Walking man of Manila

Long before the “Damaso incident” at the Manila Cathedral, Carlos Celdran already made it in the news, not for any scandal but because he instills a different kind of entertainment on his Manila tours.

The many faces of Carlos Celdran (Photos by: Joanna Conde)

I almost lost hope when I woke up from a nap on the evening of September 30 as I found out that our interviewee, Carlos Celdran, was put to jail for offending the Church. A week before this incident, I already scheduled an interview with him. A day before he protested he even said he’ll meet us on that weekend that’s why I panicked and messaged the team about the incident immediately because everyone is excited about the interview only to find out that there’s a possibility that it will be postponed.

Maybe luck was on our side, after waiting for the court’s decision if he’ll be freed and praying that our interview will still push through, it paid off. He was freed on October 1.

On the day of the interview, I was not able to receive any message from him, he was also busy entertaining other interviews from big media outfits but we still tried our best to reach him on his tour on October 3. We were late for his morning tour but then we searched for him as hard as we can, we acted like stalkers hungry for his sight. We struggled searching for him in Intramuros. We went to the hotel where he was checked in, we called him, but we still got no response. We almost lost hope thinking that he might not grant our interview anymore because of the incident but then again hard work always pay off. By 2:30 pm that Sunday afternoon, we received a text message that he’ll be in Fort Santiago for his afternoon tour and he will meet us by then.

We were over-joyed, despite the hot temperature and the walks we endured, we will finally meet the man of the hour.

The moment we saw him walked out of his car, we were smitten for he was considered by many as heroic for what he did at the Manila Cathedral. I am not bothered about that since it was his choice and I am already looking up to him for a long time now.

At first, we were hesitant to approach him because he seems like a very intimidating person. Many people were asking for photo ops with him and when we finally had the chance to talk to him, to our surprise, he asked us to tag along on his tour and that was his treat. We felt really blessed as we enjoyed every minute of the tour because it’s not every day that we experience moments like this.

The man being criticized by many is not at all a bad man. There’s always another side of a story. And for this 37-year old tour guide, it is always about what you believed that you should stand up for.

Here are some tidbits of our interview with Carlos Celdran in which you’ll know his side of story and his thoughts about the Filipinos and Philippines.

Describe yourself in one word:

Chubby

Manila Ocean Park Year 1

Wonder how Manila Ocean Park looked like in 2009?

I could not believe it's been four years since Manila Ocean Park opened. Time flies cliche hits again and again. This is one of the many experiences I failed to blog. As promised I'd be blogging them one by one. (Not necessarily in order). Here's a post dedicated to my first visit to Manila Ocean Park in March 2009.

I've never been to Subic's Ocean Adventure so I have nothing to compare with MOP locally speaking, however, I've been to Osaka Japan's Ocean Park so that may be the closest thing I could compare it with. Of course, OJOP's bigger than MOP but it was alright for me. During my first visit, I gave it a benefit of the doubt since it just opened and there are room for improvements. By now, I can say I was right.  In 2009, some facilities were still under construction, no Hotel H2O yet, no shows just pure life-sized aquarium with different species being displayed. Some of the stores and restaurants were still closed then but yes, there was already a fish spa. I already forgot how much the entrance fee was then by I think it's around 500 PhP or below.

Here goes a sort-of-photo-blog to give you a view:

Crocs

Upon entering MOP, you will see a dark hall leading to a dry place where reptiles and fish pond's located. There are plants and man-made falls placed on that area establishing nature's beauty. You will be welcomed by these crocodiles. They are real but you can't touch them. They are living in a very secured area so no worries.

Something fishy

There's a stair leading to the fish village, I forgot what it's called but that place is really dark. Cameras with flashes weren't allowed. Several species could be found there, for instance on the photo above: stone fish, star fish, sea horse, eel fishes and the rest of Nemo's gang.

A little anecdote on the place, however, dark, I saw my then blockmate Alya. It was unexpected, she's with her family and I'm with my mom and relatives. We hugged, introduced each other to the parties we were with and had a little catch-up since that was a summer vacation.

What's inside your bag?

The photo above were embryos of a certain fish, again I forgot which kind. It's amazing to watch because they got heart beats already. I'm thinking it could pop-out any time soon.

Big fish

Here we go to the Oceanarium part of MOP. I actually have a photo seemingly kissing this big fish on my 2009 and 2012 visit. I might show them to you on my future MOP post as a throwback. We'll see.