THE RIZAL SHRINE IN FORT SANTIAGO

28th AUGUST 2017 ~ Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines. He has a special place in every Filipino's heart. After visiting Jose Shrine and another museum, I believe he is a true warrior and deserves the honour bestowed upon him. 

Here are some interesting facts you should know about this great figure, gathered from Wikipedia:

• Jose Rizal was an ophthalmologist by profession - something like an eye specialist.
• He first studied law but quickly switched to medicine when he got to know his mother was going to be blind. He himself operated on his mother's eyes.
• When he was 21 years old, he traveled alone to Madrid to study medicine without his parents' knowledge.
• Rizal was a polymath - someone who was multi-talented. Not only he was good in Science, he was also good in sketching, painting, wood-carving and sculptures making.
• He could write well too - he wrote poems, novels and essays. 

• He was a well-known sculptor, painter, educator, farmer, historian, playwright and journalist.
• He was an expert in architecture, cartography, ethnology, economics, anthropology, sociology, dramatics, martial arts, fencing and pistol shooting.  
• People working on his biography had difficulties in translating his writings like his diaries and letters as he had the habit of switching from one language to another, because he was a polyglot. He mastered 22 languages.

• Rizal sparked the idea of revolution against the Spanish in the Philippines in his writings. The pen is definitely mightier than the sword.
• Rizal was labeled as enemy of the state because of his novels.
• Because of a revolution movement that was going on at that time, Rizal was accused of being the mastermind. He was later pun on trial for rebellion, sedition and conspiracy.
• Sadly, he was executed for the crime he did not commit by the Spaniards at the age of 35.

How everything is just heart-breaking. Even though he was dead, his spirit lived on among the Filipino fighters and Jose Rizal was the one who inspired for the country's independence.

I am truly amazed and inspired by Jose Rizal, and I salute you!

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EXPLORING INTRAMUROS - FORT SANTIAGO [PART 2]

[CONTINUATION OF PART ONE]

I was not exposed in great detail to the history of the Philippines in secondary school. The major focus was on Jose Rizal, the nationalist who had sparked the idea of independence among the people.

this is a dungeon, I think

Pasig River

the tired and hungry tourist

the "dramatization" of the very last moment
Jose Rizal was still alive

the building opposite the fort's entrance

Fort Santiago was an important site to the Philippines as Jose Rizal was kept a prisoner and spent the last days of his life here before he received his death sentence. There is Jose Rizal Shrine Museum in the Fort, and that will appear in my next post.

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EXPLORING INTRAMUROS - FORT SANTIAGO [PART 1]

29TH AUGUST 2017 ~ On the second day, we decided to explore the historic part of Manila: the Intramuros, which means the walled city. One of the ancient sites is Fort Santiago. The fort was first built in 1574 by the Spaniards. This should be similar to the A-Famosa in Melaka which was built by the Portuguese a long time ago.

The good news: there were not many people around as it was a working day so we were free to roam the area. There were really old walls and buildings, and there was one which was still going under renovation/preservation work.

The rooftop of one of the buildings was really huge - you could have a basketball/futsal court here. However, I am not sure whether this is an original construction and the spaces below are used to house some shops.

this should be some sort of a moat, I think

This place was quite huge. There was Jose Rizal Shrine Museum inside too. We actually spent quite a long time here.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO...

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