It was quiet a pleasant surprise for me to see how was the life of the filipinos before the war. Some buildings and bridges still exist and are well preserved and of use to this date.Not much has been changed in the downtown district of old manila since except for the transit,the passenger jeepneys that replaced the "Karetela" or "Karamata "on the road,the way most filipinos dressed now and the way we immediately acostumed to the western ways & mentality. No longer are the typical filipina dress called Maria Clara even though our lady President and her secreatary´s still use it for formal ocassions already modified & modernized.
I grew up to see my grandmother wearing the same filipina dress with long skirt down to her toes till she passed away in 1997 age 97.She never cut her long hair and never adopted to the modern fashion as most women her age did.As she has always been good to me,I also love to offer her things on her birthdays & christmas, like a nice comb to adorn her hair or a pair of a local step-in adorned with beads as she like and also materials to make her clothings. How I loved to see & look at this old family picture of my grandparents with their siblings and grandchildren after the war ( myself as a baby in my moms arms and my father next to her:))
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Hope you enjoy this video archive of Manila as I did.
