The Charm of Old Makati

I'm a fan of history, culture and arts and I try to immerse myself in it as much as I can. And in my limited time and budget, I have to make do with day trips to some historical place, usually an old church, which I so love to take pictures of.

I use the internet to research on my destinations. One of my favorite things to research and later on travel to about are old structures found in very modern cities. Some places I love to visit are the old churches of Manila, the old houses along Quiapo, Binondo and San Nicholas, the post war mansions in New Manila. The list goes on.


New in my list is my interest in local festivals and traditions. One of them that caught my atention is the Baile de los Arcos of Bgy. Poblacion in Makati. 


Makati to me has always been a 'new' city. I do not frequent it because I thought that besides the Ayala Museum, The murals along Reposo, and the Filipinas Heritage Library, I have nothing to visit there. Then I read a blog, Traveller on Foot. His blog is very compelling to read and from his blog I learned of The Baile de los Arcos. It is a tradition unique to the old town of Makati (The old town is now part of Bgy. Poblacion). Here, nine girls dance, pray and sing in honor of their town patrons: June 29th for Sts. Peter and Paul, and 30th for the Virgin of the Rose. This tradition is very old. It is started at around the 18th century and is still observed until now.

The Procession about to start from the centuries old church.

The procession route runs along a st. of the barangay.

The Baile starts after the High mass and procession held early morning on the two fiesta. I visited on the 30th, The feast of the Virgin of the Rose, so it is the image that is paraded on the streets.

The float carrying the image is positioned fronting the plaza and the stage where the girls will perform. 

After the hour long procession, the carroza bearing the image is positioned in front of the plaza. The girls and musicians take their places.

The image of  Virgen de la Rosa

A close up of the image

The nine girls take their places.

In my next post, I will describe the full Baile in detail. Till then!

So I'm back. Well, I'm settling down on my new job. Been there for a week. I'm enjoying so far. Happy. Jubilant even. This move, though unsettling opened to me new boundaries and opportunities.

I am a cowardly person in a sense that I do not like to go out of my comfort zone. What almost kept me from making the move from a job to another is the fact that I need to adjust once again to my new environment. To meet new people, and all that. Also, I do not like to leave my co workers. They are a wonderful bunch of people; I love them so much. But I thought that this is for the best. Whatever may come of this move, I have to accept freely. But fear for change almost made me change this decision.

Then I thought about my love for travel. I realized that when I go travelling, I go out of bounds. I leave my normal routine work to explore something new. When I go travelling alone, I feel a bit scared, but excited. Eager to see what's next. To savor the moment. To accept the good and bad things I experience as it is and learn from them.

So I put this mindset into my job shift. So here I am, having the time of my life moment so far. Yes I will miss people from my old place; in fact I will miss everything in it. But leaving does not mean forgetting. Leaving someone or something does not mean you love that thing or person less. Leaving might mean that one finds a better opportunity for himself; that he wants to enrich himself, immerse himself into new things so that he might reach his goals, and thus, happiness. But one does not forget. Never.

Jittery

So much change coming in from all directions. I must clear my mind and think. Concentrate. 

OK, back to work. Will post something of substance soon.

Resurrection

Well, this is my first post for this year, and the first one as well for the past three years. Blogging is not really my cup of tea, but I think I would like to try again. Today, I mark the reopening of this blog, now renamed The Wanderer - being in love with our culture, arts and history, it comes naturally that I itch to travel hence the blog title. And I like doing it on my own - just walking about, making changes on my plans as needed. I also am a wanderer in this journey of life. Though we may all have plans, this does not materialize as we planned it to materialize. We make changes along the way. We meet obstacles, friends and enemies. We are in truth, wanderers of an unknown future. Pretty scary for me, but pretty exciting as well.

>>>On a side note, I'm celebrating my first year as a worker. Yay! :)