How to spend two days in Manila, capital city of the Philippines
It's a beautiful space, but it has a surprising history. A church has stood on this site since about 500AD, but despite the Gothic architectural style, the current iteration of the cathedral was built in the 1950s.
Something is also 'off' about Intramuros' St Agnes. The church has the magnificent arch, it has the statement doors, and it has the statuary. In fact, this one has very oriental statuary. The temple dogs flanking the front doors, our guide explains, are to make the religion more attractive to the local Chinese population. But it is the asymmetry of the facade that makes the church look odd: its northern tower is no longer balanced by its pair.
Its absence is a sign of the city's more recent past: the capital, including the centuries-old Intramuros, was smashed in World War II's Battle of Manila, a month-long firefight that claimed more than 100,000 lives. The city holds the unenviable record of being one of the most bombed metropolitan areas of the Pacific theatre conflagration. A ruined and blasted barracks, complete with cannons rusting in the hot sun, slowly crumbles in a corner of the zone.
But despite its political upheavals, both without and within, Manila is upbeat, a pulsing metropolis of colour and excitement, albeit one girded in hours-long traffic jams.
We allow for delays when we head out of town to see the rural side of the Philippines, heading to Tagaytay, a popular rural holiday haunt of Filipinos, to visit the source of one of the Philippines' best-known exports – coffee.
Like wine, coffee beans take on the flavour of the terroir, and our guide explains growers have had to learn which plants to grow with the coffee beans to ensure annual germination. He keeps up a happy patter of anecdotes and jokes as he explains the process of growing, harvesting and roasting the beans before encouraging us to pick up the pestle to grind the beans into a drinkable grind.
I am glad we don't find out until after the outdoor tour that the biggest hazard among the vines are snakes.
When food is as flavourful and luscious as it is in the Philippines, it's no wonder that eating is such an important part of family life and the Filipino culture. Balay Dako means 'Big House' in the local language, a name that is a nod to the large home that would have dominated family compounds. Tagaytay's elegant and wildly popular Balay Dako restaurant commands an impressive view of the Taal Volcano in its lake. We are brought dish after plate after bowl of beef, chicken, seafood, rice, noodles, soups, while on the lake far below, fishermen in long boats trawl the waters for its bounty.
Back in the city, Blackbird is a wonderfully quirky dinner experience in the original Manila airport's Nielson viewing tower. The restaurant has retained the art deco features of an era when air travel was all about elegance and style. Blackbird's menu is geared towards the international tourist market and is scattered with focaccia, baba ganoush, curry, and Wagyu. We tried each other's orders, and my recommendation is – all of it.
But Manila had one more surprise for us. After our guide had the right word in the right ear, we were led through the Shangri La Hotel, out a back door and through an unassuming door into a dark hallway. After a special knock, the door opened, and we were quickly pulled within, into a secret bar styled like an old-time speakeasy.
We had time for a single concoction before returning to bed in time for our early morning flight back home. But the location of the bar has to be my little secret.
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Several recent visitors to Lake Tekapo believed that stacking rocks was a local tradition. Deheng Peng, a visitor from the southeastern Chinese city of Shenzhen who traveled to New Zealand in April, said he followed other tourists in building a small rocky mound on the foreshore near the Church of the Good Shepherd, thinking it was part of a local custom. "When we visited, we saw a few tourists stacking rocks just in front of the church," Peng said. "We thought it was some kind of custom in Western cultures, maybe something to do with praying, so we built a small pile to pray. "There were already a huge number of rock piles there when we arrived, which made us believe even more that it was some kind of tradition." Peng did not believe that stacking stones was problematic but would support a ban if local communities objected. "We should respect and follow local customs when traveling overseas," he said. "I agree that indigenous culture and their way of life shouldn't be affected by tourists," he said. "Local values and perspectives should be respected." Karen Jiang, a visitor from Australia who also traveled to Lake Tekapo in April, also believed that stacking stones was part of local culture. "When we got to the foreshore, we saw a lot of stone towers there, which was quite mind-blowing," Jiang said. "[But] we thought it was a local tradition, so we also created two small piles." Jiang said she was familiar with mounds of rocks used for prayer in Tibet, which further encouraged her to build the structures at Lake Tekapo. She said clearer signage could help guide tourist behavior if stacking stones was harmful to the environment. "I saw a sign saying, 'No drone flying' by the lake but I didn't see anything about stacking stones," she said. "If the practice really affects the local ecosystem, it definitely shouldn't continue," she said. "There should be a warning sign, otherwise many tourists might think it's fun and just keep doing it." Few practical solutions Chris Clarke, general manager of information, engagement and community development at the Mackenzie District Council, said stacking stones was not unique to Lake Tekapo and had been observed in other locations nationwide. He described the practice as a social media-driven fad, often fueled by Instagram, and said such trends typically faded over time. He expected the same to happen at Lake Tekapo. Clarke said the council did not currently have a formal position on stacking stones at Lake Tekapo. He said Environment Canterbury (ECan) had assessed the issue and found no ecological concerns. "We understand that ECan has indicated there is no ecological or environmental impact, and so there are no concerns from that perspective," Clarke said. "Given that ECan has ruled out ecological concerns, the objections would seem to relate to the aesthetics, which is very much a matter of personal opinion." Clarke said Lake Tekapo is a hydro lake used for power generation, and its water levels regularly rose and fell due to rainfall, snowmelt and water usage. He said the constant movement of water naturally shifted stones on the foreshore over time. Clarke said the council didn't see a practical solution for addressing the issue of the rocky formations effectively at Lake Tekapo, including the use of warning signs, which many have suggested. "Signs are unlikely to be effective," Clarke said. "It could be argued they would damage the lake view as much - if not more - than the behavior they're trying to discourage." "Enforcement would also be challenging," he said. "We don't have the resources to do this, and I don't think the majority of our ratepayers would consider this a sensible use of public funds." A spokesperson for ECan said the council did not consider the structures to be a major concern at Lake Tekapo but encouraged visitors to leave the landscape as they found it. 'Unintended impacts' Jo Monks, a conservation biologist and senior lecturer at the University of Otago, said she did not have specific ecological concerns about the rock structures at Lake Tekapo. "I don't know of animals that are using the rocks [there], but I think it's definitely worth being mindful," she said. She said people should avoid stacking piles of rocks in areas where reptiles rely on rocks for shelter. "In places where lizards and other native animals use rocks as essential resources for shelter, the building of rock piles should be done thoughtfully - and only for essential navigation on routes," she said. Even when used as route markers, Monks said, upright rock structures should be erected sparingly and with care. Jennifer Schori, senior biodiversity ranger for the Department of Conservation, said the rock structures were not on public conservation land and were not directly affecting protected or endangered wildlife. However, she said the Tekapo lakeshore was home to several threatened species and should not be disturbed. "There are critically endangered herbs, such as the uniquely named New Zealand fish guts plant, around the shoreline, and the mudflats are an important feeding ground for a number of threatened bird species," she said. "Moving rocks anywhere in the natural environment can have unintended impacts on an ecosystem," she said. "We would like to promote the values of kaitiaki [to visitors] - caring for the land, leaving minimal trace, and not disturbing nature and the environment."
