My Sanctuary

It may not be the best places on earth, not the most cleanest or attractive, not the most picturesque and all. But, the walled city of Intramuros had impacted my life the most. In fact, much of my teenage years are spent in this place - probably, more than my time at home. In Intramuros, I met friends whom I still see until now, treasured joyful memories which I still considered as my peak, and built wild dreams and crazy goals which I believe was already half met to this date.

I often met up with friends early in the morning atop the wall of Baluarte de San Diego. Friends who are inspiring, encouraging and fun. Whom, came from different universities in and out the great wall. Normally, we will just sit in circles and sing our hearts out. And since we don't have enough money 'cause we were all students, we always tried our best to share what we brought for breakfast.

Afterwards, we will separate ways going to our respective classes. My university is located within the walls. Not surprising as Intramuros is a cradle to several prominent universities in Metro Manila.

Every lunch time, I will always go out with my peers to join the crowd of students queuing up for a meal of chicken or pork and rice along the wall of Intramuros. But when at times our allowance wasn’t enough, we will settle in some of the cheapest canteens at the back of our university.

Whenever the dismissal bell rang, my friends and I will gather at the entrance gate of our school, so together, we can walk at Puerta del Parian. There we will sit facing the golf course and discuss about our day.

Normally, before the sunset, we will transfer at the nearby engineering university to meet up other fellows. There, we will again gather up the wall with mini canyons and Manila City Hall as our view. We generally laughed, played and just talked about everything.

To break our gathering routine, we will sometimes roam around the mini city. Usually, we will admire the Manila Cathedral from the front yard fountain. Other times, we will go for a bowling at Knights of Columbus, museum tour at San Agustin and just walk along the cobble stoned street of Intramuros while admiring the remains of colonial houses. If someone is celebrating their birthday, we will always go at Fort Santiago to have picnic party. For a few times, we will crash weddings at Puerta Real. If rain unfortunately poured down, we will ran at the Dungeon. It is a bit scary and filthy there but it always saved our day.

At night, me and my friends liked to chill at Baluarte Plano de Santa Isabel, located at the back end of the wall. Frequently, we will spent the whole night celebrating our carefree days there. We will often play games like Baka ng Baka (Cow of Cow - a follow the leader kinda group game), Tag of War, Charades, or Truth or Dare. Those times still heightened my emotions each time I reminisce it.

The walls of this little city within Manila had been a witness of my euphoric youth, the relationships I had weaved and the best version of my teenage self. Yes, my memories in the place is something that is not quiet. It will always be vivacious, colourful and exciting. But as I aged and moved on to my next milestones, I kept on coming back with recollection of happy faces and feeling the warmth of each scene.

In Intramuros, I had set fearless goals and dreams. Although many of it are not related to what I am doing these days, my restless self always find solace each time I go back to this place. Re-exploring the city while unwinding my past always rekindled a spark in me and motivates me to keep going. Simply because the walls echoes my younger self - unafraid, tireless, open and courageous.

---

RELATED TOPIC:

https://www.thediaryofahousewife.com/post/10-spots-not-to-miss-in-intramuros