Evening views just before sunset from the Sky Deck restaurant a top the Bayleaf Intramuros Hotel in Manila where I stayed and had dinner. Here’s a view of an entryway into Intramuros and the stone murallas, or walls, built by the Spanish in the late 16th century to protect the city’s center of power from invaders. (Sept. 12, 2025)

Made of thick stone, the walls surround the entire district, the fortifications include bastions, like this one. the Baluarte de San Andres, as seen from the the Sky Deck restaurant a top the Bayleaf Intramuros Hotel in Manila. The walls were once surrounded by moats, which were later filled and the green space has become a golf course. (Sept. 12, 2025)

Evening views just before sunset from the Sky Deck restaurant a top the Bayleaf Intramuros Hotel in Manila where I stayed and had dinner. Here’s a view of an entryway into Intramuros and the stone murallas, or walls, built by the Spanish in the late 16th century to protect the city’s center of power from invaders. (Sept. 12, 2025)

This is the Baluarte de San Francisco de Dilao is a historic stone bulwark and defensive structure within Intramuros, the Walled City of Manila, built in 1592. I am looking at it from my hotel room at the Bayleaf. (Sept. 14, 2025)

Walking across the Jones Bridge, over the Pasig River, connecting Manila’s Intramuros with its Chinatown called Binondo. And approaching the Binondo Chinatown Arch also known as the Chinese Goodwill Arch, a large, ornate structure that serves as a grand entrance to the world’s oldest Chinatown. (Sept. 14, 2025)

I’m walking to the meeting point for my Manila Street Food and Drinks walking tour in Manila’s Chinatown, called Binondo. It was just a 14-minute walk from the hotel across the Jones Bridge over the Pasig River connecting Intramuros with Chinatown. (Sept. 14, 2025)

Met my street food tour guide here at the 19 Grand Cafe in Manila’s Chinatown, called Binondo. I ended up having a private food, which would have been great if I enjoyed the food choices, but I didn’t. And please don’t take this as a criticism of the food itself. Like I said, I can be a very boring eater. (Sept. 14, 2025)

This part of the southern rampart from the Baluarte de San Francisco de Dilao to the Baluarte de San Andres was open but not to the other baluartes. To see more, I had to walk along the sidewalks inside the walled city of Manila’s Intramuros. (Sept. 14, 2025)

I literally walked out of the Bayleaf hotel lobby, crossed the street and walked up this rampart ramp entrance to the Baluarte de San Francisco de Dilao, a historic stone bulwark and defensive structure within Intramuros, the Walled City of Manila, built in 1592. (Sept. 14, 2025)