Monday, June 15, 2009

Twilight at Harbor Square - Weekend Snapshot



I had plans of a "cultural" tour of Manila for the Independence Day weekend---I even prepared an itinerary. Revisit Paco Park on Friday afternoon, then drive to Rizal Park to visit the Museum of the Philippines and the National Museum of the Filipino People, and have dinner in Intramuros. But when I saw the crowd at the Rizal Park on TV, and thought of Influenza A (H1N1), I opted to stay home and spend time with Fritz.

But my itchy feet couldn't stay home for long, so on late Saturday afternoon, I decided to meet a friend for coffee at Harbor Square in CCP Complex. We ended up having dinner there, too. I took these "twilight" photos while walking by the bay, while we were deciding where to eat. Grappa's was no longer there, it was replaced by a Chinese restaurant. We finally settled at Singkit, a Chinese resto.

Harbor Square is a nice place---and its proximity to Manila Bay is definitely a plus. I saw a couple of photographers, complete with tripods and DSLR's by the sea wall. I'm sure they have captured the beautiful Manila Bay sunset that afternoon, that I missed entirely (sob)!

From Harbor Square, we drove to Greenbelt and watched "The Taking of Pelham 123". This movie sent my pulse rate to overdrive---it was frenetic and tense, and I loved it! John Travolta's savvy sociopath character was very entertaining. And his dark humor and clever exchanges with Denzel Washington's cool and quick-witted character were engaging. The scenes where a police car with the ransom money and police escorts on motorcycle were speeding in the streets of NYC to beat the time the hijackers set were satisfyingly destructive and exciting. And the great audio at Greenbelt cinema heightened the experience.

The film's credits showed "The Taking of Pelham 123" is based on a John Godey novel, and when I googled it yesterday, I read that it has been adapted into a movie twice, the first one in 1974. If you enjoy action/thriller films, you shouldn't miss "The Taking of Pelham 123."

It's back-to-work Monday...here's wishing you a great week!


Posted for Weekend Snapshot

9 comments:

Ebie said...

What a lovely time to spend your weekend. Oh, they have a baywatch police? Cool. I have seen the first Pelham 123 and I am glad you gave a good review. We were supposed to see it on Friday, but Zee decided against it. I will convince her tomorrow.

Kero said...

Thank you so much for the visit, Luna. That is one lovely photo! I miss walking around CCP too. We really need to go home for vacay soon.

Re my son: we used to call him little Senator when he was younger. we brush his hair sleek and make him wear Barong. But seriously, his father will probably disown him if he ever dips his finger on politics hihi.

Happy Monday and stay healthy!

Enchie said...

I'll try to go here soon...thanks for sharing, I have no idea this place existed.

Carver said...

Sounds like a great time and beautiful shots of the harbor.

Shey said...

Looks like nag enjoy ka. Good for you. The photos are beautiful too.

Enjoy your week! :)

xia said...

seems romantic. hope i can visit again CCP.

Oman said...

lovely shot miranda. iba talaga ang sunset/sunrise/twilight shot sa manila bay.

escape said...

good that you decided not to proceed there. ive been wanting to visit paco park too but once i went there around 5:06pm and it was already closed. hahaha... it closes at 5:00pm.

Heart of Rachel said...

Great shots! We used to live near CCP. I remember biking there with my family early in the morning when I was young. I miss that place.