In 2010, I’ll be turning 30 years old. Yes, that’s less than 2 years away. Its amazing how fast time goes by in this era. With the movie “The Mummy” coming up (that would be about the “Dragon Emperor” played by Jet Li), it reminds me that those structures took years to build. Generations would go through without seeing a finished skyscraper called a Sphinx or a Pyramid.
And now, China alone was able to turn its cities into hosts of some of the world’s best architectural and engineering sites in just a decade. We’ll know more about that come August 8. If you’re really excited, NGC already has documentaries about them, either under Mega Structures or under the Beijing 08-08-08 series.
Going back to me turning 30 soon, it was a few days ago when I gave directions to Valero Street in Makati City: “From the expressway, turn right towards Ayala. Just go straight, when you see the first Shell Station on your right, that would be Shell Maya and Valero Street.”.
I realized afterwards that Shell Maya is now a condominium project. “Make that: ‘…after you see a towering RCBC Plaza…’ instead of a Shell station.”
So here I am, making some bullets about some facts of my life growing up in Makati, studying there, and to-date, working there. I’ll be listing down some places I miss that were somewhat converted into my little perception of “Megastructures”.
For now, this would be my Makati Megastructures. I’ll state down what they are now, and revert to what I remember they were before. (To the 30-somethings, yes, you know more. I’m basing my ideas on the memory of an 8 year old.). Afterwards, I’ll try to go outside my Makati shell (not the gas station) and move out to the less-ventured areas such as Quezon City, Paranaque City, and probably, Davao City (the best relaxation spot for me!).
So here goes (again, this is based on The Memoirs of an 8 Year Old);
PASAY ROAD, SLIMMERS WORLD NEAR EDSA (Correction, “Arnaiz Avenue”)- the place I miss would be BabyLand. Eversince Kindergarten, BabyLand was the place to be as soon as we exit Dasmarinas Village. Nevermind that McDonalds was just down the street along Paseo de Roxas. BABYLAND was the ultimate reward for getting a “Star” on my diary/notebook.
SM MAKATI SUPERMARKET- amidst its fiber optic lighting, the SM Makati Supermarket used to be a bloc of cement that had Tesoro’s and Cindy’s inside it. SM Makati was still an old bloc of cement as well back then but it didn’t occupy much space beside Intercontinental Hotel. Between Tesoro’s and SM Makati was a small walkway that had carabao statues. Later on, the Tesoro’s place was ripped down and turned into a parking lot to cater to the newly-opened “SM Makati Annex” which was where the Supermarket was initially located. This is the first building I saw that had a “Sky Walkway” from one building to another. The Parking lot, and SM Annex, are now known as SM Makati. Tesoro’s has moved to its own building along Pasay Road, and Cindy’s, well, its somewhat still a “When you’re hungry, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta, Cindy’s is the place to be..”.. if you’re in the Kalibo area probably (the Boracay Cindy’s is the only one I know!). The Cindy’s in the SM Foodcourt is now a Jollibee.
FAIRMONT/RAFFLES HOTEL (Makati cor Arnaiz Avenues)- to those of you who just turned 10 years old, the ongoing construction of FAIRMONT and/or RAFFLES HOTEL used to be Park Square 2. It was a parking complex that also had a bus terminal. Adjacent to it is/was the Anson’s building which is now located between Landmark and the Makati ShangriLa Hotel (more on Makati Shang later). Prior to being Parksquare 2, the site was also a Nissan/Datsun Showroom in the 80’s. Across that was…
NEW WORLD RENNAISANCE HOTEL- which used to be a Petron Gasoline station. I don’t know why, but we used to buy our mangoes here. Yes, we bought our mangoes from a gasoline station while loading up. Across New World Rennaisance Hotel is…
GREENBELT 3- a shopping complex which also used to be a Shopping Arcade before. I don’t know much about this arcade aside from the fact that it had a Jollibee fastfood outlet, Dunkin’ Donuts, a Love Bus Terminal, South Villa Chinese restaurant, and a bookstore which sold Asterix comics books. A building next to it,…
GREENBELT 2- this used to be a parking lot. With a few eateries across it like Tokyo-Tokyo. Those restaurants were billeted in structures that looked like little houses. These sites were common to see especially when going inside the Rotonda where National Bookstore-Greenbelt 1 is located. Behind Greenbelt 2 is…
THE RESIDENCES AT GREENBELT- formerly Coronado Lanes. They used to have a Petals and Twigs store where I used to buy flowers for Jackie. When the branch closed down, I had to get my flowers from the Petals and Twigs branch in SM Megamall, and then Greenhills. But this is a different story na. This was the Coronado Lanes designed with “AMF-Puyat” technology (whatever that means). Near Greenbelt 2 and The Residence lie a FAMOUS landmark…
MC DONALDS- still the same as 15 years ago. This is like a pyramid in the area, a heritage site. It was where “Drive Thru” was made famous. They also had the now off-menu Sausage Biscuit with Egg sandwiches which opened me to eating burgers. Sausage McMuffins are great, but the Sausage Biscuit with Egg is unbeatable in history. It was Php56 back in 1995. Too expensive, but yummy. Now, let’s go back to…
GREENBELT 3- aside from being a Shopping Arcade, Greenbelt 3 also had UNITED SUPERMARKET. This was a complex where Majestic ham could be bought, a key duplicator, and, our favorites, softee ice cream and Icee Snowcones (with a bear as a model). Next door…
GREENBELT 4- used to be the old Ayala Museum and Schwartzwelder (???) restaurant. There was also a Shakey’s restaurant here, together with One World Disco (it had a bronze globe near the entrance). Behind it was an A&W Fastfood outlet, where I enjoyed my Bacon Double Cheeseburgers (now available in Burger King) with Rootbeer Float. Last of the Greenbelt series would be…
GREENBELT 5- this used to be Mario’s and the first-ever branch of Italliani’s in the Philippines. This also used to be where The House of Max Fried Chicken stood. The original Max Fried Chicken is still near Roces Avenue in Quezon City. Across Greenbelt 4 and 5 would be…
THE MAKATI SHANGRI-LA HOTEL- used to be Rizal Theater with a Gibson’s bookstore downstairs, together with Dulcinea in a little street beside it. Some say that there was a Pancake House as well but the only Pancake Houses of that time that I remember were either in Greenbelt 1 or in Magallanes Theater (now a Koi Village). Fronting Makati ShangriLa would be…
GLORIETTA PARK AND 6750- as far as I recall, this used to be a vacant parking lot with an SM ACA carwash. Now, let’s cross the street again…
GLORIETTA B (not sure about the phase)- ahhhh, a breakthrough in Makati Megastructures. The area of Glorietta facing ShangriLa Makati more or less had the same stores of yore: Mc Donalds, Cinderella, Mercury Drug, and Fairmart. The Mc Donalds here was not as famous as the Mc Donalds near Coronado but this branch surely had an empty Playland at the second floor which was good for us kids. Road also had an “underpass” headed towards Ayala Avenue. Across Fairmart Center was…
GLORIETTA 4 AND AYALA MALL- formerly Bricktown. This place had a Kimpura restaurant and a Maui and Sons shop. Hooded shirts with Smiley’s were cool back then.
GLORIETTA C (Again, not sure which phase)- this place used to be where Filbars was located. Glico’s was also located at the topmost floor (and then turned into Toby’s). Fashion Café was located there as well. But as far as memory goes, Glico’s indoor bumper boats, Dragon Coaster, Mini-Golf, and Crazy Bus took us students through the roof. Street Fighter was also the “In” thing before there was Daytona and Level-Up. Also…
GLORIETTA C (Same place as the previous paragraph)- was also Makati Supermarket for a bit. But with Landmark right across it, and high-end Rustans nearby (not to mention United Supermarket across Makati Avenue with the yummy ice cream), Makati Supermarket eventually moved to Alabang and Magallanes. As mentioned earlier it was converted into Fashion Café and Studebakers (now Gold’s Gym). Streetlife was also a gimmick place at the top floor near Hard Rock!
I’ll limit my Makati Megastructures blog to the malls for now. Soon, I’ll be discussing other sites that we may miss, such as Par 42 and Ugarte Field.
Shucks. I’m really turning thirty soon. :-)
