It hurt to hear about Pamana and the Philippine Eagles.
This echoed in my head. Go to 16:22. Joey Ayala's Haring Ibon.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LvR2h2yZPnY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvR2h2yZPnY
20 August, 2015
Ayala Mall Solenad
I hate to be such a whiner about their having "paved paradise" again. I will rant about the shrinking habitat again...(really, where are the birds now)...
and I know it is hypocritical of me because, well, I do patronize the shops.
What to do. It is a long weekend, and so if you got here, it's probably because you ran a search. Well, here it is. I know, if I sound unexcited, it's because I am. The kid is excited...a big mall, like in the city, she says. It is now a city, she says. Sure, lots of open spaces, as promised. But really, the birds are going, going...gone.
My glum mood is aggravated by the killing of the Philippine eagle Pamana the other day. It was an awful surprise to learn that 90% of Philippine eagles released end up shot.
So anyway...still there are those wing-like roofs that were destroyed by that windy typhoon last year. Roofs where rain will simply flood toward a central locked in area of the roof, and damage gutters, pipes. As a foreign neighbor once sighed about much of the weather-inappropriate architecture and engineering here..."...and this is a monsoon country.."
These were taken on August 15, when it seems the entire neighborhood plus those from Carmona, up to Alabang, came to dine.
So, everything will be here. There is something I notice---the "gentrification" of the city. I don't know why I chose that word..it just seems so apt. You see, in the first few posts I wrote about how in 2009 shop girls around here would address customers as "Ate" and vise versa. They were always very nice and accommodating. Well, I have noticed that since around 2012, the "type" of "sales associates" has changed. Now they seem more like the Makati retailers... now more of them welcome you in English. More of them seem like college graduates, more of them undergo special training specific to their brands.
Now, in Krispy Kreme, I am "Miss". It can get annoying how many times the "miss" is repeated. But I can ignore it.
Sadly,many customers are not "gentrified", to be frank. These days, the mall parking lot is littered with rubbish. People seem to be tossing their paper cups, tetra paks, soiled baby diapers, food wrappers, right outside their parked cars.
Outside the All Home store when it was brand new, I glared at two young men who threw their cigarette butts down a drain on the street. I had earlier looked down into the drain to see trash in it. These two guys then parked their car, got off, and tossed their butts down.
Is Sta. Rosa getting dirty quickly? It used to be so clean here.
Another scourge is the increasing number of abusive drivers. Especially within Nuvali. But I'm too tired to say more now.
and I know it is hypocritical of me because, well, I do patronize the shops.
What to do. It is a long weekend, and so if you got here, it's probably because you ran a search. Well, here it is. I know, if I sound unexcited, it's because I am. The kid is excited...a big mall, like in the city, she says. It is now a city, she says. Sure, lots of open spaces, as promised. But really, the birds are going, going...gone.
My glum mood is aggravated by the killing of the Philippine eagle Pamana the other day. It was an awful surprise to learn that 90% of Philippine eagles released end up shot.
So anyway...still there are those wing-like roofs that were destroyed by that windy typhoon last year. Roofs where rain will simply flood toward a central locked in area of the roof, and damage gutters, pipes. As a foreign neighbor once sighed about much of the weather-inappropriate architecture and engineering here..."...and this is a monsoon country.."
 |
| TAKEN ON AUGUST 1ST |
So, everything will be here. There is something I notice---the "gentrification" of the city. I don't know why I chose that word..it just seems so apt. You see, in the first few posts I wrote about how in 2009 shop girls around here would address customers as "Ate" and vise versa. They were always very nice and accommodating. Well, I have noticed that since around 2012, the "type" of "sales associates" has changed. Now they seem more like the Makati retailers... now more of them welcome you in English. More of them seem like college graduates, more of them undergo special training specific to their brands.
Now, in Krispy Kreme, I am "Miss". It can get annoying how many times the "miss" is repeated. But I can ignore it.
Sadly,many customers are not "gentrified", to be frank. These days, the mall parking lot is littered with rubbish. People seem to be tossing their paper cups, tetra paks, soiled baby diapers, food wrappers, right outside their parked cars.
Outside the All Home store when it was brand new, I glared at two young men who threw their cigarette butts down a drain on the street. I had earlier looked down into the drain to see trash in it. These two guys then parked their car, got off, and tossed their butts down.
Is Sta. Rosa getting dirty quickly? It used to be so clean here.
Another scourge is the increasing number of abusive drivers. Especially within Nuvali. But I'm too tired to say more now.
12 July, 2015
Fruit Trees and Neighbors
Avocados from a friend's tree down the street...
Rambutan from next door neighbor's tree...
It doesn't take much, really, the soil here keeps us happy.
On a sad note, I am mourning, I am delayed in mourning the loss of a lady I befriended three years ago. She who sold me my poinsettia three Christmases ago; from whom I purchased pots of Gynura Precumbens (they call it Ashitaba though that's different) to give as Christmas presents. She was a cancer survivor, and she was not only a retailer of herbs and plants, but also an advocate of natural food, raw diet. She not only sold the plants, she made friends with her customers and was sincere in her efforts. She and her sister sold plants at Solenad, as a test for the future area of the mall. She was looking forward to the opening of the "Market" area of Solenad, where they were offered space. Now, that space is open, and I looked for her but she was not there. I was happy to have had a good conversation with her sister. But allowed myself a moment to remember her.
Rambutan from next door neighbor's tree...
A mango tree I planted five years ago bore its first fruits; a ten year old pomelo tree I brought along in a drum finally has fruit growing; a guyabano also hanging from the tree; finally tasted the atis before the bats beat me to them (they're sweet!); and a papaya tree is bearing lots of red lady papayas.
Cooked Thai Tom Kha Gai for the first time with the galangal and lemongrass from my garden. Galangal/lengkwas/langkawas/kha which came from my Indonesian neighbor's garden, and originally from her tutor's Bicol hometown.
It doesn't take much, really, the soil here keeps us happy.
On a sad note, I am mourning, I am delayed in mourning the loss of a lady I befriended three years ago. She who sold me my poinsettia three Christmases ago; from whom I purchased pots of Gynura Precumbens (they call it Ashitaba though that's different) to give as Christmas presents. She was a cancer survivor, and she was not only a retailer of herbs and plants, but also an advocate of natural food, raw diet. She not only sold the plants, she made friends with her customers and was sincere in her efforts. She and her sister sold plants at Solenad, as a test for the future area of the mall. She was looking forward to the opening of the "Market" area of Solenad, where they were offered space. Now, that space is open, and I looked for her but she was not there. I was happy to have had a good conversation with her sister. But allowed myself a moment to remember her.
Paseo
So this is what they've done to that first, original row of buildings in what is now Paseo de Santa Rosa...
I had wrongly assumed another building would rise in this spot, after its tenants were moved to other parts of the center. Instead, I found grass, sky...and a good playground set.
Perhaps management realized people were skipping this area for Nuvali?
I got a little bit sentimental. On this spot stood the original strip with the Safari car rental office, Japanese restaurants, and a few offices. I really wish I had photos of the place almost twenty years ago.
This was where we would stop for breakfast, brunch or lunch, on the way to Tagaytay. This was back when--and I am sure I have said this before--we would take this route up, but not down if it was too late in the evening. The Japanese restaurants served the Japanese men from the surrounding Japanese companies. They still are around--Umenoya and Ippon Yari, but in other locations. Pancake House is still there, in the building pictured on the right.
By the time we moved here, the center of this strip was occupied by bars...it was pretty seedy actually, especially when they opened by twilight and on Wednesday and Friday and Saturday evenings. It was actually a relief that they knocked this down.
Frankly, I find that this commercial area is confused, confusing, and really, not maximized. Well, I don't know about their profits, but from a customers' standpoint...it could be better. It is too late in the evening for me to expound on this. I'll just leave it at that.
27 April, 2015
Last of the land
May I selfishly say that I hope they (the owners) never do anything with that grassland? Ah but it is inevitable.
I do keep repeating this.
What a depressing blog!
24 April, 2015
Houses Robbed in the Area Again
These were taken last month, when the PNP, the Fire Department, Emergency and Rescue Services were stationed for about a week or maybe more at the intersection of the Sta. Rosa Tagaytay Road and Nuvali blvd.
They even set up white emergency tents behind these canopies. Maybe they conducted demonstrations, I don't know.
It was a bit of a comfort back then, to know they existed "in the neighborhood".
Interestingly, on the same week of their presence, that road where you see cars coming from the south (Tagaytay), saw the same type of accident on different days. Specifically, I saw on different days, cars at the front of the line, bumped from behind.
My theory is that they were trying to beat the light, but made sudden stops upon seeing the many policemen and women under the tents, thus getting bumped from behind by the next cars. Quite plausible, considering the mentality of most drivers here huh?
Seriously, there have been numerous and varied vehicular accidents within this intersection and until a few meters away. Many involved were motorcycles.
But my title talks about recent crimes, as in this week. A new house in Santierra in Nuvali was robbed and the robbers shot at security guards. The news as well as our own village's circular states nearby villages have had robbery incidents as well. Again.
Still on Silang
I stopped between mountains to admire this bridge. Nothing special except this road from the bayan ng Silang to bgy. Inchican's Cardiac Trail, goes up and down hills and through forests.
Along the Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay highway, just past Sta. Rosa Heights, is Malaga Tiles' very attractive, simple, almost easy to miss Spanish storefront. And these boys were setting up the crab stall. Where do these crabs come from?
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