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…
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Gone Korean at the Korean Cultural Center
Cultural institutions are normally associated with a country’s traditional arts and culture and the documentations and studies about them. Or at least a place where can learn foreign languages. While it is important for one to learn and understand the arts and culture of these countries as a way to promote harmony, it is also understandable that there would be those who will find places like these as too “stiff” and “high-brow” for them to take and catering more to scholars than to regular folks who wish to know more about other cultures. Then there is the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines, which is considered to be one of…
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Roaming the Manila North Cemetery
It’s that time of the year once again when the Urban Roamer embarks on a different roaming adventure to visit not a place for the living, but a place for the departed ones. This time, it is a privilege for me to finally get the opportunity to visit the largest public cemetery in Metro Manila today: none other than the Manila North Cemetery. Originally, the Manila North Cemetery was part of a bigger cemetery complex owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila that included what are now the La Loma Cemetery and the Chinese Cemetery. After the allocation of the property to the Chinese community in Manila for the…
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The Mercatos of the Metro
There are a number of food/weekend markets out there in the metro these days. Some may say this growing presence is bordering on oversaturation, while others do not seem to mind that. Especially if they have something different to offer for a discriminating palate. Then there are a few that stand out thanks to longevity and loyal patronage among a growing fanbase. Out of that few, there are those that have stood up well enough to establish by itself a growing network of food markets in the metropolis. Such is the success story of Mercato Centrale.