Naala-ala Niyo Pa Ba?
This was forwarded to me and I have no clue who to give credits to. But I would like to share this to you all.
Take note, nakasapatos ang mga tao, walang maka tsinelas kahit sa Avenida. Just sharing…sayang mga iba hindi inabutan. Super linis at discipline ang mga tao. Wala pang naka maong.
Old Manila
The environment was still very clean. Very little wires hanging from posts. I still remember Mackay Radio and La Estrella del Norte where my parents would shop. Based on the Oldsmobiles, Studebakers, Buicks & Pontiacs, I must have been 10 years old then.
There were no Metro Aides, Bayani Fernando Cleaners, and stores cleaned their areas. Pedestrians were also very disciplined. Very little “hukays” and Manholes were clean and were clearly visible to pedestrians. People were so disciplined. Take a look at the Pedxings. I remember this part of Escolta as my father and brother used to take me to this place and look for new shoe like Ang Tibay. It could be much better looking than Colehans and Ferragamos. The streets were shiny, much like the streets of Singapore now.
LYRIC Theatre (in the photo below), IDEAL, STATE, ODEON were the best theatres. Environment inside and outside – absolutely clean. There were no double parking allowed and drivers followed. Streets didn’t have 2 policemen and 4 Traffic Aides for each corner. You’d be safe even if you held a clutch bag while shopping. Manholes were covered well and during those days, I remember them as clean and polished, much like those you’d see in Champ Elysee’. We could beat Paris. Ang ganda ng bayan natin noon.
Dencia’s was famous for Pansit Mami, much like Mamonluk or Ricebowl. P1.50 ang Mami, 10 sentimo ang coca cola. 5 centimo ang sarsaparilla. This was very near Villalobos and Carriedo. Look at the jeepneys. They were not overloaded.
Pasig was very clean. The photographer must have taken this photo (below) October to December timeframe. But Pasig, during summer would have beautiful water lilies, tiny Quiapo’s floating amidst white, yellow and purple water lilies that I remember. Water from our rich and abundant rivers were emerald green and blue. Napakalinis and walang amoy. In fact, I know for a fact that a lot of private yachts would pass through our Pasig River from various parts of Rizal, Malabon and Marikina. It was beautiful.
Manila was just a beautiful place.
If you’d take an L5 plane or a Piper Cab and take pictures of Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard) from above, you’d be so proud to say that he place is much better than Cote’ d Azure. My Dad would even bring soldiers sick of asthma from the PAF, so that they could do early morning breathing exercises at 5AM. Environment was just so very clean, air was refreshing, and take a look at the sea….wasn’t that a gift given to us during those days?
Sidewalks were not extended to suit the pedestrians. Quiapo Church was a blessed monument. Nagbibigayan ang mga drivers. Bihira ang nag-gigitgitan.
Avenida Rizal was a treat to everyone. There were no prostitutes nor body-brokers. Avenida was not a fickle place. It was not a “now a bistro boulevard, tomorrow a street; now a tiangge or night market and tomorrow a bistro boulevard”. It was a simple avenida where everyone enjoyed to see what was “now showing”, what movie was “extended showing”, and if Otis or Good Earth had a big sale! It was just a big clean place.
Ayala Avenue was just like Wilshire Boulevard. Clean and no pollution. You can walk and enjoy the sun. Napakalinis. Walang masyadong Trash bins pero walang basura sa paligid.
Even Parks like Fort Santiago was much better. No vendors, no cafe’s. There was not even an ATM machine. Malinis ang paligid.
And then, we had more technocrats, more intelligent people educated here and abroad. What did we do to our environment? Sayang. Maswerte kami noon. Mas na mas maswerte kami noon. We saw a country that was much cleaner, a much better place to live in and a truly healthy place.
Note: This came from forwarded emails. I have no clue who is the author.
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reynz is one Uragon and a Filipino-American, has many years of public accounting & auditing, broadcast investments, housing tax credits and equity investments as his background. Based in the US, he maintains his personal and humor blog at reyna elena dot com. A graduate of Aquinas U, he went to GWU and Temple U in the United States.
Today, if Leaders instill discipline, ask people to obey traffic rules, and make them wear uniforms/shoes, People will complain about despotic tendencies and human rights violations…
….and we now call a leader who invokes discipline, dictator. *sad*
ang mga leche at pati to eh ginawang pulitika hahaha! hoy! kulang lang ang tao nun! hindi pa ganung mataas ang libido nang mga tao hahaha!
Kasi naman si Blue ipinagbawal ang condom eh, hehehe.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Maria Amor. Maria Amor said: RT @snowramos: Will you still remember the beauty of old Manila? | Barrio Siete http://bit.ly/bCUtHz [...]
ay.. pag binalik natin ang time na yan e di walang computer, walang internet, walang cellphone, walang cable tv, walang SM malls, walang PSP/Nintendo WII, walang ipod, walang laptop, walang LCD HD TV, walang digital cam….
oh well, i still like it then… sana pinanganak ako at nabuhay ng time na yan.. what year is that anyway? 50′s maybe?
Hi Reyna Elena, I think I remember the name Good Earth, if am not mistaken I was only 4 year old or below. That is the place where my mom always brought me to buy assorted chocolates and candies in a revolving-circular tray
and where we shopped for my shoes and dresses I think. Funny but somehow I recall the Good Earth emporium.
Nice photos indeed indeed. I was in Cagayan de Oro City last 3 weeks ago. I thought the town is more lesser developed than Old Manila now. But I was amazed their electric poles were even worse than in Manila it is like an intertwining octopus electric cables.
sa mamonluk kami parati kumakain.
sa good earth at sa plaza fair kami namimili kapag pasko.
sa good earth din may masarap na fastfood na uupo kayo sa harapan ng magse-serve sa inyo.
sa manila bay kami nagsuswimming halos linggo-linggo.
sa luneta kami nag strolling kapag may okasyon.
sa aristocrat at max at savory kami kumakain pag may celebrasyon.
ayan, halata na tuloy kung ilang taon na ako, hahaha
Ang bilis nawala lahat yan; o kaya hindi sa Pinas ang pics?;-). Really beautiful! Tama ka Reynz, I guess we’ve been f|_|[|<ing like rabbits. Space not expanding, population just exploding; that's chaos for sure.
Photoshopped yan. Charing!
Well kung gusto niyo pang maibalik ang ganyang itsura let’s all go back in time. Charing!
So pristine and clean noh? May ganyan pa kayang ciudad sa Pinas?
Sayang hindi ko naabutan ang era na yan.
I would love to travel back in those years na ganyang kaganda ang Pilipinas. May kilala ba kayong puedeng orderan ng time machine? 