Thanks for the feedback, Chito.

Cheers

He sure is very entertaining and lively. But given that his reputation precedes him, don’t raise your expectations too much with his Intramuros walking tour. Despite his talent in captivating his audience, one would still feel being rushed from one place to another. At the end of the trip, you can’t help but feel “that was it?” He’s also prone to exaggerations when spicing up his discussion on Manila’s history, and I was able to spot an outright error (i.e., Rizal was not an atheist. He was a rationalist.)

He truly loves Manila, I’ll give him that. Unlike regular tour guides, you get the feeling that he conducts tours to communicate something important, and not just to get things over with and collect the fee afterwards. And it is for this reason that I’d still highly recommend that you join his Intramuros walking tours.

This is very clear and documented.

NOTHING points to Eiffel… it is just a hoax… one guy starts to post it on the internet… and it is mindlessly reposted by dozens of websites…. (sigh).
Check your facts.

By the way…the engineering part was done by BELGIANS !

If you can prove with documents that Eiffel has anything to do with the San Sebastian Church I will give you my apologies and a bottle of wine.

Maybe you could start your research in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Manila or ask the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries themselves.

Yeah, that could be possible. Well, it is a good story, and as the yarn says, “The engineering technique used in the construction of the church, including the metal fixtures and the overall structure, were from Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower. This was confirmed when Chinese-American architect, I. M. Pei, visited the Philippines in the late 1970s. He came to confirm what he heard that Gustave Eiffel designed a steel church in Asia.” *shrug*

But yeah, if Eiffel only did consultancy with the same group who did the structural design- it would be an interesting thing to hear how far (if he really did) was Eiffel’s involvement on the church. That’s one thing that I liked about Manila, soooo many interesting mysteries and intrigues buried deep beneath its veneer of grime and chaos!

Maybe NHI should settle this once and for all like that proven hoax of the Tasadays and the Kalantiyaw Code. :) Oh yeah, if you run into Ambeth, please ask him to repaint Rizal’s house in Calamba to its original color – the vomit green it is on is just plain atrocious. :P

Cheers!

I think that comment by I.M. Pei is really just a conjecture on his part. There is a book on San Sebastian published by church itself which explicitly states that it was Genaro Palacios who designed the church. I’ll have to ask Ambeth one of these days….

Yes I heard about Genaro Palacios but apparently talk about Eiffel persists, and it is possible however that Eiffel designed the structure still and no official word from the National Historical Commission yet to even clear that grey area (although everyone knows that Ambeth did the research way before he became head of the NHI). What complicates was I.M. Pei’s imprimatur – that Eiffel did design the steel structure of the church – and we all know that Pei is a world heavyweight when it comes to architecture designs. Well, whatever it is, unless we prove in black and white that Eiffel did not design the church – I guess debates will persist.

But hey, hope we could walk Binondo with you one of these days, I miss that part of town.

Cheers!

The San Sebastian church was designed by Genaro Palacios and not by Gustave Eiffel. Mr. Eiffel was said to have only been the consultant for the structural engineering part. Hope that clears it up. ;o)

http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives.php?page_id=24

to wit:

“Ambeth Ocampo, a Filipino historian and writer, once wrote that the story of San Sebastian Church began when Chinese-American, I.M. Pei, visited the Philippines in the late 70’s. He came to confirm of a news he has heard that Gustave Eiffel designed a steel church in Asia. Inspecting the church, he later declared that the metal fixtures and the overall structure were no less designed by Gustave Eiffel”

Re: Sydney Opera House style mausoleum- I dont have photos of it now, but you can see it on Flickr. – Please check this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nina/3433510827/

Cheers!

Ryan

‘marvel at the steel church of San Sebastian designed by Gustave Eiffel.’

Gustave Eiffel did not design the San Sebastian Church. Please check your facts.

‘Take pictures of quirky mausoleums at the Chinese Cemetery (see the mausoleum designed like the Sydney Opera House).’

I have yet to see this, where exactly is this? ;o)