Sto Nino Shrine (Tacloban) Part 3: Common Areas

My Sto Nino Shrine posts are a product of a combined effort by me and my Tacloban trip buddy Ezra. She was the one taking photos, and I was assigned to take down notes during the Shrine tour. :-)
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you've seen the guest rooms and the Marcos family rooms... here's the rest of the Sto Nino Shrine. :-) The common areas, grand ballroom, dining areas are scene stealers too!

Here's one of my fave items inside... a big version of this oval-shaped mirror... you'll actually see smaller versions of this inside the guest rooms.... These mirrors were all shipped from Austria... this big one is in the Antique receiving area. A small holding area from the Chapel to the back...

The mirror above is actually in a small hallway which led us to this big receiving area behind the Sto Nino Chapel... I didn't expect there's still so much space behind the chapel....this is the Alitaptap receiving area. Notice the lights in the ceiling, they were placed there to mimick fireflies.... main standouts in this area: fountain made of coral shells (the one behind ezra), si malakas at si maganda wooden sculpture, and the charcoal paintings of  Manalad about Christianity...

here's a closer view of the "Si Malakas at Si Maganda" wood carving, displayed on one of the wall... Imelda and Marcos had been building their image over this old Philippine myth...

a 20-seater dining table at the ground floor... this was used once when Marcos had his cabinet meeting here after his inauguration as President of the Philippines in 1965... I love the ceiling above the table... it's made of stained glass... doesn't look good in the photo though (bottom right), they cant turn on the lights because the bulbs behind it are busted already...

and this one... this is LOOOOOOOVE!!! huge mirror in front of a grand staircase!!! super love! hehehe we were being asked by our guide to hurry up so we were able to take a few shots from here only... and since the lighting is a bit gloomy so out of those few shots we only got 1 or 2 good ones... :-(

more shots of the staircase... on the right side you will notice a family painting... then on the landing you would see a cabinet which if you don't know what's inside you will surely just pass by it... but give it a minute and you will be awed by the carved ivories inside... these were gifts to Imelda by Mao Tse Tung... There's a carved ivory of the Holy family, there's another one which shows the Holy Nativity... and there are those delicately carved vases....

a closer look at the family painting of the Romualdez's along one wall of the staircase...this was created by Diaz... notice the stained glass used in the ceiling, the bulbs are working on this part so they were able to show off how nice this looks...

the carved ivories... they were inside the cabinet with these criss-crossing wires... this is the best shot we can get...

we were led by our guide to the ballroom... this is what's going to get your attention as soon as you enter it... this HUGE chandelier is made of Narra! I can't imagine how heavy this is... Ezra asked me to go below it so she can take a photo of me underneath and show the scale of this biggy...

i was drawn to the other side of the ballroom and see these stained glass closer ( i didn't have my glasses with me that time)... i like how nicely lit these glasses are... it just looked so dirty from the outside...

here's a general view of the whole ballroom... the whole area is just sooooo big.... see how i looked dwarfed by the space and that huge narra chandelier....that's a Persian carpet right there... and see the painting behind me (upper left photo), it's another "Si Malakas at Si Maganda" painting by Betsy Brias at the part of the ballroom where the Marcoses are supposed to sit like a king and a queen...

going out of the ballroom on the other end, we passed by this Chinese Pirate guy (Limaong)... another gift to Imelda by Mao Tse Tung...

Receiving area at the 2nd floor... there's that bronze Imelda, the chandelier is from Czekoslovakia, piano was built in 1901, and those classy tapestry are from Belgium...

here's another dining table... this one's a 30-seater. This is directly above the 20-seater dining table mentioned above... the ceiling is no longer made of stained glass, but used the same concept as the walls in the first floor... banig design with materials made of wooden chips... The chandelier here is also from Czekoslovakia.

The walls on the 2nd floor receiving area is still in banig design... but this time using banig already.

back in the first floor, before we head to the other guest rooms, we saw this item in one corner... this is actually a replica of St. Stephen's church in Vienna, Austria.... i'm beginning to wonder what's with Imelda and Austria... hehe :D

also in the first floor, near the staircase, is the biggest diorama in the Shrine. This is about Imelda's National Arts Center project in Makiling, the Bless project in Pasig, and the Ultra Sports Complex.

on the way down, we can't help but have another camwhoring session with the big mirror and the carpeted stairs... :-) 

we're glad we decided to give Sto Nino Shrine a go... it was such a nice unexpected treat in our Tacloban trip... but i'm still struggling whether i'm for preserving all the beauties in the place or should I hate all these because of the thought of people's money extravagantly spent here...oh well, bawal ang nega! all the bad things are good to be left in the past... let's just move on and we just need to make sure we learn from the bad past...all these lovely things are already the Philippine's... so better take good care of them... hehehe :-)

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Tacloban trip with Ezra

17-19 September 2010