Trixie Cruz: A walking tour with Atty. Trixie Cruz Angeles in Quiapo

From Agrifina Circle, the walking tour with Atty. Trixie Cruz Angelescontinued in Quiapo. This time around, we really walked! It’s bad enough that I had this very lousy and cheap camera (read: start your donation to my project: new camera!), but also, I was running out of battery. So, suffer with me with these pictures and I don’t want to hear any complaints! Hehehe!



Vendors there must have mistaken La Reyna as one MMDA cop with one batuta, for they started scampering away! I heard one guy shouting, “andyan na! andyan na!” [here he comes! here he comes!]

I stood there for a minute and watched them flipped their bags of merchandise. I noticed there were built-in handles on both ends of what appears to be like a mat or something where they place their merchandise.

Once they hear a warning shout that the cops were coming, they’ll grab these handles in a flash, merchandise magically kept safely tucked inside with what looked like a big bag now, and then they’d start running away.

That’s Filipino ingenuity folks!

I’m just not quite sure which ones were not allowed: them selling their merchandise, the merchandise itself or selling merchandise on this location – the Quiapo Tunnel. Whichever one it was, they seem to automatically know what to do.

And it’s tough to navigate the Quiapo Tunnel. Trix told me to keep an eye on my wallet. Ok, that part – I know.

I even saw this kid doing his thing. Start ‘em young! The future of our nation depends on you kid!

Finally! We’re in China! The Optical Board hasn’t been here! Hahaha!

In Chowking, to feed our hunger and starvation.

We went deep inside Quiapo. Trixie brought me to this store that sells… magic. Hahaha!

Pst! I have to steal these three (3) pictures from Kotsengkuba because mine needed some pretty serious photoshopping!

I have not seen this many people! It’s like a carpet. Wall to wall.

We went inside the Church for a quick prayer, to people I care about. There was a mass. They were singing “Our Father…”

It was already dark when we left Quiapo.

It was one very nice day of historical and spiritual reflection of some sorts.

And Trixie? She was an excellent tour guide!

Man, she was like a walking encyclopedia! And that spells a big difference when visiting museums and even visiting interesting places like Quiapo. And that’s the reason why I enjoyed this tour.

The extra bonus I love the most from this tour?


I saw part of the daily lives of these vendors in Quiapo.

The irony of having a swarm of human bodies, in and around the Church, yet the message still, isn’t clear.

The struggle to survive.

The vendor’s cat and mouse game with the cops, with what is obviously an ordinance that is either out of touch, useless or impossible to enforce.

And while everyone struggles to find some answers inside the Quiapo Church, life in the metropolis continues.

There were these kids begging for money from us. Trixie and I handed them our coins.

There was a text message on my phone. “We’ll see you in Greenhills!”

I have another date coming up.

(Source : reynaelena.com)