My world, literally

The Western end of the Rizal Park is marked by a relief map of the Philippines in a pool of water. We're at the Southern end of the country—geographically, we'd be standing in the Celebes Sea, with Malaysia on the left and Indonesia to the right and back—and the islands nearest us are those of Sulu and Basilan, which are both part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. I wish I could have taken a photo from a higher vantage point, but unless I stood on the Light Rail Transit's track, this was as high as I could get. I was completely fascinated with the map as a child and I still am.

And That's My World!

We live here

Eunilaine Foodmart is our neighborhood grocery which is only a 15-minute walk from our house. After shopping, when I already have my heavy grocery bags, I just take a tricycle back to the house. The company that owns Eunilaine has another grocery elsewhere in Quezon City and a pharmacy which is built into their two buildings. Eunilaine has been in our neighborhood for many years and I've seen it expand, go digital and change layouts so many times. This past year, a branch of Save More Supermarket opened just a couple of kilometers away. Save More is a large chain owned by the even larger SM Group of Companies, the same company that has a gazillion, humongous malls all over the Philippines, aside from many other kinds of businesses. I don't know how it has affected Eunilaine, but I think it's too much to hope that it didn't have an impact on "my" grocery's sales. Eunilaine's banner sums up well how I feel about the situation: "Why shop at Eunilaine? We live here, we bank here, we work here, we hear mass here, we do business here, our children study here, our good friends are here, it makes sense shopping here, we love it here."

And That's My World!

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!