A sense of place

It is sometimes tough to get a sense of a place when all you see of it are specific buildings or interiors. So come and join me at Philcoa, a major transportation stop in my part of Quezon City, so called because the landmark government building at the corner of the Quezon Memorial Circle is the Philippine Coconut Authority. The south side of the road, one fork of which leads to the University of the Philippines, has two strip malls. Behind the nearer building is the baratilyo which I love walking through for its bargain clothes.




This is the western end of the strip mall, closest to the Quezon Memorial Circle. Vendors are no longer allowed on the sidewalk, though one still managed to set up her potted plants against the wall. But she's not obstructing pedestrian traffic flow so it's okay. There is a gap between Citimall and another building at the corner, so a few fruit and vegetable vendors have their stalls there.




The green overpass below is where I took the first two pictures from. All these jeepneys are going to northeast Quezon City. GT (Garage to Terminal) Express is another form of public transportation. Mostly Asian utility vehicles (AUVs), they travel fixed routes from one specified station to another specified station and cannot—or should not—load or unload passengers between their two stops. And yes, the guy in the blue shirt inside the jeepney was smiling for me; in fact, he was quite insistent that I include him in my photo.




The gap between Citimall and the corner building is caused by a small creek which runs at the edge of an extremely dense urban poor neighborhood. It used to be choked with garbage, but the community finally learned its lesson when it flooded badly during last year's typhoon Ketsana. It is now relatively clear of solid waste but, unfortunately, not of liquid waste. The stench is still quite bad and, as you can guess from the water's color, the creek is definitely dead.




The street around the corner is lined almost entirely by small enterprises; some are franchises but most are single proprietorships where the seller, repairman, cook or seamstress is the owner. This is also where my tricycle terminal is, so this is where we'll end our walk for now.

And That's My World!