REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

JSALES · 11-21-2009, 07:13 PM

received this in an e-mail, just thought i'd share

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 Dad would buy us Boursege’s from Greg Shoes or Ang Tibay. It could be much better looking than Colehaans 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 the 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

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.

Even Parks like Fort Santiago was much better. No vendors, no cafe’s. There was not even an ATM machine.

danizer · 11-21-2009, 07:19 PM

ive never been to manila...but can u supply some pictures of those locations today for comparison

?

dachinesedude · 11-21-2009, 07:28 PM

something like this i guess

Vansterdam · 11-21-2009, 08:08 PM

^ lol

twitchyzero · 11-21-2009, 08:28 PM

how's manila compared to the big cities of india, vietnam and thailand? I've never been to these places but I can't imagine Manila being a shithole place to live?

static · 11-21-2009, 10:19 PM

Metro Manila is ghetto on the whole. Unless you are baller the place is pretty crowded and decrepit. The air is rank, the roads shit and unlike anywhere i've been there are real ghettos. Tin roofs and impromptu housing as far as the eye can see in some areas.

Cops are apparently really corrupt. The clubs aren't bad though, some really banging women there.

Shead · 11-21-2009, 11:19 PM

so it was awesome then, and now its the slums?

Harvey Specter · 11-21-2009, 11:34 PM

Wow, look how clean it was back in the 60's but I guess you can say that about any major city if you go 40-50 years back.

AVS_Racing · 11-22-2009, 12:03 AM

hm.... interesting i wonder how other cities looked

asian_XL · 11-22-2009, 03:18 AM

my parents went to manila in the early 70s, they say it's a beautiful place...
probably not now.

Meowjin · 11-22-2009, 03:38 AM

different when it was american controlled. Look up the fall of saigon, for a similiar view.

Ulic Qel-Droma · 11-22-2009, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVS_Racing

hm.... interesting i wonder how other cities looked

i don't think new york was very clean... ever.

haymura · 11-22-2009, 06:24 AM

OH WOW!! i never knew Manila was clean back then. I was born n raised there and those pics definitely show how ugly it became. We dont see blue skies like that anymore in Manila. The best we get is hazy brown from the smog and pollution. Buildings rotting and filled with posters, graffiti, trash, etc.

what a change.

unit · 11-22-2009, 08:24 AM

something like this

J____ · 11-22-2009, 08:30 AM

wow! manila in the 60's look pretty classy! looks like a dump now!

koukimonst3r · 11-22-2009, 10:29 AM

I've never seen Pasig River that clean before LOL

neggo · 11-22-2009, 11:44 AM

wonder how other asian places looked like back then as well...would be interesting to see what hk looked like in the 60's

dub.g · 11-22-2009, 01:02 PM

i lived in the philippines til i was 10 years old (im 25 now) and one of the main reasons my mom wanted to leave the country was because it became such a dump..

i recall walking with my dad in Caloocan and the sidewalk was filled with vendors and panhandlers.. it was soo filled and so bad that people were walking on the curb or on the road, resulting in traffic.. and people were littering with due care.. and this was back in the 90s.. i dont know how bad it is now.

My uncle used to say something happened in the 80s and that whole country just turned into shit......... probably the Marcos revolution?

shawn79 · 11-22-2009, 04:49 PM

looks like gta vice city

JSALES · 11-22-2009, 09:17 PM

i didn't even know manila used to be that clean because when ever i visited, it was harsh polluted and the streets were dirty. traffic doesn't even look that bad at all compared to now

InvisibleSoul · 11-23-2009, 12:54 AM

I am disappoint that there are no pictures from Manila in its current state.

hotjoint · 11-23-2009, 09:49 AM

Im going to the phillipines with the gf sometime in march next year. I'll be sure to take lots of pics

twitchyzero · 11-23-2009, 10:59 AM

any flip people wanna explain what these funny modded jeeps are for?

they seem to be in so many of the images in google up..are they taxi's?

JSALES · 11-23-2009, 02:07 PM

^ i can't see your image but i assume there jeepney's you're talking about, it's a form of transportation so they are like taxi's sort of haha

Minata · 11-23-2009, 06:41 PM

yeah you basically hop on the jeepney (they are usually decorated and look transformer like) when you see it on the road and hop off when you need to get off (assuming you know where its heading of course).
but i was in manila in june -- stayed in a ghetto area...there were no foreigners around even though the supposed "tourist" attractions were in the area. people slept on cardboards at night outside our hotel amidst pouring rain...children follow you for a good five minutes with their hands out for money.
but i guess it depends on the area -- there is a richer, nicer area which is basically just a bunch of large interconnected malls and its much more clean.