Bagong Maynila, Bagong Pasyalan
Student 2

Modern Manila , A New Place to Take a Walk

                 Stop leaving Manila .  Starting tomorrow afternoon, take a vacation until Sunday.  This is an opportunity to take a walk where there may be a cemetery celebrating the Five Days of All Souls.  Consider this walk to be your patriotic duty while the economy goes into a season of slowing down, before the fast and easy money of tourism comes around again.  The five-star hotels and peanut vendors on the street are earning money.  When the economy does turn around, employees will be able to purchase things with their earnings.  Even in this manner, economy works.

                I recommend that people from the provinces come into Manila .  Yes, it used to be that your arrival at the capital was met with the stench of being caught in traffic, but it is a different Manila today.  The city is beautiful again, the way my grandfather experienced it.  Mayor Lito Atienza arranged most of this by removing the garbage, as well as the noise and fumes of traffic.            

You can walk along the edges of the Pasig River , behind the Central Post Office.  No longer stagnant, there are swift currents of flowing water without tugboats or tankers parading through, so it is a good walk the whole family can enjoy. 

                Afterward, cross over to Bonifacio Park .  There is a dancing fountain in the middle of Mehan Garden .  Travel the clean underpass going to Intramuros.  It goes around Old City where there is a road made of archaic cobblestones. 

                From there, you can walk up to Fort Santiago , where you will find many places to rest and picnic, or learn the about the colorful heritage of the area.

                In addition, you can go to Rizal Park ,  Luneta Grand Stand, or watch the splendor of a sunset at Manila Bay .  There are plenty of stands with inexpensively priced food if you get hungry.  A good place to stay overnight is the Ermita-Malate district.  You can walk around to different bars, listening to the beautiful voices of singers such as Kuh Ledesma and Leah Navarro up until the early morning hours, and then start the new day with balut or penoy.

                It would be a pity not to walk around the new, modern, and inexpensive city of Manila .