Jose P. Laurel has a somewhat mixed legacy for having served as President of the Japanese-sponsored Second Republic from 1943 to 1945. Whatever achievements his administration had were overshadowed by the specter of Japanese control over the country, especially with their “support” for an independent but pro-Japan Philippines, and the horrors of World War II at large, especially towards the end when fighting between the Japanese and the US-led forces brought about much death and destruction to the country. Despite this, he is regarded as a good president who had nothing but the Filipino interests at heart and did what he could in the situation prevailing that time in the face of…
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Brew and Vinyl Love at the Satchmi Store
These days, the old is becoming the new. Most especially so in the case of music as vinyl records our parents and grandparents used to listen to are becoming hip again in this age of digital music where digital formats, music playing gadgets, and services like iTunes and Spotify are shaping the way people today are listening to music. It is certainly one trend that is not going unnoticed. Apart from the antique shops and other vintage item dealers in open markets, one company making its mark in riding the vinyl wave is Satchmi which has been marketing its own brand of vinyl record players. September last year, Satchmi took…
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Christmas in the City 2014: Policarpio Street Revisited
Five years ago, during the early days of the site, the Urban Roamer wrote about the Christmas spectacle at Policarpio Street in Barangay New Zaniga in Mandaluyong, Being my first time to visit the place, I was amazed at the spectacle some of the houses there showcased there, undoubtedly done with such meticulousness and dedication for the love of the season. With so much that has happened to the Urban Roamer since then, this Christmas season was a good opportunity to revisit the neighborhood and see what has changed, if any, since that last visit.
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Greenfield Weekend Market: A Weekend Market in the Greens
Weekend markets in the eastern side of the metropolis have been growing in popularity in recent years, thanks in part to such events first organized at Ortigas Center by Banchetto, which has since then transferred to the area near Forum Robinsons in southeastern Mandaluyong. Since then, there have been a number of other weekend market venues there in the east, though few has yet to match the legacy of the former. Perhaps, the closest that would have rivalled Banchetto would be the weekend market set up by Mercato Centrale in the area of Greenfield District (right around the corner of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard) called Manda Centrale. Unfortunately, despite the…