Manila Part Two - Chinese Cemetery

On day two of our stay in Manila, we decided to start the day by visiting the Chinese Cemetery which is one of the most fascinating places I've ever visited.

We had to travel there via the train system which wasn't too far from our hotel, but there was so much to see on the way there! Heaps of people, scooters, jeepney and market stalls. There were stalls everywhere!

On the way to the subway station we saw this amazing sculpture/memorial to Katipunan - which was a Filipino revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in the late 1800s. This history of The Philippines is so amazing, I felt like I learnt so much in our short trip but I really want to know more (and go back and visit again!).

We were visiting The Philippines in the lead up to an election, so there were electoral posters everywhere.

In case you're wondering what a jeepney is - well this is a jeepney - these pimped out jeeps are a form of public transport in Manila and their kitsch level is off the scale. Also somehow Rich's finger got in this picture!

One of the nice things about visiting the Chinese Cemetery was that it isn't a tourist attraction, I'm not one to put down tourist attractions - I love anything cheesy and over the top but it's also nice to see a bit more of real life as well in a country you're visiting.

The other great thing about visiting is it showed use just how nice Filipinos are, I don't think they get many white people in this area and everyone asked us if we were looking for the Chinese Cemetery and were happy to show us the way. There were a few kids in this area that were so excited to see us too - I felt the back of my skirt snag and I thought I had caught it on something, but when I turned around there was and excited little girl staring up at me saying "Hello!! What's your name" when I told her she just looked so happy and excited I was talking to her.

The entrance to the cemetery was marked with a Chinese gate, you may be wondering, like I was before our visit - why weren't the Chinese able to be buried with everybody else? Why do they have their own cemetery? Well it turns out this cemetery is the second oldest in Manila and it was built as Chinese citizens were not allowed to be buried in Catholic cemeteries during the Spanish colonial period.

When you arrive at the cemetery, there are guards and you are offered a tour guide, however we chose to go it alone.

So here's the thing about the Chinese Cemetery - people don't have headstones, they have whole buildings. Some look like modern apartments and others traditional Chinese buildings and there is A LOT of them. Some have gardens and fishponds, we saw one that had caged birds and I read in the Lonely Planet some are even air conditioned for when family come to visit.

Another thing is this place is so huge it has its own roads and street signs, its like a city for the dead. You could get lost in this place for a few days and always have more to see. The cemetery was pretty quiet, but there were a lot of caretakers around sweeping and picking up rubbish. There were also a few builders working on various buildings/tombs and quite a few people at work cleaning out the tombs.

This impressive monument is in the memory of the Chinese Consular General and his staff who refused to leave The Philippines when it was invaded by the Japanese during World War II, they were all executed by the Japanese and their remains were later found and buried in the cemetery.

There was a lot more Christian iconography at this cemetery that I thought there would be - as you can be from some of these pictures some of the family plots were better taken care of than others. Also there were people living in some of these buildings, which is a hard thing to take it, the thought of living in a final buried place of the dead may wrong.

However, if you're desperate I can understand why, at least you would have shelter from the harsh sunlight during the day. Also while some of the buildings were looked after really well others were derelict. I guess in some cases a family line has died out and in others the family may have moved to another country and can no longer maintain the buildings.

It also has to be said that many of the buildings in the Chinese cemetery were in better condition than the buildings we saw people living in outside the cemetery gates.

I know hanging out in a cemetery may not be everyone's idea of a good time, but I've always found cemeteries fascinating and this one particular is incredible. It may not be a "tourist attraction" as such, but if you are ever in Manila you should really visit the Chinese cemetery.

Fabric-a-brac - May 2016

This year is flying by, today I went to my first Fabric-a-brac of the year! Fabric-a-brac is as always a good chance to catch up with sewing friends and find a few treasures.

As with many times before I  volunteered to help in the kitchen along with my friend Emma, we arrived a little earlier than normal and decided to help with the set up as well.

Emma and I decided to do a mini sewing challenge for the day and made the same dress, the Sigma dress by New Zealand pattern company Papercut Patterns.

This is the first time I've made a dress from Papercut patterns but I don't think it will be the last, because apart from lengthening the skirt on this dress (I'd been warned by other sewing friends that the skirts on Papercut patterns  were a bit short) I made zero changes to this dress pattern and it fitted really well! Emma mixed up her version a bit and added a different skirt, she used the Fen skirt from Fancy Tiger Crafts. 

Here's another pattern that Rich took in the courtyard when I got home from fabric-a-brac, unfortunately by this stage the fabric had creased A LOT!

This fabric is from the LAST fabric-a-brac back in October, just thought I'd share that to show I DO use all the fabric I acquire at these events. Also the detail of this fabric is really sweet, its covered in little embroidered flowers.

This time around I tried to keep purchases to a minimum, I had one thing I REALLY wanted to buy at this fabric-a-brac and that was bias binding. I wanted bias binding and I wanted a LOT of it as I love using it to sew with and I'm lazy and don't want to make my own unless I have to. I bought all this bias binding for $3 and I was pretty stoked!

I also bought this pattern and I do have costume related plans for it for my mid-year work function, but it is kind of worth getting without plans because its just so awesome.

One of the nicest things about fabric-a-brac is having the chance to catch up with friends you haven't seen in a while, Ria came along after my shift at the cafe and we went and had lunch with was fun as she's been busy at work and I haven't seen her for a while.

I hope you folks are all having a fun weekend, maybe I can use some of that bias binding tomorrow (or go hiking!).

Manila Part One - Intramuros

I'm not going to lie guys Manila was insane - totally insane. I was totally being a "but I've traveled in Asia a bunch so I've got this" jerk when we were planning our visit to Manila.

Manila is a big Asian city and I've been to a bunch of those - Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Hanoi, Tokyo - however, Manila is NOTHING like any of those places its a totally different beast and I think its the most challenging place I've been.

There's a lot about Manila that is difficult for me as a westerner who lives a pretty charmed life - the traffic, the poverty, the dirtiness and the ramshackle nature of the beast. The knowledge that I wasn't even seeing the "worst" of it as the worst was in the walled off slums and the areas full of karaoke bars that weren't actually karaoke bars at all.....

However I do believe travel should challenge is in some way, whether big or small and with that in mind I took my time in Manila in my stride - there was so much to learn, The Philippines is an incredible and diverse country and Manila is only a small snippet of the bigger picture (and I want to visit much more of The Philippines in the future) and you know something else? Filipinos are some of the nicest people on this whole earth!

Our trip to Manila started in the old town of Intramuros which was originally built by the Spanish when they colonised The Philippines - the construction of Intramuros began in the late 16th Century.

We chose to stay in the White Knight Hotel, its was a little tired (and a huge rat seemed to be living in the ceiling) but the staff were really nice and the room was clean and tidy. We arrived in Manila in the afternoon and although we knew there would be limited exploring done on day one we decided to check out the neighbourhood.

It's not hard to see from these photos the Spanish influence in this area and of course with the Spanish came Catholicism. There were a lot of churches/cathedrals in this area the oldest is the San Agustin Church which is pretty impressive and includes a museum, however, we started out by visiting the Manila Cathedral.

As you can see, the cathedral is beautiful and despite the fact it looks empty in these photos it was a really busy place - there were people worshiping as well as tourists like us looking around. Outside the cathedral there were vendors selling ice creams and other treats and well as many, many people offering to give us tours of Intramuros! Not to mention all the pedicab drivers who insisted it was too hot for us and we should REALLY get a lift from them.

We explored the sites a bit more, interesting fact, Intramuros was a Japanese stronghold during World War II and much of Intramuros was destroyed in World War II  and subsequently rebuilt. We walked around for a while and then stumbled across the Intramuros wall (Intramuros is also called "The Walled City) and we decided to walk along the wall for a while.

After a fair bit of walking along the wall we decided the time had  come to head back to the hotel to rest before more adventures the following day, I did snap a few photos of this street art on the way back to the hotel.

Me Made May 2016 - Last minute sign up!

In the spirit of "everything last minute always" yesterday morning as I was getting dressed I decided I would take part in Me Made May 2016.
For those of you that have never heard of it before, Me Made May is a challenge for those of us who make garments (whether they be sewn, up-cycled, crocheted, knitted or whatever) to wear more of what we make! Anyone can take part, I've done it a few times before and this time I'm going to try and do a weekly round up of what I've worn during the week on my blog. I'm sure that near the end of the month the photos will become...well shall we say "less good".

Anyway part of doing Me Made May (or #MMMay16 like the hashtag says) is to set up your own pledge, so without further ado, here's mine!

 'I, Trees, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '16. I endeavour to wear one handmade item each day for the duration of May 2016 and I will also take a photo each day'

Yesterday Rich and I went hiking in Eastbourne (more about that later) and I wore one of my Me Made dresses hiking (I'm that person - I find them more comfortable -ok?). Here's a photo that Rich took of me on the hike at a rest stop - camera in hand (obviously).

 

I was pretty glad I chose to wear this dress for the first day of Me Made May - why? Well it's one of my favourites! However, more than that I think it shows the longevity of garments you made for yourself in a style and fabric you love. 

I originally made this dress back in Easter of 2013 and it still going strong today, not bad for a dress I made from fabric I got for nothing from a Wellington Sewing Bloggers meet up. It's a pretty simple and wearable style and of course I do LOVE paisley. It's been all over the world with me as well - including when I visited New York City.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, even though buying ready to wear means you can get some awesome stuff (I'm a sucker for vintage stuff as well as "alternative" brands like Hell Bunny and Sourpuss) when you make something for yourself, its likely to hang around in your life a bit longer - if nothing else you've put time and effort into making it - so you're going to try and wear it a few times at least right?

Although I do follow Vix's law - if I don't love something be it made by me, vintage, second hand or new I get rid of it. However, it seems that I am less likely to not love something I've made myself (although I've been there with the wrong pattern/fabric/waking nightmare projects as well!). 

Is anyone else out there taking part in Me Made May this year?