So what’s Metro Manila like?  Well,  Metro Manila, the Capital of the Philippines, is a very, very big and busy city!  People and traffic everywhere, every single day.  The only time you would find the highways free from traffic would be at around 2am till 6am, on Christmas Holidays and during the Lenten Season, when most of the people would be home in their own provinces.   

I was born in this city, but I have to admit that to this day, I have yet to explore the entire city of Metro Manila!  It’s definitely a big city!  For the most part of my life, I have lived in the north areas, Quezon City, Caloocan City and Malabon City.  I have worked in the south part of Metro Manila, particularly  Makati City, Mandaluyong City and Pasig City.  I would go all the way to Manila every now and then whenever I wanted to shop for real bargain items, especially during the Christmas season.

Anyway, here are some photos of a few spots in Metro Manila for all those who have never been here before…

This is the busy street of Holy Spirit Drive, Don Antonio Heights along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.  The red and the white tricycles are the public vehicles that transport passengers inside Don Antonio Heights.

The DCGWS Internet Solutions banner.  The business office is also located at the Holy Spirit Drive

This is Quiapo, in Manila.  It’s usually this crowded, especially every Friday when devotees to the Black Nazarene hear mass at the Quiapo Church, and during Christmas season when people go shopping for bargain items at Carriedo Street.

This is the Quiapo Church. 

Quiapo Church by night

A view of the Manila Bay at Roxas Boulevard, Manila

This was at taken at the former Baywalk, along Roxas Boulevard, Manila

This is the SM City North Edsa Mall along Edsa, Quezon City

This was at the Star City at Roxas Boulevard.  That’s me wiping the tears in my eyes after that dreadful ride, while Baby enjoyed that ride!

Another shot still at Star City, this time after that ride on the Wild River… look at that expression on my face… you can just imagine what that ride was like!

And finally, this was at the Waterfun swimming pools at Fairview, Quezon City.  I’ve got other shots of this place in my photographs.

Well guess what?  I finally got my baby away from work for a few hours!  It’s been so difficult to get him up from his desk during the past few days.  Gosh, he’s always busy, always on a deadline!  Well, today was different…

already missing your laptop, Baby?

We’ve been planning on buying a new A/C for the past few weeks.  The electric bills have been killing us since the day we purchased our second-hand A/C.  This month’s bill just came in and it has gone way up to almost P13K, which is about US $282!  My younger brother Jonas has been telling us that our A/C was using a lot of electricity since it’s an old model of the Carrier a/c’s.  So we finally decided to buy a new one. 

Anyway, today was that day, and so we went.  Fortunately, my mom wasn’t too busy today, so she accompanied us to different stores so we could choose the best unit for our office (and home too).

now he’s in a better mood!

inside Mom’s SUV

Mom

that’s my baby.. he’s smiling now!

so here we go…

Friday is one of those busy working days… there was traffic everywhere, a usual.  I took some pics of  Quezon Avenue, Quezon City, and the underpass that crosses Edsa and Quezon Avenue.  You would expect the underpass to have less traffic, as public vehicles don’t usually take that route.  But just the same, it was just about as heavy as the main road. 

traffic at Quezon Avenue

that’s above the underpass

a view of the underpass

I wanted to take a closer shot of Parks and Wildlife, but we were too far from the side of the road, so the pic’s a little blurred.

We went to Cubao.  We parked at the parking area right next to the Araneta Coliseum, the place which has always been one of the favourite venues for sports events, concerts, beauty contest and religious meetings here in the Philippines.  It’s usually called “the Big Dome”.  I also took a couple of shots inside Ali Mall, one of the first shopping malls in Quezon City. 

parking area, Araneta Coliseum

wow, he really is in a good mood now!

inside the Ali Mall

My mom and my Baby

We ended up buying our new A/C and a new ceiling fan at Makro Novaliches, where appliances are usually much cheaper than the ones being sold in regular appliance stores.  I was so grateful my mom had a membership card.  Non-members don’t have that privilege to avail of the low-priced appliances and wholesale products that Makro offers.

It was a tiring day. Baby’s back (and happy) on the loving keys of his laptop…..

 I’ve got this terrible headache that’s crawling inside my head. I can’t tell if it’s a migraine. All I know is that it’s some kind of dizzy spell that’s crawling underneath my left eyebrow, that makes my left eye hurt and makes me wanna throw up! Somebody please tell me what this is?

I’m going to bed… more tomorrow… when headache’s gone. Good night world.

Do you like planting a lot?  Is it one of your hobbies?  Some people like gardening and planting a lot.  I have never been able to successfully grow a plant in my life.  Well, when we were still in school, we were made to do some experiments in plants, and those were the only occasions I had the opportunity to take care of some plants.  But I was never good at it.  My little plants would die in a matter of days.  And every time that happened, my heart broke.  It was then that my dad would tell me that I didn’t have that “green thumb”.  After that, I never even attempted to try planting again.  I guess I just didn’t have that genuine patience to consistently care for a plant day after day.   

Baby’s mom, Gayle Davis, who stays in McAlester, Ok., USA has that “green thumb” I’m talking about.  The plants she planted have grown into beautiful trees and flowers.  She loves planting!  He says she’s kept a garden since he and his sister were kids.  That’s awesome!  She definitely has a “green thumb”!  And a lot of love and patience too!   She’s planning to start a green house, and we were hoping that we could send her some seeds of beautiful flowers from here so she could grow them nicely in her green house.  Unfortunately, we found out it wouldn’t be allowed by the post office.  That is, the post office from the US.    That is so sad.  I could just imagine how our flowers would look so beautiful when they actually start blooming in her green house!  *sigh!*

Anyway, here are some photos she sent me of the beautiful trees and plants that she has grown in their place in Ok. 

Tell me about beautiful trees, tell me about beautiful plants, and tell me about such a beautiful, quiet, peaceful place,  I tell you, this is it!

Baby’s dad and their pet Serra by the poolside

Shosty

Look at these beautiful trees!

The beautiful lake at their backyard