Walking Time On A Holiday

Since it's a holiday today, we had time to bond by having a morning walk in a "forested area" of Alabang in Muntinlupa City. It's not entirely a forest, but because it still has a fair amount of vegetation and several large trees, one might think that it does look like a forest. I'm referring to Filinvest Corporate City.

You will notice many cities today, particularly those in Metro Manila, do not have large parks with forested areas. In the US, a good example of a forested park is of course Central Park which is found in New York City. This huge park in the Big Apple is well known in the world and many tourists wouldn't miss it. New York may seem very urbanized, but it still has such a park whose beauty they are still able to maintain. If we could only have such a park here in Filipinas where many families would be able to stroll. Because as I have noticed this morning, while my family and I were strolling through Filinvest's shaded areas, there were only two other families who were taking a morning walk there though an hour has already passed. So for those who are in charge of public parks and nature preservation, this should be a wake-up call, because it is beautiful to see families bonding together, enjoying nature, rather than see families go to malls often, or are too busy enjoying gadgets at home. Sad but true: families today spend more time in social media that they have almost forgotten what the natural world has to offer. Nature is always the best location for some family bonding.

Filinvest actually is not a park. Its huge lots which still have several large trees, many of which are acacia (A. plicatum), are still unsold or unleased. And this has been so for decades. Alabang was once a huge forest. Daddy Pepe used to live in the Las Pinas-Parañaque area with his Alas relatives when he was still a little boy. They used to pass by Alabang whenever they go to Unisan, that is why he has clear memories of how Alabang used to look like back then. The forest seems to reclaim the vacant lots often, and Filinvest's gardeners try their best to minimize it.

Now, going back to our family walk. Our meeting place is in front of Acacia Hotel Manila. We were to wait for my husand who was coming from his night shift. We arrived early, so while waiting for him, we decided to go inside the lobby. I noticed that there was no chair in the lobby. Other hotels have chairs in their lobbies even for inquiring guests. The only available seats there were meant for paying customers who were to take their breakfast. I was compelled to order food because it would seem awkward for us to stay there without having to eat, hehehe! I ordered some French fries for my kids and brewed coffee for me. That's the only things we could afford from a five-star hotel, hehehe! Anyway, we follow the adage "live within your means".

Daddy Pepe arrived a few minutes later, then waited for us outside as we finished our unplanned "hotel breakfast" (Acacia's French fries tasted very good, and they were big and fresh; we really loved it!). Afterwards, we saw Daddy Pepe waiting for us in a huge, grassy lawn in front of The Mondrian Residences and Parque España. He was hunting for some grasshoppers and butterflies and also looking for rare birds nestled in some trees there (yes, there are unfamiliar birds all over Alabang). We then marched through the shaded length of East Asia Drive. This beautiful street is surrounded by large trees left and right. And there were hardly vehicles there. There were still no buildings, and it has been that way for years. While walking, we saw some wild flowers, but not as many and not as varied as those we saw in Susana Heights last month where we also had a morning stroll. The kids got to enjoy these as well as various forest insects thriving in grass covered with dew. They were running all around chasing butterflies here and there! There were some acacia trees that were not very tall yet, that is why we got to hold their branches and yellowish flowers. There was also an occasional breeze that swayed the trees and shook up their dried leaves. That is why we were showered with leaves as we marched through East Asia Drive!

Morning dews, again!

The tallest christmas tree we have ever seen so far!!! WOW!!! 

There were already Christmas decors hanging by the treets when we reached Parkway Street. We occasionally stopped to take pictures, We then turned left to Spectrum Midway where we saw a group of students practising for some upcoming school activity. There were more trees here, and this is also we stopped by to have eat our packed snacks and where our three boys and Junífera Clarita ran around for a few minutes. We were headed to where we began because Krystal had to meet up with her friends in nearby Alabang Town Center. At The Filinvest Tent north of Spectrum Midway, we found a bazaar with food stalls. What a coincidence, because it was opening day. GMA 7 was there, too. It turned out to be the opening day of Noel Bazaar, a popular traveling bazaar. We had early lunch first before I accompanied Krystal to her friends. The location of food stalls was uncomfortable especially when the sun was already hight. It's because the branches of two acacia trees beside The Filinvest Tent were cut down. Had they not been cut down, they would have provided a lovely shade to the people. Please, let us not cut down trees. We can develop a place without putting harm to nature. Remember: they are our source of oxygen and even peace of mind.

Inside the bazaar, the atmosphere was festive. A huge Belén, the traditional Filipino Christmas decoration, was on display. An acoustic band was playing as shoppers were buying tickets to get inside the bazaar proper. The event was also giving away freebies. We got some from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the bazaar's sponsor.

So if you want to stroll through nature without having to travel too far, there's always Filinvest Corporate City. It's not meant to be a park, but it has been like one for many years already. It's a haven for bikers, joggers, nature lovers, and families!

                                                                  —Yeyette—
                                                                     

¡Feliz primer cumpleaños, Junífera Clarita!

¡El tiempo vuela tan rápido! Parecía como si fuera ayer cuando tu mamá casi perdiera la vida al dar a luz a tí. Pero mírate ahora: te estás convirtiendo en una chica tan hermosa como ella y tu Ate Krystal. Y somos completos, sanos, y felices, ¡gracias a Dios!

Junífera Clarita está llevando puesto su collar de perla del mar del sur que se le dio a ella por su madrina Gemma Cruz de Araneta.

Y dado que eres nuestra princesita preciosa, no te mereces nada menos. Así que decidimos celebrar tu primer año en un lugar tan especial: en el histórico Hotel Manila.

Construido en 1908, este hotel de cinco estrellas que se encuentra por la Bahía de Manila en Ermita, Manila es el más antiguo de Filipinas. Fue inaugurado en la conmemoración de la independencia estadounidense el 4 de julio de 1912 (Filipinas fue entonces colonia de EE.UU.).

Nuestra llegada.

Mómay, Jefe, y Juanito: los tres "guardaespaldas" de Junífera Clarita.

Por más de un siglo, se convirtió en testigo de varios acontecimientos históricos desde dentro y fuera de sus muros. Su ático fue la residencia del General Douglas MacArthur durante su mandato como el Asesor Militar de la Mancomunidad de Filipinas de 1935 a 1941. En 1935, Presidente Manuel Quezon contrató el arquitecto Andrés Luna de San Pedro (hijo del pintor Juan Luna) para hacerse cargo de las renovaciones del famoso hotel. Y durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el edificio fue ocupado por las tropas del Ejército Imperial Japonés, y la bandera japonesa fue volada por encima de los muros de la totalidad de la ocupación japonesa. Durante la batalla para la Liberación de Manila en 1945, los intensos combates entre las tropas estadounidenses y los japoneses sucedieron en el interior del edificio. ¡Incluso se decía que cada habitación del hotel tenía que ser tomada de los japoneses! A la larga, el hotel fue incendiado por los japoneses, pero el armazón del edificio sobrevivió a las llamas; la estructura fue reconstruida después de la guerra.

Cenamos en Café Ilang-Ilang, un restaurante dentro del hotel que lleva el nombre de una flor filipina fragante.

Muchos personajes famosos también se han registrado en este hotel: el autor pro-hispano Ernest Hemingway, el famoso actor estadounidense John Wayne, iconos de la música pop como Michael Jackson y The Beatles, y líderes mundiales como tales John F. Kennedy de EE.UU. y Primer Ministro Anthony Eden del Reino Unido.

Con suerte, por el momento de leer esto, ya estás considerada como una de las registrantes famosas del Hotel Manila. Si Dios quiere. =)

Quiero que seas una aficionada de la Historia Filipina como yo, así que celebramos tu primer cumple aquí en Hotel Manila, el más histórico hotel en Filipinas.

Sabes que cuando escribo este blogpost, nos estamos apretando el cinturón por muchas razones inevitables. Pero como dije, no te mereces nada menos. Este día celebramos tu primer año en la tierra. Y eres nuestra princesita. ¡Simplemente te queremos mucho!

En el vestíbulo del hotel. Haga clic aquí para ver más fotos de nuestra celebración sencilla.

*L*A*F*A*M*I*L*I*A*V*I*A*J*E*R*A*

Santa Clara de Asís, siempre ruegue a nuestro querido Señor por el bien de su tocaya. Gracias.