Wednesday 12 November 2008

Manila,Queen City of the Pacific 1938

I just thought i´d show this film about Manila taken before World War II....courtesy of travelfilmarchive videos.

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.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Many, many thanks for this rare find!Unfortunately WW2 Old Manila was destroyed. Many civilians perished. And the innocence of the people as well.
Vescorp

Aura said...

So true Victorio...I thought about that myself.I just did´nt want to touch the war issue.
Thank you for dropping by!

Anonymous said...

sayang at hindi na-preserba ang ganda ng dating maynila. right now, i still feel so at home in manila when i go home, but i think that a lot of foreigners who go there have a negative impression of our capital city.

you have a nice blog going on here. i also stayed in portugal with my family, ca 2001 - 2003. it was in a small city called montijo around an hour drive away from lisbon.

have a nice week!
blog of the SaGaDa-iGoRoT

Aura said...

Sagada,from what i heard and seen from other bloggers in manila ,mukhang malaki na ang ipinagbago ng lungsod ng maynila.

And with regards naman sa foreigners bad impression ay depend na rin sa ugali at impression na ipinakikita ng ating kapwa pilipino.

So far, i´ve never heard my hubby say anything bad about Philippines,in fact he speaks well about our people and the beautiful places he had visited.

Unknown said...

BTW the last time Ive seen Manila was in 1991. It was still the same as when I left PI in 1974 for the US.Quiapo then still had Ma Mon Luk on QB one of my favorite foods: mami & siopao. But I wonder do they still have the many movie theaters around Rizal Ave.? With govt pork barrels and private donations the leaders can still revive Manila in its pre-war glory.

Aura said...

V.i´ll try to get a better picture of our downtown manila when i get home in december.

I have no idea if ma mon luk still exist in any of their branches,miss ko na rin mai & siopao or even siomai.last time i visited Ongpin ay 1988 pa.

Nakakadala kasing bumyahe sa quiapo because of traffic at napakahirap pang kumuha ng taxi,kaya that area is always last on my list.

I´ll definitely visit the place this time and post something about it when i come back.

BTW,check on this site, http://senorenrique.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Aura, I think you'll like this blog:
http://www.blogger.com/profile/15334833375168419402

Francesca said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Francesca said...

new me,in a new avatar, aura. para hindi multo/clone ang dumaan sa blog mo, haha.
musta and happy holidays. saan ba bakasyun?

Nihal said...

Aura-
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and joyful holiday season to you and yours.

*Happy New Year 2009*

Francesca said...

got your greeting card.
ty and it really cheered me up.
all the best for 2009.