Today, I bring you yet another edition of the roamer’s roundup on the latest updates and issues on the many thing happening around the metropolis. On a personal note, I have been very busy with things going these past few days, especially with Christmas around the corner. And the traffic unfortunately has been of no help in getting things done at these times. But I suppose most, if not all, of you feel the same way. ============================= We start off with a bit of good news and a boost in heritage restoration in the city, and in the country as a whole: none other than the restoration project of the…
-
-
Divisoria: Manila’s shopping mecca
Since it’s Christmas, the Urban Roamer presents to you one of Christmastime’s favorite shopping destinations. Then again, this place is an all-time favorite shopping destination Juan Dela Cruz Band’s “Divisoria” If there can only be one place that would be named as THE shopping mecca in the metropolis, it would not be some fancy mall or high-end shopping district. For many not only in Metro Manila but perhaps in the entire country as well, nothing equates shopping more than that famed district in Manila that we call “Divisoria.” But of course, Divisoria itself needs no further introduction. It has become such an iconic landmark destination that every one in the…
-
The Bonifacio according to Guillermo Tolentino
Surprising as it may seem, there is not really much documentation about that prominent figure in Philippine history that is Andres Bonifacio. In fact, there is only one known photograph of him that exists, and he is wearing not a camisa but a coat and tie. It is the scantiness of information about him, along with the circumstances of his life and death, that the Bonifacio legend began to grow shortly after his infamous death in 1897. For a people seeking a tangible symbol of sorts to identify themselves with, a puzzle arose as to how to depict a man like Andres Bonifacio. Thus was born the popular perception of…
-
Of railways, shopping, and Andres Bonifacio: the story of Tutuban Center
It may be hard to imagine it today, but this particular part of Manila at first did not look like the bustling, at times chaotic, place of commercial activity that we know of today. In fact, this area was then a thriving agricultural community where the people there make a living manufacturing a coconut-based alcoholic drink called “tuba.” It would be in this community along Azcarraga Street where a significant event would occur on November 30, 1863: the birth of who would become the founder of the secret society known as the Kataastaasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (otherwise known as the Katipunan or KKK) that would pave…