They don't call this beauty Greenbelt Park for nothing!

Greenbelt Park has been living up to its name — as a quaint, green world tucked within the ultramodern trappings of an award-winning mall!

La Familia Viajera kids enjoying the pool with its fishes and turtles.

Ate Krystal!

I've been telling my kids that back in the day, Macati, Quezon City, and San Juan (particularly Greenhills) were the only places people frequented to do their shopping, groceries, and other money splurging activities: watching movies, night-out with friends, etc.. For us southerners (I grew up in the Parañaque-Las Piñas area), Macati was the place to be. Back then, much of Metro Manila was not as highly urbanized as they are today. And there were very few malls, most of which are located on those three places I cited above. Krystal was surprised to learn that me, her Tito Jason (my brother), and Abuela Tess (my mom) had to travel all the way to Macati just to buy groceries. It was that "difficult" many years ago (gosh, I feel so old). But we do that only once or twice a month, particularly it's time to receive money from dad who was abroad during those years. The construction of SM Southmall and SM City Sucat in 1995 and 2001 respectively proved to be a shocker for all of us living south of the National Capital Region as we were accustomed to EDSA being the malling area of the metropolis.

Enjoying a shaded moment.

As a young boy, one of the places that we visited during those monthly sojourns to Macati is Greenbelt. But not as frequent as SM Makati, Landmark, and QUAD (now Glorietta). Those three were the only establishments we usually visited because Greenbelt was tucked deep within Ayala Center. Back then, there was only one Greenbelt to speak of, and with much space for parking lots. But now, there are five Greenbelts. The spacious parking lots of Ayala Center disappeared during the last decade to give way to mall expansions (nowadays, parking lots are either underground or in small buildings serving as car parks to save more space).

Now THIS is a true jump shot!

I remember Greenbelt as the quietest place in Macati, hugged by the deep green colors of garden vegetation: huge leafy tree trunks hovering above with vines hanging down to touch the heads and shoulders of busy people walking on concrete. If memory serves well, Greenbelt Park was much smaller compared to today, and the only serene area was the one surrounding its circular chapel, Santo Niño de Paz. As much as I can remember, most of this chapel's physical features, particularly its familiar concrete dome, is still well-preserved.

Today, Greenbelt Park is still serene, but more spacious and with more greenery than before. Its landscaped gardens filled with ornate trees and trimmed hedges are a sight to behold. Birds and butterflies flutter here and there. There's even a man-made lake shaped like a tadpole (I do not remember that lake being there during my childhood) and is filled with brightly colored koy fishes and turtles large enough to be carried by two hands. The head of this tadpole-shaped lake points northwestward towards Calle de la Rosa and Avenida Ayala (Ayala Avenue). At the center of this head is where the old chapel is located, virtually serving as the lake's island. The chapel can be accessed by three covered foot bridges connected to a walkway coursing throughout the park. The tail of this tadpole lake is shaped like a river and swishes on a southeasterly direction, pointing towards Greenbelt Drive and Calle Esperanza. Foreign-looking ducks roam the park freely. They seem to be already accustomed to people who, thankfully, enjoy merely gazing at them (well, its Ayala Center).

With our birthday boy! All pictures from this blog were taken during his 10th birthday last May 13 during the feast day of Nuestra Señora de Fátima.

If you notice, my childhood memories of Greenbelt Park and its old malling area (now Greenbelt 1) are a bit shady because we didn't frequent the place that much. I remember only snippets of it. But yes, the dominant color of those vague memories was green. But when my children grow up, they will surely have tons of greener memories of this place. Remember that we took refuge in Macati last summer. As a matter of fact, we were here at this park almost every day last May since it's just walking distance from the place where we transferred to.

"All in green went my love riding!"

One of the best things we like about this park is that nobody's minding the crazy things we're doing on the grass!

This beautifully landscaped park is surrounded by high-end boutiques and department stores, sit-down restaurants, and bars which enliven the place at night!

Krystal by the turtle-like concrete dome of the Santo Niño de la Paz Chapel.

Momay and Juanito beside the chapel's old bell.

Juanito and Jefe examining this Tug-Of-War bronze sculpture right outside the chapel.

A carabao each for my boys!

Juanito's wondering how he can reach those ducks without getting wet.

Capilla de Santo Niño de Paz.

This snow-white cat is unmindful of shoppers and passersby while having its siesta. Even my wife's presence didn't bother it.

Yeyette and Juanito.

There's an area in Greenbelt Park (Greenbelt 5) called "ArtPark" which features avant garde sculptor Eduardo Castrillo's peculiarly shaped bronze and brass sculptures amid a sea and shade of green.

¡Felicitaciones a la Familia Zóbel de Ayala

por hacer reluciente de limpio este

parque lleno de verdor y belleza!

Click here for more of our green adventures in Greenbelt Park! ¡Hasta la vista!