A delightful fortress

"Museums should be places where you raise questions,
not just show stuff."

~William Thorsell, past Director & CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum

This is the side of the Ayala Museum which can be seen from the park in the middle of Greenbelt. Only the ground floor has windows. The windows on the second floor do not open to the museum but to a walkway connecting two of the buildings of the mall. Other than that, the rest of the building looks like a fortress, and it probably is, given the priceless artifacts exhibited in the museum. One of their permanent exhibits is Filipino garments from the 19th century, some of which are painted on the walls of the walkway.

See murals from around the world in Monday Mural.

Pebble park

"My life is full of mistakes.

They're like pebbles that make a good road."

~Beatrice Wood (1893–1998), American artist and potter

A wooden bridge connecting two of the buildings of Greenbelt, a large retail complex in Makati City, seen through the trunks of some very tall and skinny palm trees. I like how Ayala Land used light and dark pebbles in this part of the park—they make the ground look like freeform art.

The golden pond

"Alive without breath, As cold as death;

Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking."

~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Just a few of the hundreds of koi we saw in the ponds of Greenbelt, the large retail complex in my Lush post from the other day.

Lush

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap

but by the seeds that you plant."

~Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet & essayist

It is easy to see how Greenbelt, a large commercial and retail complex in Makati City, got its name.

Intertwined

"Art-making is not about telling the truth but making the truth felt."

~Christian Boltanski, French sculptor

Made of recycled stainless steel, "The Trees" by artist Reynato Paz Contreras stands in the middle of the park in the middle of the roundabout that is Burgos Circle in Bonifacio Global City. According to the artist, "The three trunks signify stability. The intertwining branches and leaves create a circular effect to symbolise the 'circle of life.' This sculpture represents the interrelationship of humanity and nature, and the vital role that each one plays. May it remind everyone to preserve the environment not just for today but for the future as well."

High street

"Unlike a fountain that circulates the same water in an enclosed, perpetually recycling system, a human being circulates thoughts in an unlimited reservoir of self. Don't limit yourself to being a mere fountain when you contain an ocean."

~Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

The stores of the shopping and dining arcade that is Bonifacio High Street all open up into a park that runs the entire length of this unique mall. The park has fountains, playgrounds and sculptures, and is also pet-friendly. The Old Navy store at the corner is the first in the Philippines and only opened in March.

Fishy reflections

"I'd rather be a big fish in a specialized pond than a little, little fish in a more generalized big pond."

~Leonard Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc

Big, lovely koi in the pond at the center of the little park at Rockwell Business Center. Reflected in the water on the right side is the building which I posted for the May 1 City Daily Photo theme day.

Trunk warmers

"Things don't have to be extraordinary to be beautiful;
even the ordinary can be beautiful."

~Matthew in Wicker Park (2004)

As part of Bonifacio Global City's Art BGC 2014, Rags2Riches "rag-bombed" (from yarn bombing) trees all over the development and placed wind chimes on some of them.

Rags2Riches is a social enterprise composed of (mostly) women in poor communities who weave scrap cloth, organic materials and indigenous fabrics into some very lovely and unique bags, pillows and rugs.

After silence

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."

~ Aldous Huxley, Music at Night and Other Essays

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) performed last night in a charity concert at the Jaime C. Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati City for the continuing rehabilitation of towns devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which is locally called Typhoon Yolanda.

My guardian dear

There is an old story by Ateneo de Manila Grade School teacher Mr. Juan Javier which explains how the Holy Guardian Angels became the patrons of the Grade School and the special guardians of young Ateneans. The story takes place at Padre Faura, during the term of Fr. Henry Lee Irwin SJ as Headmaster.

Mr. Javier narrates how, on the evening of September 28, 1933, a group of Ateneo boarders were seated outdoors after having dinner. Nearby was a shrine of the Immaculate Conception. As they were singing and laughing, an earthquake shook the ground and a wall collapsed on them, but to the amazement of everyone, the students were not hurt. At the school assembly the following Monday, the Headmaster, Fr. Henry Lee Irwin SJ, declared that October 2 would, from then on, be the school feast day. This was because the community believed that it was the Holy Guardian Angels that saved the students from harm during the earthquake. The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels falls on October 2. Every year since then, the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels was celebrated at the Grade School with a procession, a school-wide Mass, and salu-salo (get-together). When Ateneo de Manila Grade School transferred to Loyola Heights in 1954, the chapel was dedicated to the Holy Guardian Angels. Images of the Guardian Angels were also commissioned for the chapel and the garden.

Every human being has been blessed by God with a guardian angel. They are messengers of God's love—our personal protector and guide. They lead us to God, helping us live a life of faith, excellence, and loving service. As patrons of Ateneo de Manila Grade School, they are forever our companions and friends in the Lord. May we be guardian angels to others—especially to those in need.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, 

to whom God's love commits me here, 

ever this day, be at my side, 

to light and guard, 

 to rule and guide. Amen. 

It is with deep gratitude to the Lord that this Holy Guardian Angels Park is blessed and dedicated on the 20th day of October 2010.

~From the plaque in the Holy Guardian Angels Park of the Ateneo de Manila Grade School

A fountain for a hero

I've already posted a photo of the grand central fountain of Liwasang Bonifacio (Bonifacio Park) with the Manila Central Post Office in the background. This is what the fountain looks like from the post office, with the clock tower of Manila City Hall just peeking above the plumes of water and a view of the heavy weekday traffic of Manila. The park is named after Andres Bonifacio (whose statue is on the far side of the fountain, beside the street), considered the father of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule.

Camo

The little tiger bus that brought us around Zoobic Safari's many attractions. Except the part with the free-roaming lions and tigers, of course.

Cousins

Spotted near the waiting area of the Zoobic Safari. Cousins, indeed. Both were absolutely determined to ignore me.

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!

My husband and I finally visited the Zoobic Safari inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The 25-hectare park has many attractions, but the one it touts the most is the area where tigers and lions are allowed to roam freely, and visitors ride through in a customized jeep protected by steel grills. For an additional Php200 (less than US$5), you can buy raw chicken which a handler will feed to the big cats through the grills.
  This is the closest I ever want to get to those big, sharp claws and teeth.

Pamulinawen

The Pamulinawen Fountain at the Aurora Park in Laoag, Ilocos Norte is named after a maiden in a traditional Ilocano folk song.
 
The fountain is a celebration of the farmers of Ilocos—both male and female—and of the two products that they are most famous for: garlic and tobacco.
  The obelisk-like monument at the back is called the Tobacco Monopoly Monument and commemorates the lifting of the monopoly on tobacco imposed by the Spanish colonial government on the country. The monopoly was established in 1780 and abolished in 1881.

Northern beauties

The Ilocos Norte Capitol, located in Laoag City, which is the province's capital, as seen from Aurora Park with its Pamulinawen Fountain and the Ilocos Norte Oblation. Laoag is about 480 km north of Manila.

Flagpole

The Philippine flag flying high—very high—at the Rizal Park.

Green canopy

One of the vine-roofed walkways of the Rizal Park Orchidarium.

Brick beauty

From May 12 to 24, my husband and I went on a road trip through the Central Luzon and Ilocos Regions, stopping at cities and towns that we've never visited before. My Manila goes outside Metro Manila for the next few days. I hope you enjoy the trip.

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My husband and I had no plans of stopping in the town of San Juan while we were in the province of La Union, but a small cluster of brick buildings along the highway caught my eye on our way to Bacnotan and I requested that we stop for a few minutes. The cluster turned out to be the town center of San Juan, which, like many Spanish-era towns in the Philippines, are laid out with the town hall and church around a central plaza and park. "Presidencia" seems to be used quite commonly to refer to the town hall, though I have to admit that this is the first time this city-bred girl learned that tidbit. I find San Juan's wood and brick presidencia lovely.


No one knows the exact date of the founding of San Juan; the only sure fact is that it was already a town when the province of La Union was created in 1850. History has not been gentle to San Juan, which was razed to the ground by a fire during the 1896 Philippine Revolution, and devastated during World War II. Again, I cannot find much information about the church. After the 1896 fire, the church was rebuilt in 1902, and my guess is that the current church still has parts from that 1902 structure.


The church and the town are named after San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist), and the scene of John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River is painted on the church's ceiling.


A small Marian grotto between the church and the rectory is also a memorial to a 19th century Ilokano poet named Mariano A. Gaerlan.


The town of San Juan lies on the western coast of Luzon and is best known for its earthenware pottery and its waves—waves strong enough for surfing (though not big wave surfing) especially from July to March. So it is not surprising that the coastline is depicted on the mural of the open-air stage in the town plaza. Also in the mural is the ruins of the town's baluarte or watchtower, which can still be seen at the seaside though we weren't able to visit it. The park seems to double as pasture for goats too.  LUZON ROAD TRIP SERIES #4

Tree ornaments

I do not know if the lanterns and string lights hanging from the trees of the Jaime C. Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati City are there all year round, but I imagine the residents of the many condominium buildings in the area would want them to be. Because its real name is quite long, the park is better known simply as the Salcedo Park.