Hive Philippines Travel and Nature Photography #1241 - by Allmonitors

#1241 - More of Manila Shots for Sunday.

Warm hello fellow dearest Hiveans around the world! Happy Sunday to each one of you. Today is that special day to slow down and just breathe. Sundays are meant for resting and spending quality moments with the people we love. I hope this day brings you peace and joy. Wishing you all a beautiful and blessed Sunday.

Now for our daily shots one late morning in Manila while the sun was already up but we found a cool place inside the National Museum of Fine Arts. I was with my wife and son, my brother in law and his family and some of our other relatives. We were awestruck by Juan Luna’s masterpiece, the Spoliarium which was a legendary piece of art and it is massive. The painting completely takes over the wall. The dark imagery of fallen gladiators being dragged away felt raw and powerful. My wife posed for a photo right in front of it and the scale of the canvas made her look tiny!

Then we wandered deeper into other galleries with beautiful wooden floors, we explored more incredible works by Filipino masters. We stopped at a portrait by Juan Luna of a woman holding a rosary.

Further down, we came across a portrait of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal standing in his dark suit. It felt like walking straight through a history book.

Once we got our fill of art, we went over to the historic walled city of Intramuros to check out San Agustin Church with massive carved wooden doors. The detail on the wood carvings was unbelievable with figures and heavy Augustinian symbols.

Inside another church, the Manila Cathedral was breathtaking with its soaring stone designs with altar statue of the Virgin Mary and glass windows that filtered the sun light.

To wrap up our big family day out, we made our way into the streets of Binondo, Manila's Chinatown for some classic pasalubong shopping in the afternoon. We stopped right outside the famous Eng Bee Tin Chinese Deli store. The building was impossible to miss because of its vibrant red Chinese lanterns hanging all the way up the storefront. The energy inside was wild filled with people. We packed our bags of classic hopia, tikoy and other Chinese delicacies to take home.

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Shot taken in Manila, Philippines.