the Father of the Philippine Revolution was born on 30 November 1863, which is 750 meters to 72 Paseo de Azcarraga where the Katipunan was founded 29 years later on 07 July 1892, which is 650 meters to Calle Madrid  where an 18-year old Gregoria de Jesus was hidden by her parents from the courtship of Andres Bonifacio who was a 29-year old widower at that time, which is 1 kilometer to the Binondo Church where they eventually got married in March 1893, which is 1.5 kilometers to the Bonifacio Shrine where the unofficial first Filipino president and the Katipunan were honored with a monument and a mural at Lagusnilad.

At nearby Manila City Hall, we climbed all 7 floors of the Clock Tower Museum for a panoramic view of Old Manila and an art exhibit with an interesting pun on historical figures including  Aling Oriang in a Mona Lisa pose, "Ang Huling Inuman" featuring Filipino heroes in Last Supper arrangement, and "Ikaw" where a bloodied Gen. Antonio seems to be pointing to Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo as the instigator of his brutal murder in Cabanatuan that were eclipsed by the image of three lanky sad men, handcuffed together and apparently being booked by police for an offense, as we exited the grounds of the City Hall.   

The founders of the Katipunan are all Freemasons so the kids insisted on visiting the Grand Lodge of the Philippines which we did by hiring an e-trike for P150 that carried us through 1.8 lkilometers to a gallery of Grand Masters, all reknowned and respected during the early years but not so much in the later years, where 400 meters away at a National Cathedral, an almost invisible bust of Fr. Gregorio Aglipay who co-founded the Iglesia Filipina Independiente remained oblivious to passing pedestrians who took the train with us to a late lunch of Gumbo's creole Classic Caesar, seafood boil, barbecue-style baby back ribs, and New York-style grilled steak.

Several hours later, PR 571 landed in Phnom Penh where I spent Sunday walking the length of the Wat Botum Park  to Koh Pich Riverside before bar hopping through Bat Muk Yu, the Red Bar and Casa Diego along Street 308.