WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: URBAN – A slice of Metro Manila

One of my most anticipated events during my sort-of-a-homecoming was the visit to my former officemates.   I felt like coming home since the area that they were in -granting that they moved to a new office address – was the place where I spent most of my waking hours working and amusing myself in the nearby malls.  I knew the place like the back of my hand.

The view from a friend’s office window.

That was what I thought.  I got a little disoriented when I saw the place.  Old buildings gave way to new and taller ones.  Cafes and restaurants lined either side of the road.   The shiny new buildings that I was familiar with now looked a little shabby and weathered.

A view from a friend’s office window. That overpass was a recent addition.

The giant mall where I shopped, had videoke fun, went to Mass (yes! there was a chapel in the Mall), etc.  got even bigger.   It replaced its open air parking lots with  a parking building.

The cityscape I knew changed a lot.  And it was not just because of the buildings.

The beams support the Metro Rail Transit, more popularly known as the MRT.

Flyovers and overpasses have been constructed on many roads all in an effort to  solve Metro Manila’s traffic.

I was always scared and wary of crossing these pedestrian crossings. First, I am afraid of heights. Second, oftentimes, the place was not pleasant for one reason or the other.

Yet, even with the changes, things somehow stayed the same.   There was the usual traffic and mass of people in the streets.   Metro Manila is a very dense metropolis.  It has anywhere from 12-15 Million people.    I had to brace myself  whenever I went to public places.  The crowd was thick, much much thicker than what I have been used to in years.

And the traffic was something else.  I used to sleep through the traffic.  It was one of the ways I caught up with sleep or reading.

See the billboards? They are quite common in Metro Manila. They are a big source of revenue for the building owners. Personally, I think they are eyesores.

Perhaps it was silly of me to expect things to be exactly the way I remembered them.  Metro Manila is still growing, in more ways than one.  The Philippines’ economy is on the upward swing.  The new constructions show it.  The  people  descending int he metropolis want to benefit from it.  It is a dynamic place.  I wonder what I’ll see next time.

For more urban photos, please visit the Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban.

Thank you for dropping by.  I appreciate your visit and your comments (if you are inclined to do so).  No pressure. 🙂 Have a great day.

~IMELDA

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