City of Manila

Of Bygone Days and An Uncertain Future: The Saga Of Harrison Plaza

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Before there was the mall, there was a park. Harrison Park as it was called and it was a pretty wide open green space. It served as breathing space in the midst of the growing congestion in southern part of the city. It also served as a natural extension to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex located right across it as kids played football and softball in the greens. There is also Manila Zoo nearby, which made the park a children’s zone for play and fun. You can imagine how big the old Harrison Park was.

Unfortunately, the bigwigs at Manila City Hall (the land where the park is located is city government property, by the way) decided that the park had to give way to a commercial complex, the Harrison Plaza we know today which opened in 1976, a short while after the opening of Ali Mall.

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The Story Of Philippine Women’s University

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Along the busy Taft Avenue in the City of Manila stands an impressive 3-storey structure housing one of the country’s prominent universities. While its prestige is not along the levels of that of the so-called “Big Four” of the Philippine universities, its contributions not only to education but to Philippine society as a whole is something that cannot be denied.

It also has quite a history as well, from its glory days in the past to the crisis it experienced in recent years which threatened the existence of the university itself. As it approaches its centennial in a few years’ time after surviving that close call, it is time for the Urban Roamer to take a look at this venerable institution: the Philippine Women’s University.

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The Book Stop: A Roaming Book Haven

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If you have been to Intramuros these past few days, particularly at the area of Plaza Roma, you may have noticed a unique-looking structure in the plaza that is being visited by a number of people. While one may first look at it as some modern art installation, upon closer look, you will realize it is actually something different.This structure is actually a pop-up library known as The Book Stop.

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HUB: Make Lab, A New Escolta Landmark

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Escolta is a neighborhood that is already familiar, especially to the regular readers of the Urban Roamer. For the past few years, we have roamed this neighborhood and looked at some of the interesting spots in the area which used to be the city’s financial and commercial center, with some no longer standing today while others manage to survive albeit struggling to find their place in a city constantly endangered by unchecked urbanization.

In the past there have been events like monthly Pasyal activities and the Saturday Future Market which were conceived to get people visiting Escolta again. While there was some successes made, they were sadly not enough and it became clear that more is needed to be done. Thus just last week, Escolta saw what could be described as the next phase in the ongoing fight for the district’s rehabilitation. It was the opening of the HUB: Make Lab at the First United Building.

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