With the ongoing efforts to clean up the city’s rivers and waterways, one waterway that perhaps needed to be given more attention to is the San Juan River.
Known as one of the tributaries of the Pasig River (Metro Manila’s main waterway) the San Juan River traverses all the way up north in Quezon City (marked by the purplish ink on the map above) It also serves as a natural boundary for a part of eastern Manila, northwest Mandaluyong, west San Juan, and part of southwestern Quezon City.
In this part of the city where I live, there has not been much high-rise developments here. After all, Santa Mesa’s environment is considered more of the “suburban” type, an environment which usually is spared from infiltration of high-rise structures.
But as land becomes more scarce in this dense metropolis, developers are looking at every vacant piece of property available as a possible real estate development opportunity. Whether they turn out to be a hit or a dud is another story altogether.
It was a hot and humid day in late October when the Urban Roamer decided to take a walk, passing along the GSIS Metrohomes.
Completed and started to be occupied by the early 1990’s, the GSIS Metrohomes were first conceived as low-cost housing solution. The buildings speak for themselves on that aspect, though they may have seen better days. One could not help notice the faded paint and be distracted by the sight of clothes being hanged outside the windows. (is there anyone who does some checking for the buildings’ maintenance in the first place?)
If there was one thing that made up for the project’s shortcomings, back then it was proud to show off a water park complex located at the back of GSIS Metrohomes . Known as Water Fun, I believe it is one of the first, if not the first, water theme parks to be located in the metropolis itself.
On regular days, this part of the district of San Miguel in Manila stands in guarded silence, as human and steel sentinels have been assigned here to protect the district’s most important structure, as well as its most important occupant.
Thursdays here though are a different story, as these sentinels greet a somewhat greater crowd of people from all walks of life. They are Catholics and devotees who make their way every Thursday as a sign of their devotion to their patron, St. Jude Thaddeus.